18th Annual Healthcare Investor Conference
Thursday 8th October 2026
The King’s Fund, London
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Overview
The Optimum Annual Healthcare Investor conference is taking place on Thursday 8th October 2026 at The King’s Fund, Cavendish Square, London W1G 0AN.
The Optimum conference is one of Europe’s leading life sciences thought leadership conferences and attracts major investors from across the healthcare and life sciences sector representing more than US$300bn in capital focused on the sector. Their mission is to back the future champions that will make a significant impact on patient care. The invitation-only audience of 250 also includes CEOs of many of the UK and Europe’s most innovative companies that are developing next generation therapies.
Reviews from our past speakers on what makes Optimum’s Healthcare Investor Conference unique.
2026 Speakers
Leading speakers from the healthcare and investment communities providing insights on the latest trends and impacts on the industry.
Mary Clark
Optimum
Mary Clark
Founder & CEO, Optimum Strategic Communications
Mary has a 25-year successful track record in providing strategic corporate and financial communications to both early- and late-stage healthcare companies and has worked with over 300 biotech and healthcare clients across Europe and the US. She has developed several high-profile investor focused campaigns and has been instrumental in strategic positioning ahead of fundraising rounds of private financings, IPOs and follow-on public financings.
She founded Optimum in 2013 with the mission to provide the best strategic communications advice and implement effective communications programmes to achieve high impact results. Prior to this, Mary built and led healthcare businesses at several international PR&IR agencies. She started her career at BTG plc where she was involved in the Company’s IPO and the start-up of several new tech and biotech companies.
Kieran Murphy
Biotage, Zentiva & SPT Labtech
Kieran Murphy
Chairman, Biotage, Zentiva & SPT Labtech
Kieran is Chairman of Biotage, Zentiva and SPT Labtech. He was previously President and CEO of GE Healthcare’s $19B Healthcare division, and before that led GE Healthcare Life Sciences, where he helped scale the business into a global leader in bioprocessing and life sciences tools.
Kieran works with private equity investors including KKR, EQT and GTCR where he serves as Chairman to a number of their portfolio companies across the life sciences and healthcare sector.
Professor Edith Heard, FRS
The Francis Crick Institute
Professor Edith Heard, FRS
Director and Chief Executive Officer, Francis Crick Institute
Edith Heard is Director and CEO of the Francis Crick Institute, and Professor of the Collège de France. She studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University (UK) and obtained her PhD in Biochemistry from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London.
After her postdoc at the Pasteur institute in Paris, she moved to the Institut Curie, where she set up her own lab and then became Director of the Genetics and Developmental Biology Unit in 2010. She then moved her lab to Heidelberg in Germany, where she was the EMBL Director General from 2019-2025. Edith’s laboratory specialises in epigenetics and the process of X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) whereby one of the two X chromosomes is silenced during female mammalian development. Her group has uncovered the early events that trigger the XCI process in XX embryos, contributing to the discovery of topologically associating domains (TADs) and also revealing the remarkable dynamics of X inactivation in development and disease, providing key insights into the underlying mechanisms. Professor Heard has been awarded honours including the CNRS Gold Medal in 2024, the L’Oreal-UNESCO international prize for women in Science in 2022 and she has been elected to EMBO, the Royal Society, the US National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine and others.
Clive Cookson
Financial Times
Clive Cookson
Senior Science Writer, Financial Times
Clive Cookson has worked in science journalism for the whole of his professional life. He left Oxford University with a First Class Honours degree in chemistry and, after training on the Luton Evening Post, joined Times Higher Education - first as science correspondent in London and then as North America editor in Washington DC.
Clive returned to London as technology correspondent of the Times and moved to BBC Radio as science and medical correspondent. He went back to print journalism at the Financial Times first as technology editor then in 1991 as science editor, leading a writing team covering science and health, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. In October 2023 Clive became the FT’s senior science writer. He has won numerous awards, including British Science Writer of the Year 2022 and Lifetime Achievement Award of the Association of British Science Writers in 2025.
Gil Bar-Nahum
Jefferies International
Gil Bar-Nahum, PhD
Managing Director, Jefferies International
Dr. Gil Bar-Nahum is a Managing Director and EMEA Head of Biotechnology in the Global Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Jefferies, based in London. He leads the team with a primary focus on innovative companies in Europe and Israel.
Dr. Bar-Nahum has over 20 years of investment banking experience and has executed transactions for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical technology, and life science tools companies. In the last several years, Dr. Bar-Nahum has led the execution of more than 60 financings, including 30+ IPOs for foreign private issuers (on NASDAQ), raising more than US$5.0Bn. Since joining Jefferies in 2009, Dr Bar-Nahum has also advised on more than a dozen cross-border M&A transactions and strategic partnerships. From 2002-2009 Dr. Bar-Nahum was part of UBS Investment Bank's Global Healthcare Group, based primarily in the US. Prior to that, Dr. Bar-Nahum worked as an Equity Research Analyst for UBS where he served as an Associate Director covering companies in the Life Science Tools and Biotechnology space. Dr. Bar-Nahum received his PhD in Basic Medical Sciences from the Department of Biochemistry at the Sackler Institute of New York University School of Medicine. The subject of Dr. Bar-Nahum's doctorate work was published twice in the journal Cell. Dr. Bar-Nahum also received an MS from New York University’s School of Medicine in Cell and Molecular Biology and a BS from the University of Illinois in Microbiology.
Geraldine O’Keeffe
EQT Life Sciences
Geraldine O'Keeffe
Partner, EQT
Geraldine O'Keeffe joined EQT in 2008, as Partner within the EQT Life Sciences team. Her association with LSP began the same year and continued until 2022, culminating in the integration of LSP with EQT, subsequently rebranded as EQT Life Sciences.
Before affiliating with LSP, Geraldine served as a Senior Equity Research Analyst at Fortis Bank in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Prior to Fortis, she held the position of Head of Infectious Disease at Biotrin, a medical diagnostic company based in Dublin, Ireland, which has since become an integral part of Diasorin.
Geraldine holds a BSc Hons in Microbiology and Biochemistry from University College Cork, an MSc in Biotechnology from University College Galway, and a Graduate Diploma in Business Studies from the Dublin School of Business.
Edward Kliphuis
Sofinnova Partners
Edward Kliphuis
Partner, Sofinnova Partners
Edward is a partner at Sofinnova Partners focused on Digital Medicine investments. Previously, Edward was at M Ventures, the €1bn AUM corporate VC-arm of Merck KGaA, where he was responsible for health-tech investments. Edward led, among others, investments in Akili Interactive Labs (the first-ever FDA-approved prescription videogame); Wiliot (battery-free Bluetooth tags with infinite lifetime, enabling a true connected-everything), and Biolinq (wearable continuous biosensing platform).
Prior to M Ventures, Edward was in the Life Sciences securities team at Kempen & Co, a pan-European merchant bank, covering listed small- and mid-cap Life Sciences equities. He started his career as an analyst in the biopharma investment team of M Ventures. Edward holds an MSc in Biopharmaceutical Sciences from Leiden University, the Netherlands, with a specialisation in pharmacology.
Jane Rhodes
AstronauTx
Dr Jane Rhodes
Chief Executive Officer, AstronauTx
Jane Rhodes, PhD, MBA is Chief Executive Officer at AstronauTx Ltd., She is an accomplished leader with 25 years of experience in the biotechnology industry. Previously Dr Rhodes was President and Chief Business Officer at Verge Genomics, and has held a variety of operational roles in business development, innovation, corporate strategy and R&D at Biogen and Forma Therapeutics.
A neuroscientist by training, she has a strong track record of company formation, successful equity financing and forging large enabling Pharma partnerships. Dr Rhodes currently serves as Chair of the Board of Pheno Therapeutics and as a Non-Executive Director at Turbine AI. She holds an undergraduate degree in Pharmacology and Physiology and a PhD in Neurophysiology from the University of Manchester and a Masters in Business Administration from the Babson College F.W. Olin School of Business.
Werner Lanthaler
Fair Journey Bio
Dr. Werner Lanthaler
Chief Executive Officer, AstronauTx
Dr. Werner Lanthaler is CEO of Fair Journey Bio (FJBio.com). FJBio is a globally leading company offering customized services and technologies for optimal antibody solutions.
He is also founder and CEO of Wlanholding (wlanholding.com), an investment company focused on driving growth in cutting-edge technologies. With over 20 years of management experience in biotech, Dr. Lanthaler supports visionary entrepreneurs in transforming innovative business ideas into scalable organizations.
As CEO of Evotec SE, he led the company through significant global growth. Prior, as CFO of Intercell AG, he was instrumental in establishing Austria’s first Biotech IPO and several vaccine product approvals.
Before his industry engagements Dr. Lanthaler was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. His career is based on a strong academic background, including a PhD in Business Administration from Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, and an MPA from Havard University.
He serves as chairman in leading high-tech companies, including HAL Allergy (Netherlands), aTenstion.life (Austria), OncoDesignServices (France), Proxygen (Austria), and Elucidata (USA). Most recent key investments of Wlanholding include Proxygen GmbH, Cerabyte GmbH, Rohrmaxx GmbH, Elio GmbH, Elbfly GmbH, Solgate GmbH, Planet Pure GmbH, Cyment GmbH, Pirche GmbH, InSphero AG, and Pexxes GmbH.
Susan Hill
Mestag Therapeutics
Susan Hill, PhD
Chief Executive Officer, Mestag Therapeutics
Susan Hill PhD brings more than 25 years’ experience as an international leader within the biotech, investor and pharmaceutical industries. She founded oncology/immunology company Mestag Therapeutics in 2020, leading through $95m financing, strategic pharma partnerships and organizational build into a clinical biotech. Susan also serves as a Venture Partner at SV Health Investors (London), an advisor to AdBio (Paris) and until recently as a member of the Development Board of Christ’s College, University of Cambridge.
Susan joined Mestag from retinal therapy company Gyroscope Therapeutics (acquired by Novartis for $1.5bn), where she served as Chief Business Officer, bringing critical delivery technology via the acquisition of Orbit Biomedical (Philadelphia) where she was founding Chief Executive Officer. Previously, Susan led strategy and operations as Chief Business Officer of Freeline Therapeutics (now known as Spur Therapeutics, London) and drove transactions in the Business & Corporate Development team at Alexion (Switzerland/US) and during 8 years at Merck KGaA (Geneva) in a series of Global Corporate & Business Development and Portfolio roles. Susan began her career in strategy consulting/M&A, followed by a stint leading biotech seed investments in ABRDN. She has an MA and PhD from the University of Cambridge and is a previous Fellow of the Securities Institute.
Naveed Siddiqi
Novo Holdings
Naveed Siddiqi
Novo Holdings
Naveed joined Novo Holdings A/S in 2019 and works from London and Copenhagen as a Senior Partner in Venture Investments.
He brings more than 25 years of experience in life science investments and investment banking. Between 2013 and 2018, he was Partner at Andera Partners, a Paris based venture capital and growth equity firm with over 2 billion euros under management, focusing on life science investing. He has also worked for Nomura Phase4 Ventures, Nomura International, EFG Corporate Finance, KPMG and as a medical doctor in the UK’s National Health Service. During his career he has served on multiple European and US boards. At Novo Holdings he has served on the Boards of Amolyt (acquired by AstraZeneca), Reviral (acquired by Pfizer), Vectivbio (IPO on NASDAQ and acquired by Ironwood), Alentis Therapeutics, Asceneuron, F2G and Windward Bio. He also served as Board Observer at Numab (sale of Yellow Jersey Therapeutics to J&J). Naveed obtained his medical degree from Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital Medical School (now King’s College London). Later, he also qualified as a chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants England & Wales.
Philip Brainin
IsomAb
Dr. Philip Brainin
Chief Executive Officer, IsomAb
In a biopharma and venture career spanning early stage therapeutics and company building, Dr. Philip Brainin brings 10+ years of clinical, scientific, and investment experience to his role as CEO of IsomAb
A physician scientist and MBA, he has a strong track record of translating cardiovascular and immunology science into value creation through disciplined portfolio construction, strategic partnering, and financing Dr. Brainin previously served as a part of the investment teams at Sunstone Life Science Ventures and Sound Bioventures, where he defined the sourcing strategy and built a substantial biotech pipeline, converting multiple opportunities into investments across cardiovascular, renal, and rare diseases. He led cross functional due diligence and authored an impact framework for investors published in Nature Biotechnology. He has advised Boards at BOOST Pharma, AnaCardio, NephroDI, VarmX (deal with CSL), and Arthex Biotech as well as the Therapeutics Advisory group at BioInnovation Institute. Dr. Brainin is an actively practising and qualified medical doctor with a PhD from the University of Copenhagen and an MBA from Copenhagen Business School, where he achieved the highest GPA in the history of the program. He has authored 40 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has been recognized with international scientific awards.
Leopoldo Zambeletti
Independent Director
Leopoldo Zambeletti
Independent Director
Since 2013 Mr Zambeletti has been an independent strategic advisor to life science companies on Merger and Acquisitions, out-licensing deals and financing strategy. He is a Non-Executive Director of Nogra Pharma, Philogen, Touchlight, LenioBio, Avanzanite and Senior Advisor to Mediobanca for Healthcare
Giovanni Mariggi
Medicxi
Giovanni Mariggi
Partner, Medicxi
Giovanni is a co-founder and Partner at Medicxi. Prior to Medicxi, Giovanni was a Principal at Index Ventures. He led Medicxi’s investment in ViceBio (acquired by Sanofi), Curevo (acquired by Lilly), Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA), New Amsterdam (NASDAQ:NAMS), and Abivax (Euronext:ABVX).
Giovanni currently serves on the boards of a number of portfolio companies, including ForeBio, Vaderis Therapeutics (Chair) and Aura Biosciences. Giovanni received a BSc in Biochemistry from Imperial College London and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from University College London.
Lynn Pieper Lewis
Gilmartin Group
Lynn Pieper Lewis
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Gilmartin Group
Lynn spent the first half of her career as a Wall Street equity research analyst and investor focused on evaluating innovative companies within the medical device and healthcare sector. She pivoted in 2008 to strategic consulting with emphasis on investor relations, capital markets advisory and support in forecasting financial and operational milestones. Having created and executed investor relations programs and strategies for over 100 companies (public and private) at various stages of development, Lynn has a proven track record of success. She is actively involved with her clients, enabling companies to effectively communicate their business strategy, operational goals, and financial profile to Wall Street constituents. Lynn and the team at Gilmartin work with many of the most successful IPOs in the medical technology sector, advising initially on capital markets and IPO readiness, and continuing on, partnering on IR strategy and long term shareholder engagement.
Prior to founding Gilmartin Group, Lynn was a Managing Director at Westwicke Partners offering strategic counsel to public and private entities, with specific emphasis on medical technology, diagnostics, and life sciences. Lynn was previously a Founder and Portfolio Manager at Aphelion Capital, a healthcare fund focused on public and private investments and prior to that, was a Partner at Thomas Weisel Partners (now Stifel Nicholas) and a Sr. Vice President at Adams & Harkness & Hill (now Canaccord Genuity) in equity research. Lynn holds the CFA designation, has a MS in Finance from Boston College Carroll School of Management and a BA in Environmental Science and Mathematics from University of Vermont. When not working, Lynn spends time with her family (and dog) outside as much as possible. She serves on the board of directors of Slide Ranch, a non profit committed to environmental stewardship and education.
Michael Margolis
Oppenheimer
Michael Margolis
Senior Managing Director, Head of Heatlhcare, Oppenheimer
Michael A. Margolis, R.Ph., is Oppenheimer’s Senior Managing Director and Head of Healthcare Investment Banking. Michael has more than 25 years’ experience in the life sciences sector with over 19 years as an investment banker. Prior to joining Oppenheimer, Michael served as the Head of Healthcare Investment Banking at Roth Capital Partners and as a Managing Director at Merriman Curhan Ford Group.
Before becoming an investment banker, Michael worked in the pharmaceutical industry with several roles at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, including the Global Business Development and Licensing group, and at Eli Lilly as a Senior Pharmaceutical Representative. He also served as a buy-side equity research analyst at Ursus Capital. In addition, Michael serves as an advisor to a number of organizations, including the Cancer Focus Fund. Mr. Margolis is a registered pharmacist and holds an M.B.A. in finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a pharmacy degree from Rutgers University, College of Pharmacy.
Gareth Powell
Polar Capital
Gareth Powell
Head of Healthcare, Polar Capital
Gareth joined Polar Capital in 2007 to set up the Healthcare team. Prior to Polar Capital, Gareth worked at Framlington, where he began his career in investment management in 1999. Soon afterwards, he joined the Healthcare team in 2001 and helped launch the Framlington Biotech Fund, which he managed from 2004 until his departure.
Gareth studied biochemistry at Oxford, during which time he worked at Yamanouchi, a leading Japanese pharmaceutical company (later to become Astellas). As well as this, Gareth worked for the Oxford Business School and various academic laboratories including the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology and the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research.
Hakan Goker
M Ventures
Hakan Goker
Managing Director, M Ventures
Hakan Goker, PhD, is the Managing Director of M Ventures and heads the Biotechnology Investments covering Healthcare and Life Science Tools and Technologies sectors. Hakan joined M Ventures in 2013 and has been investing in the sector for 19 years.
Previously, Hakan was a partner at Aescap Venture investing in European opportunities. Hakan started his investment career at Atlas Venture focusing on global investment opportunities in healthcare and medical technologies across US, Europe and Asia. He was instrumental in the creation and financing, business and R&D strategies of multiple companies in their formation years including Bicycle, Nimbus Discovery, and f-Star while at Aescap and Atlas. Hakan continues his active investing role and represents M Ventures on multiple portfolio companies. He comes from an academic background receiving his Ph.D. in oncology from the Institute of Cancer Research/ University of London, UK and continuing his scientific career with post doctoral work at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Centre/Royal Marsden Hospital. He gained his B.Sc. Hons, from University College London. Hakan is based in Amsterdam at the M Ventures head office.
Lucie Ellis-Taitt
Norstella
Lucie Ellis-Taitt
Editor in Chief
Lucie is a healthcare and life sciences journalist and editor with more than a decade of experience covering the global biopharmaceutical, medtech and healthcare sectors. She is Editor in Chief, Health & Medtech, where she sets the editorial strategy for leading industry publications In Vivo, Medtech Insight, Generics Bulletin and HBW Insight.
Prior to her current role, Lucie was Editor of In Vivo and previously held senior editorial positions at Scrip and Pink Sheet. Covering the biopharma industry since 2012, she has built expertise across leadership, R&D, innovation, market access, dealmaking and healthcare policy, and is a regular moderator at industry conferences and events.
David Ebsworth
Opterion Health AG
David Ebsworth
Chairman, Opterion Health AG
David has more than 40 years of experience in the global pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. He began his career at Pfizer before spending over 19 years at Bayer, where he led the global pharmaceuticals business and held a number of senior international leadership roles.
He subsequently served as CEO of Oxford GlycoSciences, Vifor Pharma and Galenica Group, and has held numerous chairmanships and board positions across the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and healthcare industries. As Chairman of Verona Pharma, he oversaw the company's growth from a development-stage business to a leading respiratory specialist, culminating in its US$10 billion acquisition by Merck.
David currently serves on the boards of several international healthcare companies, including Sartorius and SYNLAB. He holds a BSc in Chemistry and German, together with a PhD in Industrial Relations from the University of Surrey.
Premal Pajwani
PRP Advisory
Premal Pajwani
Senior Advisor, Optimum Strategic Communications
Premal is a Senior Adviser to Optimum and is the founder and principal of PRP Advisory, a specialist independent healthcare consultancy firm. Premal previously worked as the Global Healthcare Specialist for J.P. Morgan Asset Management in London for 8 years.
Prior to this, Premal was a Healthcare Portfolio Manager with at First State Investments. From 2000 to 2007, Premal was a Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities and Eden Financial. From 1991 to 2000, Premal worked as a Research Analyst covering Pharma at various banks and brokers in NYC. Premal holds an M.B.A. from the University of Cincinnati and a B.Com. from University of Bombay, India.
Anne Marije van Harten
Apollo Health Ventures
Anne Marije van Harten
Investment Director, Apollo Health Ventures
Anne Marije joined Apollo as an investment director in 2024, based in Luxembourg. She is a molecular cell biologist by training, with a focus on targeted therapies in oncology. In her previous role as investment analyst at Forbion, she focused on investments in biotech companies that develop first-in-class therapeutics for inflammatory and fibrotic diseases, as well as in oncology.
Her PhD studies focused on aberrant cell cycle regulation and DNA damage signaling in head and neck cancer at the Amsterdam UMC and VU University. She continued her academic tenure in the US where she studied protein interactions in cells undergoing replication stress at the University of Pennsylvania. Subsequently, Anne Marije obtained her own research funding to focus her postdoctoral studies on the development and validation of targeted PROTAC molecules in TP53-mutant cancers at the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
Anne Marije holds BSc and MSc degrees from the VU University Amsterdam, focused on biomedical sciences and oncology.
Paul Major
Independent Director
Paul Major
Independent Director
Paul joined Bellevue Asset Management in 2016 as a Portfolio Manager within the healthcare team. Prior to Bellevue, he spent more than 13 years at Redburn, where he was one of the firm's first research partners and specialised in healthcare research and portfolio construction for institutional investors. Earlier in his career, he worked in corporate finance and healthcare analysis at UBS.
Paul has over 25 years of healthcare investment experience spanning investment management, equity research and corporate finance. He studied Biochemistry at the University of Bath, providing the scientific foundation for his focus on the global healthcare sector.
Eva Haas
Optimum
Eva Haas
Managing Director, Optimum Strategic Communications
Eva has 25+ years' experience in fund management and company analysis across the global healthcare sector. She lived in New York for 7 years covering the US. She was recently at Schroder Investment management where she was responsible for the analysis and valuation of publicly listed & about-to-be-listed healthcare companies in medical devices & supplies, diagnostics, biotechnology, pharma, life sciences tools, healthcare distribution, pharmacy benefit management, hospitals & health insurance. Eva has a PhD in Biochemistry from Bristol University. She is also a fluent German speaker.
Nick Bastin
Optimum
Nick Bastin
Managing Director, Optimum Strategic Communications
Nick has over 30 years of experience advising companies and individuals from over 35 different markets on a wide range of multi-market, multi-stakeholder communications. Nick specialises in helping clients build powerful narratives around corporate reputation, employer brand and investor and capital market objectives.
Nick has strong transaction experience and has helped clients raise over €30bn through IPOs and has advised on M&A transactions with a combined deal value in excess of €150bn.
Past Speakers
A selection of some of our brilliant panellists from previous years.
Professor Chris Whitty
UK Government
Dr Mehmood Khan
Hevolution Foundation
Dr Mehmood Khan
Chief Executive Officer, Hevolution Foundation
Dr. Mehmood Khan's was formerly Vice Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer of Global Research and Development at PepsiCo, and President of Global R&D at Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
Before moving into the private sector, Dr. Khan was a faculty member in endocrinology at the Mayo Clinic and Medical School, where he served as Director of the Diabetes, Endocrine and Nutritional Trials Unit. He also led programs in diabetes, endocrinology, metabolism, and nutrition in Minneapolis.
Dr. Khan is a member of the Board of Directors of Reckitt Benckiser and of the Saudi Research, Development, and Innovation Authority (RDIA), Executive Chairman of Life Biosciences, a member of the Saudi National Biotechnology Strategy Steering Committee, and Chairman of the Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology of the United States' National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Nerida Scott
Johnson & Johnson Innovation
Nerida Scott
Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, EMEA
Nerida Scott is the Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation EMEA, based at the Innovation Center (IC) in London, UK.
In this role, Nerida oversees the EMEA IC portfolio of co-investments and collaborations to construct, prioritize and advance the early external innovation portfolio of Johnson & Johnson. She identifies and accelerates science and technology outside the company in areas of strategic value to consumer health, medical devices and pharmaceuticals, exploring new models to support external R&D collaboration and grow early stage innovation networks.
Nerida has been an integral part of the Johnson & Johnson Innovation team since 2015. She was Vice President New Ventures & Transactions, and she led a senior team to identify, develop and execute early-stage transactions with diverse partners in the life sciences ecosystem, including academia, venture capital, entrepreneurs, NGOs and governmental organizations.
Before joining Johnson & Johnson, Nerida was Director for Business Development & Licensing and Executive Team member at Vernalis PLC, a UK biotech company with US commercial activities, responsible for transactions from evaluation through negotiation to closing. Before that, Nerida worked in business development at RiboTargets, a biotech building on Nobel Prize-winning science from the lab of Venki Ramakrishnan. Her experience also includes The Boston Consulting Group in London, where she was a project leader providing strategic counsel to clients on M&A opportunities, R&D, manufacturing and business strategies.
Nerida has a broad background in operational and commercial activities with over 20 years of diverse business and transaction experience, including acquisitions and divestments in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.
Nerida received her BSc from Sydney University, Australia, and her PhD in Biochemistry as the Prince of Wales' scholar, Trinity College, Cambridge University, UK. Nerida is a member of the UK Biolndustry Association Board, as well as having a Board position with several Johnson & Johnson entities.
Annalisa Jenkins
Genomics England
Kasim Kutay
Novo Holdings
Gemma Game
Norges Bank Investment Management
Gemma Game
Head of Healthcare, Equity Strategies, Norges Bank Investment Management
Gemma Game is a Senior Portfolio Manager responsible for Healthcare at Norges Bank Investment Management. She has over 20 years’ experience investing in the global healthcare sector. Gemma joined NBIM in 2014 from AXA Investment Managers, where she was head of the healthcare team. Previously, Gemma was a fund manager at BlackRock responsible for healthcare investments on the Global Equity team. Gemma studied pharmacology at Cambridge University.
Professor Tony Young OBE
NHS England
Catherine Pickering
iOnctura
Catherine Pickering
Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, iOnctura
Catherine holds a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry and an MBA. During her career she has held various licensing and business development positions in pharma and biotech.
Before founding and building iOnctura, she led the global oncology and immuno-oncology licensing and business development function at Merck. During her time at Merck she was also an integral member of the oncology franchise leadership team, a cross functional team responsible for creating the strategy and managing the oncology business.
Edwin Moses
NED Various
Maina Bhaman
Sofinnova Partners
Deborah Harland
SR One
Francesco de Rubertis
Medicxi
Francesco de Rubertis
Co-founder & Partner, Medicxi
Francesco is a co-founder and Partner at Medicxi. Prior to Medicxi, Francesco was a Partner at Index Ventures for 19 years, having joined the firm in 1997 to launch its life sciences practice. Under his leadership, the asset-centric approach to life sciences investing was conceived and implemented. Francesco currently serves on the boards of a number of portfolio companies, including Centessa Pharmaceuticals, Rivus Pharmaceuticals, Levicept, Alys Pharmaceuticals, TOAD Oncology and Kaerus Biosciences.
Francesco's prior investments include CellZome (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline), GenMab (Copenhagen: GEN.CO), GenSight Biologics (Euronext: SIGHT), Micromet (acquired by Amgen), Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX), Molecular Partners (SIX:MOLN), PanGenetics (acquired by Abbott), Parallele Biosciences (acquired by Affymetrix), Profibrix (acquired by The Medicines Company) and Versartis (NASDAQ:VSAR).
Francesco received a BA in Genetics and Microbiology from the University of Pavia and a PhD Molecular Biology from the University of Geneva. He conducted postdoctoral research at the Whitehead Institute at MIT and is a CFA Charterholder.
Oliver Maier
Bayer
Kate Bingham
UK Vaccine Taskforce, SV Health Investors
Renée Aguiar-Lucander
Calliditas Therapeutics
Renée Aguiar-Lucander
Calliditas Therapeutics
Renée Aguiar-Lucander has over 30 years of experience in company management, strategic and financial development of US and European private and public companies with core sector expertise in healthcare and technology. Renée joined Calliditas in 2017 as CEO and has taken the Company from its initial listing on the Swedish stock exchange in 2018 - in what was one of the largest European IPOs that year - to a successful listing on US NASDAQ in June 2020 raising $90 million and subsequently building a commercial biopharma company focused on rare disease. Calliditas was the first company globally to successfully complete a Phase 3 study in the rare autoimmune disease of IgA Nephropathy, and to bring the first ever approved drug to market.
Before joining Calliditas, Renée Aguiar-Lucander was a Partner and COO of Omega Fund Management, an international venture capital company focused on investments within the life science sector. Before that, she served as a Partner in the venture capital group 3i Group plc in London, where she managed the publicly quoted assets and was co-head of the global healthcare and technology portfolio. Prior to this, Renée Aguiar-Lucander was a European Group Head and Managing Director at a global investment bank and has more than 12 years' experience in corporate finance. Prior to her career in investment banking, she was the Head of European Sales and Marketing in a company focused on the sale of analytical software for financial services.
Isabella Schidrich
Nasdaq
Isabella Schidrich
Senior Managing Director, Nasdaq
Isabella Schidrich, Senior Managing Director, has been responsible for business development of Nasdaq in Europe since 2001. Isabella has worked with hundreds of European companies, supporting a Nasdaq listing and managing the relationship with the Capital Markets community (investment banks, PE / VC firms, IR/PR firms, legal / accounting firms) and Nasdaq-listed companies in Europe. Prior to that, Isabella gained extensive business development experience within the telecommunications industry, heading business units at BT Group and at Deutsche Telekom AG, and within the Services Industry. Isabella holds a Master in Business Administration from Munich University (Germany).
Professor James Logan
The London School of Hygience and Tropical Medicine
Rajeev Venkayya
Takeda Pharmaceuticals
Asaf Homossany
Nasdaq
Asaf Homossany
Head of Healthcare, Equity Strategies, Norges Bank Investment Management
Asaf Homossany is a Senior Managing Director at Nasdaq responsible for the Nasdaq listing business in EMEA. He has over 25 years of experience in global capital markets and during his tenure with Nasdaq has supported over 250 companies from the EMEA region (including Israel, UK, France, the Nordics, Middle East and South Africa, as they listed on Nasdaq.
In his role, Asaf is responsible for Nasdaq’s listing strategy in EMEA, including supporting pre-IPO companies, VCs, PE funds and advisers in the region with capital raising in the US or on any of Nasdaq’s European exchanges. An expert on IPOs, capital raising and capital markets, Asaf is familiar with the unique challenges that SMEs and growth companies face when navigating this space. He works closely with management teams of private companies as they prepare for their IPOs on Nasdaq and their transition into the public markets but also oversees the on going relationships between such companies and Nasdaq post IPO to help them maximise the benefits of being a listed company in the US.
Sean Marett
BioNTech
Peter Stein
Norgine Group
Mike Ward
Decision Resources Group, part of Clarivate
Elisa Petris
Syncona
Allan Marchington
ICG
Allan Marchington
Managing Director and Head of Life Sciences, ICG
Allan joined ICG in January 2021 and is Managing Director, and Head of Life Sciences, responsible for the Life Science Fund strategy and team at ICG.
Prior to ICG, Allan was Founder and Managing Partner of Bridge Valley Ventures, a successful life science investor, and prior to this was a Partner and Founder of Apposite Capital. Before this Allan was at Abingworth.
Formerly a PhD medicinal chemist at Pfizer, he later founded and was CEO of his own life sciences company before it was successfully acquired by Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. in 2000 where he became SVP Technology. On his return to the UK in 2003 Allan joined Abingworth to begin his investment career.
Niccolò Cominacini
Citi
Niccolò Cominacini
Citi
Niccolò Cominacini currently runs the Depositary Receipt Sales team for UK & Europe. He has extensive client experience both in sales and account management, he previously had direct responsibilities for clients in the Life Sciences sector such as Adaptimmune, Immunocore or Orchard Therapeutics. Niccolò earned his MBA from IESE Business School, Barcelona. He also holds an MSc degree in Economics and Finance from Bocconi University, Milan. Prior to Citi, he worked for Accenture in Spain and the USA.
Guillaume Vignon
BeiGene
Philippe Lopes-Fernandes
Ipsen
Kevin Mannix
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd
Stavros Mercouris
KKR
Isabella Eichler
Altor Private Equity
Werner Lanthaler
Evotec
Anne Marden
JP Morgan Asset Management
Jan van de Winkel
Genmab
Simon Amies
Cooley
Simon Amies
Partner, Cooley
Simon is a partner in Cooley’s life sciences practice advising on mergers & acquisitions (public and private), initial public offerings and other capital-raising transactions, and venture and growth capital investments. Simon has extensive experience in advising companies at all stages of their development, as well as counseling investors and investment banks. He has represented a wide range of clients in the life sciences, technology and sustainable technology industries.
Antoine Papiernik
Sofinnova Partners
Martin Murphy
Syncona
Roel Bulthuis
Inkef Capital
David Pinniger
Polar Capital
Vicky Darbyshire
JP Morgan Asset Management
George Freeman
Government adviser on Life Sciences
Gavin MacGregor
HBM Partners
Andrew Holder
Mole Valley Asset Management
Richard Girling
Centreview Partners
Justin Stebbing
Imperial College London
Lisa Urquhart
Vantage
Thomas Burt
Sofinnova
Harry Destecroix
Unit DX
Ilan Chaitowitz
Nomura Asset Management
Dale Raine
Lazard
Jonathan Tobin
Arix Bioscience
Soren Moller
Novo Holdings
Jasper Bos
M Ventures
Marc Booty
Pictet Asset Management
Ian Nicholson
F2G
Anker Lundemose
Mission Therapeutics
Sam Fazeli
Bloomberg Intelligence
Professor Sir Michael Rawlins
NICE
Andy Richards CBE
NED Various
Rice Powell
Fresenius Medical Care
John Dawson
Oxford Biomedica
Lisa Anson
Redx Pharma
Amber Tong
Endpoints News
Ulrica Slåne Bjerke
Arctic Asset Management
Joe Anderson
Sofinnova Partners
Stephen Hansen
BioCentury
Hosts
Optimum Strategic Communications
Optimum Strategic Communications is an international healthcare communications firm which specialises in strategic investor relations, corporate and financial communications. Our senior healthcare specialists, based in London, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Zurich, and New York, are experienced and trusted advisors to some of the world’s most exciting public and private companies, both large and small, across healthcare, life sciences and industrial biotechnology.
Over the last 25 years we have worked with over 400 healthcare companies, advising them on financial communications and investor relations, including major corporate activities such as fundraising, IPOs, and M&A, as well as corporate reputation and crisis scenarios.
We have an exceptional network of contacts across the international investment community in Europe and the US; contacts we have built and maintained over the last three decades. Our team includes ex-fund managers and analysts, scientists, as well as financial and corporate communications specialists.
For more information, please visit www.optimumcomms.com.
2026 Agenda |
9:15-10:00 |
Registration |
| 10:00-10:10 |
Welcome from Mary Clark, Founder & CEO, Optimum
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| Sponsored by M Ventures
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10:10-11:00 |
Women’s Health Panel**New Panel – sponsored by M Ventures** |
| 11:00 – 11:10 |
Optimum’s featured charity – BEAT Eating Disorders |
|
| 11:10 – 11:30 |
Refreshment break |
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| 11:30-12:20 |
AI’s role in shaping biotech investment narratives – does AI deliver hype, value, or a new investment lens?Chair: Nick Bastin, Managing Director, Optimum Strategic Communications
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| 12:20-13:10 |
Public markets, what’s the point?Chair: Mary Clark, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Optimum
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| Networking lunch sponsored by:
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13:10 – 14:00 |
Networking lunch sponsored by Citi & Nasdaq |
| 14:00-14:05 |
Welcome back from Mary Clark, Chief Executive Officer, Optimum Strategic Communications |
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| Fireside sponsored by:
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14:05-14:45 |
Fireside chat – From discovery to impact: The future of biomedical scienceChair: Clive Cookson, Senior Science Writer, Financial Times
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| 14:45-15:35 |
Maximising the European opportunityChair: Kieran Murphy, Chairperson and Non-Executive Director
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| Tea break and networking sponsored by:
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15:35-16:05 |
Refreshment break sponsored by Babraham Research Campus |
| 16:05-16:35 |
Fireside chat – Investing through cycles: Gareth Powell in conversation – A career in healthcare investingChair: Eva Haas, Managing Director, Optimum Strategic Communications
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| 16:35-17:25 |
What it takes to raise finance in today’s marketChair: Susan Hill, Chief Executive Officer, Mestag Therapeutics
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| 17:25-17:30 |
Thank you and closing from Optimum |
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| Reception drinks sponsored by:
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17:30-19:15 |
Networking reception drinks sponsored by Barclays & Cooley |
When & Where
We look forward to welcoming you to our conference.
Optimum’s 18th Healthcare Investor Conference
The Kings Fund, London
Looking for a place to stay?
We have special group rates at two nearby hotels – The Treehouse & The Marylebone Hotel.
Email us for more information at irconference@optimumcomms.com.
Register your interest
Register your interest for Optimum Strategic Communications’ 18th Annual Healthcare Investor Conference on Thursday 8th October 2026 at The Kings Fund, Cavendish Square, London W1G 0AN
