PROGRAMME 2026

The programme of the Dutch Medicines Days offers high-level plenary lectures, various parallel sessions where the different member organisations present their research.

Below is the preliminary programme overview of Dutch Medicines Days 2026 that take place on 7-8 October 2026 in Leiden.

Preliminary Programme Day 1 - 7 October 2026

09:00 - 09:30	Welcome & Coffee
09:30 - 10:45	Plenary Opening Programme Opening by Prof Laura Heitman (Chair of DMD2026) and Prof Klaas Poelstra (Chair of FIGON) Welcome Speech Keynote Presentation by Karla van Rooijen, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport Keynote Presentation by Prof. Annemieke Aartsma-Rus, Leiden University
10:45 - 11:15	Coffee Break
Human Diversity in Drug Responses: From Insight to Precision Medicine Session 1 11:15 - 12:30	From Structural Insight to Therapeutic Design Session 2 11:15 - 12:30	Becoming Funding-Ready Session 3 11:15 - 12:30	From Mechanism to First-in-Human: Immunopharmacology Today Session 4 11:15 - 12:30	Industry Innovation Slots 11:15 - 12:30
12:30 - 13:30	Lunch Break
PhD Student Competition I 13:30 - 14:45	Next Generation Preclinical Science: AI and Beyond Session 5 13:30 - 14:45	Lipids and Lipoproteins in Drug Discovery and Therapeutic Innovation Session 6 13:30 - 14:45	The Netherlands as a Hotspot for Clinical Research? From International Positioning to Local Feasibility Session 7 13:30 - 14:45	Industry Innovation Slots 13:30 - 14:45
14:45 - 14:55	Short Break
PhD Student Competition II 14:55 - 16:10	Career Session Session 8 14:55 - 16:10	From Data To Decisions: Leveraging RWD, Virtual Humans, AI and Beyond! Session 9 14:55 - 16:10	Pharmacological Regeneration of Tissues Session 10 14:55 - 16:10	Industry Innovation Slots 14:55 - 16:10
16:10- 16:30	Coffee Break
16:30 - 17:45	Plenary Closing Programme FIGON Douwe Breimer Award 2026 Keynote Presentation by Adam Stoten, Evotec Keynote Presentation Conny Helder, FAST
17:45 - 18:45	Networking Drinks
19:00 - 21:00	Conference Walking Dinner

Preliminary Programme Day 2 - 8 October 2026

08:30 - 09:00	Welcome & Coffee
09:00 - 10:15	Plenary Opening Programme Opening by Prof Laura Heitman (Chair of DMD2026) and Prof Klaas Poelstra (Chair of FIGON) Keynote Presentation by Prof. Luc Brunsveld, TU Eindhoven Keynote Presentation by TBA
10:15 - 10:45	Coffee Break
Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Dutch Sectorplan Bèta-II: Status and Future Perspectives Session 11 10:45 – 12:00	PharmaNL Infrastructure Session 12 10:45 – 12:00	Innovate: Organoid Technologies in Precision Treatment Optimization Session 13 10:45 – 12:00	Medicine Shortages in the Netherlands Session 14 10:45 – 12:00	Translational Innovation with Industry: From Mechanism to Medicine Session 15 10:45 – 12:00
12:00 - 13:00	Lunch Break
Innovation and Affordability Hand in Hand Session 16 13:00 - 14:15	LED3: From Collaborative Discovery to Novel Therapeutic Candidates at Leiden University Session 17 13:00 - 14:15	Translate: From Research to Improved Patient Care Session 18 13:00 - 14:15	What Does it Take to Start a Biotech? From Scientific Discovery to Company Creation Session 19 13:00 - 14:15	Oligonucleotides as Treatment Strategy Session 20 13:00 - 14:15
Lifelong Learning in the Pharma & Biotech Sector Session 21 14:30 - 15:45	Innovation in Pharmaceutical Patient Care Session 22 14:30 - 15:45	Accelerating Academic Therapy Development for Rare Diseases Session 23 14:30 - 15:45		Talent & Carrière Programma Laboratorium Techniek - deel 1 Powered by Johnson & Johnson Session 24 14:30 - 16:00
15:45 - 16:15	Coffee Break			Coffee Break Talent & Carrière Programma Laboratorium Techniek 16:00 - 16:25
16:15 - 17:30	Plenary Closing Programme PhD Student Competition & Award Ceremony - Top 3 Pitches Poster Award Ceremony Panel Discussion led by Hans Schikan, Chairman, Board member, TopTeam Life Sciences & Health, with: Luc Brunsveld, TU Eindhoven Valentyna Starodub, STARoDub Michel van Agthoven, Johnson & Johnson Joost Kreijtz, Trained Therapeutix Discovery			Talent & Carrière Programma Laboratorium Techniek - deel 2 Powered by Johnson & Johnson Session 24 16:25 - 17:30
17:30 - 18:30	Networking Drinks

For most of the subsessions, we have space to include 1 or 2 oral presentations submitted by our delegates.

Would you like to participate in the DMD 2026 programme?

An Industry Innovation Slot gives your company a dedicated 20-minute presentation within the conference programme to showcase innovations, highlight your contribution to the future of drug development, and engage directly with a highly relevant audience of pharmaceutical, life sciences, academic, and regulatory experts.

Participation also includes a complimentary article on BiotechNews (value €975) for additional visibility.

A limited number of slots are available. Contact dmd@hyphenprojects.nl for more information.

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VAT no: NL8184.34.491.B01

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