From bench to bedside: biopharmaceutics tools for smarter drug development
9:00 AM PST / 12:00 PM EST / 5:00 PM GMT / 6:00 PM CET
The goal of drug discovery and development is to balance therapeutic efficacy with safety. This is achieved through designing molecules with improved target interactions, selecting appropriate dosing strategies, and creating advanced formulations. Modern drug development increasingly involves not only new molecular entities but also the repurposing of existing compounds into innovative drug-delivery–focused products. These formulations use alternative administration routes or modified release profiles to optimize how active agents enter the body, while remaining grounded in key pharmacological principles to ensure clinical relevance. By integrating molecular innovation with advances in delivery technologies, current approaches aim to expand therapeutic options and improve patient outcomes.
Oral administration remains the most common and convenient route, representing the majority of FDA-approved products. However, it is limited by the complex physiology of the gastrointestinal tract, which restricts the movement of dissolved molecules into systemic circulation. As a result, improving bioavailability is a central challenge in pharmaceutical development. Factors such as solubility, lipophilicity, formulation components, pH, bile content and food interactions all influence how well a drug is absorbed.
In this webinar, Prof. Lennernäs will discuss how molecular design, formulation science and physiological considerations come together to overcome these barriers and drive effective oral drug development.
Speaker
Professor Hans Lennernäs is a Professor of Biopharmaceutics at Uppsala University, Sweden, and formerly an Adjunct Professor at the University of Copenhagen (2000–2012). His research focuses on developing innovative strategies for targeted drug delivery to improve the treatment of metabolic, endocrine, and cancer diseases. He was a Principal Investigator in the landmark collaboration between the FDA, the University of Michigan, and the Swedish Medical Products Agency that led to the creation of the Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS), now a globally adopted regulatory framework and considered one of the most significant innovations in clinical pharmacology of the past 50 years.
Prof. Lennernäs has built one of the field’s most extensive human pharmacokinetic databases and is widely recognised for his contributions to drug absorption, gastrointestinal physiology, and oral drug delivery. He has authored more than 275 peer-reviewed publications, delivered over 350 invited lectures, and supervised numerous doctoral researchers. His work has been supported by major national and international funding bodies and honoured with multiple prestigious awards, including the AAPS Fellow designation, the Humboldt Research Award, and innovation awards for several therapeutic products.
In addition to holding more than 23 patents, Prof. Lennernäs has co-founded several biotech start-ups and continues to lead translational research in targeted therapies for prostate cancer, liver cancer, endocrine disorders, and gastrointestinal diseases.