Creative Disruption Forum -How Tech is Changing Small Molecule Drug Hunting

Firstly, we are delighted to collaborate with the Cambridge Wide Open Week initiated by the O2h Group, the creators of innovative sci-tech communities, which takes place in Cambridge between June 9 and 13, 2025. If you aren't local to Cambridge, we encourage you to stay a few days or a week to get to know this spectacular community.

Cambridge Wide Open Week is a long-term project offering the community – from science and technology enthusiasts to local residents – a unique opportunity to discover Cambridge's world-class science and technology facilities all in one week. Through a series of tours, workshops, conferences, presentations, pitches, clinics, talks, and product demonstrations, visitors see what goes on behind closed doors of pioneering companies. There is a Garden Party on the evening 11 June, from 4 pm after this event, which is free to register—further details at the bottom of this page.

Creative Disruption Forum - On how Tech is changing Small Molecule Drug Hunting on Wednesday 11 June 2025 from 9 am - for business leaders and R&D directors of innovation companies. Our resident thought leader, Prof Tony Sedgwick, will interview keynote speakers on how technology is enabling the change in developing "better" drugs "faster.". This is a high-quality full-day event for up to 60 business & R&D leaders in an intimate setting conducted under Chatham House Rules.

The Keynote Speakers:

Dave Brown of Viagra Fame, and Chairman of Healx

Prashant Shah, Managing Partner, O2h Group

Benedict Cross, CSO, Phoremost

Catherine Stace, Exec VP BD, Kuano.ai

Jonathan Betts, COO, CCDC

Michael Dabrowski, CEO, Pelago Biosciences

Gianni Chessari, SVP Drug Discovery, Astex Pharmaceuticals

Is this Creative Disruption Forum Right for me?

• Are you an R&D or Business leader in a Small Molecule Biotech or an investor?
• Are you looking to learn from and share experiences with your peers and experienced industry professionals?
• Would you like to participate in informative, engaging and fun thought-leadership discussions and Creative Disruption workshops under Chatham House Rules?
• Are you looking to expand your peer-to-peer network?
• Can you get to the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) at 12 Union Street, Cambridge CB2 1EZ at 9-9.30 am for the start of this event?

If your answer is yes to these questions, then this #CreativeDisruption Forum is for you.

To be discussed:

How to make your biotech company more investable and accelerate the journey from lab to market:

In a highly competitive environment, we always look for a new angle, something fresh that others have yet to see. We will discuss the significant creative innovations and technologies that make a great small molecule biotech company great. Is it the idea, the science, the execution, the team, the technology they use, the manufacturing method, the drug delivery or the cost to payers? Is it the long-term plan towards marketing? Does it solve a severe unmet medical need? What is the probability of failure or profitability? Does it have a strong IP? Or is it the management that will ultimately bring the investment? What is the “creative disruption“ flair they have? Do they dare to stand out as Leaders?

To spark new thoughts and ideas and build friendships

As organisers, we promise always to entertain, engage, inform and be interactive during our thought-leadership interviews and Creative Disruption workshops. This is to help you spark new thoughts and ideas and build friendships with peers.

How do you benefit from attending?

As a "Leader" in the biotech sector, you will benefit from this "Creative Disruption" workshop, allowing you to share common challenges and build deeper connections and trust with your peers. In turn, the aim is to build your confidence when working in areas typically outside your comfort zone by learning and having discussions with this / your "Agile" peer-to-peer network.

You can broaden your understanding of the key aspects of the commercialisation journey and how to overcome potential barriers. You can speak to people in a similar position about issues you may not have the opportunity to talk about elsewhere. You can discuss your challenges by learning from other people's experiences to help you find a solution or spark an idea. Why let leaders of emerging companies reinvent the wheel to be successful when we can learn from the experiences of others who have faced similar challenges before?

Chatham House Rules apply - "what goes on in the Forum, stays in the Forum - so to speak!"

Our mission is to help you build your innovation-enabled healthcare business so it is "fit for purpose," genuinely innovative and attractive to the global markets. Helping you build solid, trustworthy networks with your peer group and help spread your creative R&D business network nationally and internationally. Our motivation and focus are on helping you build long-term reliable business relationships and support you on your journey through our supportive business community.

Prof Tony Sedgwick, the self-professed www.ThoughtDisruptor.com, facilitates this workshop. Tony has an esteemed career in academia and business; he is a trained pathologist. His accolades include once being the Global Head of Clinical Trials at Roche AG, being a VC and being one of the UK's first Biotech CEOs. Tony has now been CEO of four life science companies, Chairman of over 10 Companies, and held many positions within the academic community. He is also an active psychologist, which has helped him develop his passion for "Agile" community group development. He is a Jiu-Jitsu Grand Master VIII and Jiu-Jitsu trainer. Last year, Tony published the book "The Mighty Advisor", which became a number 1 best seller in the Amazon STEM Business Management category.

We will start this Creative Disruption Forum on Wednesday, 11 June 2025, with a 09.00 am arrival (prompt 09.30 am start with interviews of prominent thought leaders; see agenda for more details).

We are limiting this event to a maximum of 60 R&D and Biotech Leaders, independent consultants, and a few service providers.

We promise that our #CreativeDisruption Forum will be unlike any other life sciences workshop or business network you have experienced. You will walk out of the session inspired, educated, and more connected.

Keynote Interviewees include:

Dave Brown, the inventor of Viagra, Chairman of Healx

Benedict Cross, CSO, Phoremost

Catherine Stace, Exec VP BD, Kuano.ai

Jonathan Betts, COO, CCDC

Gianni Chessari, SVP Drug Discovery, Astex Pharmaceuticals

Prashant Shah, MD, O2h Group

Michael Dabrowski, CEO, Pelago Biosciences AB

The Agenda in Summary

9 am - Arrive at CCDC, 12 Union Street, Cambridge, CB21EZ.

09.30 am - 10.00 am - Intro to the event by Prof Tony Sedgwick, #AgileLeaders thought-leader, www.thoughtdisruptor.com and also introduce our sponsors.

10.00 am - 11.30 pm - Keynote interviews

11.30-12.00 - Coffee, tea and refreshments

12.00-1.00 pm - Keynote interviews

1.00 pm - 2.00 pm - Networking Lunch - followed by coffees and teas.

2.00-3.00 pm - 6-8 Creative Disruption Workshops discussing morning topics

3.00-4.00 pm - Workshop Group Leader 5 min summaries followed by Learnings of the day.

4.00 pm - End and travel to O2h Group's Garden Party for those that want to network with the broader life sciences community.

ADMISSION FEE for Service Companies such as CROs, CDMOs, Law Firms and Patent Attorneys, Consultancy Firms = £190 - ALL-INCLUSIVE

ADMISSION FEE for Innovative Emerging Life Science Companies and Independent Consultants = £95

Investors can apply for free entry by writing to graham@biosell.co.uk.

Thank you to our supporters, CCDC, Pelago Biosciences, CDD Vault, GeneRx.Life and Cambridge Wide Open Week, for supporting our exciting and valuable discussions, "think-tank" workshops and networking.

Company: Pelago Bioscience

Senior Management Team: Michael Dabrowski, founder and CEO; Daniel Martinez-Molina, founder and CSO; Kia Pedersen, COO. Company founded: 2013

Type: CRO/Service Provider for cellular based target engagement technologies

Location: Stockholm, Sweden Size: 53 employees Mission: All drug discovery projects should know their target(s) before entering clinical trials.

Key technology:Pelago Bioscience is a CRO that supports drug discovery, with expertise in target engagement in biologically relevant settings. Pelago Bioscience’s patented core technology, CETSA®(Cellular Thermal Shift Assay), provides confidence for early decision-making in all stages of the drug discovery pipeline.CETSA applications holds solutions from confirming target engagement and strengthening target validation, to hit generation for targets that are difficult to drug, selectivity profiling and elucidating the mechanism of action of compounds. CETSA enables greater understanding of how drugs perturb the biology in relevant models. Pelago’s extended team provide you with the insights you need to progress the right assets in your drug discovery pipeline.

Underpin your R&D decisions with real-world knowledge. Across discovery, stability, and formulation, thousands of scientists globally use the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) to validate their small-molecule organic and metal-organic crystal structures. Assess stability, identify polymorphs and hydrates, find scaffold hops, improve activity, design co-crystals, and more—all based on big-data findings from the experimentally derived data.

The CSD is a certified, trusted database of fully curated and enhanced small-molecule organic and metal-organic structures. Our cutting-edge software lets you extract valuable insights from this data and your proprietary data to inform and accelerate your research.

We are the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC). World-leading experts in structural chemistry data, software, and knowledge for materials and life sciences research and development since 1965.

Cambridge is buzzing with exciting ideas, pioneering companies, and new facilities in science and technology. Cambridge Wide Open Week, commencing 9 June 2025, is an opportunity for everyone to see the latest inventions, innovations, and people shaping the world through life sciences.

Cambridge has championed collaboration to become one of the world's leading science and technology clusters. A reputation built on world-leading innovation, fast-growing science and technology companies, academia, and innovation centres - underpinned by investment, people, and skills. Collaboration and inclusivity across the entire community is necessary to support the continued progression of this world-leading position.

Building on the success of the inaugural event in 2023, which welcomed over 600 visitors to explore over 100 organisations that opened their doors, Cambridge Wide Open Day 2024 aims to further strengthen the cluster's diverse, equitable, and inclusive community.

Across the city of Cambridge, leading science companies and innovation parks will open their doors to showcase their contribution to STEM innovation.

Find out more at cambridgewideopenweek.com, or to sign up as an organisation to open your doors, please email cwow@o2h.com.

Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD) provides an intuitive software suite extensively used by creative biologists and chemists working in academic, biotechnology and pharmaceutical settings. Their flagship product, CDD Vault, enables researchers to intuitively organize and analyze both biological and chemical data, and to collaborate with partners through a straightforward web interface. CDD helps scientists register entities, track inventory, manage assay data, capture experiments, calculate Structure-Activity Relationships (SAR), and mine their data for drug candidates. CDD was founded in 2004 and presently serves thousands of researchers doing drug discovery all around the world. Learn more atwww.collaborativedrug.com

GENerX Life is a specialist leadership and talent advisory firm dedicated to the Life Sciences industry. Built alongside industry experts, we go beyond traditional search to provide strategic leadership solutions that drive long-term success. Our support strategy is built around three main pillars:

Organisation
As trusted advisors to Life Sciences companies, we provide expertise in organisational design, strategic board guidance, and leadership structuring. Our expert-led approach helps businesses navigate growth, investment, and transformation with confidence.

Leadership
We develop high-performing leaders through executive coaching, behavioural assessments, and leadership development programmes. Our tailored approach equips leaders to drive innovation, build resilient teams, and lead with impact.

Talent
Through state-of-the-art search and selection, we deliver Executive Search and Interim Management solutions, identifying leaders who not only meet technical requirements but also align with company culture, values, and strategic goals—ensuring lasting success.