Preconference workshop speaker
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Nathalie Rowell VirdisGroupNathalie RowellNathalie Rowell
CEO & Founder at VirdisGroup
A board, really? A Board, indeed!
Insights on the role of the board for biotech start-ups and on key attributes of board members
Abstract
Start-ups and small independent companies often ask why a Board is necessary, sensing that a Board takes time and energy, requires extensive communication, and might be perceived as a hindrance to the business. What is a Board of Directors for? In our workshop, we’ll analyse the overall purpose, remit, and goals of a Board. We will go through several examples of companies with and without Boards. Then, we will have a case study around the appropriate/inappropriate set of rules for a Board and define the proper functions that a Board should have to advise a company. Finally, we will discuss what it takes for an industry veteran to be a reliable Board member.
Bio
Nathalie brings over 20 years of experience and credibility in hiring international talent for the life science industry. She continues to advise senior executives in many different cultures on how to shape their careers and their organizations. A solid track record of international success has given Nathalie a deep understanding of the life-sciences and a strong empathy with clients. Her extensive industry knowledge and specialist insight is valued highly, enabling VirdisGroup clients to benchmark realistically, evaluate carefully, and find exactly the right individuals to lead and develop their organisations.
Nathalie created VirdisGroup in 2007 and, since then, has built both a strong team and a broad network of skilled people around the world. Her understanding of life science organisations and her extensive experience make her a credible and well-recognized recruitment partner.
Nathalie read Law at Paris Assas University and worked as lawyer in the field of intellectual property before becoming an entrepreneur and moving to international executive search.
Conference Speakers
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Milne Avaleigh RocheMilne AvaleighAvaleigh Milne
Global Head of Business Development Strategy & Practice, Pharma Partnering at Roche
Synergies in the biopharma ecosystem: Navigating the Future of Pharma, Biotech and VC
Abstract
Avaleigh will speak about the dynamic interplay among pharma, biotech and venture capital, framing the current state of these sectors and highlighting their interdependencies amid evolving market conditions. The synergies between pharma, biotech and VC are critical not only for advancing scientific breakthroughs but also for sustaining the pipeline of new treatments essential for addressing emerging health challenges and ensuring industry growth. Avaleigh will emphasize the Pharma perspective underscoring the necessity for continuous collaboration and strategic partnerships to foster a thriving ecosystem capable of driving forward the next generation of medical innovation.
Bio
Avaleigh Milne is the Global Head of Business Development Strategy & Practice in Pharma Partnering at Roche. She brings knowledge and experience from a range of business development roles within Roche / Genentech in San Francisco and Basel across multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to Roche, she gained significant industry experience across pharma, venture capital and startups, including at Atlas Venture as a member of their Life Sciences investment team and in Corporate Development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. She began her career at Bain & Company working with pharma and medtech companies. Avaleigh holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise from the University of Cambridge, and an AB from Harvard University. -
Michelle Chen Insilico MedicineMichelle ChenMichelle Chen
Chief Business Officer, Insilico Medicine
Transforming Drug Discovery with End-to-End Generative AI
Abstract
Insilico Medicine’s mission is to extend healthy longevity by transforming drug discovery and development with the help of AI. We are inspired to significantly reduce the time and cost to bring life-saving medicines to patients. Working with biopharma, academic partners, and patient foundations, we seek to accelerate and improve drug research and development efforts with our end-to-end, validated Pharma.AI platform and experienced teams of drug hunters. In parallel we have developed an internal pipeline of assets in core therapeutic areas of fibrosis, oncology, immunology and others, with 5 programs at clinical stages. Today we are working with 10 of the top 20 global pharma companies and have formed a number of strategic partnerships with Sanofi, Fosun, Exelixis, Menarini, and others. I will share a few case studies in my talk.
Bio
Michelle Chen is the Chief Business Officer of Insilico Medicine, a global leader in generative AI-driven drug discovery & development. She is responsible for the company’s business and corporate development, portfolio strategies, marketing, and US operations.
As a biotech executive, Michelle brings in 20+ years of experience in the biopharma and life sciences industries, having worked at multi-national companies such as Roche, Merck, BioMarin, Agilent, as well as small biotech companies. She has a strong track record of success in company building, BD&L, M&A, R&D, marketing, and product commercialization.
Michelle has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Washington, did her postdoctoral work at UCSF, and received Bioinformatics training at Stanford. -
Michael John Chiusolo OrganonMichael John ChiusoloMichael John Chiusolo
Executive Directorand Commercial Women's Health Portfolio Lead at Organon
Empowering Women's Health: Crafting a Winning Business Strategy
Abstract
Investing in women's health is both morally imperative and strategically sound for various reasons. Healthy women contribute significantly to economic growth by enhancing productivity and workforce participation, thereby fostering better economic outcomes for families and communities. Also, investing in preventive measures and early interventions in women's health can alleviate burden on healthcare systems, leading to reduced healthcare costs and improved overall health outcomes. Investing appropriately in women's health is a long journey and will require complimenting short-term incremental opportunities with transformative game-changing strategies.
Bio
A dynamic executive with a passion for driving innovation and advancing solutions in the pharmaceutical industry, Michael Chiusolo brings over two decades of dynamic leadership experience to the table. Currently serving as the Executive Director and Commercial Women's Health Portfolio Lead at Organon GmbH, Michael has cultivated a distinguished career marked by a blend of expertise in finance, business development, and commercial functions. Michael possesses a keen strategic vision and a proven ability to deliver results across diverse international markets and functions. -
Thomas Devenyns McKinsey & CompanyThomas DevenynsThomas Devenyns
Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company
The inflection point we’ve been holding our breath for - Is AI finally here?
Abstract
You can see the ‘AI age’ everywhere, except Pharma productivity statistics. In his talk, Thomas will critically diagnose the state of AI across the pharma value chain. He will bring it to life with case examples in business development as well as R&D.
He will lay out what type of impact is already visible and when we will see a cross-industry inflection point (spoiler – probably not until the early 2030s). Next, he will also touch upon what it takes to fully scale AI through use cases, rewiring of processes and rethinking the ecosystem.
Finally, he will end with a reflection on what critical in-house enablers are, and how business development can play a role.
Bio
Thomas Devenyns is an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, based in Geneva. He leads the scientific AI group for Life Sciences, as part of QuantumBlack, McKinsey’s AI arm. As part of this, he helps biopharma and their investors to think through and to change their R&D paradigm incorporating AI, and leads the generation and dissemination of scientific analytics approaches that can bring better life-saving treatments to more patients faster.
Thomas has a background in applied mathematics, computational systems biology and business innovation, holding degrees from ETH Zurich, KU Leuven and INSEAD, and has worked for SOPHiA GENETICS, driving medical strategy. -
Frank Hensel Principal/Authorized signatory at HTGFFrank HenselFrank Hensel
Principal/Authorized signatory at HTGF
Panel: where is the money coming from?
Bio
Dr Frank Hensel holds a PH.D. in biology and has a longstanding experience as Entrepreneur in a Start-Up developing human monoclonal antibodies for cancer treatment. After 15 years in biotech he moved to the investors side at the HTGF in 2015 and built a solid portfolio of start-ups with a focus on drug development companies with meanwhile 13 investments. Out of this portfolio 7 companies already entered the clinical stage and one company, Amal therapeutics, was successfully exited to Boehringer Ingelheim with a deal volume of up to 425Mio. € -
Tomas Khorel IQVIATomas KhorelTomas Khorel
IQVIA X (AI-ML CoE)/ Strategy Consulting EMEA at IQVIA
Panel: where is the money coming from?
Bio
Tomas is currently Principal at IQVIA EMEA Strategy and AI Consulting focusing on Life Sciences and Healthcare. In last 9 years has worked across domains for most of top pharma players (in all market segments – Rx, Gx, BSM, OTC) and various healthcare stakeholders. Among key topics of his focus were:
• Portfolio, Business Development & Licensing strategies
• Pricing, Value & Access strategies
• Commercial strategies across the product life cycle (launch till LoE)
In last several years Tomas has specialized in applied Artificial Intelligence. He designed, developed and implemented various machine learning-based predictive models as well as generative AI solutions and platforms.Tomas has led numerous projects innovating and augmenting traditional methodologies with AI, to help answer key strategic questions and increase confidence in decision-making. He enjoys strategizing how AI & Data Science may disrupt and transform Life Sciences in practical applications. -
Richard Law ExscientiaRichard LawRichard Law
Chief Business Officer at Exscientia
The future of AI enabled drug discovery
Abstract
Exscientia has pioneered a new and more efficient approach to discovering and developing drug candidates, through our automated AI generative design platform. Our mission at Exscientia is to encode and automate drug discovery. Ultimately, bringing together a suite of sophisticated computational design tools and methods with a scalable engineering platform and an automated physical laboratory, and connecting that to a patient tissue based precision medicine platform.
Exscientia has led the precision design of AI-generated molecules, including creating the first AI-designed compounds to enter clinical trials. In this talk we will describe our approach to molecular design using our end-to-end patient centric, AI-enabled platform. The presentation will explain how this approach has enabled Exscientia to tackle challenging target product profiles across a diverse range of targets. Crucially, we demonstrate how we have used this capability to develop 8 molecules that have either entered the clinic or are in IND-enabling studies. This includes targeting CDK7, PKC-theta, LSD1 and MALT1, solving complex design challenges for each. Patient-first AI will also be discussed, which integrates primary patient tissue samples into target discovery, drug design and personalised treatment decision making, to ensure clinical relevance at every stage of our AI-led drug discovery process.
Bio
Richard has spent almost twenty years in drug discovery, first as a computational chemist, and then in business development. After his degree and Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics at the University of Oxford, he spent several years working in academia, biotech and government labs in California as a computational chemist. In 2008 he was hired as the Head of Computational Chemistry at Evotec, and after leading a team and several drug discovery projects, became SVP Business Development, managing a team to build successful alliances between Evotec and biotech and pharma. -
Nadine Maalouf Van Lanschot KempenNadine MaaloufNadine Maalouf
Managing Director Corporate Finance Life Sciences and Healthcare at Van Lanschot Kempen
Panel: where is the money coming from?
Bio
Nadine Maalouf Managing Director Life Sciences & Healthcare, Corporate Finance at Van Lanschot Kempen.Nadine joined the Corporate Finance division of Van Lanschot Kempen, in the specialized Life Sciences and Healthcare sector team in 2018. She has over 20 years of experience in pharma, including 15 years in Business Development, Licensing, M&A and Alliance Management at Allergan, Actavis, Aptalis Pharmaceutical Technologies, Eurand and Eli Lilly.
At Van Lanschot Kempen, her core responsibility is to assist life sciences companies in fulfilling their ambitions in M&A and fundraising strategy. She has racked up an impressive track record of more than 40 equity capital market transactions including several IPOs of European biotech companies on the US Nasdaq and follow-on transactions. -
Christian Mauriand Roivant SciencesChristian MauriandChristian Mauriand
Global Head of Corporate Development at Roivant Sciences
A multi-billion dollar biotech built with a decentralized and diversified model; an introduction to Roivant Sciences
Abstract
“Roivant Sciences: A New Paradigm in the Pharmaceutical Industry” will explore the innovative approach of Roivant Sciences in adopting a decentralised model and diversified portfolio. This presentation delves into the benefits of the “Vant model”, including increased efficiency, flexibility, and risk distribution. It will also address some of its challenges, such as coordination, headcount duplications and communication complexities. The presentation will highlight Roivant Sciences’ diversified portfolio, driven by a therapeutic area agnostic approach and a creative dealmaking mindset. This strategy has allowed the company to explore untapped opportunities, to mitigate concentration risks and to foster innovation; further demonstrated by Roivant Sciences’ 10th consecutive positive Ph3 trials leading to 6x FDA approvals in record time. This presentation aims to provide an overview of Roivant Sciences’ unique business model and its potential implications for the future of the pharmaceutical industry.
Bio
Christian was an early team member at Roivant and served in a variety of roles in business development and operations across the Roivant family of companies. Prior to joining Roivant, Christian co-founded iRewind, a technology company which was sold to Yoveo in 2016. An Executive Committee member of The Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association (SECA), Christian holds a BA in Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen. -
Juliana Mazza-Reis NovartisJuliana Mazza-ReisJuliana Mazza-Reis
Global Senior Director, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) at Novartis
Deal Financing: Spotlighting recent M&A transactions
Abstract
Join us for an insightful presentation delving into the dynamic world of deal financing within the pharmaceutical sector. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic and biotech bankruptcies, licensing and M&A transactions have remained remarkably resilient over the past three years, maintaining considerably stable volumes and total expenditures. In this engaging session, we'll explore how the industry has adapted, showcasing recent financing cases that transcend conventional debt and cash acquisitions. From innovative partnerships to diverse funding structures, discover creative strategies employed to sustain transaction momentum in an ever-evolving landscape.
Bio
Juliana is a pharmacist by training who received a PhD degree from Sao Paulo University in Brazil. In the past 17 years in Pharma, she has led multiple transactions across a wide range of therapeutic areas, pipeline maturity, geographies and deal structures within partnerships and acquisitions. With the purpose of bringing life changing science to the eyes of heavy investors, Juliana previously worked for local and regional companies in Latin America, private equity and sovereign funds focusing on Middle East, Ukraine & Africa and currently serves as Global Senior Director of M&A at Novartis. -
Odile Rundquist Bioqube VenturesOdile RundquistOdile Rundquist
Advisor, Bioqube Ventures
Panel: where is the money coming from?
Bio
After earning her Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Odile worked as a sell-side Pharma Analyst for 10 years, covering major European Pharma companies in various banks and financial institutions in Switzerland and Germany.
Odile has then served as Scientific Advisor in the family office of Andre Hoffmann, vice-chairman of Roche and representative of the Roche's founding family for 7 years. She has held positions on the boards of two Swiss companies and has recently joined Bioqube Ventures, a Life Sciences Venture Capital firm based in Belgium and California as an Advisor with increasing responsibilities in 2024. She is also a member of the Evaluation Board of the Wyss Foundation (Wyss Zurich), a member of the Jury of Venture Kick and an Healthcare Advisor to the Venture debt Fund Bootstrap Europe. -
Ed Saltzman LumanityEd SaltzmanEd Saltzman
Senior Strategic Advisor at Lumanity
Biopharma dealmaking: Time for a Re-think?
Abstract
For several decades biotechs have had to accomplish two overarching goals to achieve a lucrative licensing deal with large pharma:
1) move their products through multiple stages of clinical and regulatory de-risking and;
2) demonstrate that these products have substantial revenue potential (now $1bn or more).Most pre-commerical biotechs continue to prioritize the first goal, but in today’s dynamic and volatile commercial environment, especially in the US, most fail to secure deals because they cannot make a compelling case that their asset can deliver on the second.
In 2009 when capital to fund development though PoC de-risking was scarce, Ed proposed a new value-driving concept for sellers: Proof of Relevance (PoR). PoR is a less capital intensive and faster route to de-risking assets prior to traditional PoC, by making a compelling case for an asset’s therapeutic and thus commercial value. By focusing only on clinical and regulatory de-risking, sellers were missing this opportunity.
Despite recent very challenging capital markets, a record number of companies have raised sufficient capital to move past PoC. Unfortunately, this has led to the value of establishing PoR being overlooked. The result is a surplus of clinically de-risked assets weighed down by unattractive commercial risk profiles.
Pharma perceives only a minority of assets to have the inherent, compelling commercial prospects needed to pass minimum revenue thresholds. These “corner property” assets are the basis of today’s mega-deals. However, the reality is that the vast majority of biotechs with post-POC assets are unlikely to achieve any large pharma deal unless PoR is as compelling as PoC.
Bio
Ed is the founder of Defined Health, one of the premier strategy advisories in biopharma and one of the earliest to focus their efforts on the emerging biotech sector. After having led the sale of Defined Health to Cello Health in 2017, Ed took on the role of Executive Chairman of Cello’s biotech business unit and currently serves as a Senior Strategic Advisor to Lumanity and Arsenal Capital Partners following their acquisition of Cello. Ed is widely regarded as a thought leader in strategy and business models for life sciences companies and over the years has spoken and been quoted widely about key trends impacting the pharma/biotech deal environment. Ed currently serves on the Board of Directors at Nurix Therapeutics. -
Monique Schiersing RocheMonique SchiersingMonique Schiersing
Senior Investment Director for the Roche Venture Fund
Panel: where is the money coming from?
Bio
Monique Schiersing is a Senior Investment Director for the Roche Venture Fund, which she joined in 2009. Her current and past board positions include GlycoEra, River3Renal, Bonum and its parent Good Therapeutics (sold to Roche), Lino Bio, Engmab and mySugr (also sold to Roche).
In a two-year break from RVF Monique served as COO at the Swiss Biotech company Inthera Bioscience.
Monique also worked for six years in Roche's Pharma business development group, responsible for global biologics deals and alliances, including Genmab, Morphosys, Ambrx as well as GlycArt and Therapeutic Human Polyclonal, both of which were acquired by Roche.
Monique holds a M.Sc. in microbiology from the University of Zurich (Switzerland) and an MBA in finance from the University of San Francisco. -
Frederik Schmachtenberg EYFrederik SchmachtenbergFrederik Schmachtenberg
Partner, EY Global Life Sciences Lead for Financial Accounting Advisory Services at EY
At the intersection of biotech financing and pharma dealmaking
Abstract
In 2023 and early 2024, the life sciences sector witnessed a return to larger-scale deal making. This resurgence is primarily driven by the fact that both demand and supply sides are aligned and seem promising. On demand side, the looming patent cliff, with numerous key products facing the loss of patent protection within the next five years and ample firepower available to deploy on deals. Similarly on the supply side, with approx. 300 unpartnered assets currently in Phase 3, owned by pre-commercial biotech companies, and nearly 50% of biotech companies having less than two years of cash available, compelling them to engage in deal-making to sustain clinical trials and operations. While collaborations and alliances have always been a critical part of the life sciences sector to flourish, they become increasingly strategic, for example as part of a de-risking strategy or as a precursor to full acquisitions. This approach allows companies to build collaborative visions and understand the potential of a partnership before committing to a full acquisition.
Bio
Frederik is a life sciences EY Partner in Switzerland and EY’s Global Life Sciences Lead for Financial Accounting Advisory Services. Frederik is focusing on serving life sciences clients on finance transformations, M&A transactions, divestiture transactions, as well as non-financial reporting matters. He has more than 20 years of experience across the global life sciences and health sectors, also having worked in the US for six years serving Forbes Global 500 life sciences companies headquartered in the US. Frederik is also a permanent lecturer for financial and non-financial reporting at the University of St. Gallen, as well as one of the co-authors of the Swiss Biotech Report, which he also presents annually at the Swiss Biotech Day in Basel. -
Nigel Sheail Versant VentureNigel SheailNigel Sheail
Venture Partner at Versant Venture
Discussion and Q&A
Bio
Nigel Sheail is a venture partner based in Basel, Switzerland. He brings exceptional business development capabilities and deep insights into our industry from over two decades of leadership roles within the pharmaceutical sector. Nigel has been one of the pharma industry’s top dealmakers and his unique set of capabilities is intended to build on Versant’s track record of partnerships across the firm's portfolio.
Prior to joining Versant, Nigel was Global Head of Mergers & Acquisitions and Business Development & Licensing at Novartis, where he served as a member of the company’s senior leadership team. In that role, he was responsible for the execution of a broad range of healthcare deals spanning research and technology collaborations through to large M&A transactions. Prior to Novartis, Nigel was Head of Business Development and Licensing for Bayer Healthcare, and before that served as Head of Group M&A at Roche and Head of Licensing for its Pharma division. -
Mats Steger Endogena TherapeuticsMats StegerMats Steger
CEO at ENDOGENA THERAPEUTICS
Endogena Therapeutics – A novel drug discovery & development paradigm
Abstract
Endogena Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that discovers and develops first-in-class endogenous regenerative medicines to repair and regenerate diseased tissues. Endogena’s unique platform approach to selectively activate dormant endogenous stem- and progenitor cells has the potential for a paradigm shift in how degenerative conditions due to aging and genetic disorders are treated.
The company’s lead program is completing a Phase 1/2a clinical study targeting retinal degeneration due to retinitis pigmentosa; the experimental therapy EA-2353 was granted Orphan Drug Designation and Fast Track Designation by the US FDA.
Endogena’s portfolio consists of a second clinical project, targeting geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), as well as lung- and blood cell regeneration projects in discovery.
Bio
Dr. Matthias Steger is co-Founder and CEO of Endogena Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotech company with a novel drug discovery concept based on selective regulation of endogenous stem cells to repair and regenerate organs and tissues.
Matthias is a distinguished leader and worked for 25 years in the pharmaceutical-biotech industry. Prior to Endogena, he worked as Global Head of Research & Technology Partnering, at Roche, setting up and managing numerous collaborations and acquisitions for novel drug modalities, new drug discovery technologies, as well as enabling technologies, such as translational models, biomarkers, and drug delivery/formulation. Matthias has also lead and implemented various corporate strategies exploring novel drug discovery approaches, and as such has initiated and built up Roche’s stem cell research. In addition, Matthias worked as an independent consultant for various biotech companies, academic institutes and venture capital firms, exploring novel drug discovery – and partnering / investment strategies. -
Andreas Wallnöfer Jeito CapitalAndreas WallnöferAndreas Wallnöfer
Partner & Investor at Jeito Capital
Panel: where is the money coming from?
Abstract
In the rapidly evolving pharmaceutical landscape, competition intensifies as innovation surges through quick and strategic decisions in Business Development & Licensing (BD&L). The explosion of digital data, coupled with advances in artificial intelligence (AI), has bestowed unprecedented capabilities to make pivotal decisions swiftly and accurately. This presentation will explore specific examples of how AI and machine learning (ML) are revolutionizing asset assessment and decision-making processes, allowing rapid modeling of scenarios with enhanced precision. Drawing from hands-on experience, I will discuss the current advantages and limitations of AI, providing an insightful outlook into its near future. Join us for an empowering dive into how AI-driven strategies are shaping the future of the pharmaceutical industry, fostering a competitive edge in a world that demands speed and accuracy.
Bio
Andreas Wallnöfer is Partner at Jeito Capital. He has over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, including 12 years as a member of the F. Hoffmann-La Roche Pharma R&D Executive Leadership team and 5 years as General Partner and Investor in Venture Capital.
Andreas has been successful in developing innovative companies and is board member of several European biotech. Prior to his career in Venture, he has been Head of Cardiovascular & Metabolism R&D and member of the Roche/Genentech Portfolio Committee. Andreas was part of several successful product developments and market introductions. Before the integration of Genentech, Andreas was Global Head of Clinical Research. He had a key role in the integration of the Roche and Genentech Development organizations and led subsequently Roche’s Early Development.