DIA Europe 2020

The beautiful city of Brussels, the capital of Belgium, is also known as the capital of Europe. Brussels is well known for being headquarters of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including the international financial center to the European headquarters for most of Europe. Brussels offers everything from breath-taking monuments to high-caliber scientific communities and has flexible economic infrastructures that support the quickly advancing technologies of the 21st century. Apart from its famous chocolates and beers, there are almost 90 museums, beautiful parks, architecture, bars and much more. For the first time, DIA Europe 2020 will take place in this wonderful city. 

DIA Europe 2020 is organized by the Drug Information Association (DIA) and will be held from March 17th - 19th at the SQUARE Brussels Convention Centre in Brussels, Belgium. The DIA Europe Annual Meeting is the largest neutral event in the European life sciences industries. It is designed to encourage the international exchange of novel ideas and emerging insights, and by so doing improving health globally by advancing the development of lifesaving medicines and technologies. DIA Europe 2020 will host thousands of pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device professionals from around the globe. This conference covers multiple topics designed to advance healthcare outcomes through innovation across 12 educational tracks, with more on that in the next section.     

For such large scale events as DIA Europe 2020, it can quickly become overwhelming for a team of company attendees, particularly if limited in size. With so much potential ground to cover, making the most of your time and investment is key, so we’ve put a few tips together for planning out your time in Brussels:  

Know the area and activities

DIA Europe is the must-attend event for all life science professionals working in everything from small R&D labs to big conglomerates, and operating in all aspects of the product pipeline from early discovery to commercialization. This event encourages a pleasantly open and neutral collaboration of attendees by bringing together representatives from the vast array of the life sciences landscape. DIA Europe also provides a globally recognized forum for allowing stakeholders to exchange knowledge, information and insights in a freely open and highly interactive platform. This important annual event provides patients, regulatory authorities, service providers and multiple industries across several topic tracks, including Clinical Development & Operations, Regulatory Science & Regulatory Operations, Value and Access, Medical Affairs and many others.

DIA Europe 2020 is an invaluable forum for 2,000+ professionals, with 100+ exhibitors from dozens of countries, all involved in the discovery, development, and life cycle management of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and related medical products. This event will provide one of the most efficient and effective ways to gain new insights and do a huge amount of business in 3 days. Be sure to check out the conference’s website for a complete list of educational tracks. Each track will have multiple speaker sessions and educational presentations focused around a particular area of interest. This event has so many different activities it will be difficult to keep track of everything without the proper planning before the conference. The main focus of DIA Europe 2020 are the 12 educational tracks covering everything from CMC and Quality to Health Policy.     

Other key features of the event will be 100+ plenary and technical sessions, plus training seminars, panel discussions, a multitude of exhibitors, and a huge list of special networking functions. Your team will have the ability to choose from the programs, or tracks, and tailor your experience around a particular area of research or function, creating a very efficient and effective conference for all types of teams along the drug development and commercialization pipelines. For more details visit the conference’s searchable agenda for a complete list of all the activities taking place during the event. Providing education and creating an environment for learning is of utmost importance, which is why the conference offers an array of learning formats to diversify and customize experiences in an effort to maximize time at DIA Europe 2020. From observing important conversations that matter to diving into problem-solving sessions, and even one-on-one networking activities, this conference will definitely have all types of learning styles covered.   

Some of the features for the networking and learning activities at DIA Europe 2020 will include:  

• Pre-conference Training Courses - If you’re planning on arriving to Brussel early, be sure to maximize your time by taking a deep dive into your area of interest while networking with like-minded colleagues. These special training courses are designed to enhance your knowledge in two specific areas, and are designed for high applicability to the relevant job functions within the industry. 

• DIAmond Sessions - These thought-provoking sessions address worldwide issues deconstructed by acclaimed panelists representing multiple aspects within the life sciences communities from around the world. DIAmonds represent rare opportunities to interact with a variety of key stakeholders participating in open conversations on controversial topics such as: diversity in clinical trials, international regulatory convergence, radical technologies, and even an FDA forum and question time slot.  

• Concurrent Educational Sessions - These will be traditional training sessions dedicated to understanding the mechanics of specific innovations needed to keep up on your day-to-day operations. Each session will run for approximately 60-75 minutes, with over 100 sessions spanning throughout all of the tracks. Check out any of the classrooms, lectures, or workshops to review data, workflow, scaling, and more. 

• The Content Hub - This non-traditional learning and networking activity is specifically designed for small groups to connect face-to-face with others that share common goals and interests. The 2020 meeting schedule will highlight a series of 20-minute facilitated conversations. Interact with community leaders and have one-on-one discussions to gain rapid insight in specific valuable subjects of interest. 

• Poster Sessions - The poster area is a great opportunity for you to view methodology, case studies, and research, presented by a diverse group of scientific professionals who are actively involved in the discovery, development, and pipeline management of pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, and diagnostic products. Be sure to walk through a gallery of visually stimulating displays of science and some of the ways to integrate the newest practice recommendations.    
  

Identify the right companies to meet

There will be dozens of ways to interact and engage with companies at DIA Europe 2020. In addition to visiting exhibit booths and catching meetings, you will be able to attend multiple instructional functions through the various programs, seminars, short courses, and poster sessions. There will be 100+ exhibitors generating new solutions and partnerships at DIA Europe 2020. Afterwards you will have access to a huge amount of new educational information across 12 tracks covering essentially all of the current areas of research regarding everything in drug development and CMC to the newest clinical technologies.  

With 100+ exhibitors to explore this show can be a formidable task to meet all of the companies on the schedule. In order to plan ahead we think it’s important to view the full list of exhibitors prior to arriving in order to make the best use of your time. If you team is interested in going but still doesn’t know where to start, please check out the downloadable Schedule-At-A-Glance, we have found this to be a very informative agenda style that covers all of the major activities on DIA Europe 2020 and is packed with great information on how to start planning for the 3-day event. Register early as this annual event is extremely popular and tickets are always limited. To learn more about registration prices and info, check out the registration webpage. 

Find out who’s going

The 2020 edition of DIA Europe will be one of the most successful events in the history of DIA’s EMEA region. Take a trip to Brussels this year for a unique chance to meet with and hear directly from representatives of national regulators from 19 countries, patient advocacy groups, and other critical stakeholders. Also get to know some of the 300+ speakers who will take part in this yearly landmark in the life-science industries. All of these speakers will be covering every facet of the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device sectors, and there will be endless learning opportunities for you and your team to discover during this amazing event. There will be 4 varieties of speakers during the event including the ever-popular keynote address, speakers from the European Commission, speakers from the European Medicines Agency, and speakers from the National Authorities. You can find more details on all of the speaker sessions covered in the conference agenda, or alternatively you can search for topics in the full list of speakers webpage.

The DIA Europe 2020 Keynote Address will focus on Europe’s competitive edge as a whole, primarily looking at the core challenges, its strongest achievements, and its greatest advantages compared to other regions. Looking at the space where science, the biopharmaceutical industry, and patient-driven innovation intersect, Dr. Joep Muijrers, will share his perspective on the current state of Europe’s pharmaceutical, biotechnology, device and diagnostic sectors. DIA Europe 2020 is also the only event where your team can hear and interact with nearly all top executives at the European Commission DG SANTE. This year in Brussels your team will additionally have the opportunity to hear top European regulators addressing the current affairs in healthcare and European Medicines Agency's key recommendations to the industries. As a great addition to these sessions, there will be 100+ non-industry speakers, including 50 representatives from National Agencies of 19 countries, and 10 HTA delegates.   

Footwear and attire  

This point is really worth mentioning, and since exploring the DIA Europe 2020 event can be such a lengthy task, please make sure to wear your most comfortable footwear and attire in order to stay cool during the activities and programs! You’ll want to be at peak endurance during this 3-day event, so be sure to drink plenty of water, and don’t miss out on any important exhibits, sessions, and most of all, meetings! 

Meet up with Zymewire

While we may not be attending DIA Europe 2020 this year, we’d still like to hear from you! Let us know about your experiences, and how your company preps for events to maximize ROI. If you would like to learn more about how teams at service providers around the world are getting more face to face meetings with the right prospects, reach out for a demo today!