The second Social Awareness Workshop of SECRETed project took place on September 26th, 2024, at Farmaforum, one of the biggest fairs for Pharma, Cosmetic, Nutraceutical and other related industries. The workshop was hosted by Blue Synergy and Idener.ai, with the collaboration of Fundación para el Conocimiento Madri+d and Enterprise Europe Network Spain, who helped secure the space for the workshop at Farmaforum.
In a Nutshell
Titled “From Concept to Scale-Up: Harnessing Biosurfactants with Model-Assisted Development” and presented by Idener’s Manuel Salvador and Blue Synergy’s Sebastián Ospina, the workshop gave the attendees a glimpse into the SECRETed Project’s vision and goals, as well as its most recent developments; an introduction to the potential of marine biotech in relation to the biosurfactants and siderophores integrated management platform; the future of Green Chemistry in Pharma and how harnessing biosurfactants may contribute to a sustainable drug development; and an overview of encapsulation innovations, with the objective of creating more sustainable Drug Delivery Systems. Thus, the workshop had a variety of interesting topics for researchers and decision-makers in the Pharma, Cosmetic and Nutraceutical industries
The presentations
The first presentation covered the SECRETed project goals; its technical challenges; the key findings; the innovative approaches, such as Machine Learning and combinatorial simulations; and the sustainability assessments carried out.
The second presentation was about sustainability in Pharma and consumer preferences, such as an increase in consumer demand for eco-friendly medicines; Green Chemistry in drug production that includes safer, sustainable chemicals and reducing waste; R&D efficiency, through the implementation of tools such AI for bioprospecting; and a future outlook of the implementation of these practices in Pharma.
The third presentation centered around Data Collection; the use of QSAR/QSPR models; the industrial relevance represented in the optimization of production processes; and the database expansion with over 1,300 biosurfactants and 480 siderophores, and more than 1,700 defined molecular structures. The presentation highlighted how SECRETed has developed one of the largest and most detailed databases of biosurfactants and siderophores, aligning with Europe’s green chemistry goals, offering valuable insights for industrial applications and future innovations.
Finally, the fourth presentation covered the topics of sustainable encapsulation; Rhamnolipids production in Pharma and its environmental impact; and the RNAi formulation progress.
A promising platform
The SECRETed second social awareness workshop at Farmaforum Madrid allowed the project to showcase its goals and vision, as well as its key findings and future prospects to an audience of specialized researchers and representatives from industries such as Pharma, Cosmetic and Nutraceutical. Additionally, the presence of SECRETed at Farmaforum also allowed for networking activities with interested parties from the mentioned industries.
