Health Capital Helsinki

Health TV presents:

The first Nordic Big Pharma Reverse Pitching Event

Thank you for attending the event on 15 September 2021, and being active to book meetings! If you missed the event, you can watch the recording below.

Event recording

Press release

Key takeaways

The first Nordic Big Pharma Reverse Pitching Event – a unique opportunity for health startups and scaleups, researchers and pharma companies throughout the Nordic countries and Estonia to get connected.

Finding the right people at the right time can be a challenge. And finding business opportunities is far from self-evident, especially if you don’t exactly know what it is that these big companies are searching for.

That’s why Health Capital Helsinki Health TV introduces the very first Nordic Big Pharma Reverse Pitching Event, with the aim of bringing big pharma corporations, startups, scaleups and researchers together.

The event is sponsored by Amgen, Pfizer and Takeda, and brought to you in collaboration with HealthTech Nordic and Health Founders from Estonia.

If you are a Nordic or Estonian health startup or scaleup interested in collaboration with pharma companies, this is your chance!

Take a sneak peek of what’s in store:

Event details

Wednesday 15 September, 2021
15.00–18.00 Helsinki, EEST /
14.00–17.00 Stockholm, CET

The event is organised online, and it’s free of charge for participating startups, scaleups and researchers.

Agenda, Wednesday 15 September

15.00–18.00 Helsinki, EEST / 14.00–17.00 Stockholm, CET

15.00–15.10 Opening words

15.10–15.45 Reverse pitches: Amgen, Pfizer and Takeda each give a 10-minute pitch to explain their offering and needs

15.45–16.10 Panel discussion and Q&A

16.10–16.15 Summary of the discussion and closing words

16.15–18.00 1:1 meetings: Pharma companies meet with selected startups and researchers via digital tool Tavata. Meetings can be continued later on Tavata or offline until 30 September.

Matchmaking, 1-30 September

Virtual meetings between participants and sponsoring pharma companies can be arranged from 1 to 30 September. All the registrants have received an email from event tool Tavata with all the instructions. Good luck, be active!

Thank you for attending!

Nearly 300 people from 20 countries registered for the event. Thank you for participating! Also, matchmaking was active: at least 48 one-on-one meetings were organised between participating startups and pharma companies. We hope that many of these lead to further discussions!

The key takeaways and the best advice given to startups are summarised here: Startup do’s and don’t when approacing big pharma

The event is organised by:

Meet the speakers

John Gordon

Digital Innovation Lab Lead – International Markets, Pfizer

Managing all Pfizer’s Global Digital Innovation Lab’s activities outside of the US, working with the various business lines to identify opportunities, scout for solutions and then run experiments to determine impact and scale up potential.
Deeply passionate about providing the best care for patients and believes there are many opportunities where innovation leveraging digital technology can enhance health outcomes.
Starting his career in the NHS as a clinical pharmacist.

Niilo Färkkilä

Country Director, Finland and Baltics

Passionate about transforming healthcare and improving patient outcomes.
An experienced leader with a proven track record of visionary leadership, developing people, winning teams, and leading successful businesses in complex environments.
PhD in Health economics, skilled in VBHC, digitalisation, business development, partnerships, and health outcomes.

Hannes Toivanen

Lead for Strategic Partnerships, Centre of Excellence for Innovation and Evidence Generation Nordics, Takeda

Launching and executing collaborations between Takeda and globally leading digital health innovators.
Previous experience including 6 years at an AI startup, strategic technology analysis, career in academia and government, and working on innovation in Africa and Brazil.
PhD (History and Sociology of Technology and Science) from Georgia Institute of Technology.

About Health Capital Helsinki

Health Capital Helsinki is building the greatest health capital by developing the Helsinki Metropolitan health ecosystem, boosting the growth of innovation-driven startups and helping international investors and corporations find opportunities and partners in Finland.

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