Актуальное мероприятие

On April 19, Moscow hosted the final of the festival's competition programme, as well as business events with the participation of regulators and top managers of Russian pharmaceutical companies and industry associations.

"GxP-Fest is organised for the fourth year by the Eurasian Academy of Good Practices with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and the Eurasian Economic Commission. Every year the scale of the event and attention to it from the pharmaceutical industry grows. "GxP-Fest 2024" was held from 1 February to 19 April 2024 with the support of 18 industry partners: "GILS and NP" of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, Nacimbio, R-Pharm, Skopinpharm, Sotex, RaPharma, SanPharma, Geropharm, Akrikhin, Pharmstandard, Pharmasintez, Ozon, Novamedika, MakizPharma, Ellis, ISPE, UPPO, AIPM.

The Moscow venue was attended by about 500 people, including more than 300 best students - finalists of the festival's competitive programme, teachers of specialized universities in Russia and EAEU countries, representatives of Russian and foreign regulators, pharmaceutical companies, as well as experts in the field of professional education. Several thousand more spectators watched the online broadcast on four information resources.

The programme of the final day of the Fest began with informal networking between students and representatives of more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies at a pharmaceutical breakfast. Then, at the opening ceremony, representatives of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Eurasian Economic Commission, leading industry associations and specialised universities addressed the participants. The official part was followed by the grand finale of GxP-Fest 2024.

A total of 162 teams from 98 universities in eight countries: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Morocco and Egypt - a total of 930 students - took part in the festival's competition programme this year. Based on the results of the GxP qualifying round, which took place online in the form of the GxP-Battle, 60 out of 130 teams received an invitation to the final, where they faced the GxP-Quest, an industry-specific competition to identify professional competences.

The team "Pantone 682 pc" of the Kazakh National Medical University (KazNMU) named after S.D. Asfendiyarov won by the sum of points. The second place was taken by the team "ProFarm" of the Belarusian State Medical University (BSMU). The third place was shared by the teams "Shabash" of BGMU and "Girls x Pharma" of the Nations' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba.

The names of winners among foreign participants were also announced. For them, the competition was held in one online round in English. 1st place went to Abdelkarim Elmantagui from Morocco, 2nd place to Tameloucht Achraf Sym from Morocco and 3rd place to Younes Yasser Elsayed Ali from Egypt.

In addition, this year the traditional Olympiad programme has a new direction - Digital Pharma of the Future, a competition of student projects at the intersection of IT and pharma. "The Academy always tries to be on the cutting edge and monitor all the current trends in the industry. And one of them, as we were convinced during the competition of innovative solutions "GxP-Profi", which is held for specialists of the pharmaceutical industry, is the digitalisation of pharma. This is how the new direction of "GxP-Fest" appeared, which immediately aroused great interest, and not only and not so much among IT specialists, but also among pharmacy students, chemists and biologists, which speaks about the powerful integration of these specialities," said Irina Spichak, Executive Director of the Eurasian Academy of Good Practices, Doctor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Professor.

The Digital Pharma of the Future IT project competition received 32 applications. According to the results of the expert evaluation, 5 best projects made it to the finals. According to the results of the defence, the project "Implementation of digital prototyping of equipment (production, laboratory) and reproduction of their parts within the pharmaceutical production" of KazNMU won. The second place was awarded to the project "In silico design of potential inhibitors of Janus kinases JAK1 JAK2" of N.P. Ogarev Mordovian State University. The third place was awarded to the project "Artificial Intelligence in Risk Management" of KazNMU.

All finalist teams were awarded incentive prizes in various nominations. GxP-Fest's partner pharmaceutical companies also offered gifts. In addition, the results of the photo contest for the most creative team photo were summarised. More than 5000 people took part in the voting. As a result, this year prizes were awarded to all participants of the finals, not only to the winners.

One of the brightest events of the day was a meeting of industry students with representatives of regulatory authorities and CEOs of major pharmaceutical companies in the format of an open dialogue "The Future of Pharma - My Future". The moderator was Vladislav Shestakov, Director of the State Institute of Drugs and Good Practices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia. Speakers at the event included Dmitry Galkin, Director of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry Development of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, Inga Nizharadze, General Director of Skopinpharm, Natalia Malykh, Vice President of Business Development at Pharmasintez Group, Artur Valiev, General Director of Sun Pharma Russia, and Alexander Bykov, Director of Healthcare Economics at R-Pharm Group. They spoke about career prospects for young specialists at their companies in different regions of Russia and answered the most pressing questions of the students. Young people were mainly interested in the prospects of industry development and introduction of new technologies, government support measures and successes in import substitution. The authors of the best questions received gifts from the Fest partners.

Also on the festival site, leading industry experts held more than 10 master classes for students on topics ranging from career development to drug production technology and quality systems, as well as introducing them to internship programmes and job opportunities. More than 100 vacancies and internships were offered to students. At the same time, the Academy provided more than 300 portfolios of promising candidates at the request of pharmaceutical companies.

For university teachers, the Executive Director of the Eurasian Academy of Good Practices, Doctor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Professor Irina Spichak and Lyubov Zasova, Deputy Director of the Academy for Educational Activities, held a master class "Training for the Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges Facing Universities". They introduced the audience to modern VR-technologies and showed the possibilities of the simulation complex "Virtual Plant for Universities".

GxP-Fest participants were truly delighted with the festival programme. Words of gratitude were heard throughout the day and then kept coming in social networks. Not only students, but also respected experts, heads of pharmaceutical companies agreed that "GxP-Fest" is a unique event for the industry and the only platform that brings together students of pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnological, engineering, technological faculties, which allows us to talk about the training of diverse specialists for pharma.

"GxP-Fest has confirmed the title of the main platform for profile students, which allows to identify the best students who have passed all stages of a serious profile Olympiad, introduce them to the opportunities of pharmaceutical companies and organise communication with the top management of companies. According to experts, "GxP-Fest" perfectly copes with its tasks of attracting the attention of the student elite to the pharmaceutical industry, generating interest in building an industrial career, as well as promoting the modernisation of pharmaceutical education with a focus on industrial pharmacy and the introduction of innovative educational technologies. At the same time, for pharmaceutical companies, GxP-Fest is a unique opportunity to present career opportunities for future specialists and invite the most promising students for industrial practice with further employment.