The best students at the ninth Regional BioCamp awarded

By announcing the most promising students, the ninth Regional BioCamp that hosted in Ljubljana 35 young talents from more than ten countries, is successfully concluded.
This year, the participants of the three-day forum explored neuroscience and addressed the challenges and opportunities that the future of the treatment of neurological diseases brings.
The winners of the Regional BioCamp 2019 are Alen Krajnc, Staša Stanković, Ardita Veseli and Jurij Zdovc.

22. 5. 2019

At the ninth consecutive Regional BioCamp, Novartis in Slovenia hosted 35 most talented students of natural sciences and this year, for the first time, also students with a background in social sciences. Among them, the expert panel selected four best performing individuals who stood out in the competitive part of the forum, according to the way they worked and applied their innovative thinking, and one winning team that presented the best case study. The winners of this year’s Regional BioCamp are Alen Krajnc from the University of Oxford, Staša Stanković from the University of Cambridge and Ardita Veseli and Jurij Zdovc from Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana. The members of the winning team were Udita Bagchi, Raul Adrian Da Costa Graterol, Rok Hribšek, Maša Korošec, Ilijana Sedlo, Ardita Veseli and Anže Zidar.

The central theme of the Regional BioCamp 2019 was »Neuroscience Today and Tomorrow«. The students learned about the opportunities and challenges that the future treatment of neurological diseases brings, and the development of new therapies for patients with neurological and other diseases. The future scientists listened to top Novartis and Sandoz experts and lecturers from university clinics and faculties, while a migraine patient shared her experience with this condition.

Challenge for the participants – digital therapeutics

At this year’s event for the first time, the participants were given the opportunity to work on a real case involving digital therapeutics under the auspices of the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research (NIBR). When elaborating a case study, they were testing and developing their own business mindset, innovation and communication skills and other abilities to take part in the teamwork. Their case studies were presented to the members of an expert panel who listened to the presentations, assessed their work and announced the best team and the best performing individuals.

Ivan Ďurovčík, member of the Lek Board of Management and a member of the expert panel at the Regional BioCamp 2019, said after the assessment: "The participants proved that they are very innovative, creative and ready to tackle the challenges and areas that may even be unfamiliar to them. The task was not easy as digital therapeutics are still quite new. Therefore, I was even more excited about their ideas and solutions."

The winners aid after the event:

"For each of the 35 participants of the Regional BioCamp 2019, it was already a great honor to be chosen among all the applicants. My win at this event represents only an additional prize. There was a lot of teamwork, so winning is the result of my good work and good cooperation with the team. That is why I thank them, because without them I would not be among the winners," said Alen Krajnc.

"I would not be able to win without the team, because other people are the ones who draw the best from the individual. I was a member of an extremely positive and highly motivated team and they encouraged me to give my best. The win is my success, but it is also the success of the whole team," explained Ardita Veseli.

"I did not expect to win. To a large extent, I have to thank the team because we had very good energy and each one contributed an equal part to the final solution. We talked a lot and listened to each other, which in many cases can be a problem in everyday life. I also enjoyed learning about myself as I was placed in a situation that is not familiar to me. We will definitely stay in touch with the BioCamp participants, maybe also work on a project together," said Jurij Zdovc.

"Participation at the Regional BioCamp 2019 was an excellent experience for us, as the event brought together very diverse people from different cultures and professional backgrounds. It was a step outside of our comfort zones, because it allowed us to enter an unfamiliar environment, and thus gave us an opportunity for personal growth," said the members of the winning team.

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Novartis is the leading provider of medicines in Slovenia, where Lek, Novartis Pharma Services and Sandoz, operate. Together we are building and maintaining the reputation of a dynamic, ethical, and trusted pharmaceutical company. Lek develops, manufactures, and markets effective, safe, and high quality medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients. With our knowledge, quality, and experience we have gained an important role in Novartis' organizational structure, especially in the Novartis Technical Operations, Global Drug Development, Novartis Business Services, and the generic division Sandoz. We are the leading Sandoz development center, and one of the key development sites for technologically complex projects. We invest a great deal in the development, education, and training of our employees. Novartis invested in Slovenia more than EUR 2 billion since 2003. More than half of this investment has been devoted to development, and the rest to modernize and expand our production capacities.

About Sandoz
Sandoz, a Novartis division, is a global leader in generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars and a pioneer in the emerging field of prescription digital therapeutics. Our purpose is to pioneer access to healthcare by developing and commercializing novel, affordable approaches that address unmet medical need. Our broad portfolio of high-quality medicines, covering all major therapeutic areas and increasingly focused on value-adding differentiated medicines, accounted for 2018 sales of USD 9.9 billion. Sandoz is headquartered in Holzkirchen, in Germany’s Greater Munich area.

About Novartis

Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people’s lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world’s top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach more than 750 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 105 thousand people of more than 140 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Find out more at 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 additional information contact:
Katarina Klemenc
Corporate Communications
Lek Pharmaceuticals d. d.
Phone: +386 1 580 22 43
Fax: +386 1 580 24 32
katarina.klemenc@sandoz.com