News
With the start of the academic year at Ghent University, also the new S-DISCO students started today with their first semester courses. After an intensive summer school last week, with some pleasant social moments, they are ready for this new adventure. We wish them all an enjoyable and interesting semester at UGent Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences!
Currently ongoing (also online): second WHO symposium on the future of health systems in a digital era. Generative artificial intelligence (AI), digital health, big data, One Health digitals technologies, … : sustainability of health systems by intelligent data use.
A new UN publication highlights the importance of sustainable wastewater (WW) treatment for a healthy planet. One of the main classes of emerging pollutants in the WW are pharmaceuticals. The reuse or environmental release of insufficiently treated WW increases the risk of pharmaceutical pollution, undermining human and ecosystem health. Advanced WW treatment techniques can only partially remove […]
❗️ APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN ❗️ Applications for the S-DISCO programme (starting September 2024) are now open! The application deadline for EMJM scholarship students is 1st of December 2023. Self-funded students can apply until 31st of January 2024, but early submissions are encouraged. Please check our website for more information about the programme and the application […]
After the second round of applications (deadline March 31 2023), we are happy to announce that the total number of applications has increased to 696. From these, 27 students received a letter of acceptance from the S-DISCO consortium; 22 of them were granted an EMJM scholarship. Applications for the next academic year (2024-2025) will be […]
Last month, our students organized the first Sustainable Drug Discovery (S-DISCO) Days in Gdańsk, Poland. This yearly international scientific conference aims to raise awareness and expand the knowledge on sustainability in drug discovery for students, scientists and experts from various institutions and industries. We would like to thank the students for the perfect organization, the […]
Today is Europe Day! On 9 May every year we celebrate peace and unity in Europe. How will you celebrate the occasion?
End of April, the European Commission has released its proposal for major change in the human pharmaceutical legislation, undoubtedly making the system more sustainable. One of the key changes is the importance of the environmental risk assessment (ERA), in line with the European Green Deal. The ERA rightfully now becomes a possible reason for not […]
During the first round of applications for the academic year of 2023-2024, 672 valid applications were received for our Master in Sustainable Drug Discovery (SDISCO) programme requesting an EMJM scholarship. These applications are now being thoroughly evaluated. Each applicant will receive their result before the end of this month if they are selected for the […]
In our recent publication green chemistry principles were applied to the preparation of an analytical reagent. The functionality and cost-efficiency were included to evaluate sustainability. A Derringer desirability function was used to obtain a sustainability score. Replacing acetonitrile by ethanol resulted in the most sustainable reagent. Other factors were of less influence on the total […]
With the introduction of the FDA modernization act 2.0, animal testing in drug development is no longer an absolute requirement in the US. Is this a step forward to more sustainable drug development?
In the first semester, the S-DISCO students had the pleasure to follow several guest lectures during the courses. In the course ‘Pharmaceuticals in the Environment’, prof. Adrian Covaci (University of Antwerp) talked about the wastewater-based epidemiology of psychoactive compounds, thereby combining multiple disciplines for this study. For the course ‘Sustainable Landscape of Pharmaceutical Discovery’, 3 […]
The ubiquitous presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment contributes to biodiversity threats. Their presence and bioactivity in plants, invertebrates, (soil)microorganisms, fish and other vertebrates may influence the genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. Novel and global approaches are urgently needed to cope with the historical pollution and minimize future contaminations. UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15), 7 […]
The S-DISCO programme challenges students beyond just lectures. In the spirit of learning by doing, students explore how plants and animals react to environmental exposure to pharmaceuticals during practical exercises. Sounds interesting? Apply for the programme today!
We need to apply a One Health approach to cope with antimicrobial resistance: all sectors must actively be involved in strengthening preventive measures. This includes development and access to safe vaccines, rational use of antimicrobials, sound antimicrobials waste management and discovery of novel targets to develop safer medicines. World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) is celebrated […]
During the 18th EPSA Autumn Assembly in Athens, we had the opportunity to present the S-DISCO program to the European Pharmaceutical students attending the congress. During an interactive session on sustainability in drug discovery, DruQuaR scientist Kevin Van der borght discussed with the students how to implement sustainability in the earliest phases of the drug […]
Today, the S-DISCO students visited the Ecotron of UHasselt, for the course ´Sustainable Landscape of Drug Discovery’. There, the effects of future climate on agroecosystems are investigated and new mitigation strategies explored. Thank you prof. Francois Rineau for this very interesting visit!
As a consequence of the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017, a draft guidance about competitive generic therapy (CGT) is published with the aim to incentivize generic competition in USA. The designation of medicine as CGT, the request for designation, the expedited review and the 180 days exclusivity period are explained in this draft guideline (rev.1). […]
EMA and the Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA) have recently issued a joint statement confirming that biosimilar medicines approved in the European Union (EU) are interchangeable with their reference medicine or with an equivalent biosimilar. Interchangeability of biosimilars without additional clinical trials required will improve the global accessibility of biological medicines.
On Monday, September 19th, the very first group of S-DISCO students started their journey of learning and sharing knowledge with the summer school at GhentUniversity. The summer school is packed with introductory sessions to prepare them for the official start of lectures. Throughout the week, the students had the opportunity to get to know the […]
The Young MedChem Forum (YMCF) of the Société de Chimie Thérapeutique (SCT) is organizing its second AskMeAnything session on September 22 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for doctoral and post-doctoral students in medicinal and organic chemistry. Registration before September 20 https://forms.gle/yTM8nWExNxwPiPqe7 Follow the YMCF on LinkedIn and Twitter.
📣 APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN Applications for the S-DISCO programme (starting September 2023) are now open! The application deadline for scholarship and self-funded students is 31 January 2023, but early submissions are encouraged.
The WHO published an interesting position paper to realize the 2022-2031 neurological disorder action plan. It provides a conceptual framework how brain health can be optimized throughout life, and states i.a. that access to high-quality, safe and affordable neurological essential medicines are essential for optimizing brain health as they can reduce mortality and morbidity and […]
Ending AIDS in children by 2030: a new global alliance set up by UNAIDS, UNICEF, WHO, civil society organisations, international partners and 12 national governments. Pillars for collective actions are identified to close the treatment gap between adults (three quarters on therapy) and children (only half on therapy), including implementing measures to reduce the risk […]
Groningen University ranks 3rd on the 2021 Sustainable University Ranking. Certainly an inspirational setting for hosting the third semester of the S-DISCO program!
FDA issued a draft guidance in July 2022 on “dose banding”: one of the many factors that may reduce drug waste from single-dose vials used for exact weight or BSA (body surface area) based dosing.
Biodiversity loss: importance, challenges and opportunities as viewed by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services are summarized in the most recent IPBES report (assessment of the sustainable use of wild species; July 2022) … reflections also for the pharmaceutical community, that must lead to concrete actions.
We were delighted to host, in June, at the school of Pharmacy Lille UFR3S, Dr. István KÖTELES, International coordinator for the Faculty of Pharmacy at Semmelweis University (Budapest). During the meeting, the S-DISCO master program was presented by Dr Christophe Furman. Bachelor students will be invited to apply for the S-DISCO program. Next year we […]
Last week the Pharmacy Institute of the University of Groningen invited the rector with delegation from Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung Indonesia. During the meeting the S-DISCO master program was presented by the program director prof Frank Dekker. Medicine waste is a huge issue in Indonesia and there is currently little attention for eco-toxicity in the pharmacy […]
“Our ambition is clear: first, to provide all patients across Europe with timely and equal access to affordable, high-quality, safe and green medicines.” In her speech at the Medicines for Europe 2022 Annual Conference, EU Commissioner Stella Kyriakides recognizes the crucial importance of sustainable medicines. S-DISCO strongly endorses this ambition, not only in Europe, but […]
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