Win the Pivot Park Valorisation Award

Are you at the base of the next breakthrough in the treatment of cancer? Pivot Park challenge you to think about how you would like to valorise your idea! Which steps would you like to take in valorisation of your innovation? What are the challenges? 

Present your idea to a group of both scientific and entrepreneurial experts and get the chance to present during the Pivot Oncology Conference (November 21st). The idea that has the best potential for valorisation will win:

• Membership of the Pivot Park Community and direct access to an incredible amount of expertise on pharmaceutical research & development and entrepreneurship
• 500,- euros
• A mini-break in Oss 

In case you would like to participate Picot Parks asks you to send in an abstract (1/2 A4 maximum) containing the elements:

• What's your idea?
• How would you like to valorise this?

Scientific committee
The scientific Committee comprises
Stan van Boeckel - Chief Scientific Officer Pivot Park and Pivot Park Screening Centre
With more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Stan van Boeckel was appointed Chief Scientific Officer of Pivot Park. His experience ranges from small molecules to bioconjugates. Among other accomplishments, his work at Organon led to the introduction of the new antithrombotic drug Arixtra®. From 1997‐2004 he was responsible for a new Lead Discovery Unit at Organon comprising HTS facilities, assay development and Hit-to- Lead Chemistry. In the period 2004‐2011 he was Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Organon/ MSD in Oss. He received his doctorate in bio‐organic chemistry in 1982 at Leiden University. He has held a professorship at Leiden University since 1993.

Floris van Delft - Founder & Chief Scientific Officer Synaffix
Floris held a position as Associate Professor at the Radboud University Nijmegen, with special focus on click chemistry and protein conjugation technologies, before shifting his professional activities full-time from academic research to Synaffix in 2012.  Earlier appointments involved a postdoctoral research position at the Scripps Research Institute (San Diego, USA) and an assistant professorship at the University of Amsterdam.  Floris received his MSc and PhD (cum laude) from Leiden University (the Netherlands) in carbohydrate chemistry and stereoselective synthesis.  He has authored >130 peer-reviewed publications, 14 patents and serves as the Professor of Bioconjugate Chemistry at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Andrea van Elsas - Chief Scientific Officer Aduro Biotech Europe
Andrea van Elsas became Chief Scientific Officer of Aduro Biotech Europe in November 2015.  Prior to its acquisition by Aduro in 2015, Dr. Andrea van Elsas co-founded BioNovion and served as Chief Scientific Officer focusing on the development of innovative therapeutic antibodies in the field of immune oncology.  From 1999 to 2011, he held numerous positions at Organon in Oss, Netherlands, and Cambridge, Massachusetts (acquired by Schering-Plough Corporation in 2007 and later by Merck & Co.), and as the Director of Tumor Immunology he ran the immune oncology portfolio including the program that later became known as pembrolizumab. As a postdoctoral researcher from 1997-1999, Andrea worked at the University of California, Berkeley, studying antibodies blocking CTLA-4 for the treatment of cancer and is a co-inventor on the original patents that formed the basis for the development of Yervoy® (ipilimumab), the first checkpoint inhibitor approved in 2011 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of melanoma.  

Allard Kaptein - Executive Vice President – Discovery Acerta Pharma
Allard Kaptein is one of the founders of Acerta Pharma. As Executive Vice President of Discovery, he is responsible for new targets / programs for the company. Before Acerta, Dr Kaptein led the Lead Optimization activities for the reversible BTK inhibitor program at Merck & Co. Previously, he led the program on the covalent BTK inhibitor at Schering Plough that resulted in the identification of a Preclinical Candidate now known as acalabrutinib. Dr Kaptein joined the pharmaceutical industry in 1994 and worked in different project and line management positions in at Glaxo (Wellcome), Organon, Schering Plough and MSD, on cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease and oncology. Dr Kaptein studied Biotechnology at the Agricultural University Wageningen, The Netherlands and received his PhD in Biopharmaceutical Sciences at the Gaubius Institute TNO, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Submit your abstract via communications@pivotpark.com before October 15th.
For the latest information please visit Pivot Park.