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The Open Research Biopharmaceutical Internships Support project (ORBIS) was a response to the scientific, economic, and social challenge of increasing the effectiveness and productivity of the drug development process, both for innovative and (super)generic drugs. The overarching objective of the ORBIS project was to form a transnational and intersectoral cooperation network of academic and industrial organisations delivering a joint research programme. The research aimed at improving the preclinical pathway of drug development and manufacturing, focusing on technological and methodological improvements of the existing processes. The participating staff from all institutions have developed new skills, were exposed to new work and research environments, and have significantly broadened their career perspectives. More than 450 months of secondments were completed, and over 175 early-stage and experienced researchers participated in the exchange. This review aims to present some aspects of the scientific, training, and organisational activities of the consortium, bringing together representatives of both the academic sector as well as small and medium-sized pharmaceutical enterprises.

We are pleased to present this Journal of Medical Sciences issue, entirely dedicated to the final ORBIS (Open Research Biopharmaceutical Internships Support) project conference. The Final ORBIS Conference took place on 5–6 July 2023 at Poznan University of Medical Sciences (Poznan, Poland). The conference summarized the activities of the five‑year ORBIS project (e936), which received funding of EUR 2.27 million under the Marie Sklodowska‑Curie Actions, Research Innovation Staff Exchange of the Horizon 2020 framework program (H2020-MSCA‑RISE, no. 778051). Poznan University of Medical Sciences coordinated this international and cross‑sectoral project with fourteen academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies from eight countries. The goal of ORBIS was research and training cooperation between universities and the industry sector to develop better, more effective, modern drugs. ORBIS implemented these ideas through international internships of scientists and PhD students to partner institutions (450 months in total). The Final ORBIS Conference was an opportunity to celebrate this success. During the conference, scientists and specialists from European and American centers were given plenary lectures on the most current topics of modern pharmaceutical sciences, including preformulation (e878, e908, e901) and formulation studies (e893, e859, e914, e926) as well as challenges in the new therapies (e925, e907, e903) and regulatory policies (e890). There were also speeches presenting the scientific effects of completed internships, delivered by participants from the project consortium. After the conference, the scientific committee invited all lecturers to submit their papers to this Journal of Medical Sciences issue. This issue includes all submitted and accepted papers, each providing substantial new material beyond the original conference version. We thank the authors and reviewers of these papers for their efforts in producing and reviewing these papers within the strict time limits imposed by this issue's publication constraints. We also gratefully acknowledge the support of the JMS editors‑in‑chief (Prof. Jarosław Walkowiak and Prof. Adrianna Mostowska) and the editorial office.

The process of isothermal and non-isothermal physical ageing of amorphous polylactide (PLA) with the active pharmaceutical ingredient, indapamide (IND), was investigated. A PLA–IND system with a 50/50 weight ratio was obtained and characterized using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In the 50/50 (w/w) mixture, two glass transitions were observed: the first at 64.1 ± 0.3 °C corresponding to the glass transition temperature (Tg) of PLA, and the second at 102.6 ± 1.1 °C corresponding to the Tg of IND, indicating a lack of molecular mixing between the two ingredients. The PLA–IND system was subjected to the isothermal physical ageing process at different ageing temperatures (Ta) for 2 h. It was observed that the highest effect of physical ageing (enthalpy relaxation change) on IND in the PLA–IND system occurred at Ta = 85 °C. Furthermore, the system was annealed for various ageing times at 85 °C. The relaxation enthalpies were estimated for each experiment and fitted to the Kohlrausch–Williams–Watts (KWW) equation. The KWW equation allowed for the estimation of the relaxation time and the parameter describing the distribution of relaxation times of the isothermal physical ageing process of IND in the PLA–IND system. The physical ageing of the PLA–IND mixture (50/50) was also discussed in the context of heat capacity. Moreover, the activation energy and fragility parameters were determined for the PLA–IND (50/50) system.

Open Research Biopharmaceutical Internships Support (ORBIS) is an international, Horizon 2020 project funded by Maria Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) programme. Six academic institutions and four pharmaceutical companies from seven countries cooperate with the aim to improve the preclinical pathway of medicine development through increased Research and Development (R&D) productivity, especially focusing on processes and technologies which address the challenge of poor drug bioavailability. The RISE scheme supports secondments, meaning that early stage and experienced researchers are sent to consortium partner institutions to advance studies on pharmaceutical preformulation, dosage forms and drug delivery systems and methods of biopharmaceutical evaluation. The ORBIS project enables secondees to gain news skills and develop their competences in an international and intersectoral environment, strengthening the human capital and knowledge synergy in the European pharmaceutical R&D sector.

Vitamin D (VD) is a fat-soluble prohormone well known for its role in regulating calcium and phosphate metabolism. It has been clinically used for many years to prevent rickets in children, osteomalacia, and osteoporosis in adults. VD insufficiency is a common medical condition, and many supplements are available in the market in order to increase serum 25-hydroxy VD levels to recommended amounts. Over the course of the last decades, it has become increasingly clear that calcitriol, an active form of VD, regulates multiple cellular processes with effects on normal and malignant cell growth and differentiation, and on the immune and cardiovascular function. Increasing evidence supports the role of the VD system in cancer prevention and therapy. Due to many pleiotropic and beneficial effects in extra-skeletal disorders, VD has gained potential and become an interesting active for encapsulation into drug delivery systems. The purpose of this review is to present the diversity of drug delivery systems that have been reported for VD or VD derivatives in an orderly manner across the following categories: Oral administration, application on the skin, cancer prevention/therapy, and other diseases or routes of administration.