Influence and Innovation in 2025: Shaping What Comes Next in Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical

A How Women Lead panel sponsored by Mx, May 30th 2026

Biotech, pharma, AI, and healthcare delivery are all moving fast - and often in different directions. But one question keeps coming up:

Who decides what gets funded, built, scaled, and ultimately reaches patients?

This question shapes how we approach the work we do at Mx. It was also the core theme of Influence & Innovation: Shaping What Comes Next in Biotechnology and Pharma, a panel we were proud to sponsor at Portal Innovations in Chicago. 

The room brought together investors, founders, operators, scientists, and healthcare leaders, each offering a different perspective on how ideas make the journey from discovery to real-world patient impact.

Panelists:

• Alastair Shaw – Co-Founder Meet Life Sciences & Managing Director, Mx Life Sciences

• Jennifer Lee – Executive Vice President, Novita Pharmaceuticals & Cancer Fund

• Julie Castro Abrams – CEO, How Women Lead; Partner, How Women Invest

• Hala Borno, MD – Founder & CEO, Trial Library

• John Connolly, PhD – Chief Scientific Officer, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy

• KT Moorgat, PhD – Managing Partner & Founder, Dalena Capital

• Dimitra Georganopoulou, PhD – General Partner & Co-Founder, Qral Ventures

• Cynthia Chan, PharmD – Executive Group Medical Director, Genentech-Roche

Key Themes Shaping the Future of Biotech and Pharma 

Five themes kept resurfacing throughout the discussion: 

• Innovation is not a science problem - it’s an execution problem

• Clinical trial access is finally becoming solvable

• AI will transform healthcare - but not in the way many expect

• Collaboration is becoming a real competitive advantage

• Women remain underrepresented in innovation leadership 

Theme 1: Innovation Is Not a Science Problem, It's An Execution Problem

One point that really stuck came from John Connolly, who challenged a common industry assumption.

We celebrate discovery - the breakthrough paper, the novel target, the new mechanism. But discovery alone rarely changes patient outcomes

Execution is where most efforts fail.

Moving an idea through regulation, trials, commercialization, reimbursement, and ultimately into patient care requires a complex network of expertise and coordination. 

Connolly argued the industry often overvalues discovery and undervalues the operational work required to bring it to life.

The winners of the next decade may not necessarily be those with the most novel science. They may be the organizations that can execute faster, more effectively, and more collaboratively than their competitors.

Theme 2: The Clinical Trial Access Problem is Becoming Solvable 

While precision medicine continues to advance rapidly, patient access remains one of healthcare's biggest challenges.

Hala Borno highlighted:

• Approximately 30% of cancer patients may be eligible for a clinical trial

• Only about 5% ultimately enroll

• Roughly 85% of cancer patients receive care in community settings, while most trials sit in academic centres

The result is that patients and innovation exist in completely different places. 

Borno described how AI is starting to help. Matching patients to trials using clinical data is becoming faster and more accurate. But technology alone won’t fix the problem.

The real barriers are operational:

• Referral pathways

• Prior authorizations

• Transportation

• Care navigation

• Provider workflows

• Patient support services

The future of clinical trial enrollment may depend less on finding eligible patients and more on removing friction from the healthcare system itself.

Theme 3: AI Will Transform Healthcare - But Not in The Way Many Expect

Artificial intelligence was an unavoidable topic throughout the discussion.

Participants agreed that AI is already creating value across:

• Drug discovery

• Target identification

• Clinical trial matching

• Medical insight generation

• Workflow automation

• Precision medicine

At Genentech-Roche, Cynthia Chan described how AI is being used to accelerate target identification and improve development efficiency.

But several speakers pushed back on the hype.

KT Moorgat noted that while billions are flowing into AI-enabled healthcare companies, expectations are often ahead of reality. AI has made strides in areas like protein structure prediction and trial optimization - but it still can’t reliably answer the hardest question:

Will this therapy actually work in humans?

The takeaway was that AI will be a powerful tool, but it won’t replace scientific rigor, clinical evidence, or strong execution.

Like every major technology wave, we’re likely moving from overinvestment toward more practical, value-driven applications.

Theme 4: Collaboration Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage

A recurring theme throughout the evening was the importance of ecosystems. No single organization has all the capabilities required to advance innovation from concept to patient.

John Connolly emphasized that the best collaborations aren’t transactional - they’re built on trust, 

shared goals, and sustained engagement.

When they work, they unlock outcomes no individual organization could achieve on its own.

We’re already seeing this across:

• Academic–industry partnerships

• Venture–founder relationships

• Cross-functional development teams

• Public–private collaborations

• Regional innovation ecosystems

The future of healthcare innovation may be increasingly determined by network strength rather than organizational size.

Theme 5: Women Remain Underrepresented in Innovation leadership 

Julie Castro Abrams opened the evening with a challenge to the audience.

Women control a growing share of wealth, make the majority of healthcare decisions, and are founding more companies than ever. Yet they continue to receive a small fraction of venture funding - despite strong performance.

The panel explored both structural and cultural barriers, particularly the tendency for women to be evaluated on proven track record, while men are often backed on potential.

The result is not simply an equity issue - it is an innovation issue.

If healthcare is serious about solving its biggest challenges, it needs broader participation in who builds, funds, and leads.

Where This Leaves Us

As the conversation concluded, panelists reflected on what excites and concerns them most about the future.

What Excites The Experts:

• Faster, AI-enabled discovery

• Growth in precision and biomarker-driven therapies

• New models for clinical trial access

• Continued innovation in oncology, neuroscience, and rare disease

• Strong collaboration across sectors

What Concerns The Experts:

• Tight venture funding markets

• Underinvestment in early-stage therapeutics

• Regulatory uncertainty

• Government funding pressures

• Global competition for scientific talent

• The competitive advantage that has historically positioned the United States as the global leader in life sciences cannot be taken for granted

What Comes Next 

What stood out most from the evening is that the future will not be determined solely by scientific breakthroughs. It will be shaped by decisions about:

• Where capital flows

• Which founders receive support

• How quickly organizations execute

• Who has access to clinical trials

• Whether AI augments or distracts from meaningful progress

• And ultimately, which innovations make the journey from laboratory bench to patient bedside

Ultimately, innovation is not just about what’s possible - it’s about what actually reaches patients. The organizations that will continue to lead are those that can connect science, capital, technology, and execution, and move ideas all the way from bench to bedside.

If you’re building, scaling, or investing in the next generation of healthcare innovation, we’d love to connect. If hiring is part of your focus, you can reach us here.