2025 SUMMIT SYNOPSIS
The 9th Boston Paris Biotechnology Summit™ was held on 15 June 2025, 9 M to 6PM, at the Exchange Conference Center, 212 Northern Ave, Boston, MA 02210, USA, within the context of the International BIO Convention Week held in Boston MA,16-19 June, 2025
Mission Statement:
An exclusive, Trans-Atlantic bridge designed to foster innovative synergies between biotech and pharma companies, healthcare-focused cities and regional clusters and institutional, philanthropic and strategic investors. The Summit’s intent is to spark projects, their financing and strategic deals in order to solve unmet medical needs and thus improve patient lives globally.
References:
www.bostonbiotechnologysummit.com
<Best of Video>: https://tinyurl.com/2yjj8vzh
The 9th Edition of the Summit attracted 210 registered participants. Around 120 participants (60%) were CEO and C-Level Executives, with 50% from Boston/US, 30% from France/EU and 20% from the Guest Country, the Republic of Korea. Over 60 Biotechnology companies took part, with major pharmaceutical organizations being well-represented (in alphabetical order): Novartis, Sanofi, Servier, Takeda, Thermo Fisher Scientific Group, Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Specialized biopharmaceutical professionals, Expert Executive Consultants, CROs (generalist and specialized) CMC, Legal firms and regulatory groups were also present.
●EVENT MANAGEMENT & PRODUCTION:
●International Steering Committee: see Booklet page13-15, & Website.
●International Expert Jury_Pitch Competition: see Booklet pages 16-17, & Website.
●Production Team: Bland of Concept LLC & Please refer to Booklet & Website.
●Guest Country: Republic of KOREA, Guest Region: Occitanie (France).
●French main supporting organization: BUSINESS FRANCE NORTH AMERICA.
●Guest country – Korea – coordinating organization: LINKORUS
●Media Partners: BIOTECH FINANCE & the Healthcare Leadership Podcast: spreadloveio.com
●SPONSORS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Please refer to LinkedIn Post Slide, Booklet & Website.
●NOTA BENE: Shahin Gharakhanian MD Consulting LLC was a Sponsor of the 2025 French Pavilion @ the BIO Convection, Boston Convention & Exhibit Center.
SESSION I:
KEY MESSAGES:
-US Macroeconomics, key data at June 2025, employment, Inflation;
-Capital flow, Federal Reserve actions;
-Current Biotechnology Business & Finance Landscape;
-Aligning Corporate Strategy & Clinical Development;
-Accelerating Drug Development: current options;
-Conclusion: In pursuit of Building Value.
●John TRAYNOR, President, Cambridge Trust Wealth Management (now Eastern Bank), who directs the overall Wealth Management process and has ultimate responsibility for the success of each client relationship. John TRAYNOR is a regular guest on US national media.
Inflation cooling: We saw peak inflation in June 2022 when the CPI rose to 9.1%. Since then, most inflation measures have shown gradually declining increases in prices. The Core PCE, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, rose year over year by 2.5% in April, the slowest pace since March 2021. The U.S. economy remained strong in 2024 as consumer spending, driven by wage gains, continued to grow. Tariff concerns caused GDP to decline by 0.2% in the first quarter of this year.
Economy cooling – but no recession: Economic growth in the US is forecast to grow by 1.4% in 2025, down from earlier estimates of 2.4% as the year began.
Employment cooling; The May employment report was stronger than expected with unemployment remaining at 4.2%.
●Sophie KORNOWSKI, PharmD, MBA, CEO, Boston Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge MA), formerly with Roche, Abbott (Abbevie), Merck and Sanofi. Now with Gurnet Point Capital, a $2 Billion Fund (Cambridge MA, USA).
●Johannes FUREHAUF MD, PhD. Founder & CEO of Biolabs/LabCentral, with locations in Cambridge, Boston, Durham, Philadelphia, San Diego, New York, Princeton, Los Angeles, Dallas, New Haven, Tokyo, Paris and Heidelberg.
●Shahin GHARAKHANIAN MD, DTM&H, Dipl. Public Health, Pharmaceutical Medicine Expertise, C-level Leader-Builder and Executive Manager. Track Record: 30 different global companies, 20 different brands and 4 NDA/MAA and/or new drug launches, including a blockbuster in 2011. Covers different therapeutic areas/geographic regions [Asia, Canada, and EU, USA].
●THERMOFISHER Group:
●Hajir MOKHTARI, Senior Director, Partnership Excellence, and Vanessa ELHARRAR, MD, MPH, Global Medical Officer, Vice-President,
●Vaccines & Government Services, PPD / Thermo Fisher Scientific Group.
SESSION II
Special Session with the Society of Decision Professionals (SDP), “The World Forum on Decision Making”. “Decision making is a critical life skill that needs nurturing over a lifetime.”
This session brought together thought leaders from academia, industry, AI technology products and consulting in order to explore the transformative role of decision quality (DQ) in the life sciences. By examining how DQ frameworks can drive innovation, improve decision-making and enhance outcomes across the value chain, the panel was able to offer actionable insights for diverse stakeholders. Attendees were offered a 360-degree view of DQ in action, from academic theory to industrial application and the technological tools that empower decisions in the rapidly evolving biotech and pharma industries.
– Moderator’s Introduction: Mikael Petrosyan, MBA (MIT Sloan).
– Industry Perspective: Implementing DQ in Pharma: Peter Ray (Vice-President, Novartis).
– Industry Perspective: Using DQ in Pre-Commercial Bio-pharma: William Leaf-Herrmann (Partner, Life Sciences Consultants).
– AI and Technology Perspective:Enhancing DQ with Data & Tools: Panos Karelis (VP, Intelegencia.ai).
References:
(a) Carl Spetzler, Hannah Winter, Jennifer Meyer.
DECISION QUALITY. Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2016.
(b) [Refer to interview series (13) Posted on LinkedIn on 14 April 2025].
SESSION III
Poster Presentation from the Republic of Korea.:
DatesBio, Efil BioScience, EMOTIV, Intek Medi, Malgwahaknoriteo Co., Medicine Park, Motiform, Wellscare, NBios, Zeroth Bio, Exollence, Galux, Interoligo, Neuracle Science, Q Genetics.
SESSION IV
Meet-the-Expert Session
Moderator: Tom Hancox, CPL Life Sciences, UK&USA
Meet-the-Expert (#1) Building Value via Intellectual Property (IP)
A 2025 Update & Strategic Viewpoint: Claire Verschelde [ICOSA]. ICOSA is an intellectual property firm dedicated to the health sector and specialized in Life Sciences and Medtech.
Meet-the-Expert (#2) Building Value via the judicious use of AI: Applications update in 2025. Azim Dehghani Amirabad, PhD, Boston MA, USA, Principal Artificial Intelligence Scientist,, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine.
Meet-the-Expert (#3&4)
Joanna SWOBODA, PhD, MBA, Expert Consultant, Boston MA, USA & former Expert for the European Research Agency. Snapshot Update on Research & Development in Gene & Cell Therapies; Where do we stand in June 2025?.
IN SUMMARY FOR CELL/GENE THERAPY 2025:
●Where are we heading: Oncology Expansion, In Vivo Gene Editing, Manufacturing Optimization, and Market Maturation.
●What is holding us back: Manufacturing Bottlenecks, Unsustainable pricing, Limited access and infrastructure, Ling term durability.
[The section below was scheduled but not presented].
Matthias LAMBERT, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, Rare Disease Expert, Vertex Pharmaceutics, Inc., Boston MA.
Dr. Mathias Lambert was the 2024 recipient of the Harvard Medical School Faculty Award; he is also a patient living with a rare muscle disease.
Meet-the-Experts (#5) Building value via ParisóBoston collaboration in oncology: Panel of a Special Delegation from Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif (Paris Region), France.Gustave Roussy Institute has been ranked as the leading cancer hospital in Europe and is one of the top five best specialized hospitals in the world. [Refer to Interview Series (14) Posted on LinkedIn on 17 APRIL 2025].
SESSION V: INTERNATIONAL PITCH COMPETITION
Ordered alphabetically, Pitching (country), Pitching Executive
● ALLOPLEX Biotherapeutics (USA), CEO: F Borriello
●ATHEON Bio (Korea), CEO: Sue Soheui Choe
●EXELIOM Bio (France), CEO Hadida [Gold Trophy Winner]
●KARIS Bio (Korea), Head of R&D: Seong-Ho Bae
●RUDACURE, BD (Korea): Harith Hasrul, Business Development.
●SINGULAR Immune (Korea), CEO: Youngwook Won
●SOLECOOLER (France), CEO: Bruno Albert [Silver Trophy Winner].
●VECTOR Biosciences (UK), David Fairen-Jiminez
●WHITELAB Genomics (France), Fanny Coretta, Business Development.
●YOUTH Bio Global, (Korea), CEO: Seung Ho Yoo.
NOTE: “Hands-On” Workshops.
- [PPD] Clinical Trials under the Lens: Regulatory Shifts 2025.
- [CPL] Conversations around Talent Management.
- [B Wills, Anfield Strategy] Build Your US Brand.
- [JAB Law] Unlocking US Investment_Common Pitfalls.
[Synopsis Posted: 26 JUNE 2025].
