Zdenko Časar
Bio:
Zdenko Časar is the Head of Early Stage Development at the pharmaceutical company Lek d.d. and a Senior Research Associate at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana. He holds a joint PhD degree in organic chemistry from the Ecole Doctorale Sciences de la Matière, Université de Rennes 1, and in chemical technology from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Maribor. He completed his postdoctoral training between 2003 and 2004 at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana. The main area of his work and research is synthetic chemistry, with a focus on the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
Research projects:
During his career at Novartis, Dr. Časar managed various departments within the Sandoz Development Center Slovenia, where many of the most challenging projects for complex generic medicines are developed. Additionally, he served as the Sandoz Head of Global Portfolio Management in Austria. He was the first Slovenian to receive Novartis’s highest scientific honor, the Distinguished Scientist Award, for his R&D work. He is also a recipient of the national Puh Award for outstanding achievements in the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Furthermore, Dr. Časar is a Full Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana.