Results from one of the main higher educational initiatives of the National Center came to fruition in July of 2024 with the conclusion of the first academic year of the PharmaTech Academy. Reflecting its interdisciplinary approach to learning, lessons began on 6 November 2023 at the newly inaugurated state-of-the-art University of Naples Federico II Scampia Complex.
Inspired by lectures held by experts in the academic and private sectors, students participated in 17 weeks of blended in-person and virtual lessons covering the complex steps within the pharmaceutical development process. With an abundance of newly acquired and shared knowledge, PharmaTech students separately embarked on 8-week internships hosted at entities such as biotech manufacturing organizations that develop gene therapies and nucleic acids, biopharma product testing sites, companies that build drug delivery systems, as well as the National Center Foundation to gain insight into the regulations the administrative body oversees in this complex project.
Surrounded by friends, family, and academic and local authorities, students returned to the Scampia Complex on 16 July 2024 for a celebratory Graduation Day. Held in the Aula Magna, graduating students present a scientific poster to demonstrate their shared and independent achievements. With the conferment of a diploma, the PharmaTech Academy graduating class of 2024 becomes the first of its kind in Italy to hold the tools needed to operate all phases of RNA-based drug development.