Prague – September 1, 2020:  During the visit to Zentiva on August 27, 2020 in Prague, a government delegation led by Czech Republic's Prime Minister Andrej Babiš met with the representatives of The Parc, The Pharmaceutical Applied Research Centre, and representatives of academic institutions involved in the project.  

“We discussed The Parc with participating academic institutions and we agreed that our government and the Research, Development and Innovation Council are certainly interested in supporting it. It is important mainly for students, but also science and research in healthcare”, posted Prime Minister Andrej Babis on his twitter account. This marks the beginning of a partnership between both parties who agreed to pursue the discussion in the near future.

The government delegation led by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš also included Minister of Health Adam Vojtěch, epidemiologist and Government Commissioner for Science and Research Roman Prymula and CzechInvest representatives, CEO, Patrik Reichl and Hana Chlebná, Business development manager. The Parc project was introduced by Pavel Šebek, Development Director of Zentiva, Professor František Štěpánek, The Parc´s Scientific Director and Ondřej Dammer, Operational Director of The Parc and Senior scientist in Zentiva, and academic partners of The Parc: Professor Jan Konvalinka, Vice-Rector for Research, Charles University, Prof. Pavel Matějka, Rector, University of Chemistry and Technology and Dr. Zdeněk Hostomský, Director of Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, CAS. Zentiva´s team was led by Nick Haggar, CEO Zentiva, Soňa Porubská, General Manager of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and Martin Albert, Head of New Products.   

“At Zentiva, we are passionate supporters of The Parc that bridges the gap between theoretical Science and what happens in the real life in Pharma. We are very proud of the results and the excellent work this research cluster bring for the development of the next generations of scientists and engineers to make the Czech Republic even stronger in pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing”, said Nick Haggar, CEO Zentiva.

Initiated by Zentiva, The Parc was created in association with three academic partners: the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague; the Faculty of Science of Charles University; and the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences. This highly successful initiative has brought rising talent together with leading pharmaceutical and academic experts, to accelerate innovation in drug research & development. The Parc provides world-class graduate academic education combined with practical hands-on industrial and business experience under the leadership of scientists, engineers, and managers both from academia and the pharmaceutical industry. 

“The Parc represents a research platform connecting the entire process of drug development from the search for solid forms of active substances, through preformulation experiments, pharmaceutical technologies to clinical testing and production. Currently, 33 doctoral students are participating in this program. Since its inception, 13 students have successfully graduated, 6 of whom joined Zentiva, 2 continue their academic careers and expand The Parc network of pharmaceutical researchers, and 5 graduates work in leading pharmaceutical companies in the Czech Republic and abroad, said the scientific director of The Parc, said Prof. Stepanek

The Parc collaborates with the best universities in the field in Europe and provides students with the opportunity for international research stays and collaborations. Its members also participate in two pan-European projects under the EU Horizon 2020 program. The Parc presented plans for building its research center in Zentiva's industrial park. The new laboratories would enable The Parc further increase scientific output and verification of the academic concepts on a larger pilot scale, which can be directly used for industrial applications. The research center will also provide space for the establishment and development of pharmaceutical start-up companies.

“CzechInvest is delighted to have taken part in the successful development of The Parc since its inception. The project has already demonstrated beneficial outputs from the application of cutting edge expertise and technologies, producing high calibre graduates and a number of patent applications. CzechInvest will work closely with the Government to secure public funding to advance The Parc project’s infrastructure as well as assisting start-ups in furthering their development”, said Patrik Reichl, CEO CzechInvest.

For more information about The Parc,  Faculty of Science of Charles University, the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of Czech Academy of Sciences , the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, and Zentiva, please visit the websites.