Life sciences trend setters will meet in Lithuania

“Life Sciences Baltics” is the only international forum in the Baltics for world-class biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical devices experts from all around the world. It provides a unique opportunity to explore the new horizons of partnerships, exchange ideas and seek progress through networking.

Bi-annual forum, organized by Enterprise Lithuania, this year will gather around 1000 scientists, businessmen, entrepreneurs, startups and students working in the life sciences industry, including Nobel Prize winner and world-renowned experts in various fields of science.

This year featured topics will include molecular medicine, pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals, age-related diseases, bio-banking, preclinical and clinical trials, regenerative medicine, medical devices, technology transfer and innovative management.

Dan Shechtman Israeli winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of seemingly impossible quasicrystals will deliver a speech about technological entrepreneurship. Désiré Collen from Belgium who is also a world-renowned expert in cardiovascular disease, successful biotech entrepreneur and investor will address the topic of biopharmaceutical drug development between academia and industry.

The importance of technology transfer and sciences commercialization as a driving force in the life science industry will be discussed by experts from Harvard Medical School and University of Toronto. Lithuanian prof. Virginijus Šikšnys, who was this year awarded with the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, will reveal CRISPR bacterial defense system and the revolutionary discovery that can be adapted for genome editing. Age related diseases will be enlightened by delegates from Japan, where society has already been facing social issues related ageing.

Apart from the conference, Life Sciences Baltics 2016 participants will be able to explore international exhibition with around 50 companies form U.S., Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, France, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; participate in B2B meetings and witness the pitches of investor ready life sciences startups from the Baltic countries: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia.

Lithuania’s life science industry has been rapidly increasing and attracting worldwide recognition. Lithuania declares an ambitious goal to become the center and European hub of life sciences by 2020. Statistics prove that Lithuania is already on the right track. Lithuania’s life science sector is the fastest growing in EU with annual growth of ~25 % and accounts for 1% of the GDP and is equivalent to the world leading countries in this sector and 10 times exceeds the average of EU. 80 % of all Lithuanian pharmaceutical and medical production is exported, mainly to Germany, Japan, UK, U.S., France, and Sweden. More than 90 international pharma and medical devices companies have conducted 1200 clinical trials in Lithuania since 2007.