Investing in the earliest stages comes with a high risk and a potentially high reward. Whether investing in a therapeutics or digital health company, seed investors have to make difficult decisions with a lot less data than other investors. The panelists will discuss topics such as:

• How much proof-of-concept validation is needed for seed funding
• What increased benefit is needed to mitigate the increased risk
• What is unique in the structure of seed-stage deals (convertible notes vs straight equity)
• Does the early stage of the company lead investors to take a more active role

Many investors prefer to wait for later stages due to the decreased risk of failure. Those investors who are willing to take the risk of seed-stage investment will share their approach and selection criteria when assessing early-stage companies.

This panel aims to bring a diverse group of experts & senior decision making staff from VCs, corporate pharma, and other investor types who focus on biotech/ therapeutics investments together to discuss topics such as:

• The decision-making process
• Current areas of interest and areas of high need
• How companies can better differentiate themselves, especially those in overcrowded indications  
• Common mistakes/red flags  Recently successful deals and how they were successful

The moderator will guide the discussion through topics including how the investors source and vet novel therapeutic assets, what kinds of technology are of interest to them right now, and how they as investors work with a startup to move a new drug toward commercialization.

Investing in medical devices has become more complex with time. While standard medical devices are still a mainstay, there are an increasing amount of combination devices, software-enabled devices and diagnostic devices that require investors to have expertise in multiple sectors. Panelists may discuss topics such as:

• Areas that are currently popular and expected to grow in 2024
• The benefits vs. risks of devices that cross sectors
• Regulatory hurdles / challenges
• Amount/type of data they want to see before investing

Panelists will discuss how to meet the challenges of raising financing for a new device and advise startups on how to make the investment case for their novel technology. Panelists will also explore what technology areas are of top interest to them and how a startup can make themselves stand out in the crowd.

Corporate venture capital firms are an important source of capital for early-stage companies. Many major pharmaceuticals and large corporations have set up a corporate investment arm to identify early-stage companies. Strategically and financially driven in varying degrees, the implications of working with CVCs are huge, as the resources, network, and guidance provided by the CVC and the associated parent company are incredibly valuable to an entrepreneur who is actively growing their business. This panel will discuss the following topics and more:

• How are CVCs different from traditional VCs?
• How strategically vs. financially are CVCs driven, and how does this affect their decision-making process?
• How closely does the CVC communicate with the parent company?
• What does working with a CVC entail?

Panelists will discuss each of their investment mandates and how they relate to corporate interests, and how they have been sourcing opportunities during COVID. Panelists may also explore current trending areas of interest, and what they see as emerging fields in the near future.

Funding in Women’s Health has increased over the past few years, with technologies ranging from therapeutics to diagnostics to digital health platforms designed to address problems facing women. This increase in funding has also played a role in increasing the funding in women-led startups, as one report found that more than 70% of startups in Women’s Health have at least one female founder. Topics discussed may include:

• What is unique about investing in Women’s Health?
• What areas of Women’s Health need more focus?
• What do investors look for in technologies relating to Women’s Health?

Women’s Health issues expand beyond fertility and reproductive health, as a large number of widespread issues, such as stroke or cardiovascular diseases, either affect women more frequently or differently, and there is a large disparity in treatments that address the way these diseases affect women specifically. Panelists will discuss their interests in this space, and their investment strategy in these technologies.

Investing in medical devices has become more complex with time. While standard medical devices are still a mainstay, there are an increasing amount of combination devices, software-enabled devices and diagnostic devices that require investors to have expertise in multiple sectors. Panelists may discuss topics such as:

• Areas that are currently popular and expected to grow in 2024
• The benefits vs. risks of devices that cross sectors
• Regulatory hurdles / challenges
• Amount/type of data they want to see before investing

Panelists will discuss how to meet the challenges of raising financing for a new device and advise startups on how to make the investment case for their novel technology. Panelists will also explore what technology areas are of top interest to them and how a startup can make themselves stand out in the crowd.

Since 2015, the US regulatory, public/private payor, and clinical research environments have implemented sweeping changes to the policies and requirements governing healthcare innovation targeting the pediatric patient population. Despite these changes, funding for pediatric innovation remains exponentially lower relative to the nature of the commitments being made to adult indications, especially troubling in light of nearly 40% of the world’s population will be under the age of 21, yet less

than 15% of all healthcare investment is targeting pediatric indications. This panel will explore several topics including:

• What are the specific gaps in pediatric patient engagement?
• How and why are current novel treatments under development superior to historic care options?
• What are the challenges that impact the efficiency, effectiveness, and successful commercialization of scientific innovations targeting the pediatric patient population?
• What changes need to be made to incentivize and motivate global healthcare manufacturers to increase their pediatric healthcare R&D budgets respectively?

Panelists will discuss topics relevant to all areas of pediatric care and the importance of addressing an underserved population, and how improvements to pediatric care can save long-term costs for the healthcare industry long after these patients reach adulthood.

Big pharma companies are actively looking outwards for innovative new therapeutics to add to their pipelines. This panel brings together speakers from various big pharma companies discussing topics such as:

• How big pharma sources assets
• The evaluation process
• Key factors and areas of interest
• How early-stage big pharma is willing to look

These panelists will shed light on the process that big pharma goes through when sourcing early-stage assets and advise startups on how they can best make a case for themselves. Panelists will also explore various trends within the therapeutics marketplace, what assets are of interest to their company, and what they think will be big in the future.

This panel is a discussion on topics relevant to investment in current innovations in the oncology space. Topics of discussion can include:

• The technologies/approaches that investors find the most compelling
• Whether platform technologies or single assets are preferred for investment/partnerships
• What criteria do investors use when assessing companies for their portfolio or pipeline

Panelists can discuss the industry-wide changes currently seen, including the advance of personalized medicine and the rise of new therapeutic approaches (CAR-T, oncolytic viruses etc.), and how that is affecting the investing landscape.

By 2030 1 in 6 people in the world will be over 60 years of age. Globally, the senior population is rapidly growing and the opportunities in the agetech space abound. But this niche market has its intricacies. Hear from longevity investors on their predictions for what’s next, what they’re looking for, and trends they see sticking.