P01: Life Sciences Business Round Table: West Meeting East
(9:00am-5:00pm Wednesday, 10 April 2013)

Speakers:Michael Oettli (nlg GmbH), Libor Safar (Moravia), Alexandros Zekakis (nlg GmbH)
Moderator: Clio Schils
Synopsis: In the world of translation and localization, the life sciences sector is different from any other industry due to the unique and specific nature of its requirements. With regulations changing on a continual basis, a premium is placed on quality above all else.

For our Singapore Life Sciences Business Round Table, we are delighted to offer a stellar one-day program with a particular focus on the life sciences market and business developments in the Asian-Pacific region as well as the challenges associated with the translation and localization of highly-regulated product labeling for and in this market.

The overall competitive economic climate and the continuous budgetary cost restrictions have forced many life sciences companies to explore new markets. Outsourcing and offshoring larger portions of research and development, production processes and other areas of expertise to other markets have now become common practice. Due to their initial low-cost capabilities, growing markets such as Eastern Europe, BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and the Asian-Pacific regions have become the place to be for global life sciences companies of medical devices and pharmaceuticals, and for sponsors engaging in clinical studies and testing to develop their business.

After an introduction by Clio Schils into the current global medical device industry climate, we are pleased to have Moravia’s marketing manager, Libor Safar, as one of our guest speakers. He will focus specifically on Japan and tackle the life sciences/regulatory aspects from the client as well as the language service provider perspective. Libor has spent considerable time in the Japanese region and was involved in building the Moravia office in Tokyo from scratch back in 2004. This process included finding the premises, recruiting the initial staff, organizing trainings and establishing partnerships. This presentation will include the challenging aspects of the integration of a new Asian office into the whole Moravia infrastructure and also touch on the marketing/sales trends in Japan. Better preparation by having a more thorough understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the Asian-Pacific life sciences market will help those who wish to establish their business in this fascinating region.

After Moravia, we will give the floor to Michael Oettli and Alexandros Zekakis from nlg GmbH, who are also partnering with offices in Asia. Their presentation will address but will not be restricted to the different business models of the medical in-country review process: Why in country review? What is required? In-sourced versus out-sourced models; What is critical content, what is not; Best practices in qualification and recruitment.

We cordially invite all life sciences professionals to attend — clients who want to be updated on recent developments as well as life sciences service providers who want to establish local offices or create partnerships in the region to serve their global clients on site. Presenters will be updating you on the developments in the region and presenting and sharing with you their thoughts and experiences on the subject matter. There will be less emphasis on presentations and more on interactive discussions. The main purpose of the round table sessions is to offer attendees valuable takeaways and best practices to share with their colleagues back home.

Singapore Life Sciences Advisory Board
Chair: Clio Schils, (Lionbridge Life Sciences)
Simon Andriesen (MediLingua Medical Translations)
Brigitte Herrmann (Siemens AG, Healthcare Sector)
Richard Korn (St. Jude Medical)
Sandra La Brasca (ForeignExchange Translations)
Maarten Milder (Medtronic, Inc.)
Jacques Samy (Smiths Medical ADS)