As part of the Business boom of the city of Rijeka, an interesting panel discussion "Research infrastructure - later steps" was held, where panellists emphasized the importance of investments into the university infrastructure and the necessity of cooperation between the academic community and the economy. Dorotea Pernjak, mag. pharm., director of research and development, participated in the discussion on behalf of JGL, noting that Croatia does not have good cooperation between the scientific community and industry, and that we should look for role models in the advanced European countries where the direction and connection with the economy and industry is determined already during the college enrolment phase.
"Our quality cooperation with biotechnology in Rijeka in laudable. JGL is the star of this area, not only locally, but in the region as well, and we are an industrial partner to the academic community. Pharmacy is important for development, and although we are small, we can be proud of our pharmaceutical industry and its history and knowledge that was created here and spread from the central region to others. Exchange of knowledge and experiences is important; valued university and scientific knowledge should be applied in practice. Product development lasts 3 to 5 years, and our cooperation in the centre of competencies can shorten that period due to specific knowledge," said Pernjak.