Detailed Programme

The format of this session will be interactive round tables. Instead of listening to experts, selected delegates (registration in mandatory as the number of seats is limited) will have the opportunity to directly interact with them, in a best practice sharing experience.

• Emerging markets represent undoubtedly large commercial opportunities for biotech and pharma companies: in 2010 China is poised to become the world’s second largest economy. But could China, India, Brasil or other emerging markets also develop as large biotech hubs and play a leading rôle as R&D players? What about their ability to become competitors as site locations for young biotech companies? Could these countries be the new sources for biosimilar drugs? This panel discussion will review these issues in detail with leading biotech investors, financial analysts and industry representatives having concrete on the ground expertise in these emerging countries.

The format of this session will be interactive round tables. Instead of listening to experts, selected delegates (registration in mandatory as the number of seats is limited) will have the opportunity to directly interact with them, in a best practice sharing experience

• With increasingly risk averse investors, larger R&D development costs and the resulting lack of funding, is the dream of many biotech companies of becoming fully integrated pharma companies such as Gilead, Biogen or Actelion still a feasable? Or are we gradually witnessing a change in the business model of biotech companies towards a split of tasks among pharma companies, development companies and biotech companies? In such a model, biotech companies will increasingly and uniquely focus their activities on preclinical and early development work? Biotech investors, Pharma venture funds, VC and biotech and pharma companies will discuss during this trends and analyse what this shift will mean for them and the industry

What is exactly Bioconvergence ? It means that future healthcare innovation will not come from the association of one breakthrough with “on the shelf” technologies. It will only be achieved by merging innovation pipelines from very different highly innovative areas (biotech, medtech, infoTech, nanotech). If this difficult operation is not adequately achieved, chicken-and-eggs dilemma will arise and preclude value creation. Successful combining will require, not only business and technological skills, but also a solid know-how in the setting of complex alliances and a deep insight of the real market needs, from the three perspectives of public health authorities, healthcare professionals and patients.

Pharmaceutical leaders, Product Development Partnerships and multilateral organization representatives will constitute a panel and discuss the best approaches on the Big 3: “HIV – Malaria – Tuberculosis” and other neglected diseases.

This session will be dedicated to new developments in treatment and management of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases: shared mechanisms and targets also with oncology and neurodegenerative disease.

Despite unprecedented investment in R&D, the number of new drugs and devices approved by regulatory agencies remains low. Open innovation has the potential to fuel novel collaborations across institutions needed to develop solutions to some of the most critical healthcare challenges in both developed and emerging economies. The application of open innovation to drug R&D and options to achieve sustainability for the life sciences industry will be discussed

Many things have changed in the patent world during the past few years. Recent legal decisions have generated new doctrines. Court rulings which are highly beneficial from the “IT world” perspective may have a dramatic impact on the protection of innovation pipelines in the Biotech-Medtech industry. This session will focus on these new trends.

The public interest view of the bioconvergence universe

For decades, two worlds have had an uncomfortable coexistence: those working to manufacture and market molecules and those trying to understand the impact of molecules on life, society and our planet. Indeed, the broader public interest sector including the UN, other multilaterals and civil society, know full well that our health, and possibly our agricultural, future depends on better science. But an underlying stream of thought, anchored in ethics and the environment, have seen the sector as their evil twin. During this owl's hour discussion, our moderator will first offer a rare insider's glimpse into public sector attitudes towards bioconvergence players and then open the floor to frank discussions on how to better bridge the divide where a divide exists.

Vaccines now are viewed as a crucial path to growth, as drugmakers look for ways to bolster slowing prescription medicine sales amid intensifying generic competition and government pressure to cut down prices under the federal health overhaul. Investment in partnerships and other deals to develop and manufacture vaccines have been on a tear - and accelerating since the H1N1 flu pandemic began. Billions in government grants are bringing better, faster ways to develop and manufacture vaccines. Rising worldwide emphasis on preventive health care, plus the advent of the first multibillion-dollar vaccines, has further boosted their appeal. Are we entering a golden era? This session will give both the industry and regulatory authorities’ point of view on the new developments, including the H1N1 pandemic.

What is the common characteristic of Switzerland, France, Italy and Scandinavia? All are tremendous loci for innovation through a unique combination of high public investment in the knowledge economy, strong private commitment to innovation and great concentration of capital. In a series of short lectures, Key players of the Bioconvergence, Head of Cluster and policy makers will compete on elucidate where is (are) the best place to ensure the success of a Biotech Venture.

Regardless it is a pipeline byproduct or the main development strategy of the company, licensing innovation is a key step of immaterial asset valorization. It is also a complex process. Finding the right partner, at the right development stage, and achieving the requested due diligence, is in no way simpler that making an IPO successful. The participants to this panel are experts of external innovation, independent or working for major Pharmaceutical companies. They will exchange on what do the market really need in term of deals. As emerging developments in the pharmacogenomics field are setting the stage for increased licensing and collaborative efforts between pharmaceutical, biotech and diagnostics companies, this session will also address the point whether these new opportunities pave the way to personalized medicine.

This session aims to establish a vision for partnerships between life science companies in the United States and Europe and their counterparts in emerging bioregions that aim to transform traditional models of drug development, device development, and health care delivery.

Participants in this strategy session will identify roadblocks encountered during the development of partnerships and offer prioritized solutions, including overcoming issues surrounding the protection of intellectual property, ownership and control, and rules on imports and exports. Specifically, panelists will discuss examples of successful emerging countries partnerships.