Day 1 (Agenda is subject to change)
Location: PRS Theatre 1
This interactive workshop is for delegates new to partnering. What can you expect from partnering, and what do others expect from you? Principles around timing, human nature, and partnering etiquette will be applied to the partneringONE process. This session will give you a clear understanding of tactics to generate the best ROI from partnering, at this and future events. There will be plenty of opportunities to ask our partneringONE expert any questions you may have. This session is limited to 40 people. Please reserve your seat by adding the session to your personal agenda. If you can’t attend a session, drop by the partnering help desk with any questions.
Location: Room 1
Location: Room 1
An incisive, data-led dialogue between an industry analyst and journalist exploring Europe’s current innovation strengths, gaps, and global positioning in life sciences. This session sets the stage for a broader reflection on whether Europe is collaborating in harmony or charting a solo course in the biopharma innovation symphony.
- Daniel Chancellor - VP Thought Leadership, Norstella
- Melanie Senior - Writer & Analyst, Nature, Evaluate, IN VIVO
Location: Room 1
As global biopharma enters a new era defined by rapid scientific advances, emerging markets, and shifting commercial models, the question looms: can Europe generate the innovation required to stay in the game? In this timely session, two CEOs will offer their perspectives on Europe’s position in the global innovation hierarchy. They will examine the structural strength and critical gaps within the region’s R&D ecosystem, from translational science to venture capital and commercialization pathways. With China investing heavily in next-gen biotech, threatening the US’s lead in scale and investment, and industry paradigms being rewritten, this conversation will tackle the tough question: what must Europe do now to ensure it remains not just relevant, but indispensable, to the future of global healthcare innovation?
- Daniel Chancellor - VP Thought Leadership, Norstella
- Melanie Senior - Writer & Analyst, Nature, Evaluate, IN VIVO
- Jeremy Levin - CEO and Chairman, Ovid Therapeutics Inc
- David Loew - CEO, IPSEN
Location: Room 1
Join us for a dynamic and insightful discussion on the complexities of today’s biopharma investment landscape. Hear from leading investors, venture capitalists, and industry executives and explore the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping biotech and pharmaceutical funding in 2025. From the highs of venture capital to the realities of IPOs and M&A activity, the panelists will provide actionable insights on what it takes to secure funding in a competitive and evolving market. Understand the impact of global economic shifts on biopharma investments, what investors are looking for companies and innovative funding models and strategies to stand out amongst the crowd.
- Tim Opler - Managing Director, Stifel Institutional
- Regina Hodits - Managing Director, Angelini Ventures
Location: Room 1
As the global biopharma landscape evolves, China has emerged as a key player, driving innovation, investment, and collaboration on an unprecedented scale. This session will explore the complex interplay of factors fuelling the sector’s growth, including regulatory reforms, R&D advancements, strategic partnerships, and market access challenges. The panel of industry experts will examine the opportunities and obstacles shaping China’s biopharma ecosystem, discuss how companies are adapting their strategies to navigate the market and provide actionable insights on how to succeed in China’s rapidly evolving healthcare market.
- Lucie Ellis-Taitt - Executive Director - In Vivo, Citeline
Location: Room 1
This session dives into the ever-evolving landscape of dealmaking and M&A and unravels the forces reshaping the industry's dynamics. Hear real-world case studies and expert insights on strategies for forging strategic alliances, securing partnerships, driving innovation along with myths of building strategic collaborations, to address the healthcare challenges of the future. Whether you're a pharmaceutical executive, investor, or innovator, this session navigates the intricacies of dealmaking and provides guidance for success, in 2025 and beyond.
- Ravi Kiron - Managing Director, Biopharma Strategy Advisors
Location: Room 1
Vienna is known for its elegant waltzes—graceful, coordinated, yet filled with unspoken rules. Early-stage deals are much the same. This session, led by the Young VC community, explores the invisible dynamics that shape term sheet negotiations and deal outcomes—pride, power plays, and the subtle missteps that send partners spinning apart. Through candid reflections from emerging investors, industry KOL's we’ll examine what’s often left unsaid: the red flags founders raise, the blind spots investors carry, and the deals that didn’t make it to closing. This session will not just spotlight the anatomy of failure—but reframe it as a rite of passage, a learning dance for the next generation of builders and backers. Whether you're drafting your first term sheet or dusting off a post-mortem, come ready to move beyond the deal terms—and into the deeper human dynamics that define the startup-investor relationship.
Location: Room 2
In this scene-setting session, ZS will present a data-driven snapshot of the current therapeutic area landscape, highlighting key trends in modality evolution and pipeline focus across biopharma. A dynamic panel of leaders from biotech, pharma, and venture capital will then explore how Europe is shaping the next movement in therapeutic innovation. From platforms to partnership strategies, discover how emerging modalities are accelerating breakthroughs and redefining the commercial roadmap. Join the conversation to navigate the currents of collaboration, clinical advancement, and commercialization across Europe’s biotech ecosystem.
- Romain Bonnot - Principal, ZS Associates
Location: Room 2
Gene therapy has faced significant hurdles in recent years, with many in the industry deeming it ‘uninvestable.’ Yet, SpliceBio’s successful Series B financing marks a turning point, reigniting confidence in the transformative potential of RNA-based therapies. Join this session, featuring a distinguished panel of investors who played a key role in the pivotal financing, as they share insights into the strategic vision behind the Series B round, the advancements in RNA technology and therapeutics that inspired renewed investor confidence, and the opportunities this funding unlocks for innovation and growth. The discussion will also address the challenges that remain in the field and the path forward for overcoming them.
Discover how SpliceBio is leveraging this investment to expand its research capabilities, enhance the proprietary RNA platform, and advance its pipeline of groundbreaking therapies that are redefining the future of precision medicine. This session offers a unique opportunity to gain insider perspectives on the evolving landscape of gene therapy and the innovations driving its resurgence.
Location: Room 2
As global life expectancy climbs, adding nearly two years every decade, the biotech sector faces a fundamental question: how do we innovate for longer, healthier lives and make it economically and socially sustainable? This session explores the convergence of therapeutic innovation, diagnostics, disease monitoring, and socio-economic realities in the emerging longevity space. Rather than focusing solely on curative endpoints, the panelists will examine the shift toward managing aging as a continuum, from prevention to precision medicine, from healthy aging to affordability and access and unpack the paradigm shift - why longevity could be biotech’s next rallying cry. Discover how new technologies are changing the way we define and detect disease and importantly, understand who will pay for the future we’re building. Join the provocative discussion at the intersection of medical progress, demographic change, and financial sustainability where ‘what’s next’ meets ‘who pays’ and find out:
What’s the purpose that will reinvigorate the biotech sector?
How do we make the promise of healthy aging investable, inclusive, and scalable?
- Werner Lanthaler - CEO, Wlanholding
- Alex Zhavoronkov - CEO, Insilico Medicine
Location: Room 2
Through their EMEA Advance Biotech Grant Program, Merck recognize standout emerging biotech companies and helps them navigate their path to commercialization. Delivered as a dynamic competition, five selected biotech companies will have the opportunity to pitch their breakthroughs to Merck's Grant representatives and the overall BIO-Europe audience.
Location: PRS Theatre 1
Pick up your lunch and join us for this interactive workshop for delegates familiar with partnering who want to up their game. We will cover best practices for collaborating with colleagues, saving time, increasing response rates and acceptance rates, and partneringONE power features to support optimal partnering etiquette. Come away from the session with a clear understanding of how partneringONE can support your company to maximize ROI from partnering, at this and future events. There will be plenty of opportunities to ask our partneringONE expert any questions you may have. This session is limited to 40 people. Please reserve your seat by adding the session to your personal agenda. If you can’t attend a session, drop by the partnering help desk with any questions.