March 26, LSP organized the BioCapital Europe Conference for the 13th consecutive time. The prestigious hotel The Grand in Amsterdam set the stage for one of the premier life sciences events in Europe. During the day, the hotel was packed with some 200 entrepreneurs, senior executives and life science investors.
The atmospheric venue proved to be an ideal setting for a professional get-together in the world of life sciences. Around 40 CEOs of innovative European life science companies presented their investment cases in group sessions, allowing investors to learn and be educated about product pipelines, technologies and ongoing clinical trials. The common theme being that they all target to address one or more of the many unmet medical needs that our society faces.
The stuff that makes a difference
The company presentation sessions were alternated with several high profile keynote speakers, amongst others Andrew Ward, pharmaceutical correspondent for the Financial Times. “We invited Andrew to give an outsider’s perspective on our business”, explicated LSP’s Geraldine O’Keeffe. Another new element of the programme was a plenary discussion on ‘Immunotherapy, is this the way forward in cancer treatment’. O’Keeffe: “A very hot topic, and a field in which dramatic developments have taken place in the past year.” According to LSP’s Joep Muijrers: “Unheard of. This is the stuff that makes a difference. This is not marginal, this is huge.”
In the right place at the right time
LSP also introduced the LSP BioCapital Europe Company of the Year award, to be presented to the company that has had the most transformative year in terms of its technology, clinical development, partnering, IPO or M&A activities. Delegates of the conference were given the opportunity to cast their vote prior to the event. Hans Schikan, CEO of Prosensa, proudly accepted the award. “Sometimes you have to be lucky to be in the right place at the right time, meeting the right people.” At the same time, of course, delicately pointing out what the BioCapital Europe Conference is all about.