2017 Conference programme

05 Dec 2018 9:00-10:30 am

When spinning out a company, one strategy applied by the university or TTO is to often take an equity position in the start-up. When this happens, how do the university or TTO play their role as a shareholder? Do they keep a close eye on the development of the company and continue to offer active support or do they act more as a sleeping partner? How is the risk measured and what is the exit short-term/long-term strategy chosen by those unusual shareholders?

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04 Dec 2018 2:30-4:00 pm

What are the latest group actions to have been jointly taken by the industry, academic institutions, equity investors, and governmental bodies that take academic-origin assets as early as possible and inject the proper amount of money into them, in order to get the project licensed at the right moment and at the safest possible stage?

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05 Dec 2018 2:00-3:30 pm

Technology transfer offices play a central role in the biotech ecosystem, as they are meant to bridge the gap between bench and bedside and succeed in commercialising an academic discovery. As most new biotech start-ups arise out of IP resulting from academic research, the efficiency of this system is of outmost importance. This panel discussion will highlight both successes and limits in that externalisation of tech transfer approach.

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05 Dec 2018 4:00-5:30 pm

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.

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05 Dec 2018 2:00-3:30 pm

All of these non-dilutive financing sources are becoming increasingly numerous thanks to both the emergence of interest expressed by many trusts and foundations in financing innovative start-ups, and also to the many governmental schemes that are devoted to financing the first steps of biotech start-ups. How do these sources of revenue lead to real leverage effect or create constraints for the companies? What types of constraints do they expose biotech entrepreneurs to?

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04 Dec 2018 4:30-6:00 pm

When creating a biotech start-up, different routes can be taken: the virtual biotech model, the technology platform model, the one single asset company… How do those initial choices influence the exit scenario of the company?

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05 Dec 2018 11:00 am-12:30 pm

Investment in immunotherapy in 2018 is still attractive and sought out; what is its growth potential after several years of being an investment blockbuster? What have been the 2018 investment successes in immunotherapy? Will immunotherapy disrupt the oncology market? Are we at the growth, maturity, or saturation stage when we talk about investing in immunotherapy?

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04 Dec 2018 9:30-11:00 am

The seed investment market is comprised of players with varied degrees of specialisation, from totally agnostic players involved in multiple industries, to pure players focusing on specific therapeutic areas. Do most specialised funds attract the more generalist types in the financing rounds? What is the importance of the amount of seed investment today for cross-industry funds, 100% healthcare-oriented funds, and pure players in the biotech industry, respectively?

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