PFR BioMed Academy is an international educational initiative dedicated to promising companies that are meant to become leaders of the Polish pharmaceutical and medical industry.

During weekly workshops in Warsaw, conducted by the program partners including the largest Polish pharmaceutical companies, representatives of public and private health care sector, medical startups and industry experts. Qualified teams will gain practical skills tailored to the development stage of their company in the following areas:

• building a business plan and an effective business strategy;
• product development in medical and pharmaceutical industry;
• practical knowledge about available project financing opportunities and establishing investor relations;
• communication in the medical and pharmaceutical industry;
• legal aspects and regulations;
• effective financial management in the company.

In the Polish part of the initiative, you will gain the most up-to-date knowledge, business skills and industry know-how. With the help of practitioners, you will develop solutions for your company. Workshops will also be an opportunity to broaden industry contacts and to establish relationships with potential investors.

After the training in Poland, teams will take part in the International Mission in Great Britain, coordinated by the British Embassy – the main partner of the program. They will be focused on the requirements and characteristics of the British medical and pharmaceutical market. Additionally, participants will also build an international network of contacts with companies at a similar stage of development that develop new technologies on the British market.

The initiative will be summarized by the Final Gala in Warsaw, during which you will have the chance to present your improved solution to a group of investors from Poland and the UK and gain their interest in the product or service you develop.

We are looking for companies from the pharmaceutical and medical industry which:

• are registered in Poland and operate no longer than seven years from the first commercial sale, 
• work on innovative medicinal products, medical products or services supporting the preclinical or clinical development of innovative medicines.

If you are developing a medicinal product or a medical device and you would like to apply to the program, you need to fulfil the following conditions:

• own the full intellectual property rights to the invention being developed or have an unlimited temporarily and territorially exclusive license;
• have at least a proof of concept step and be able to prove the possibility of achieving the results you want.

Companies providing services supporting the pre-clinical or clinical development of innovative medicines must identify at least two potential clients through letters of intent.

In order to submit an application, you need to complete the application form until 26 May 2019. You can do this by creating a user profile on the startup.pfr.pl.

The next stage will be a meeting or telephone conversation with a recruitment team consisting of industry experts and representatives of investment funds. The selected teams will be informed by e-mail about the next step and asked to declare a representation that will take part in the workshops in Warsaw and one person who will represent the company in the foreign mission.

In the final part, 15 medical companies (the Medtech route) and 5 pharmaceutical companies (the Biotech route) will be qualified. Workshops with industry experts in Poland will take place in June, and a mission to the United Kingdom will be held at the beginning of July 2019. The initiative will end with the presentation of companies during the Final Gala no later than four months after the end of the International Mission.

Remember that the prize covers costs related to a foreign trip for one team member, including: travel, training, accommodation and half board costs. The organizers do not cover the costs of travel, accommodation and meals during workshops taking place in Poland.