Successful biotech and pharma partnering in Heidelberg

The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) hosted this year’s successful 13th edition of the European Business Development Conference (EBDC), which is organized annually by BIO Deutschland. The participants convened on 25–26 September at Neuenheimer Feld in Heidelberg to discuss such topics as the latest trends and developments in oncology therapeutics and the potential that digitalization holds for drug research. In addition, experts from pharma and biotech firms looked at how business models are adapting to changing times. One of the problems highlighted by many of the top-level speakers was the shrinking return on investment and the associated need to further bring down R&D costs. The speakers also suggested possible ways to address the latter, including reducing the manufacturing costs of new cell therapies, using intelligent algorithms in clinical research, acquiring external innovation, and participating in development collaborations. Company presentations and start-up pitches rounded out the two-day programme. Regional partners of the event were the Life Science Cluster Rhine-Neckar (BioRN) and the DKFZ.