2026 Event Programme
Programme is subject to change
Registration and Coffee
Welcome
TBC
Synthetic biology innovation in the race for sustainable, secure and resilient production
Anna Korre, Associate Provost (Sustainability) and Professor of Environmental Engineering at Imperial College
Same Same but Different – Industrial bioeconomy in Germany in a global context
Inventive tinkering combined with our passion for precision fermentation (beer! bread! ‘kraut’!) should make Germany the ‘place to be’ for biotechnology industries. German scientists like Axel Ullrich invented approaches to using biological entities in diabetes or cancer therapy 50 years ago and these are still valid today. He did so while he worked in laboratories in the in the U.S. which are still the world’s leading location for biotech research and commercialization. But: China is catching up. In particular in industrial biotechnology. The talk will provide insights into our current position in the so-called bioeconomy today and the opportunities available to Germany or – better – Europe to compete globally.
Viola Bronsema, CEO BIO Deutschland e. V.
Climate Mitigation
This session will feature a 20 minute plenary session delivered by Lionel Clarke followed by a 40 minute panel session with a focus on sustainable futures.
Lionel Clarke, Director of BionerG Ltd
Coffee Break
Scaling Success
The presenters for this panel are all senior members of successful developing companies. They will each give an introduction to their company’s journey. This will be followed by a discussion on the key lessons learnt during the development of their companies and how the industrial translation process from lab to company can be improved.
David Sheppard, CEO of HotHouse Therapeutics
Jacob Nathan, Founder and CEO of Epoch Biodesign
Livjia Debden, CSO at Prokarium
Plenary
TBC
Lunch
Keynote: Synthetic Biology – The state of play and the vision, both academically and industrial
Matthew Chang, Executive Director of the National Centre for Engineering Biology, Singapore and Professor of Synthetic Biology and Biochemistry at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
Engineering Biology shaping the Bioeconomy – UK
This session will feature a 15 minute plenary session focused on engineering biology shaping the bioeconomy followed by a 40 minute panel session with a focus on UK Policy.
Jen Vanderhoven, CEO of BBIA
Lord David Willetts, Chair of the Regulatory Innovation Office
Company Presentations
In this fast-paced session, emerging companies take the stage to showcase how they are transforming ideas into impactful SynBio ventures. Each startup will deliver a five-minute talk, offering a snapshot of the innovation, ambition and commercial potential driving the next generation of engineering biology.
Christina Rode, CEO of Hulk Bio
Lara Selles Vidal, Co-Founder of Greenleaf
Vinkeeta Tripathi, CEO of Vitarka Therapeutics
Giuseppe Mazza, Co-founder and CEO at Engitix Therapeutics
Giovanni Stracquadino, Professor of Engineering Biology at the University of Edinburgh and founder and CEO of Zythera
Plenary
Coffee Break
Engineering Biology shaping the Bioeconomy
This session will feature a 20 minute plenary session delivered by Peter Wehrheim with a focus on EU policy followed by a 40 minute panel session
Peter Wehrheim, Head of Unit for the Bioeconomy and Food System, European Commission
Jussi Jäntti, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Christine Lang, Co-chair of the International Global Advisary Council on Global Bioeconomy
Plenary
Jeffrey Anthony, Business Development Manager – Life Science and Health at NPL
Max Ryadnov, NPL Fellow
Drinks Reception
Arrival and Coffee
Keynote: Synthetic biology and biomanufacturing in Shenzhen
Chenli Liu, Professor at Chinese Academy of Sciences and Director of Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology
Engineering Biology shaping the Bioeconomy – International Policy
Matthew Chang, Executive Director of the National Centre for Engineering Biology, Singapore and Professor of Synthetic Biology and Biochemistry at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
Coffee Break
Sustainable Futures: Bioplastics
Sierin Lim, Associate Professor, School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at National Technological University
Multifaceted AI
Guy-Bart Stan, Patent Examiner at the European Patent Office and Professor of BioSystems Engineering and Control, Department of BioEngineering at Imperial College London
Company Presentations
In this fast-paced session, emerging companies take the stage to showcase how they are transforming ideas into impactful SynBio ventures. Each startup will deliver a five-minute talk, offering a snapshot of the innovation, ambition and commercial potential driving the next generation of engineering biology.
Fredrik Adams, Founder and CEO of Firlas
Salpie Nowinski, CEO & Co-founder of Hijack Bio
Ben Wilding, CEO of Sun Bear Biofuture
Engineering Biology to Design the Future of Food
Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro, Director of the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein
Lunch
Scaling Engineering Biology: Three Perspectives on Industry Growth
This three-part session examines how growth in the engineering biology industry can be achieved from three distinct but connected perspectives: academia, start-ups and SMEs, and large industry. Each section will address the same core questions, enabling delegates to compare the priorities, challenges and opportunities identified by each group. A moderator will open each section with a short overview before leading a focused panel discussion.
The Academic Perspective: Turning research into industry growth
Susan Rosser, Professor at The University of Edinburgh
Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro, Director of the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein
John Heap, Professor of Engineering Biology at the University of Nottingham and Principal Investigator at the GlycoCell UKRI Engineering Biology Mission Hub
Rowan McKibbin, Director: UKRI Engineering Biology Programme, BBSRC
The Start-up and SME Perspective: Building ventures and overcoming scale-up barriers.
Nigel Scrutton, Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of C3 Biotech
Cai Linton, CEO of Multus
Nadav Rosenberg, Investor at Saras Capital
Coffee Break
The Large Industry Perspective: Driving adoption, investment and growth at scale.
Lionel Clarke, Director of BionerG Ltd
David Tew, Former Technical Project Lead, Synthetic Biochemistry at GSK
Paul Mines
Synbio Unplugged
Dame Tamara Finkelstein, CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering