San Francisco CEO
January 10-11, 2026
Four Seasons, San Francisco
Longwood Healthcare Leaders San Francisco CEO brings together leading biopharma CEOs, heads of R&D, top academic researchers, and life science investors the weekend prior to the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference for off-the-record discussion, held at the Four Seasons San Francisco. Join us for an intimate event with leaders in the industry.
2025 Featured Speakers
Academic & Regulatory Leaders
BioPharma CEOs
R&D and TA Heads
BD & Strategy Leaders
Investor Perspectives
Venue
San Francisco CEO is hosted in downtown San Francisco immediately prior to the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference.
Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco
757 Market Street
San Francisco, CA
415-633-3000
2025 Agenda
January 11, 2025
7:00 am
REGISTRATION & NETWORKING BREAKFAST
7:30 am
LONGWOOD FUND INTRODUCTION
Vikas Goyal, Venture Partner, Longwood Fund
8:00 am
BIG BIOPHARMA PIPELINE SOURCING
Peter Bisgaard, Managing Director, Pivotal Life Sciences
Bill Mezzanotte, Global Head, R&D, CSL
Paris Panayiotopoulos, Senior Managing Director, Blackstone Life Sciences
David Redfern, President, Corporate Development, GSK
Moderator: Vikas Goyal, Venture Partner, Longwood Fund
8:30 am
ADVANCING THE TRANSLATION OF BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH
Theresa Heah, CEO, Paratus Sciences
Don Ingber, Founding Director, Wyss Institute, Harvard University
Anissa Kalinowski, CEO, Halo Biosciences
Bali Pulendran, Professor & Director, Institute for Immunity, Transplantation, & Infectious Disease, Stanford University
Moderator: Kara Carter, EIR, Evotec
9:00 am
FIRESIDE CHAT
Hal Barron, CEO, Altos Labs
Marc Tessier-Lavigne, CEO, Xaira
Moderator: Christoph Westphal, General Partner, Longwood Fund
9:20 am
DEVELOPING GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS
Meeta Chatterjee, Chief Strategy Officer, Sun Pharma
Philippe Lopes-Fernandes, CBO, Ipsen
Thomas Mehrling, CEO, Helix BioPharma
Zhen Su, CEO, Marengo Therapeutics
Moderator: Daniel Palmacci, President, Cell & Gene, Lonza
9:55 am
NETWORKING BREAK
10:20 am
ACCELERATING DRUG DEVELOPMENT
Anirvan Ghosh, CEO, Unity Biotechnology
Carl Hansen, CEO, AbCellera
Shiva Malek, Global Head, Oncology, Novartis BioMedical Research
Phil Vickers, CEO, Solu Therapeutics
Moderator: Lisa Ricciardi, CEO, Cognition Therapeutics
10:50 am
R&D COLLABORATION
Wolfram Carius, EVP, Cell & Gene Therapy, Bayer Pharmaceuticals
Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, EVP, Head, R&D, Novavax
Julie Gerberding, CEO, Foundation for the NIH
Moderator: Ken Drazan, CEO, ArsenalBio
11:20 am
IMPACT & IMPORTANCE OF COMPANY CULTURE
Meg Alexander, President & COO, Ovid Therapeutics
Mathai Mammen, CEO, Parabilis Medicines
Ad Rawcliffe, CEO, Adaptimmune
Joanne Smith-Farrell, CEO, Be Bio
Moderator: Smita Pillai, SVP, Talent Development, Inclusion & Innovation Culture, Regeneron
11:50 am
FIRESIDE CHAT
Teresa Graham, CEO, Roche Pharma
Peter Marks, Director, CBER, FDA
Moderator: Kailash Swarna, Managing Director, Accenture
12:10 pm
NETWORKING LUNCHEON
1:00 pm
DRUG DISCOVERY SCIENCES
Dee Datta, CEO, Switch Therapeutics
JJ Kang, CEO, Appia Bio
Brent Vaughan, Founder, Stealth TechBio
Dominique Verhelle, CEO, NextRNA Therapeutics
Moderator: Raj Devraj, CEO, Rectify Pharmaceuticals
1:30 pm
ADVANCES IN CLINICAL TRIALS
Michael Amoroso, CEO, Precision BioSciences
Sandi Dunn, CEO, Phoenix Molecular Designs
Natalia Misciattelli, CEO, AAVantgarde Bio
Jim Wooldridge, CMO, Immunitas Therapeutics
Moderator: Greg Licholai, Chief Medical and Innovation Officer, ICON
2:00 pm
INNOVATIVE COMMERCIAL MODELS
Sabrina Johnson, CEO, Daré Biosciences
Matic Meglic, Global Executive Director, Industry Partnerships, Novartis
Kabir Nath, CEO, COMPASS Pathways
Ram Palanki, CCO, REGENXBIO
Moderator: Steve Blaising, Chairman & Co-Founder, Brain Surgery Worldwide
2:30 pm
M&A AND DEAL-MAKING LANDSCAPE
Susan Hill, CEO, Mestag Therapeutics
Daphne Karydas, President & CFO, Flare Therapeutics
Konstantina Katcheves, SVP, Innovative Medicines BD, Teva
Matthias Müllenbeck, SVP, Global Head, BD & Alliance Management, EMD Serono
Moderator: Jennifer Giottonini Cayer, CBO, Pulmocide
3:00 pm
NETWORKING BREAK
3:30 pm
REGULATORY ROUNDTABLE
Robert Califf, Commissioner, FDA
Steve Hahn, former Commissioner, FDA
Moderator: Christoph Westphal, General Partner, Longwood Fund
4:00 pm
RARE DISEASE INNOVATION
Peter Ghoroghchian, CEO, Latus Bio
Oscar Izeboud, CEO, Scenic Biotech
Shalini Sharp, Board Chair, Mahzi Therapeutics
Tamar Thompson, Head, Global Corporate Affairs, Alexion
Moderator: Preston Taylor, CFO, Greater Than One
4:30 pm
FINANCING INNOVATION
Lovisa Afzelius, General Partner, Flagship Pioneering
Frank Nestle, Partner & CEO, Deerfield Discovery and Development
Vijay Pande, General Partner, a16z
Ursheet Parikh, Partner, Mayfield
Moderator: Omar Khalil, Managing Director, Investment Banking, Chardan
5:00 – 7:00 pm
COCKTAIL RECEPTION
January 12, 2025
7:00 am
REGISTRATION & NETWORKING BREAKFAST
7:30 am
LONGWOOD FUND INTRODUCTION
Aleks Radovic-Moreno, Partner, Longwood Fund
8:00 am
DRIVING PRODUCTIVITY IN R&D
Nenad Grmusa, CEO, DEM Bio
Chris Loose, CEO, Progentos
Kinnari Patel, President, Head of R&D & COO, Rocket Pharmaceuticals
Richard Wilson, SVP, Primary Focus Lead, Astellas
Moderator: Joel Schneider, CEO, Carbon Biosciences
8:30 am
POLICY IMPACT ON INNOVATION
Piraye Beim, CEO, Celmatix Therapeutics
Yigal Nochomovitz, Director, SMid Cap Biotech Analyst, Citi Research
Carissa Rollins, CIO, Illumina
Joshua Sharfstein, Vice Dean & Professor, Health Policy & Management, Johns Hopkins
Moderator: Courtney Silverthorn, VP, Strategic Alliances & Innovation, Foundation for the NIH
9:00 am
PLATFORM TO PIPELINE
Keith Gottesdiener, CEO, Prime Medicine
Larry Hamann, CEO, Interdict Bio
Sek Kathiresan, CEO, Verve Therapeutics
Daphne Koller, CEO, Insitro
Moderator: Harvey Berger, CEO, Kojin Therapeutics
9:30 am
ALIGNING WITH REGULATORY AUTHORITIES
Judy Chou, CEO, AltruBio
Steve Hahn, CEO, Harbinger Health; former Commissioner, FDA
Thomas Lonngren, former Executive Director, EMA
Chrystal Louis, CMO, TScan Therapeutics
Moderator: Shalabh Gupta, CEO, Unicycive Therapeutics
10:00 am
NETWORKING BREAK
10:20 am
FIRESIDE CHAT
Levi Garraway, CMO, Roche Genentech
George Yancopoulos, President & CSO, Regeneron
Moderator: Christoph Westphal, General Partner, Longwood Fund
10:40 am
PATIENT-CENTRIC DEVELOPMENT
Jessica Ballinger, CEO, Lyndra Therapeutics
Lyn Baranowski, CEO, Avalyn Pharma
Lynn Durham, CEO, Stalicla
Amanda Wagner, CEO, Immunitas
Moderator: Ariel Katz, CEO, H1
11:10 am
ACCESSING TECHNOLOGY TO ADVANCE THE PIPELINE
Derek Adams, CEO, Stellular Bio
Mark Kotter, Founder, bit.bio
Jonathan Powell, Head, Development, Calico Labs
Catherine Sabatos-Peyton, CEO, Larkspur Biosciences
Moderator: Uli Stilz, Founder & Head, Bio Innovation Hub, Novo Nordisk
11:40 am
BIG BIOPHARMA R&D
Johan Luthman, EVP, Head, R&D, Lundbeck
Bill Mezzanotte, Global Head, R&D, CSL
Tadaaki Taniguchi, CMO, Astellas
Moderator: Kailash Swarna, Managing Director, Accenture
12:10 pm
NETWORKING LUNCHEON
1:00 pm
FIRESIDE CHAT
Jay Bradner, EVP, R&D, & CSO, Amgen
Lloyd Minor, Dean, Stanford School of Medicine
Moderator: Christoph Westphal, General Partner, Longwood Fund
1:20 pm
EXTERNAL INNOVATION, IN-LICENSING AND SPIN-OUTS
Nouhad Husseini, SVP, Head, BD & Corporate Strategy, Regeneron
Vikram Karnani, CEO, Collegium Pharma
Bruce Rogers, President, Morphic Therapeutic
Beth Shafer, CBO, Scholar Rock
Moderator: Navneet Kumar, CEO, Myra EB Systems
1:50 pm
UNITING THE BIOPHARMA INDUSTRY TO HELP PATIENTS
Grace Colon, CEO, Inaya Therapeutics
Will Lewis, CEO, Insmed
Ryan Richardson, Chief Strategy Officer, BioNTech
Catherine Sohn, Board Director, Altimmune
Moderator: Jeremy Levin, CEO, Ovid Therapeutics
2:20 pm
NETWORKING BREAK
2:50 pm
FIRESIDE CHAT
Stefan Oelrich, CEO, Bayer Pharmaceuticals
Robert Plenge, Chief Research Officer, BMS
Moderator: Christoph Westphal, General Partner, Longwood Fund
3:10 pm
THE NEXT WAVE OF TARGETED THERAPIES
Marianne De Backer, CEO, Vir Biotechnology
Maria Fardis, CEO, Lassen Therapeutics
Mat Pletcher, CSO, Weaver
Ioannis Sapountzis, Corporate SVP & Global Head, Therapeutic Areas, Boehringer Ingelheim
Moderator: John Alam, CEO, CervoMed
3:40 pm
INVESTMENT OUTLOOK
Ann DeWitt, General Partner, Engine Ventures
Ansbert Gadicke, Managing Partner, MPM BioImpact
Rachel Mears, Partner, Jeito Capital
Rod Wong, Managing Partner, RTW Funds
Moderator: Aleks Radovic-Moreno, Partner, Longwood Fund