Montanara 2027 · Conference programme
The Agenda
Keynotes, fireside chats and parallel breakout streams on advanced therapies, delivery and data, plus plenty of time to meet the people behind them.
30 Sept – 1 Oct 2027
Day 1 · Thursday 30 September
All times are local. Select a speaker to see their profile.
8:30 am
until
9:15 am
Main hall
Registration & Welcome Coffee
Collect your badge, grab a coffee and meet fellow delegates in the exhibition area.
9:15 am
until
9:30 am
Main hall
Chair’s Welcome & Housekeeping
An introduction to the two days and how to get the most from the programme.
9:30 am
until
10:15 am
Main hall
Keynote: The Next Decade of Programmable Medicines
Where programmable medicines will be in ten years, and what has to change in science, manufacturing and regulation to get there.
Speakers
Amara Okafor
Chief Scientific Officer · Halvren Therapeutics
10:15 am
until
11:00 am
Main hall
Fireside Chat: From Bench to Bedside at Commercial Scale
A clinician and a manufacturer on what it really takes to move a programme from first patient to commercial supply.
Speakers
Dr Kwame Asante
Chief Medical Officer · Lumora Oncology
Rafael Mendes
VP Manufacturing · Pellucid Biologics
11:00 am
until
11:30 am
Main hall
Morning Break & Speed Networking
Short structured introductions to help you meet the right people early.
11:30 am
until
12:15 pm
Main hall
Panel: Building Resilient Supply Chains for Advanced Therapies
Sourcing, redundancy and partnerships that keep products reaching patients.
Speakers
Dr Hannah Whitfield
Director of Process Development · Arclight Bioprocess
Isabelle Fournier
Head of Business Development · Apexia Biopartners
-
Rafael Mendes
VP Manufacturing · Pellucid Biologics
12:15 pm
until
1:00 pm
1:00 pm
until
3:00 pm
Main hall
Afternoon Breakout Streams
Choose one of three parallel streams, each with three sessions.
Choose your stream
Stream
Stream A – Delivery Systems
1:00 pm
LNP Design: Beyond the Liver
New lipid nanoparticle chemistries that reach the lung, spleen and bone marrow, with data from three in vivo models.
Prof. Lars Henriksen
Professor of Drug Delivery · Nordvik Institute of Technology
1:45 pm
Targeted Delivery to Immune Cells: Early Findings
Early results from delivering payloads directly to T cells and dendritic cells without ex vivo handling.
Dr Mei Lin Zhou
Head of Immunology · Corvana Bio
2:25 pm
Formulating for Stability Without the Cold Chain
Thermostable formats and what they change for distribution, storage and access.
Dr Samuel Adeyemi
Principal Scientist, Formulation · Brightwater Biosciences
1:00 pm
Scaling mRNA Production Without Losing Quality
What changes between gram and kilogram batches, and the controls that matter most.
-
Rafael Mendes
VP Manufacturing · Pellucid Biologics
1:45 pm
Continuous Manufacturing: Lessons from the Pilot Plant
A candid look at the first year of running a continuous nucleic acid pilot plant.
-
Dr Hannah Whitfield
Director of Process Development · Arclight Bioprocess
2:25 pm
Release Testing at the Speed of Personalised Medicine
Risk-based release strategies for products made for one patient at a time.
Marcus Lindqvist
Director of Quality Assurance · Fjordline Bioprocess
1:00 pm
Aligning Regulatory Expectations Across Regions
Where US, EU and Asia-Pacific expectations differ, and how to plan one programme for all three.
Sofia Marchetti
Global Head of Regulatory Affairs · Veridane Pharma
1:45 pm
Practical Guidance on Comparability Studies
Designing comparability studies that survive process changes and site transfers.
Eleanor Brooks
Partner · Meridale Life Sciences Ventures
2:25 pm
Writing a CMC Package Reviewers Can Follow
Structure, evidence and common gaps in CMC submissions for novel modalities.
Dr Julia Novak
Head of CMC · Talvera Therapeutics
3:00 pm
until
3:30 pm
3:30 pm
until
4:15 pm
Main hall
Closing Keynote: Making Personalised Medicine Routine
What it will take for individualised therapies to become standard of care.
Speakers
Dr Tomás Reyes
Founder & CEO · Epitopia Labs
4:15 pm
until
6:30 pm
Day 2 · Friday 1 October
8:30 am
until
9:00 am
9:00 am
until
9:15 am
9:15 am
until
10:00 am
Main hall
Keynote: Data, Trust and the Future of Therapeutics
How data and machine learning are changing discovery, and what it takes for regulators and patients to trust them.
Speakers
Dr Daniel Kim
Director of Machine Learning · Sequenza AI
10:00 am
until
10:45 am
Main hall
Panel: What Regulators Want to See Next
Practitioners on the evidence, formats and conversations that make review smoother.
Speakers
-
Dr Julia Novak
Head of CMC · Talvera Therapeutics
Dr Priya Raman
Head of Translational Medicine · Ostrava Clinical Research
-
Sofia Marchetti
Global Head of Regulatory Affairs · Veridane Pharma
10:45 am
until
11:15 am
11:15 am
until
11:45 am
Main hall
Sponsor Spotlight: Thermostable Formats in Practice
A short case study on moving a programme to a thermostable format.
Speakers
-
Dr Samuel Adeyemi
Principal Scientist, Formulation · Brightwater Biosciences
11:45 am
until
12:30 pm
Main hall
Investor Roundtable: Funding the Next Wave
Investors on the market, the metrics that matter and where money is going next.
Speakers
Dr Ben Carter
Data Science Lead · Lumen Data Labs
-
Eleanor Brooks
Partner · Meridale Life Sciences Ventures
Natalia Petrova
Investment Director · Silverline Health Capital
12:30 pm
until
1:00 pm
1:00 pm
until
3:00 pm
Main hall
Afternoon Breakout Streams
Choose one of three parallel streams, each with three sessions.
Choose your stream
1:00 pm
Designing Early-Phase Trials for Personalised Vaccines
Dose, schedule and endpoint choices when every patient receives a different product.
-
Dr Kwame Asante
Chief Medical Officer · Lumora Oncology
1:45 pm
Biomarkers That Matter: Measuring Real Patient Benefit
Linking early biomarker signals to outcomes regulators and payers care about.
-
Dr Priya Raman
Head of Translational Medicine · Ostrava Clinical Research
2:25 pm
Running Decentralised Trials for Rare Disease
Bringing study visits closer to patients’ homes without compromising data quality.
Dr Aisha Rahman
Clinical Programme Lead · Kestrel Clinical
1:00 pm
Machine Learning for Sequence Optimisation
Models that design RNA sequences for expression and stability, and how to validate them.
-
Dr Daniel Kim
Director of Machine Learning · Sequenza AI
1:45 pm
Building Trustworthy Models for Regulatory Review
Documentation, validation and audit trails for models used in submissions.
-
Dr Ben Carter
Data Science Lead · Lumen Data Labs
2:25 pm
Neoantigen Selection in Practice
From tumour sequencing to final vaccine design in under six weeks.
-
Dr Tomás Reyes
Founder & CEO · Epitopia Labs
1:00 pm
What Investors Look for in Platform Companies
The signals that turn a platform story into a fundable company.
-
Eleanor Brooks
Partner · Meridale Life Sciences Ventures
1:45 pm
Alliance Structures That Survive Contact with Reality
Deal terms and governance that keep partnerships working after signing.
-
Isabelle Fournier
Head of Business Development · Apexia Biopartners
2:25 pm
Making Individualised Therapies Economically Viable
Cost of goods, reimbursement and the business models that can work.
-
Natalia Petrova
Investment Director · Silverline Health Capital
3:15 pm
until
4:00 pm
Main hall
Closing Keynote: The Next Five Years of Delivery
Where delivery science is heading, and the problems still worth solving.
Speakers
-
Dr Mei Lin Zhou
Head of Immunology · Corvana Bio