THEME: "Exploring the Challenges in Pre & Post Formulations and Drug Delivery Systems"
21-22 Mar 2022 
MENA Plaza Hotel Albarsha, Dubai, UAE 
R&D Manager and Fellow - Manufacturing Science & Technology (MS&T), UAE
Title: Open Innovation in Life Sciences: from Theory to Industrial Implementation
Mohamad Haitham Ayad is a State Registered Pharmacist from the University of Damascus, Syria. He holds a Master’s Degree in Pharmaceutical Technology from the University of Bordeaux, France.
Working several years in different pharmaceutical companies in technical research and development, he gained substantial broad experience in Drug Delivery and Formulation Development of oral dosage forms from early preclinical stage to late commercial scale production.
Currently, Dr. Ayad is working at Johnson & Johnson, Dubai, as Manager & R&D Fellow - Manufacturing Science and Technology (MS&T). He is in charge of technology transfer of commercialized products and supporting their manufacturing. In addition, he is Innovation Ambassador for London Innovation Center to scout external opportunities in MENA region.
Before Joining J&J, he worked for several pharmaceutical companies in Switzerland and in France where he was in charge of the development projects of oral dosage forms from the preformulation stage until the scale-up at manufacturing location.
Dr. Ayad filed three patents and published three Research Articles in the field of Formulation Science. In addition, he was invited speaker in several international conferences in the Pharmaceutical Development and Innovation fields.
The dramatic reduction of pharmaceutical R&D efficiency over time resulted in only 16% of drug candidates entering clinical testing make it to regulatory approval, at an overall cost estimated approximately at $2.6 Billion. The traditional “All in house” business model is no more the dominant way for discovering new innovative products as 70% of the pharmaceutical industry’s new sales today come from drugs originated from the Open Innovation model.
Naturally, this multipart innovation model created new complexity and challenges that need to be addressed for efficient collaboration. This Paper explains the Open Innovation model, the benefits for both Industry and Academia and explains the steps and criteria of establishing a successful collaboration.
It is becoming universally acceptable that working in Open Innovation collaborative model is a key success factor to meet the global health challenges as no single organization, private or public, will be able to face them alone.