Hack'in Pharma 2025: Ten pharmacy faculties competing in the 2nd edition of the national hackathon

For the second year, the Faculty of Pharmacy at Université Paris-Saclay and IncubAlliance Paris-Saclay have partnered to organize and host the national hackathon for pharmacy faculties. From March 13 to 15, 2025, around one hundred students and faculty advisors worked in teams to develop an innovative concept around the theme of appropriate medication use.

Hackathons, events organized over a short period of time during which participants brainstorm projects that can be transposed into start-ups or prototype marketable solutions, are now well recognized as excellent levers for boosting innovation.

The first of its kind within French university pharmacy faculties was launched a year ago by the Faculty of Pharmacy at Université Paris-Saclay and IncubAlliance Paris-Saclay. Given the enthusiasm of students, faculty, and professional sponsors and partners, a second edition was organized from March 13th to 15th, bringing together teams of six students from ten pharmacy faculties across France.

For 33 hours, the ten competing teams were able to test, create, and repeat before presenting their solution to a jury of health and pharmaceutical professionals.

To carry out their project, their working hours were punctuated by workshops and conferences related to the theme of the proper use of medication. The program included, in particular, the conferences "Health and Sobriety" by Delphine Aguilera Caron, President of Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine France; "The Role of Patients in R&D" by Laura Risueño Ayerbe, Servier R&D Patient Officer, Global Patient Affairs; "Therapeutic Adherence and its Impact" by Richard Weaver, Servier Paris-Saclay R&D Institute; the presentation of the VIDAL Mobile application by Yves-Marie Le Bihan, Product Manager; and "Building Your Speech and Presentation" by Caroline Mascret, Professor of Pharmaceutical Law and Health Economics at Paris-Saclay University.

In parallel, throughout the hackathon, around twenty experts, including IncubAlliance Paris-Saclay, supported the students in building their project, provided them with advice on entrepreneurship and innovation, and helped them structure their ideas.

Between fatigue and pushing their limits, the students demonstrated great determination to finalize their presentations on time for the final pitch to a jury of healthcare and entrepreneurship professionals. The organizers warmly thank all the participants, students, sponsors, partners, and experts, as well as the members of the two student associations at the Faculty of Pharmacy of Paris-Saclay University: APIEP and AEPPS Paris Saclay. Everyone contributed to making this event another success. The three winning teams of this 2025 edition are:

• Jury Prize The student team from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Lorraine won the jury prize for their MediTri project, a connected terminal for collecting unused medications.
• People's Choice Award The student team from the Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences (ISPB) Faculty of Pharmacy at Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 won the jury's choice award for their project "Les petits patients", a publishing house dedicated to empowering children in taking their chronic treatment.
• Academy of Pharmacy Prize The student team from the Department of Pharmacy at the University of Lille (industry track) won the Academy of Pharmacy prize for its Safe Stick project: detection of the presence of benzodiazepines in drinks using a stick.

> Download the press release

This event was sponsored by key players in healthcare: Spartners by Servier and BioLabs of Paris-Saclay and Johnson & Johnson as Gold sponsors; Vidal and CFA Leem Apprentissage as Silver sponsors.
It was also supported by partner institutions: National Association of Pharmacy Students of France (ANEPF), National Academy of Pharmacy, National Federation of Medical Information (FNIM), Pharmaceutical News Site, Paris-Saclay Cancer Cluster, Health Communication Festival.