Giants of the science and biotechnology world gathered for a unique conference in the city.
Hundreds of global academic innovators, pharmaceutical industry leaders, emerging biotechnology companies and life science investors converged on Cambridge in September for the inaugural BioCentury Grand Rounds Europe conference – a prestigious event bringing together some of the world’s best scientists in a bid to tackle some of the most stubborn problems in medical science.
It was the first time BioCentury Grand Rounds has been held in Europe and in a major vote of confidence for the city and for Britain, the organisers asked Cambridge to host.
400 delegates from 18 countries explored questions that could hold the key to developing revolutionary new drugs for the future, questions including why do we age? why do certain drugs affect men and women differently? and how can we deepen our understanding of the brain?
The better scientists understand the mechanics of a disease, the better their chances of developing new treatments. Our lack of knowledge on exactly how the brain works, for instance, is a major barrier to understanding the mechanics of dementia and mental illness.
Industry and academia delegates also examined the role that AI and quantum computers could play in developing new drugs.
Kristin-Anne Rutter, Executive Director of Cambridge University Health Partners said,
“This conference showed that despite recent challenges in the UK commercial environment, companies, investors, academics and entrepreneurs from around the world still believe that the UK is a great place to do science and business. Our city hosted four hundred executives from eighteen different countries and the overall message was that talented people from organisations around the globe want to collaborate with Cambridge to unlock emerging technologies and tackle the biggest public health challenges, including mental health issues and obesity. It was a major coup that BioCentury chose Cambridge – and indeed the UK – to host the very first Grand Rounds Europe and we look forward to welcoming many more global events in future.”
New life sciences businesses also presented their latest high-tech ideas at the event – and in a sign of its significance, it was opened by two of the biggest names in UK science, Lord Patrick Vallance and Dame Kate Bingham – the leaders who helped steer the country through the recent Covid pandemic.
A coalition of eight Cambridge organisations teamed up with BioCentury to act as regional hosts. They were Cambridge University Health Partners, Babraham Research Campus, the Wellcome Genome Campus, AstraZeneca, Cambridge Innovation Capital, One Nucleus, Innovate Cambridge and O2h.