Session 5
Pharma and Biotechnology

As Europe confronts pressing health and biotech challenges, this session is dedicated to reimagining the mission and impact of RIs and TIs in delivering biomedical innovations. The objectives are twofold: to explore how to better position these infrastructures as trusted, industry-friendly engines for life science advancement, and to identify how RI/TI partnerships can accelerate translation from fundamental research to societal benefit. Speakers from large pharmaceutical companies, groundbreaking SMEs, and world-class infrastructures will provide a comprehensive perspective on early-stage discovery, regulatory challenges, and industrial scaling. Their real-world case studies highlight both the impact and limitations of current infrastructures.

The session aims to generate consensus-based recommendations and actionable proposals for future European strategies, ensuring that RIs and TIs are optimally positioned in support of life sciences innovation, industrial competitiveness, and improved public health outcomes.

Programme

Meeting room: Marselisborg

09:00–10:15 – Keynote Presentations

Anna Sandström, AstraZeneca
Michael O'Donohue, INRAE/IBISBA
Björn Walse, Saromics

10:15–10:45 – Break

10:45–11:00 – Keynote Presentation

John Eriksson, Euro-Biolmaging

11:00–12:00 – Round Table
Moderator: Ed Mitchell, ESRF

Anna Sandström, AstraZeneca
Michael O'Donohue, INRAE/IBISBA
Björn Walse, SARomics
John Eriksson, Euro-Biolmaging

Speakers and panelists

Anna Sandström

AstraZeneca

Anna Sandström is Senior Director of Science Policy and Relations Europe at AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish pharmaceutical and biotechnology company. She develops strategies to advance life science policies that foster competitive R&D environments across the EU and Nordics while catalyzing collaborations and public-private partnerships.

Michael O'Donohue

INRAE/IBISBA

Michael O'Donohue is Research Manager at INRAE and acting director of the pan-European research infrastructure IBISBA. At IBISBA, he leads efforts to link R&D facilities across Europe, providing standardized, end-to-end bioprocess development services to academics, SMEs, and industry clients.

Björn Walse

SARomics

Dr. Björn Walse is co-founder and CEO of SARomics Biostructures with over 25 years of drug discovery experience. He has a deep interest in structure-based drug design and how to accelerate discovery through structural insight. He performed postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley and received his doctorate in physical chemistry from Lund University, Sweden.

John Eriksson

Euro-Bioimaging ERIC

John Eriksson is Director General of Euro-BioImaging, a pan-European research infrastructure for biological and biomedical imaging, and Professor of Cell Biology at Åbo Akademi University. He leads strategic development of imaging facilities and services, providing access, training, and support to researchers across Europe.

Organizing committee

Senior Specialist, Danish Technological Institute