Yogyakarta, June 8, 2025 — Students from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), have once again achieved an outstanding accomplishment on the international stage. At the 24th Asia Pacific Pharmaceutical Symposium (APPS) 2025, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from July 2–9, 2025, a team representing UGM proudly won First Place in the PharmaPitch Challenge, themed “From Vision to Venture: Unlocking Entrepreneurial Potential.”
The competition, organized by the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation Asia Pacific Regional Office (IPSF APRO), is the largest annual forum for pharmacy students across the Asia-Pacific region. It brings together thousands of students from various countries to exchange knowledge, discuss global health issues, participate in workshops and scientific symposia, and compete in professional challenges designed to enhance innovation, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills in pharmacy.
The winning team consisted of Aisyah Nur Khasanah and Dzaki Hasan Nasrullah from UGM’s Faculty of Pharmacy, alongside Kiranadinda Sakinah and An-Nisa Renanda Pranoto from Universitas Indonesia. They impressed the judges with their innovation titled Glek™: Innovating The First Plant-Based Swallowing Gel for Elderly Care in Indonesia, a breakthrough solution for elderly patients who experience difficulty swallowing medication. Despite the challenge of limited preparation time due to final exams, the team successfully developed their idea, marketing strategy, and product design, securing their place among the five finalists from a total of 15 teams across the Asia-Pacific region, and ultimately winning first place.
This achievement aligns with Universitas Gadjah Mada’s commitment to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) through innovations that enhance the quality of life for the elderly, SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) by fostering pharmaceutical entrepreneurship and technology-driven solutions, and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) through national and international academic collaboration that promotes impactful global innovation.
