Participants in top scientific event enthusiastic about knowledge and experience gained

Winners of the first Alpe-Adria Regional BioCamp announced

1. 6. 2011

At the first regional BioCamp Alpe-Adria, which was held by Lek, a Sandoz company, from May 29 to 31, 2011 in Ljubljana with 35 of the most promising young science students from the Alpe-Adria region, the individual winners of the competition section of the three-day forum are Véronique Bos from Netherlands, who is studying at the Management Center Innsbruck in Austria, and Klemen Španinger from Slovenia, who is a phd student of biomedicine at the Faculty of Medicine in Ljubljana. The winning team are: Ana Ogrinc (Slovenia), Biljana Govedarica (Slovenia), Matej Žnidarič (Slovenia), Matjaž Ravnikar (Slovenia), Samra Hasanbašić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Véronique Bos (Netherlands) and Vita Majce (Slovenia). The members of the winning team received a special prize for their work, while the individual winners will participate in the Novartis International Biotechnology Leadership Campus (BioCamp) 2011 in Basel, Switzerland.

BioCamp offers young scientists insight into the pharmaceutical industry and entrepreneurship through presentations and tours. At the same time, it gives them an opportunity to actively participate and test themselves in teamwork by developing case studies and in transferring already acquired knowledge into practice. The selection of the best team and the two individual winners was based on the participants’ collaboration in business-oriented team tasks. Olga Lipič, Head of Talent Development at Lek, a Sandoz company, assessed the case studies on “How to develop and launch a pharmaceutical product” as a member of the selection committee for the winners of the competition section of the Regional BioCamp 2011: “We wanted to show the participants, who have already excelled in their studies, what it is like to work together in culturally and professionally diverse teams and in a results-oriented business environment. And in fact they are all winners. The event was also an opportunity for mutual exchanges of knowledge. We truly enjoyed meeting these promising students and learning what is important to them for their further development”.

Véronique Bos and Klemen Španinger outperformed the competition in developing the case study on “How to develop and launch a pharmaceutical product”, and according to the committee’s explanation, were outstanding in the ability to connect science and business, implement creative thinking and motivate the team.

Véronique Bos, who comes from the Netherlands and studies at the Management Centre in Innsbruck, Austria, said: »I believe that my success and award was in large part due to the efforts of the entire team with whom I worked. All team members felt very relaxed and therefore we had the best possible opportunity for optimum performance. I was delighted to receive this award, both for myself and for the team. The whole event was outstanding and really well organised«.

Klemen Španinger from Slovenia, a phd student of biomedicine at the Medical Faculty, Ljubljana, described the first Regional BioCamp with the words: »My mentor at the faculty, Prof. Dr Radovan Komel, encouraged me to apply for the Regional BioCamp 2011. Parallel to my biomedical studies I am becoming increasingly interested in the world of business. I was very happy to be selected and invited to participate at the BioCamp. My team and I were confronted by the preparation and the presentation of the business plan late into the night. Without an excellent team I certainly would not have become one of the two winners of this year’s BioCamp. With regard to the organisation of this three-day event I have to give credit to the entire Lek team for excellent organisation«.

The best team was chosen on the basis of the plausability and creativeness of their solution, their ability to combine the scientific and business aspects and how well they worked as a team.

The members of the winning team agreed unanimously: »Our success was undoubtedly the result of the excellent teamwork. The strong team spirit inspired each individual member to produce his/her best, which is evident from the achieved result. The entire BioCamp was all in all a very valuable experience, both from the organisational point of view as well as from the networking point of view for the young talented students«.

As mentioned above, the individual winners of the Regional BioCamp 2011 will join the participants at the annual Novartis International BioCamp, which will be held at the end of August this year in Basel, Switzerland. There, they will participate in a three-day seminar with top young science professionals from around the world, gaining new knowledge and experience and learning about trends in the fields of biotechnology and biopharmacy.

The first Regional BioCamp Alpe-Adria in Ljubljana included 35 undergraduate and graduate students from seven countries: 23 participants from Slovenia and 12 from abroad, including two each from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Austria and Italy.

The Regional BioCamp Alpe-Adria 2011 was seen by both the speakers and the participants as an exceptionally good opportunity which builds on previous cooperation between science and industry.

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Lek, a Sandoz company, is one of the pillars of leading world generics company Sandoz. Its role within Sandoz is to act as: a global development center for products and technologies; a global manufacturing center for active pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines; a competence center for the development of vertically integrated products; a Sandoz competence center in the field of development and manufacturing of biosimilar products; and, a supply center for the markets of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), South East Europe (SEE) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and it is responsible for sales on the Slovenian market. For further information please visit http://www.lek.si/eng/.

Sandoz, a Division of the Novartis group, is a global leader in the field of generic pharmaceuticals, offering a wide array of high-quality, affordable products that are no longer protected by valid and enforceable third-party patents. Sandoz has a portfolio of approximately 1000 compounds and sells its products in about 130 countries. Key product groups include cardiovascular medicines, anti-infectives, treatments for central nervous system and alimentary tract disorders, oncology and respiratory therapies, as well as medications for blood and blood forming organ disorders. Sandoz develops, produces and markets these medicines along with pharmaceutical and biotechnological active substances. In addition to strong organic growth in recent years, Sandoz has made a series of acquisitions including Lek (Slovenia), Sabex (Canada), Hexal (Germany), Eon Labs (US), EBEWE Pharma (Austria), and Oriel Therapeutics (US). In 2010, Sandoz employed more than 23,000 people (full-time equivalents) worldwide and achieved net sales of USD 8,5 billion for the full year.

Novartis provides healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Focused solely on healthcare, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, consumer health products, preventive vaccines and diagnostic tools. Novartis is the only company with leading positions in these areas. In 2010, the Group’s continuing operations achieved net sales of USD 50.6 billion, while approximately USD 9.1 billion (USD 8.1 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges) was invested in R&D throughout the Group. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ approximately 119,000 full-time-equivalent associates and operate in more than 140 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.novartis.com.

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This press release contains statements and conclusions based on projections of Lek’s future business operations. These estimates are derived from the best information currently available. In case these forecasts prove unreliable, the actual results could prove different from those projected.

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For further information contact:
Katarina Klemenc
Corporate Communications
Lek Pharmaceuticals d.d.
Phone: + 386 1 580 22 43
Fax: + 386 1 580 24 32
communications.lek@sandoz.com