The second promotion of the Master's Degree in management of Pharma-Biotech Companies celebrated last 10th of December its graduation ceremony at the Campus of Madrid of the University of Navarra. Thirty students completed the programme after a academic year of classes and internships.

The guest of honour, Juan José Toribio, Professor Emeritus of IESE's Economics , began the ceremony by congratulating the graduates for their hard work and dedication, as well as their families: "The success you have achieved in passing this programme is largely down to your parents," he said. "You have the challenge of facing a global employment regime of skill international as a consequence of the distance work that COVID-19 has brought and I will be delighted to see you again when you ask me, to talk again about this exciting future ahead of us". Juan José Toribió confessed that he felt a "healthy envy" for the graduates, who face challenges that are "so unfamiliar and yet so fascinating". 

Juan María Carralero, course delegate, also sent a message of congratulations to his colleagues: "It is in difficult times that the real value of people is seen, and we have shown a lot. In a year when the pandemic has stopped the world, we have bet on our Education, a round of applause for us! 

The dean of the School Pharmacy and Nutrition Department, María Javier Ramírez, and the director of Master's Degree, Juan Manuel Irache, also took part in the event, thanking the students for having placed their trust in the programme and apologising for any mistakes or errors that may have affected the students. They also thanked academic staff for their involvement in project.

The research and the training

The graduation was held after the defence of the Final Projects Master's Degree. Among them, topics such as the status market access of orphan drugs in Spain, the optimisation of physician engagement through mailing, the impact of COVID-19 on hepatitis C and the evolution of the patient journey of the patient with ovarian cancer were analysed.

The students combined the research of the work Fin de Master's Degree - where they tackled theoretical, practical and business case projects - with professional internships, which they have developed in Abbott, Abbvie, Advantal pharma, Alacrita, Antares, Ascendo, Axispharma, Bioinnova, CantabriaLabs, Galderma, GSK, Health in code, Janssen, KPMG, Meisys, Sandwalk, Shionogi, Simon Kucher and Vicomtech.

During the internship, students have worked in different Departments: Brand Manager, Business Insights, consultancy service, eHealth and Applications, Medical Information, Market Access, Marketing (COVID, immunology, neuromodulation), Medical Affairs, Medical Oncology, Patient Advocacy, Project Manager and Projects.