Attend ISPE’s Educational & Product Symposium: September 21-22

The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) is a not-for profit association which seeks to advance the pharmaceutical industry through education and providing members with forums to exchange ideas and practical experience. Maintaining their educational goal, the ISPE will be holding an Educational & Product Symposium on September 21 and 22 in Ottawa, Ontario. As opposed to the Annual General Meeting that they’ve held in previous years, this year’s Symposium will be mainly focused on educating the industry on transformative manufacturing – providing leadership to spur innovative thinking and support new technologies. Among the keynote speakers at this year’s event will be Vern Solomon, President of ISPE Canada Affiliate, along with several other industry leaders.

Educational & Product Symposium Agenda Features

This year’s Symposium will enable attendees to choose a particular ‘track’ that they wish to follow and participate in sessions for a range of topics. While some sessions will encompass the entire group of pharmaceutical professionals, attendees will be able to choose between the CAPEX Track and the Quality & Validation Track to provide a customized education experience. Features of the Symposium are as follows:

Main Keynotes – Not Track Specific

• The Drug Shortage Initiative – John Bournas, President & CEO, ISPE
• Lean Implementation, Challenges & Remedies: Lessons from Life Sciences – Ben Myatt, VP of Operational Excellence, Global GxP Solutions, LLP
• AGM with an Open Discussion Focusing on ISPE Canada Direction and Focus
• Risk Assessment – Julie-Lea Lipszyc, Lead Quality & CAPEX, Therapure Biopharma Inc.
• Industry Keynote – Jason Field, President & CEO, Life Sciences Ontario

Track 1 Keynotes – CAPEX

• Delivery Model
• Disposable Technologies
• How to Write an Effective User Requirement Specification (URS)
• Green Cross Project
• Technology Transfer: Project Management with a Focus on Capital Requirements

Track 2 Keynotes – Quality & Validation

• CQ Validation
• Acceptance Testing & Documentation to Support Validation
• Pharmaceutical Automation: Latest Trends
• Dynamic Simulation to Improve Process

ISPE Symposium Featured Speakers

This year’s Symposium will feature more than a dozen industry-leaders as session hosts, including:

John Bournas – President & CEO for ISPE
Before leading the ISPE, John was the CEO and Executive Director of the World Federation of Haemophilia (WFH). With an extensive list of prior endeavours including a position with the American College of Cardiology and being a former diplomat with postings in Chile, Australia, and Japan, John brings his extensive industry knowledge to the Symposium and will discuss the results of ISPE’s Drug Shortages Initiative.

Ben Myatt – Vice-President of Operational Excellence for Global GxP Solutions, LLC
Global GxP is a consulting company which specializes in delivering quality systems, operational excellence solutions, and compliance for clients in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. Bringing over 23 years of experience to the Symposium, Ben will share his knowledge of building quality systems and processes through increasing productivity and reducing costs. As a certified Lean Sigma Blackbelt, his presentation on Lean Implementation will be a highlight of this event.

Safa’a Al-Rais – Senior Director of Venture Management for Therapure Biopharma Inc.
With over ten years of practical and senior-level management experience, Safa’a will bring his combined knowledge of the automotive and pharmaceutical industries to discuss project management with a focus on capital requirements. Therapure Biopharma, an industry leader in manufacturing biologics for medical use, recently received up to $20 million in Canadian government funding through an Advanced Manufacturing Fund loan. Read their government funding success story on Mentor Works’ blog.

Register for ISPE’s Educational & Product Symposium

When: September 21-22, 2015
Where: Ottawa Conference and Event Centre; 200 Coventry Rd, Ottawa, K1K 4S3
Cost: ISPE Member – $150; Non-member – $250. Optional daily activities extra.

Canadian Government Funding for the Pharmaceutical Industry

The Government of Canada has released a variety of Canadian government grants and loans which pharmaceutical manufacturers can use for a variety of business initiatives. Therapure Biopharma, represented at this event by Senior Director of Venture Management Safa’a Al-Rais received up to $20 million for their development of PlasmaCap EBA – a revolution in biopharma equipment. Aside from the Advanced Manufacturing Fund, several Canadian government funding programs exist for hiring and training employees, as well as research and development activities.

For more assistance with government funding programs, view our article on the Business Funding Cycle or contact a Government Funding Planner.