The Leadership Meeting Agenda
April 24, 2026 - New York Times Building, NYC
Biotech Companies: A Breed Apart
8:00-9:00am
Registration and Networking Breakfast
9:00-9:05am
9:05-9:45am
Fireside Chat
Leading for the Long Term: The Art of Biotech
Great biotech leaders are unafraid of the unknown—they take risks, rebound from failure, balance a multitude of demands, and stay driven by a passion for curing disease. They cultivate teams who share these same qualities. This fireside chat will explore how they handle uncertainty, sustain long-term vision, and lead organizations that turn science into real patient impact.
9:50-10:35am
Leadership in the Trenches: Navigating the Complexity of Today
With major shifts in healthcare policy and the financial climate, biotech leaders face new realities on multiple fronts. With financing still tight, new regulatory and access pressures are emerging. Biotech leaders must adapt fast. Gain candid perspectives on managing volatility, sustaining momentum, and charting a path forward.
10:35-10:50am
10:50-11:50am
Money, Money, Money: Fundraising & Financial Strategy are Key to Success
11:55am-12:40pm
Managing Your Assets: Advance, Partner or Shelve?
12:40-1:40pm
1:40-2:25pm
Clear, Impactful Communications: A Mission-Critical Task for Biopharma Leaders
Welcome to the biopharma C-suite, where your audience engagement as a leader now involves multiple, diverse stakeholders: board members, investors, employees, strategic partners, and others. Communicating effectively with each audience is essential to building trust and driving momentum at every stage of your company’s growth. This discussion explores best practices and lessons learned by executives with different backgrounds, including those who transitioned from the lab to the corner office. The best leaders in our industry are, ultimately, dynamic, convincing, effective communicators.
Discussants:
2:30-3:15pm
The Board: A Huge Asset if Managed with Care
Your board can help you raise money, introduce you to partners, evaluate and manage clinical development options. Managing board dynamics requires that you understand the motivations and interests of each board member to get the most out of them.
3:15-3:30pm
Networking Break
3:30-4:15pm
Navigating Extremes: Managing Success and Dealing with Crisis
Financial volatility, a failed trial, a successful trial, shifting narratives, team stability, stakeholder alignment—leaders today must deal with success and crisis, often in rapid succession. It’s about having a backup plan (and a backup for the backup) while finding ways to rise from the ashes. An open, unguarded conversation about leading through uncertainty with agility and purpose.
4:20-5:00pm
Fireside Chat: Biotech in the Balance
5:00-6:00pm
Sponsor This Event!
For sponsorship opportunities, contact
Lila Taylor or Linda Burke
sponsorship@demy-colton.com