Bridging boundaries
Innovating, Connecting & Reshaping Drug Repurposing
Barcelona
INTERNATIONAL DRUG REPURPOSING CONFERENCE
Join the first international drug repurposing conference, #iDR24, co-organised by REMEDi4ALL, Beacon and MeRIT on 6-7 March 2024 in Barcelona.
In this global event, key opinion leaders from both the research and patient communities, funders, regulators and representatives from the private sector will participate to collectively advance innovative drug repurposing in Europe and beyond.
Why join this event?
Connect with global experts and key opinion leaders and learn first-hand why and how drug repurposing is fast evolving to revolutionise the medicine development landscape.
Discover benefits
Discover how patient communities, researchers, industry and health authorities can benefit from cutting-edge drug repurposing.
Explore innovative ideas
In collaboration with key stakeholders and experts, explore innovative ideas to remove major roadblocks.
Open discussions
Discuss the current drug repurposing landscape and the challenges its faced with.
Share knowledge
Become part of a wider community that works together and shares knowledge, experiences and best practices.
Who is it for?
PATIENTS
Organisations – Patient champions
RESEARCHERS
Academia – Clinical – Industry – Early Career Researchers
INDUSTRY
Big pharma – Generics – Biotech – SMEs
FUNDERS
Funding programmes – Philanthropic organizations – Payers
IMPACT INVESTORS
POLICY MAKERS & PAYERS
REGULATORY BODIES & HTAs
RESEARCH INFRAESTRUCTURES & SERVICE PROVIDERS
Our Speakers
View some of the people that will be involved…
Vikas P. Sukhatme MD ScD is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Medicine and was dean of Emory School of Medicine from 2017 to 2023. He was previously the Victor J. Aresty Professor of Medicine at Harvard. Sukhatme has over 200 scientific publications in basic science and clinical research cited over 50,000 times. His longstanding interest in cancer currently centers on "outside-of-the-box" approaches for treating advanced cancer and preventing cancer recurrence using repurposed drugs. He is co-founder of a not-for-profit organization, GlobalCures, that aims to promote promising therapies for cancer not being pursued for lack of profitability. These ideas are being advanced at Emory through the Morningside Center for Innovative and Affordable Medicine, where Sukhatme serves as the director. He is a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers.
Don is the Director for Medicines Development at EATRIS and Scientific Lead of the REMEDi4ALL European Platform for Medicines Repurposing. Don previously headed therapeutic development at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the US National Institutes of Health following a 30-year career in academia, biotech, non-disease research foundations and patient care organisations.
Claudia Fuchs joined EURORDIS in September 2022 as Drug Repurposing Project Senior Manager.
Claudia is responsible for the support of EURORDIS’ involvement in projects comprising activities related to medicines research and development, access to therapies, and patient engagement in the medicine life cycle.
In particular, she will coordinate EURORDIS’ contribution to the Horizon Europe-funded project REMEDi4ALL, which aims at building a sustainable drug repurposing platform in Europe with an approach of co-creation amongst researchers, clinicians and patients.
Prior to joining EURORDIS, Claudia worked for more than 10 years as a Biomedical Researcher in the rare disease field. She holds an MSc in Human Physiology and Genetics and a PhD in Neuroscience. Her research was mainly focused on rare neurodevelopmental disorders. During Claudia’s academic career, she was continuously in contact with several patient organisations, and she still works as a scientific supervisor for several of them. Thanks to this active and personal engagement, Claudia has a deep insight into the needs these families and patients have.
In 2020, Claudia decided to switch to a more industry-focused field, with a particular interest in translational research, scientific business development, innovation, and management. She obtained a master’s degree in Management and Innovation and prior to joining EURORDIS, she worked as Senior Project Manager for EU-Opportunities at the South Tyrolean Science and Innovation Park “NOI Techpark”.
Christine Kubiak is Operations Director at ECRIN, overseeing operations, and contributing to strategic development of the organisation, its expansion and capacity building activities.
She has over 30 years of experience in biomedical research; initially as researcher and then as project manager and coordinator of clinical programmes in the pharmaceutical industry, covering the planning, setup and management of multinational clinical trials in various therapeutic areas, and the coordination of multinational teams. Later she worked in an academic clinical trial unit managing projects and the quality system.
At ECRIN since 2006, she played a key role in its development.
She is Pharmacist and has a PhD from University Paris XI in pharmaceutical sciences. She holds a Master in Quality Management from Bordeaux Management School and an Executive MBA from Milano Bicocca University (EMMRI).
Denis Kainov is a professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at NTNU. Kainov's research area is virology. Kainov develops broad-spectrum antiviral agents (BSA) and antiviral drug combinations (BCC). He has published 92 scientific articles.
Kainov received his PhD at the University of Helsinki in 2005. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institut de génétique et de biologie moléculaire et cellulaire (IGBMC) from 2005 to 2007 and at CRP-Santé Luxembourg from 2007 to 2009. He was a researcher and project leader at the University of Helsinki from 2010 to 2016.
Kainov received his PhD at the University of Helsinki in 2005. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institut de génétique et de biologie moléculaire et cellulaire (IGBMC) from 2005 to 2007 and at CRP-Santé Luxembourg from 2007 to 2009. He was a researcher and project leader at the University of Helsinki from 2010 to 2016.
Timetable | Timetable |
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08:00till 08:50 | Registration | |||||||
08:50till 10:30 | Opening plenary - Repurposing of medicines for allRepurposing takes licensed medicines or investigational stage drugs and develops them as treatments for diseases for which they are not currently approved. Drug repurposing holds great promise to meet many of the unmet needs that still afflict patients. However, the full potential of repurposing may stay unrealised due to different systemic barriers. Over the last decade, and particularly since COVID, repurposing has received increased attention and success. New projects and collaborations have been developed globally, with the aim of unlocking the true potential of this alternative model to de novo drug discovery. In this session we will explore the growing impetus for repurposing globally, highlighting the European Commission’s impact in this field through both the newly funded project REMEDi4ALL, and the successful patient-led DevelopAKUre program. We will also examine global initiatives, highlighted particularly by the newly founded collaborative group, MERIT. | |||||||
10:30till 11:00 | Morning break | |||||||
11:00till 12:30 | Opening plenary - The challenge of translationSuccessful translation relies on the clear definition of patient relevant outcomes measures that convince both regulators and payers of the success and value of a new treatment. The establishment of a target product profile (TPP) in the project design phase to guide analysis of critical gaps and the construction of a critical path for project execution are essential steps for this success. In this session, we will illustrate some of the challenges encountered by repurposing projects through the presentation of a real-life case study and bring together different stakeholders to discuss how to tackle the bottlenecks of the drug development process | |||||||
12:30till 14:00 | Lunch break | |||||||
14:00till 15:30 |
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15:30till 16:00 | Afternoon break | |||||||
16:00till 17:30 |
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17:30till 19:00 | Drinks reception / Poster sessions | |||||||
08:30till 09:00 | Registration | |||||||
09:00till 11:00 |
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11:00till 11:30 | Morning break | |||||||
11:30till 12:30 | Getting repurposed drugs to patientsPanel discussion focussing on the routes to market, the existing barriers, and the new initiatives designed to improve the landscape. | |||||||
12:30till 13:30 | Lunch break | |||||||
13:30till 15:00 | Closing plenaryChallenges and opportunities in drug repurposing Presentation of the winning poster from the poster session Panel session: ‘Trick or treat’: Learnings from the LoDoCo case Colchicine is a generic, old, low cost, anti-inflammatory drug used for gout. It was repurposed by Dutch and Australian researchers in the low-dose colchicine (LoDoCo; 0.5 mg) 2 trial for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Groundbreaking results were found and published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine in 2020. The research was co-funded through government and generic medicine companies. Despite the groundbreaking results, researchers and companies involved have not yet filed for market authorization for this new indication in the EU. The main reason is lack of perspective on return of investment for the involved generic companies. In June 2023, a third party – that did not invest in the LoDoCo2 trial – registered colchicine 0.5 mg as LoDoCo® in the USA. The market authorization was partly based on public literature through the 505(b)(2) route and was possible due to the lack of 0.5 mg colchicine in the USA. The retail price for Lodoco® is $621 for a 30-day supply – nearly $21/pill. In this session we will discuss the key learnings from the low-dose colchicine case – including what a viable business case is – for drug repurposing in general. Keynote: From Serendipity to Systemized Drug Repurposing: Unlocking the lifesaving potential of FDA-approved medicines – Grant Mitchell (EveryCure) Sum up and close | |||||||
After the iDR24 the members and observers of the REMEDi4ALL Funders Network will come together to discuss the next steps of the network. Learn more and register here.
Ticketing
There are three different ticket types for this conference. If you are unsure what is your ticket group, please email conference@remedi4all.org.
We appreciate there may be a financial-barrier to small patient groups and patients in attending this conference. We hope to be able to support these individuals in attending where possible. Please get in touch with will@rarebeacon.org to discuss your needs.
FAQs:
Cancellation policy: All cancellations must be received in writing to conference@remedi4all.org 15 calendar days prior to the start of the event (20 February 2024) and will be subject to an administration fee of the ticketing platform. For cancellation after this time – or if the delegate fails to attend the event- no refund of fees may be expected and the amount of the invoice is due. Substitutions are welcome at no extra charge but only until 1 March 2024.
Early Career Researcher: someone who is within eight years of the award of the PhD
Early Bird Tickets
General Admission
This is the most common ticket. Unless you belong to one of the groups listed below, this is the ticket you should select.
€590
Early Bird Tickets
Academia/Clinician & Regulatory/Government
This ticket is reserved for clinicians, academics, scientists, HTAs, regulatory and government bodies.
€290
Early Bird Tickets
Patients, Early Career Researchers & Charities
This ticket is reserved for patient organisations, patients, patient caregivers, students, early career researchers, and charities.
€120
Conference Poster Session: Call for Abstracts
We are thrilled to announce an engaging Poster Session during our upcoming #iDR24 conference, providing a platform to showcase research and innovations in the field of drug repurposing.
Submit your abstract
Abstract Submission Deadline: January 12, 2024
Categories for Poster Submissions
The Patient Voice in Repurposing Research
Cross-border Collaborations in Repurposing
Challenges and Opportunities in Drug Repurposing
Innovative Methods to Identify Repurposing Opportunities
Sponsorship opportunities
Interested in becoming a sponsor of this event?
Showcase your business to a diverse audience, including researchers, the patient community, funders, regulators, and representatives from the private sector. As a sponsor, you'll get unique visibility through strategic logo placements, exhibition space, social media exposure, networking opportunities, and more. Contact our sponsorship team at will@rarebeacon.org to find out more about the various sponsorship packages available.
Contact sponsorship teamRecinte Modernista de Sant Pau
The international drug repurposing conference “Bridging Boundaries: Innovating, Connecting & Reshaping Drug Repurposing” will take place in the Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau (Barcelona) between 6-7 March 2024.
This modernist complex was constructed between 1901 and 1930 by the renowned architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. It is composed of 12 interconnected pavilions and served as a hospital (Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau) until June 2009. In 2014 it opened its doors again, this time as a museum and event space.
Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau
Carrer de Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167
08025 Barcelona
Metro L4
Guinardó | Hospital de Sant Pau
Metro L5
Sant Pau | Dos de Maig
Parking
Pàrquing Saba Hospital Sant Pau
Stay in one of the many hotels nearby
Co-organisers
REMEDi4ALL
REMEDi4ALL is an EU-funded research initiative that is driving forward the repurposing of medicines in Europe.
Beacon for rare diseases
Beacon is a UK-based charity that is building a united rare disease community with patient groups at its heart.
MeRIT
The Medicines Repurposing International Network (MERIT) supports collaboration and communication between publicly funded repurposing initiatives.
Sponsors
LIFEARC
LifeArc is a self-financing medical research charity. Our ambition is to transform the way diseases are identified and treated.
Partners & Associated partners
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