Past Events
Spring 2023 MIT
June 7-8, 2023
The Longwood Healthcare Leaders Spring MIT was co-hosted by Nobelist Phil Sharp and held at MIT’s Koch Institute. The meeting bought together top biopharma CEOs, heads of R&D, life science investors, and leading researchers in an off-the-record setting and concluded with an in-person cocktail reception at The Koch Institute, MIT.
Featured Speakers
Featured Firesides
CEOs
R&D Leaders
Academia & Research
BD & Strategy Leaders
Cocktail Reception
Registered participants attended cocktail reception at the Koch Institute at MIT at the close of the meeting, co-hosts MIT Institute Professors Bob Langer and Phil Sharp, shared remarks at the event.
Agenda
7:00 am
REGISTRATION & NETWORKING BREAKFAST
7:30 am ET
LONGWOOD FUND INTRODUCTION
Christoph Westphal, General Partner, Longwood Fund
8:00 am ET
NEWCO: SHAPING THE NARRATIVE
Pamela Contag, CEO, BioEclipse
Natalia Misciattelli, CEO, Aavantgarde Bio
Ameet Nathwani, CEO, Dewpoint Therapeutics
Barry Selick, CEO, Hinge Bio
Moderator: Jonathan Weissman, Landon T. Clay Professor of Biology, MIT
8:30 am ET
INDUSTRY TRANSFORMATION: BIOMEDICAL COLLABORATION AND TRANSPARENCY
Sek Kathiresan, CEO, Verve Therapeutics
Anne Klibanski, President & CEO, Mass General Brigham
Bill Watt, President, Astellas Venture Management
Moderator: Kate Walsh, Managing Director, Life Science & Healthcare, HSBC Bank USA
9:00 am ET
REGULATORY & INDUSTRY ROUNDTABLE
Peter Marks, Director, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, FDA
Andy Plump, President, R&D, Takeda
Moderator: Christoph Westphal, General Partner, Longwood Fund
9:20 am ET
THE INTERSECTION OF POLICY & SCIENCE: INNOVATION IN THE ERA OF IRA
Sebastian Guth, President, Americas Region, Bayer Pharmaceuticals
Peter Hutt, former General Counsel, FDA
Vanessa Procter, SVP, External Affairs, Sage Therapeutics
Maha Radhakrishnan, CMO, Biogen
Moderator: Maria Whitman, Managing Partner, Global Commercialization Strategy & Solutions, ZS Associates
9:50 am ET
ACCELERATING THE PATH TO PATIENT CARE
Kate Cronin, Chief Brand Officer, Moderna
Eddie Martucci, CEO, Akili Interactive
Amama Sadiq, Head, Global Medical & Scientific Affairs, Karyopharm
Michelle Werner, CEO, Alltrna
Moderator: Al Beardsley, COO, Galera Therapeutics
10:20 am ET
NETWORKING BREAK
10:50 am ET
EXPLOSION OF MODALITIES
David Donabedian, Executive Partner & Interim NewCo CEO, Longwood Fund
JC Gutierrez Ramos, CSO, Danaher
John Lepore, SVP, Head, Research, GlaxoSmithKline
Anabella Villalobos, SVP, Biotherapeutics & Medicinal Sciences, Biogen
Moderator: Iris Grossman, CSO, Eleven Therapeutics
11:20 am ET
FIRESIDE CHAT: THE FUTURE OF PHARMA
Bob Langer, Institute Professor, MIT; Co-Founder, Moderna/Momenta
Christophe Weber, CEO, Takeda
Moderator: Jeremy Levin, CEO, Ovid Therapeutics
11:40 am ET
NOVEL APPROACHES TO DRUG DISCOVERY
Joe Arron, CSO, 23andMe
Stew Campbell, CEO, Axial Therapeutics
Jeb Keiper, CEO, Nimbus Therapeutics
Kathy Seidl, Head, Oncology Drug Discovery, Takeda
Moderator: Alise Reicin, CEO, Tectonic Therapeutics
12:10 pm ET
NETWORKING LUNCHEON
1:10 pm ET
SPOTLIGHT ON MIT INNOVATION: INTERCEPTING OVARIAN CANCER
Angie Belcher, Head of the Department of Biological Engineering, MIT
Paula Hammond, Institute Professor; Department Head, Chemical Engineering, MIT
Moderator: Jane Wilkinson, Executive Director, Koch Institute at MIT
1:30 pm ET
OPTIMIZING TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH
Phil Johnson, CEO, Interius Bio
Matthias Kleinz, EVP, Head, Translational Sciences, UPMC Enterprises
Mark Leuchtenberger, CEO, SpyBiotech
Moderator: Joel Marcus, Executive Chair & Founder, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc./Alexandria Venture Investments
2:00 pm ET
CULTIVATING AN ECOSYSTEM OF PARTNERS
Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, CEO, MassBio
John Flavin, Chair, Pyxis Oncology
Amanda Wagner, CEO, Immunitas
Moderator: Mark Barrett, CEO, Lassen Therapeutics
2:30 pm ET
PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE OF R&D
Amira Barkal, Chief Development Officer, Pheast
Fabrice Chouraqui, CEO, Cellarity
Lawrence Hamann, CEO, Interdict Bio
Robert Plenge, SVP, Research & Early Development, Bristol Myers Squibb
Moderator: Zhen Su, CEO, Marengo Therapeutics
3:00 pm ET
NETWORKING BREAK
3:30 pm ET
ACCELERATING DRUG DEVELOPMENT
Chris Austin, CEO, Vesalius Therapeutics
Carl Hansen, CEO, AbCellera
Ed Hu, Vice Chair, Global Chief Investment Officer, WuXi
James Sapirstein, CEO, First Wave BioPharma
Moderator: Oliver Rosen, CMO, Akamis Bio
4:00 pm ET
MOVING FROM TREATMENT TO CURE
Kara Carter, EIR, Evotec
Abbey Jenkins, CEO, Gamida Cell
Sarah Noonberg, CMO, Metagenomi
Loic Vincent, CSO, Affini-T Therapeutics
Moderator: Kipp Weiskopf, Valhalla Whitehead Fellow, Whitehead Institute
4:30 pm ET
CONVENING A STRONG SYNDICATE
Jens Eckstein, Managing Partner, Apollo Ventures
Ansbert Gadicke, Managing Director, MPM Capital; Managing Partner, BioImpact Capital
Arjun Goyal, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Vida Ventures
Aleks Radovic-Moreno, Partner, Longwood Fund
Moderator: Bill Hicks, Co-Chair Securities & Capital Markets, Mintz
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Day 1 Agenda
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Day 2 Agenda
7:00 am
REGISTRATION & NETWORKING BREAKFAST
7:30 am ET
LONGWOOD FUND INTRODUCTION
David Steinberg, General Partner, Longwood Fund
7:50 am ET
BIG BIOPHARMA PIPELINE SOURCING
Bob Bagdorf, VP, Group Lead, Search & Evaluation, WWBD, Pfizer
Michael Flaschen, SVP, Global External Innovation, Daiichi Sankyo
Amit Mehta, Head, BD, gRED, Genentech
Beth Shafer, Head, R&D, Business Development, Takeda
Moderator: DA Gros, CEO, Eledon Pharmaceuticals
8:20 am ET
CROSS-BORDER COLLABORATION
Bill Heiden, Chair, MacroGenics
Ryan Richardson, Chief Strategy Officer, BioNTech
Tadaaki Taniguchi, CMO, Astellas
Neil Warma, CEO, Genexine
Moderator: Lori Grant, CEO, Klick Health
8:50 am ET
ADVANCES IN NEUROSCIENCE
Nikola Kojic, CEO, Oryon Cell Therapeutics
Lisa Ricciardi, CEO, Cognition Therapeutics
Kasper Roet, CEO, QurAlis
Pascal Touchon, CEO, Atara
Moderator: Saul Kato, CEO, Herophilus
9:20 am ET
DATA SCIENCE EVOLUTION & ENABLEMENT
Regina Barzilay, Distinguished Professor, AI & Health, MIT
Sean McClain, CEO, Absci
Shankar Narayanan, CEO, Real Chemistry
Moderator: Chris Cotsapas, SVP, Platform Development, Vesalius Therapeutics
9:50 am ET
FIRESIDE CHAT
Ivan Cheung, Chairman & CEO, Eisai Inc.
Phil Sharp, Institute Professor, MIT; Nobel Laureate & Co-Founder, Alnylam/Biogen
Moderator: Christoph Westphal, General Partner, Longwood Fund
10:10 am ET
NETWORKING BREAK
10:40 am ET
MAXIMIZING PLATFORM POTENTIAL
Steven Kelly, CEO, Carisma Therapeutics
Mani Mohindru, CEO, Novasenta
Guillaume Pfefer, CEO, Senda Biosciences
Dennis Zaller, CSO, Rome Therapeutics
Moderator: Bruce Sunstein, Partner, Sunstein LLP
11:10 am ET
R&D COLLABORATION
Mary Lynne Hedley, Senior Scientific Advisor, The Broad Institute of MIT/Harvard
Phil Larsen, CEO, SixPeaks
David Steinberg, General Partner, Longwood Fund
Skip Virgin, CMO, Altos Labs
Moderator: Nouhad Husseini, SVP, Head, BD, Regeneron
11:40 am ET
FIRESIDE CHAT
George Daley, Dean, Harvard Medical School
Don Ingber, Founding Director, Wyss Institute
Jane Wilkinson, Executive Director, Koch Institute at MIT
Moderator: Christoph Westphal, General Partner, Longwood Fund
12:00 pm ET
NETWORKING LUNCHEON
1:00 pm ET
ALIGNING PRIORITIES WITH THE BOARD
Al Gianchetti, CEO, XyloCor Therapeutics
Anat Naschitz, CEO, 9xchange
Rick Russell, CEO, Tract Pharmaceuticals
Catherine Sohn, Director, Axcella, Maze, Jazz, Altimmune
Moderator: John McCabe, CFO & COO, DEM Biopharma
1:30 pm ET
IMPLEMENTING A FOUNDATIONAL PARTNERING STRATEGY
Brinda Balakrishnan, SVP, Chief BD Officer, BioMarin
James Mutamba, CBO, Arrakis Therapeutics
Bob Silverman, CBO, C2i Genomics
Tom Wilton, CBO, Carisma Therapeutics
Moderator: Philippe Lopes-Fernandes, CBO, Ipsen
2:00 pm ET
FIRESIDE CHAT: 340B DRUG PRICING & REFORMS
Alexander Hardy, CEO, Genentech
John Maraganore, former CEO, Alnylam
Moderator: Aleks Radovic-Moreno, Partner, Longwood Fund
2:20 pm ET
OPTIMIZING THE PIPELINE
Markus Haeberlein, SVP, Head, Research, Alkermes
David Lucchino, CEO, Frequency Therapeutics
Maria Maccecchini, CEO, Annovis Bio
José Trevejo, CMO, Tarsus
Moderator: Caleb Bates, Principal, Fish & Richardson
2:50 pm ET
NETWORKING BREAK
3:20 pm ET
FIRESIDE CHAT: THE NEW ERA OF PHARMA INNOVATION
Dave Reese, EVP, R&D, Amgen
Rupert Vessey, President, Research & Early Development, Bristol Myers Squibb
Moderator: Aaron Mitchell, Principal, ZS Associates
3:40 pm ET
NAVIGATING REGULATORY CHALLENGES
Mike Curtis, CEO, eGenesis
Rachelle Jacques, CEO, Akari
Sabrina Johnson, CEO, Daré Bioscience
Moderator: Jocelyn Ulrich, Deputy Vice President, Policy & Research, PhRMA
4:05 pm ET
SOURCING AND IDENTIFYING NOVEL TECHNOLOGY
Jennifer Michaelson, Chief Development Officer, Cullinan Oncology
Nabiha Saklayen, CEO, Cellino
Uli Stilz, Head, Bio Innovation Hub, Novo Nordisk
Kai Wucherpfennig, Chair, Cancer Immunology and Virology, Harvard Medical School
Moderator: Michal Preminger, Head, Innovation, Johnson & Johnson, East North America
4:30 pm ET
FINANCING INNOVATION
Peter Bisgaard, Managing Director, Pivotal Life Sciences
Mike Ehlers, CSO & Venture Partner, Apple Tree Partners
Andrew Lo, Harris Professor of Finance, MIT Sloan School of Management
David Mauney, Managing Director, Koch Disruptive Technologies
Moderator: Albert Vanderlaan, Partner, Orrick
5:00 – 7:00 pm ET
COCKTAIL RECEPTION
Registered participants are invited to a cocktail reception at the Koch Institute at MIT at the close of the meeting, co-hosted by MIT Institute Professors Bob Langer and Phil Sharp, who will share remarks at the event.
Panel Images
 FIRESIDE CHAT Ivan Cheung, Chairman & CEO, Eisai Inc. Phil Sharp, Institute Professor, MIT; Nobel Laureate & Co-Founder, Alnylam/Biogen Moderator: Christoph Westphal, General Partner, Longwood Fund |  BIG BIOPHARMA PIPELINE SOURCING Bob Bagdorf, VP, Group Lead, Search & Evaluation, WWBD, Pfizer Michael Flaschen, SVP, Global External Innovation, Daiichi Sankyo Amit Mehta, Head, BD, gRED, Genentech Beth Shafer, Head, R&D, Business Development, Takeda Moderator: DA Gros, CEO, Eledon Pharmaceuticals |  FIRESIDE CHAT: THE NEW ERA OF PHARMA INNOVATION Dave Reese, EVP, R&D, Amgen Rupert Vessey, President, Research & Early Development, Bristol Myers Squibb Moderator: Aaron Mitchell, Principal, ZS Associates |
|---|---|---|
 INDUSTRY TRANSFORMATION: BIOMEDICAL COLLABORATION AND TRANSPARENCY Sek Kathiresan, CEO, Verve Therapeutics Anne Klibanski, President & CEO, Mass General Brigham Bill Watt, President, Astellas Venture Management Moderator: Kate Walsh, Managing Director, Life Science & Healthcare, HSBC Bank USA |  FIRESIDE CHAT: THE FUTURE OF PHARMA Bob Langer, Institute Professor, MIT; Co-Founder, Moderna/Momenta Christophe Weber, CEO, Takeda Moderator: Jeremy Levin, CEO, Ovid Therapeutics |  THE INTERSECTION OF POLICY & SCIENCE: INNOVATION IN THE ERA OF IRA Sebastian Guth, President, Americas Region, Bayer Pharmaceuticals Peter Hutt, former General Counsel, FDA Vanessa Procter, SVP, External Affairs, Sage Therapeutics Maha Radhakrishnan, CMO, Biogen Moderator: Maria Whitman, Managing Partner, Global Commercialization Strategy & Solutions, ZS Associates |
 FIRESIDE CHAT Don Ingber, Founding Director, Wyss Institute Jane Wilkinson, Executive Director, Koch Institute at MIT Moderator: Christoph Westphal, General Partner, Longwood Fund |  FIRESIDE CHAT: 340B DRUG PRICING & REFORMS Alexander Hardy, CEO, Genentech John Maraganore, former CEO, Alnylam Moderator: Aleks Radovic-Moreno, Partner, Longwood Fund |  EXPLOSION OF MODALITIES David Donabedian, Executive Partner & Interim NewCo CEO, Longwood Fund JC Gutierrez Ramos, CSO, Danaher John Lepore, SVP, Head, Research, GlaxoSmithKline Anabella Villalobos, SVP, Biotherapeutics & Medicinal Sciences, Biogen Moderator: Iris Grossman, CSO, Eleven Therapeutics |
 PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE OF R&D Amira Barkal, Chief Development Officer, Pheast Fabrice Chouraqui, CEO, Cellarity Lawrence Hamann, CEO, Interdict Bio Robert Plenge, SVP, Research & Early Development, Bristol Myers Squibb Moderator: Zhen Su, CEO, Marengo Therapeutics |  REGULATORY & INDUSTRY ROUNDTABLE Peter Marks, Director, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, FDA Andy Plump, President, R&D, Takeda Moderator: Christoph Westphal, General Partner, Longwood Fund |  CROSS-BORDER COLLABORATION Bill Heiden, Chair, MacroGenics Ryan Richardson, Chief Strategy Officer, BioNTech Tadaaki Taniguchi, CMO, Astellas Neil Warma, CEO, Genexine Moderator: Lori Grant, CEO, Klick Health |
 SOURCING AND IDENTIFYING NOVEL TECHNOLOGY Jennifer Michaelson, Chief Development Officer, Cullinan Oncology Nabiha Saklayen, CEO, Cellino Uli Stilz, Head, Bio Innovation Hub, Novo Nordisk Kai Wucherpfennig, Chair, Cancer Immunology and Virology, Harvard Medical School Moderator: Michal Preminger, Head, Innovation, Johnson & Johnson, East North America |  NOVEL APPROACHES TO DRUG DISCOVERY Joe Arron, CSO, 23andMe Stew Campbell, CEO, Axial Therapeutics Jeb Keiper, CEO, Nimbus Therapeutics Kathy Seidl, Head, Oncology Drug Discovery, Takeda Moderator: Alise Reicin, CEO, Tectonic Therapeutics |  R&D COLLABORATION Mary Lynne Hedley, Senior Scientific Advisor, The Broad Institute of MIT/Harvard Phil Larsen, CEO, SixPeaks David Steinberg, General Partner, Longwood Fund Skip Virgin, CMO, Altos Labs Moderator: Nouhad Husseini, SVP, Head, BD, Regeneron |