Who we are
We are a non-profit platform that encourages open dialogue among professionals in bioequivalence and pharmaceutical development. Our founders, Professor Jean-Michel Cardot, Professor Ondřej Slanař, Ing. Helmut Schütz, and Dr. Vít Perlík established this platform in 2016. However, all started way before as a small and informal gathering of only several people from the regulatory world, academia and industry with the aim of filling the much-needed niche of a cost-friendly gathering of drug development and regulatory professionals, where ideas and opinions can be freely shared. As the topics and scope expanded, so did the interest from a wider circle of audience. With each coming year, the attendance grew, reaching up to two hundred guests. Today, BioBridges is a welcoming space for industry experts, regulators, and scientists to engage in open discussions about important regulatory and drug development topics. These topics include concept papers, draft guidelines, and guidelines that may impact future development efforts and regulatory lives. New approaches to drug development, successful and unsuccessful case studies are shared, all with the same vision: to facilitate communication among regulators, industry and research, and help to create space for more efficient drug development.
Great speakers and interesting topics
Throughout the years, BioBridges has had the pleasure of hosting a number of distinguished speakers from various backgrounds including industry, universities, and regulatory agencies. Some of these notable speakers include Henrike Potthast, Milena Stain, Barbara Davit, René Anour, Bruno Sepodes, Steffen Thirstrup, Paulo Paixão, and many others. They have covered a wide range of topics including biosimilars, product specific bioequivalence guidance, BCS-based biowaivers, new guidelines (such as M13, Q12, and M9), real-world evidence, and orphan medicines. Every year, we also include in our discussions some really interesting case studies from industry and academia. Please check out our archive to see presentations from previous years.
Keeping the free spirit
The BioBridges conference is held annually in the stunning city of Prague, at the premises of the oldest Czech university, Charles University. Apart from the symbolic value of the university as a reminder of our constant effort and desire for the never-ending expansion of the knowledge frontiers, we have chosen this particular venue as the most suitable for all three worlds (regulatory, academia and industry) to communicate as freely and openly as possible. In addition to mind- blowing discussions, lunches and coffee breaks, the BioBridges conference also includes an annual networking dinner, which is hosted in a different location each year. Over the years, we have had the pleasure of wining and dining in several beautiful restaurants located in Prague´s magnificent historical center or its close surroundings. We take great care in offering our guests the best possible experience of Prague, as we want to make BioBridges a memorable event in every way.
Our best practices
BioBridges operates on a non-profit basis and is funded solely by a small registration fee from attendees as we want to make sure that the event is financially accessible to a wide panel of industry professionals. This fee is entirely used to cover all expenses related to organization, catering, venue, and other production costs.
We pride ourselves for keeping the BioBridges sponsor-free. The meeting is not sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry or any other party. In this way we can ensure that the discussions and idea exchanges are not driven or anyhow influenced by specific interests of any of the involved parties. Additionally, we ask that commercial materials not be distributed, unless they contribute to the discussions and sharing of experiences.
To keep things friendly and welcoming during the meeting, the attendees’ registration badges only display their names and country of origin. In other words, we do not group our attendees into regulators, academics or industry workers as we would like to minimize biases or prejudice towards any of those groups.
Open to all – Join us!
We are looking forward to welcoming our regular guests as well as new ones, and keep the BioBridges family growing. Feel free to propose any topics for discussion that may interest you.