Dutch Life Sciences & Health Conference

Plenary presentations

Hosted by Utrecht Science Park

The plenary programme of the conference consists of keynote presentations with an interactive panel discussion and the announcement of the NGI Venture Challenge Award and Investors Forum winners.

Industry leaders and biotech experts will address topics within the central theme ‘Business Development in Life Sciences’. The presentations will cover international developments and strategies related to this theme.

• Prof. Désiré Collen, CEO and Chairman of ThromboGenics
  What are the critical success factors involved in bringing innovations from academia to the market? What do we expect from the involvement of Universities, Investors and government? Which business models are successful? The Flanders region of Belgium and the company ThromboGenics as best practice.
• Dr. R. (Rudi) Pauwels, Founder & Executive Chairman Biocartis SA
  Health-care budgets are under increasing pressure, and diagnostic companies are consequently facing difficulties in bringing their products onto the market. This changing environment calls for new business models and a more holistic view on health-care costs related to diagnostics and the positive effects farther downstream in the health-care chain. Rudi Pauwels will present his view on how to face up to these challenges on the basis of the company Biocartis.
• Dr. R. (Rene) Aerts, Vice-President Merck Animal Health.
  Human health and animal health meet in the one Health roadmap within the top sector Life Sciences & Health. René Aerts will address new collaborative models enabling the veterinary sector to develop products in consortia.

Maintaining and improving the health of an ageing population fraught with chronic diseases is the biggest socio-economic challenge of our time. We need innovations that increase the quality of health care while keeping health care affordable and available to all. However, innovations have often added to the cost of health care. Future innovations must therefore also reduce cost and labour.

This paradigm shift will be discussed in a panel that consists of the conference’s three plenary speakers and will be introduced by the chairman of the ‘Regiegroep Life Sciences & Health’ Dr. R.W. van Leen MBA.

Panel members are:

• Dr. R.W. van Leen MBA
• Dr. R. (Rudi) Pauwels
• Dr. R. (René) Aerts
• Prof. Em. D. (Désiré) Collen

During this session the young and start-up companies will give a short business presentation. Their business achievements over the last year as well as their business concepts will be discussed.
The winners of the venture challenge as well as the winner of the Investors Forum will be announced.

Download here the programme overview