The BioFIT 2017 conference programme is designed to address the needs of its audience constituted by academia, TTOs, research institutions, pharma, biotech companies, but also law experts and investors in pre-seed, seed and Series A. The BioFIT agenda aims to provide solutions, best practices for every player of the sector.

BioFIT’s 2017 wide-ranging programme has been redesigned around three tracks:

Track 1: New players involved in innovation in the health sector

Track 2: Nurturing and licensing early-stage assets

Track 3: Bioentrepreneurs’ challenges at pre-seed, seed and Series A stages

This year’s aim is to focus on bioentrepreneurship, explore the mutually beneficial relationships between academia and industry, address access to seed capital, and oversee new trends in financing early-stage innovation.

The event reflects the fast-paced and dynamic Life Sciences sector.

Discover the last confirmed speakers

PLENARY SESSION

Seed funds crossing borders: How far and how fast is the early-stage investment market in biotech globalising?

TRACK 1:
NEW PLAYERS INVOLVED IN INNOVATION IN THE HEALTH SECTOR

Big data and health IT companies provide key expertise to potentially increase efficiency in the discovery, preclinical and clinical stages of development. What will be their position and involvement in the therapeutic innovation chain: Will they participate or lead? Examples of collaborations between biotech, pharma, IT companies and academic research will be highlighted. However, these new players don’t only originate from the big data sector, they also come from various areas such as animal health or e-health.

Artificial intelligence to speed up drug discovery: The revolutionary road to advancing innovation

How can common pathways in human and animal health set up a new era for collaborations?

15 Dec 2018

Why should a human-focused biotech company be interested in the animal health industry? Are there common grounds that can lead to more frequent and fruitful collaborations between animal and human health companies in the future? Today, it is obvious that the animal health industry offers a clear value proposition to human biotechnology companies, which can maximise the financial and clinical impact of their assets by leveraging both human and veterinary health. The physio pathological features of several diseases (cancer, osteoarticular affections, infectious diseases, pain…) are progressively understood as at least common between animal and human. This paves the way to innovative products developed under the sign of a so-called comparative medicine. This panel will encourage a provocative, straightforward and realistic discussion on what each side needs from the other to set up mutual beneficial partnerships.

The speakers

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Beyond shared R&D means of pharma and academic institutions, common strategies for collective success

Patient organisations to join the pharma-biotech-academia trio: Is a fourth musketeer calling for a new way to manage alliances?

TRACK 2:
NURTURING AND LICENSING EARLY-STAGE ASSETS

Early-stage assets evolve in an ecosystem in which TTOs, scientists and entrepreneurs are closely connected. This subject will focus on assessing opportunities in licensing early-stage projects, discussing the mentoring role of TTOs and exploring scientists’ commitment. It aims to underline the difficulties for maturing early-stage assets. How can we transform science into business more frequently and efficiently?

What roles do academic institutions or TTOs play as shareholders in spinoffs?

What are the recent initiatives to ensure more mature assets of academic origin?

Is externalising the tech transfer function for academic institutions a key to succeed?

Under pressure: How does the urge to bring rare disease therapies create a new range of business or collaborative models?

15 Dec 2018

Bringing new therapies to treat rare diseases requires more than scientific innovation. Innovation in business models and incubation financing is critical as the need to find ways to cost effectively develop new medication is becoming highly important. Initiatives like collaboration centres and rare disease centres try to take the best of both worlds by implementing multidimensional approaches to address the needs of the rare disease community. In addition to conducting their own research, collaborative models that feature pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, start-ups, and patient groups are now being put in place.

The speakers

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TRACK 3:
BIOENTREPRENEURS’ CHALLENGES AT PRE-SEED, SEED AND SERIES A STAGES

The right mindset, a solid presentation and business model are not the only requirements that bioentrepreneurs must fulfil at pre-seed, seed and Series A stages. What are the expectations of project maturity from investors in 2017? How often are new types of early-stage investors involved in financing rounds (including philanthropic and specialised ventures)? How does the angels/seed investors relationship work? Are there increasing interactions and partnerships between pharma and VCs at these initial stages?

How available to biotech start-ups have philanthropic and other sources of soft funding become today?