WuXi Global Forum 2026

Hui Cai, Program Chair; Vice President, WuXi AppTec

At the dawn of the next 25 years of this century, we ask: how do today’s breakthroughs compare with the promises made at the beginning of the century? Where is innovation happening fastest — and where are we still falling short? What makes our work so meaningful?

Session Leader: Laura Shawver, Venture Partner, RA Ventures

David Berry, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Averin Capital

Giulio Draetta, SVP and Chief Scientific Officer, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Juergen Eckhardt, EVP, Head of Pharmaceuticals BD&L and Head of Leaps by Bayer  

Kenneth Kaitin, Professor and Senior Fellow, Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development 

Mathai Mammen, Chairman, President & CEO, Parabilis Medicines

How do we decide which medicines to advance? What shapes these choices? How do we align innovation with the greatest unmet needs? How can we move faster?

1) 2:30 – 3:10 PM Breaking Through in the Fast Lane

Session Leader: Jon Edwards, Partner, Forbion

Tony Estrada, CEO & President, Tenvie Therapeutics

Paulo Fontoura, CMO, Xaira Therapeutics

Sabah Öney, CEO, Dispatch Bio 

Ken Song, Chairman, President & CEO, Candid Therapeutics

2) 3:10 – 3:30 PM Delivering on the Promise of Cell and Gene Therapies

A conversation between Fred Ramsdell, Recipient of 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and Jeffrey Bluestone, Founder and Advisor, Sonoma Biotherapeutics

When we look across major diseases areas that touch nearly every family — where progress is real, where it is uneven, and how should we define impact for patients?

Session Leader: Harvey Berger, Chairman & CEO, Arena BioWorks

Stephen Hauser, Director, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences

Karen Knudsen, CEO, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy

Joseph Wu, Director, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute; Co-Founder, Greenstone Biosciences

Minzhang Chen, Co-CEO, WuXi AppTec

What does “Healthy Aging” truly mean for patients and healthcare systems? Which breakthroughs could most transform the course of age-related diseases? How should we rethink discovery and development in an aging world? The long view – where would this lead to?

Session Leader: Michael Ringel, COO, Life Biosciences

Joe Betts-LaCroix, CEO, Retro Biosciences

William Greene, Chief Investment Officer, Hevolution Foundation

Jamie Justice, EVP of Health, XPRIZE Foundation 

Filip Knop, Chief Medical Officer, SVP Medical & Translational Science, Novo Nordisk

Eric Verdin, CEO, The Buck Institute for Research on Aging

How should future investments, platforms and systems evolve to reflect new technologies and patient needs? What models of collaboration will provide faster progress and better solutions? What defines success for our industry 10 years from now? 

Session Leader: Steve Yang, Co-CEO, WuXi AppTec

1) 4:50 – 5:10 PM Alzheimer’s: What a Global Challenge Reveals About the Future of Health

George Vradenburg, Founding Chairman, Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative

Stacie Weninger, President, F-Prime Biomedical Research Initiative; Venture Partner at F-Prime

2) 5:10 – 6:00 PM Defining the Next Era of R&D  

Jason Hafler, Managing Director, Sanofi Ventures

Avak Kahvejian, General Partner, Flagship Pioneering

Nisa Leung, Managing Partner, Aulis Capital

Vijay Pande, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, VZVC

Henrijette Richter, Managing Partner, Sofinnova Partners

Tim Shannon, General Partner, Canaan Partners