Conference programme

1. Collaboration and licensing structures as financing tools 
2. The new frontiers of telemedicine
3. Cross-border investment constraints affecting financings and exits (CFIUS risk, sensitive health/genomic data, and closing conditions)
4. Cooperations between and vertical integration of pharma/medtech and hospitals/clinics/pharmacies etc [SF1.1]
5. GLP‑1s: are legal frameworks keeping pace with the weight‑loss revolution? 
6. Resolving international patent licensing disputes by arbitration – recurring issues and new developments
7. Liability and accountability in open science research
8. The future of supplementary protection: are SPCs still fit for purpose? 
9. Advertising, labelling and influencer promotion of medicinal products 
10. Combination products (drug-device) regulation
11. Causes and consequences of ‘medical device and drugs lag’
12. Whistleblower actions and anti-fraud enforcement trends in the healthcare industry 
13. When pharmaceutical patent enforcement leads to damages – for either side
14. Pricing of medicines: an international perspective 
15. Ethical and legal challenges of human genome editing

This keynote lecture will examine how trust is emerging as a defining currency in the international pharmaceutical landscape, and how healthcare regulatory coding and compliance are becoming decisive forces in the architecture of global expansion. The session will address the international pharmaceutical regulatory dimension of this transformation, highlighting how coding structures, regulatory classification, compliance systems and governance models are influencing market entry, product positioning, operational resilience and cross-border credibility. For international lawyers working in life sciences, this lecture will provide a sophisticated and commercially grounded reflection on the evolving relationship between regulation, trust and internationalisation in a sector where legal precision and strategic foresight are now inseparable.

Global pharmaceutical patent disputes are entering a new phase where litigation strategy is no longer confined to a single forum but shaped across parallel regimes – from Hatch-Waxman and US disclosure standards to the UPC’s evolving cross-border toolkit and SPC/PTE frameworks in Europe. This panel will explore how recent cases and procedural shifts are redefining exclusivity, enforcement timing and forum selection, and what this means for coordinating multi-jurisdictional litigation and launch strategies.

This session examines how clinical trials are evolving worldwide amid technological innovation and shifting regulatory expectations. Speakers will address challenges in cross-border studies, new decentralised and e-trial models[SF1.1], real-world evidence integration, data-driven methodologies, participant-centric trial designs, evolving ethical standards and the impact of AI. Attention will be given to international harmonisation efforts and jurisdiction-specific developments. The panel will highlight key legal and compliance implications for sponsors, investigators/involved HCPs and HCOs as a whole as well as patients and authorities. Participants will leave with a global perspective on where clinical research is headed and how to navigate its emerging risks.

This panel will examine how volatility, regulatory complexity and shifting capital markets are reshaping transactional structures and financing strategies in the life sciences sector. Speakers will discuss the growing use of earnouts, contingent value rights, milestone based payments and IP driven valuation mechanisms as tools to bridge valuation gaps and allocate risk in M&A transactions involving biotech, pharma and healthtech companies. The discussion will also address late stage private financing alternatives to traditional IPOs, including crossovers, structured preferred equity, PIPEs, at the market offerings and registered directs, analysing their legal, governance and disclosure implications. Drawing on cross border experience, the panel will offer practical insights into structuring deals that balance investor protection, innovation incentives and long term value creation in an increasingly uncertain global market.

Experienced in-house counsel and private practitioners will share experiences and examples of challenging negotiations relating to: (a) scope of rights: (b) allocation of roles, responsibilities and liabilities; (c) financial terms; (d) termination clauses; (e) foreground/background IP; and (f) regulatory submissions. 

As healthcare systems increasingly shift from treatment to prevention, legal frameworks play a critical role in enabling innovation in preventive health and longevity. This panel will examine how regulation, policy and compliance shape the development and adoption of preventive healthcare models, including early diagnostics, digital health and longevity-focused interventions. Speakers will explore the legal and ethical challenges surrounding personalised medicine, data use, clinical validation and cross-border care in life sciences. The discussion will also address ethical considerations such as fair access to healthcare and patient protection in rapidly evolving preventive and longevity markets. By bringing together legal and healthcare perspectives, the panel will highlight how law can act as a catalyst for sustainable, preventive and longer-life-focused health systems.

The EU Pharmaceutical Package is more than a regional reform – it is part of a broader global shift in how innovation, access and competition are being recalibrated. This panel moves beyond an EU-centric lens to examine how different policy models are evolving in parallel: Europe’s rebalancing towards access and sustainability, the continued reliance of the US on strong IP protection and market-driven incentives, and China’s acceleration through investment and speed.
Against this backdrop, the discussion will focus on a central question: where will innovation go next? Panelists will explore how global pharmaceutical companies may need to adapt their IP, litigation and investment strategies in response to diverging regulatory and competitive dynamics across key jurisdictions.