27/09/2026
THE NEXT CHAPTER IN DRUG DEVELOPMENT HAS BEGUN.
On Wednesday, September 23, 2026, MARC BE Center, in collaboration with Expert Consult Ltd., hosted MIDD & Virtual Bioequivalence Scientific Forum, bringing regional and international experts into the same room, in person and online.
Dr. George Maher, CEO of MARC, and Dr. Khaled Abu Zaid, CEO of Expert Consult, opened the forum by welcoming our guests and speaking about why this collaboration matters for the region: one mission, built around the patient.
The technical sessions opened with a keynote from Prof. Dr. Ahmed Salem (Head of Clinical Pharmacology, Servier USA, and Adjunct Professor, University of Minnesota) on advancing clinical drug development through model-based approaches, followed by Prof. Catherine M. Sherwin (Differentia Biotech) on Virtual Bioequivalence and Model-Informed Drug Development.
Dr. Sandra Suarez-Sharp (Simulations Plus) then addressed the role of biopharmaceutics risk assessment and the PBBM-Safe Space in regulatory decision making, and Dr. Divyen Shah (Certara) presented mechanistic approaches to safe-space evaluation for a highly variable, locally acting GI drug.
Dr. Rania Shousha (Manager of Protocols and Clinical Studies Follow-up, GCP Lead Inspector, Egyptian Drug Authority) shared insights from the ICH M15 Working Group, and Prof. Abdullah Alsultan (King Saud University) closed the technical sessions with case studies on using population pharmacokinetics to optimize and simplify bioequivalence study design.
The day closed with an open panel discussion on navigating the opportunities, challenges and strategic roadmap for regional MIDD & vBE adoption, with professionals joining us from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Morocco, Iraq, Syria and Algeria, alongside representatives from regional regulatory authorities, all asking the same question from different angles: what does the next chapter of drug development look like for our region, and how soon can we get there?
We left the room with more questions than we came with, and that is exactly the point. What comes after Virtual Bioequivalence? How fast can regional regulators harmonize with ICH M15? How do we bring these models into everyday regulatory practice, not just research papers?
At MARC, we do not chase these questions for their own sake. We chase them because every model, every study design and every regulatory conversation eventually comes back to one person: the patient waiting for a safer, faster, better medicine.
Our sincere thanks to every speaker, every attendee, and our partners at Expert Consult Ltd.. This is only the beginning of the conversation.
