Olympiad for the Faculty of Pharmacy of Ryazan State Medical University jointly with OCTAPHARMA-PHARMIMEX LLC

OCTAPHARMA-PHARMIMEX LLC and the Faculty of Pharmacy of Ryazan State Medical University have established a relationship to advance the study of Pharmaceutical Technology in their University. The main goal of the cooperation is to train highly qualified personnel for future work at the pharmaceutical site which will be constructed in the Ryazan region, as well as to increase the interest of students of the Pharmacy faculty to choose a specialization in the field of pharmaceutical technologies.

A unique experience for the Faculty of Pharmacy of Ryazan State Medical University was the holding of a student Olympiad jointly with OCTAPHARMA-PHARMIMEX LLC. To reach the final stage of the Olympiad, students had to first go through a theoretical and a practical stage. In the final round, the contestants had to defend their own scientific projects that can be applied to pharmaceutical production.

At the first stage of Olympiad, students solved tasks compiled by university professors. The tests mixed questions from different disciplines that students had already studied - microbiology, pharmaceutical chemistry, analytical chemistry, pharmaceutical technology. A large block of questions for 4th and 5th grade students was related specifically to the peculiarities of pharmaceutical technology and quality control of the products produced from human blood plasma.

At the second stage of the Olympiad, representatives of OCTAPHARMA-PHARMIMEX LLC proposed to conduct practical tasks for the 4th and 5th grade students - to prepare and analyze the pharmaceutical form “solution for injection”. The basis of the task was solutions of glucose and magnesium sulfate, where each of the solutions has its own technological features that had to be taken into account to calculate the amount of components in the solution. For example, glucose is a powder that always contains moisture, the percentage of moisture must be taken into account in the calculation, otherwise the concentration of the solution will be wrong. In addition, the glucose solution contains a special stabilizing compound that prevents the oxidation of glucose molecules in the solution. It is necessary to know the composition and concentration of this solution in order not to make a mistake in the calculations. All these subtleties had to be known, taken into account and, most importantly, carried out by students in the second round of the Olympics - after all, it is not for nothing that they say “Accurate like in a pharmacy”. Each practical task was supplemented with 5 theoretical questions related to the task - questions on pharmacopeial analysis, industrial preparation technology, questions about GMP requirements and aseptic technology. The second part of the practical round was the quality control of the manufactured dosage form - the students had to carry out full control according to the monograph without the teacher's tips, help and advice.

The second round was brilliantly handled by 2 students of the 5th grade (out of 16 participants) - they prepared the drug solutions correctly (did not violate the composition, performed the dissolution and filtration operations correctly, labeled and sealed the bottle without errors), and also carried out quality control without mistakes and doubts, thus confirming the correctness of operations of preparation.

For the Students of the 2nd and 3rd grades, the professors of the Microbiological Department organized an excellent practical task – control of a dosage form with a complete imitation of work in a microbiological laboratory - starting from proper hand washing and handling, changing clothes to blotting the sample into a medium and microscopic evaluation. The students were checked for correct microbiological technique while working in the isolator, and also for the completion of a theoretical task. The teachers prepared various cells of microorganisms which were applied to a microscope slide with specific coloring. These bacteria are the most common in the pharmaceutical industry. Several questions were formulated about working with these pathogens - how to identify them, how to distinguish them, how to reduce the risk of their appearance. Despite the excitement, the students took part in the assignment with great pleasure, were involved and were very nervous about their results.

At the third stage, the students of the 4th and 5th grades made scientific reports on topics related to the production of medicines and, in particular, to the production of blood products. The contestants prepared excellent scientific reports that showed their high level of involvement in modern pharmaceutical technology.

During all Olympiad stages future pharmacists were evaluated according to the checklist by the invited experts - representatives of the OCTAPHARMA-PHARMIMEX LLC: Head of Quality Control Department Ekaterina Mosina, Quality Control Support Specialist Viktor Arefiev, HR Director Anastasiya Tsygankova and the faculty professors: Dean Faculty of Pharmacy Maksimtseva Elena Anatolyevna, Head of Microbiological Department Evdokimova Olga Valerievna, Head of Pharmaceutical Technology Department of Selezenev Nikolay Georgievich, Head of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department of Chernykh Ivan Vladimirovich.

The final score was based on the results of passing all stages of the Olympiad.

Anastasiya Golubeva was the winner of the Olympiad among students of the 2nd grade, with 2nd place being won by Nikita Bogomolov. Danila Artemiev took 1st place among the students of the 3rd grade, while Yulia Novikova took 2nd place. Among the students of the 4th grade, Sofia Volkova was the winner, with 2nd place being won by Alexandra Savushkina; Among the students of the 5th grade, Anastasia Denisova took 1st place, while Yulia Asheko took 2nd place.

The Evaluation Commission gave special recognition to the report of Yulia Asheko on the topic "Technology of continuous “blow-fill-seal” of plastic bottles and the prospects for their use", as well as the excellent and well-developed report on the topic "The use of Western blotting in quality control of blood products" by Anastasia Denisova.

The names of the winners were announced in a celebratory atmosphere at the meeting of the contestants with the Rector of the University, Professor Roman Evgenievich Kalinin and the General Director of OCTAPHARMA-PHARMIMEX LLC, Andrew Douglas Smith.

The rector of the university expressed gratitude to OCTAPHARMA-PHARMIMEX LLC for participation in the development of the Faculty of Pharmacy and noted that this interdisciplinary Olympiad could be the first step to the future successful career for those who participated.

All participants, as well as the professors of Ryazan State Medical University, who took active part in the preparation and conduct of the Olympiad, were awarded official diplomas, as well as gift certificates.

The prize for winners of the 2nd and 3rd grade was a two-day trip to Moscow. On December 15-16, students arrived in Moscow, where they were greeted by representatives of OCTAPHARMA-PHARMIMEX LLC. During the 2-day program, they visited the laboratory of the Merck company, where they listened to a report on modern methods of controlling the sterility of drugs, saw the most modern equipment and raw materials with which microbiology laboratories work at the production sites. Several hours in the laboratory flew by like minutes - an excellent report in which the emphasis was placed on the practical fulfillment of requirements. Students were given a tremendous opportunity to work on the equipment, to feel the pros and cons, the subtleties of technology, and the differences in the control of different drugs. In the evening of the same day, the winners of the Olympiad were congratulated by representatives of the OCTAPHARMA-PHARMIMEX LLC during an official dinner and were invited to the musical Anna Karenina at the State Operetta Theater. On the 16th of December, a walking tour of Moscow was organized for the students.

The winners of the 4th and 5th grades will have a trip to one of the European production sites of Octapharma, which the company's management plans to organize as soon as the restrictions on flights to the EU countries are lifted and the border opens.

Participation in the Olympiad was a great chance for the students to get an expert assessment of their skills and to try their hand and the knowledge gained in the classroom in practice. The main motivation for participation is nevertheless the improvement of their professional competencies as a pharmacist. For the students, this was a real opportunity to acquire new knowledge in the field of pharmaceutical production, attract the attention of a potential employer OCTAPHARMA-PHARMIMEX LLC the partner company of Ryazan State Medical University and get acquainted with the work of a world-class pharmaceutical company.