Agenda for Day 1 - Monday 9 November, 2026Monday, 9 November 2026

The economics of pharma’s R&D model are under increasing strain. Rising costs, timelines and competition – felt across the entire industry – are offset by the outsized successes of the few winners. This plenary takes a data-led view of pharma productivity, from developing new medicines, making them available to patients, and delivering a sustainable return on investment. Over the last five years, R&D budgets are coming under increasing pressure, which raises the importance of external innovation. This has direct implications for investment, corporate strategy, and relationships with regulators. And as AI embeds into pharma’s workflows and decision-making processes, it remains unclear how far it will shift underlying productivity. Leaders from pharma, investment, and regulation will offer their views on the current state of play and how organizations should position themselves to be among the few that consistently turn scientific progress into real patient impact.

As the biotech and pharma sectors enter a pivotal year marked by rapid scientific breakthroughs, evolving regulatory landscapes, and shifting economic pressures, dealmaking remains the steady anchor amid unpredictable market tides. This session unravels the forces shaping the future of biopharma partnerships and M&A in 2026, including the financing climate, emerging therapeutic trends, and geopolitical factors influencing cross-border transactions. Analysts and experienced BD executives from pharma and biotech will dive into real-world case studies spanning transformative M&As, innovative licensing agreements, and cross-border collaborations that highlight strategies for navigating valuation challenges, harnessing AI-driven innovation, and addressing unmet medical needs. The panel will debunk myths surrounding strategic collaborations, such as overreliance on traditional deal structures or underestimating cultural alignment in partnerships, while examining how companies can capture momentum, build resilience, and seize the next wave of opportunity. From leveraging venture debt to bridge funding gaps to optimizing alliance management for long-term success, this session equips pharmaceutical executives, investors, and innovators with actionable insights on how strategic collaboration and smart capital deployment can guide innovation towards sustainable growth in a dynamic global landscape.

The biotech IPO class of 2025 and 2026 has been nothing short of transformative, ushering in a wave of innovation and ambition. But what happens after the confetti settles and the headlines fade? In this compelling panel, hear directly from the trailblazers who took their companies public and are now navigating the next chapter of their journey. From overcoming market hurdles to scaling breakthroughs, these leaders will share the untold stories of resilience, vision, and the bold steps they’re taking to shape the future of biotech. Step into their world and discover what’s next for the companies rewriting the rules of the industry.

Explore the art of deal-making through the lens of recent successes.

This session offers an informal yet incisive look into how a leading pharma company is shaping their dealmaking playbooks, revealing what drives strategic choices in today’s evolving biotech landscape.

Early-stage investment is the lifeblood of biotech innovation, powering groundbreaking ideas and transformative discoveries. This panel brings together seasoned investors, industry leaders, and ambitious entrepreneurs to explore the current state of early-stage funding in biotech. From emerging investment strategies to the evolving priorities of venture capital, gain a deeper understanding of how startups are securing the resources they need to thrive. Hear firsthand accounts of challenges, opportunities, and the critical factors shaping the future of biotech funding. Whether you’re building, investing, or simply curious, this session offers a front-row seat to the forces driving biotech’s next wave of growth.

The AI Scientist is not coming. It is already here. Systems are now capable of analysing data, generating hypotheses, and guiding experiments at a level that starts to resemble an experienced scientist, just faster, cheaper, and scalable. And this is not limited to early discovery. The same capabilities are reshaping how development decisions are made, from clinical strategy and trial design to translational evidence and regulatory planning.

The real impact is not replacement. It is multiplication.

As scientific reasoning becomes more accessible, Jevons Paradox kicks in. We do not produce fewer ideas. We produce far more. More targets, more molecules, more programmes reaching the clinic. The constraint shifts from generating options to making smarter choices about which ones to advance and how.

So what happens when biopharma moves from scarcity to abundance, across the entire value chain?

This conversation explores how that shift is already reshaping the industry. How programmes get prioritised. How development paths are designed. How capital is allocated and partnering decisions are made. And where the bottlenecks move next, into clinical capacity, execution, and infrastructure.

With perspectives from technology, pharma, and investing, this is a candid take on what is real, what is hype, and what actually matters when AI compresses both discovery and development timelines at the same time.

Because if we can build and advance far more drugs than ever before, the real question becomes: which ones are actually worth pursuing, and how fast can we prove it?