Therapeutics companies often see Big Pharma as the ultimate co-development or exit partner. However, many clinical-stage, mid-sized pharmaceutical companies are actively seeking strategic partnerships to expand their pipelines, with many also establishing corporate venture funds to invest in areas that complement or go beyond their existing pipelines.

This panel will explore key questions, including:

• What are the advantages of partnering beyond big pharma?
• How does collaboration with a mid-stage company differ from working with Big Pharma?
• What makes a therapeutics company an attractive partner?

With numerous pathways available to advance novel therapies, it’s essential for companies to consider all partnership opportunities. Panelists will share insights on what these collaborations look like—and how they can deliver mutual value for both the innovator and the pharma partner.

Marc Appel

Managing Partner

Pacific Bridge NY

(Moderator)

Salma Al-Zu’bi

Investment Principal

Hikma Ventures

Dirk, Büscher

Sr Director Grifols Innovation and New Technologies

Grifols

Chloé Lepretre

Head of Global R&D Search and Evaluation

Servier

Nicolas Stalder

Senior Investment Manager

Debiopharm Innovation Fund

This panel will feature investors that focus on longevity. Learn about their investment preferences and how they evaluate and manage their relationships with their early-stage portfolio and prospects in this specific market. Hear from active age-tech experts on their predictions for the future of this sector.

Fiona Miller

Managing Partner

quadraScope Venture Fund

(Moderator)

Caleb Bell

Advisor

Beyond Next Ventures

Bettina Ernst

Director

BERNINA BioInvest

Ravi Mistry

Venture Partner / Officer & Founding Team Member

3i Partners

Alex Strasser

Senior Associate

Apollo Health Ventures

Jeremy Sohn

Managing Partner

P74 Ventures

Healthcare organizations are embracing innovations and becoming a key training ground to test the medical benefits, technical feasibility, and business viability of new technology breakthroughs. From innovation centers to investment vehicles, healthcare organizations have become critical partners for entrepreneurs. This panel will reveal the changing role healthcare organizations are playing in fostering innovation. Topics may include:

• What are hospitals and health networks doing to engage with new technology companies?
• How can a startup get the most out of conducting pilot studies with a healthcare system partner?
• How do early stage companies work with healthcare systems to generate user experience for their new technologies?
• How can healthcare organizations share their technical expertise with startups?

This RESI panel will help entrepreneurs navigate complex healthcare systems and bring their companies to the next milestone.

Eileen Flowers, PhD

Director – Technology Development and Licensing

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Jeff Stinson

Director

HealthTech Arkansas

Thomas Thornton

Vice President, Innovation, Jefferson Ventures

Jefferson Health

This panel focuses on understanding how family offices view direct investments in early-stage healthcare opportunities (seed – series A) and how they differ from and compare to VCs. Topics may include:

• Primary differences between institutional VCs and family office investors
• How family offices source investments / how to get on their radar
• Trends in the early-stage healthcare investment space

The primary goal of this panel is to help entrepreneurs understand how family offices view early-stage investments in the healthcare space and best practices for approaching, pitching, and working with these groups as well as debunking some common misconceptions about family offices.

Andrew Merken

Shareholder

Polsinelli PC

(Moderator)

John Abeles

General Partner

Northlea Partners

Ethan Berg

Managing Partner

G4 Investments, LLC

Michael Langer

Founder & Managing Partner

T.Rx Capital

John Leader

Partner

Green Park & Golf Ventures

John Parker

Founder and Managing Director

Springhood Ventures

This panel focuses on the many applications of AI in healthcare, from pathology applications to diagnostics to personalized medicine.

Topics may include:

• What are investors looking for when evaluating companies in this space
• Where is AI in healthcare now and where is it going
• What are the current challenges facing AI, including regulatory challenges

In recent years, numerous technologies integrating AI have come up in the life sciences & healthcare industry. From drug discovery platforms to remote patient monitoring, AI plays a big role in a lot of the up and coming startups in this space. In this panel, we hope to uncover areas that pique investors’ interests at this current time. In addition, panelists can discuss the associated risks, such as regulatory or ethical complexities, data quality, among others.

Leo Cui

Partner

FoundersX

Ser-Chen Fu

Partner

Pacific 8 Ventures

Sally Wang Liang

Managing Partner

Xpanse Venture

Adam Steinert

CTO

Yahara Ventures

Robert E. “Bob” Sweeney, DA, MS, MBA

Principal & Co-Founder

Global Health Impact Network & Fund

Venture capital gets a lot of attention, but it is not the only source of funding. This panel explores a diverse range of alternative funding sources for early-stage companies such as angel investors, family offices, grants, and more. Hear about the overlooked channels of capital and learn what these funders are looking for and how to access them.

Topics may incldue:

• How does your approach to funding differ from traditional sources like banks or venture capital?
• What factors do you consider when evaluating funding opportunities?
• How do you see the landscape of alternative funding evolving in the next few years?
• What advice would you give to those seeking funding from organizations like yours?

This panel will open up new possibilities for an entrepreneur’s funding journey. Because early-stage capital is not one-size-fits-all, thinking beyond traditional venture capital could be the key to unlocking a startup’s next big move.

John Pennett

Angel Investor

Mid Atlantic Bio Angels

(Moderator)

John Abeles

General Partner

Northlea Partners

Nicolas Cindric

Partner

Yahara Ventures

Marc Estigarribia

Senior Partner/ Managing Director

MSQ Ventures

Prashant Shah

Partner

O2h Ventures

CNS Diseases can affect anyone, from children suffering from genetic disorders to elderly suffering from neurological diseases such as dementia in all its forms, as well as mental and behavioral disorders, that can appear at any age. Investing in technologies relating to CNS disorders remains high, among the most well-funded indications. Panel topics may include:

• What areas of CNS are saturated and what areas need more attention?
• What are common red flags seen when investing?
• What makes a company stand out in CNS?

As much as treating CNS diseases has been in the forefront for decades, investors are still seeking innovation, whether new and more complex therapeutics that can cross the blood-brain barrier, new treatments and preventions for neurodegenerative diseases, better diagnostic tests and treatments for mental and behavioral health, or devices that can restore function, among others. The more researchers learn, the greater the mystery of the central nervous system; panelists will discuss what are the newest and most exciting innovations in the CNS landscape.

John Boyce

Managing Director & Co-Founder

28 Capital

Danny Carbonero

Investor

PsyMed Ventures

Zizi Imatorbhebhe

CEO & Executive Partner

Bios Health Group

Cheryl Kuai

Managing Director

Sixty Degree Capital

The medical device industry continues to experience rapid growth, driven by technological innovation, regulatory advancements, and increasing global healthcare demand. This panel brings together active investors to discuss the latest trends, opportunities, and challenges in the medical device industry.

Topics addressed may include:

• Emerging technologies and current trends that excite investors
• Investment strategies and due diligence process on medical device opportunities
• Navigating regulatory hurdles and barriers to market entry
• Case studies of successful medical device investments

This panel will be an insightful discussion on how investors capitalize on this dynamic sector while driving advancements in patient care and medical technology.

Ralph Morales III

Venture Partner / Executive-in-Residence

Aquillius Ventures

(Moderator)

Ayah Hamdan

Director & Ventures, Health

Plug and Play

Daniel O’Mahony

Partner

Seroba Life Sciences

John Tremblay

Investor

Launchpad Venture Group

Mark Vreeke

Co-Founder

Chemical Angel Network

Don Zinn

US Vice President US Business

Crossject