Creative Disruption Forum - Modern Drug Discovery

Creative Disruption Forum: Modern Drug Discovery – The Latest Strategies

Part of Cambridge Wide Open Week (CWOW)

The blueprint for building a successful biotech is changing. On Thursday, 18 June, the flagship Creative Disruption Forum (CDF) returns to Cambridge to challenge conventional industry wisdom, break down stale templates, and examine what it truly takes for an emerging biotech pioneer to thrive in today's fiercely competitive global landscape.

Hosted at The National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB), this full-day interactive forum strips away the standard, passive "information dumps" of traditional conferences. Instead, it offers an authentic, high-energy environment built on peer-to-peer thought leadership, strategic problem-solving, and genuine relationship-building.

The Visionaries Behind the Forum

The day is curated and orchestrated by a dynamic duo recognized across the UK life sciences ecosystem for sparking raw, unfiltered industry dialogue:

• Prof Tony Sedgwick: A renowned pathologist, active psychologist, and the self-professed "Thought Disruptor." Tony brings an extraordinary depth of experience across both academia and commercialization. His career highlights include serving as the Global Head of Clinical Research at Roche AG, working as a Venture Capitalist, and acting as CEO for four life science companies and Chairman for over ten.

• Graham Combe: A veteran master of life science community-building and business development. Together with Tony, Graham designs these forums to create "Agile" peer-to-peer networks that help emerging leaders avoid reinventing the wheel when tackling complex commercialization hurdles.

How the Day Unfolds

Operating strictly under Chatham House Rules, the forum provides a secure, high-trust space where founders, investors, and R&D leaders can speak candidly, share real vulnerabilities, and debate what is working right now.

• Morning | Interactive Keynote Interviews: Moving past rigid slide decks, Tony Sedgwick leads deep-dive, conversational interviews with industry leaders, examining the latest strategies in small-molecule drug discovery, navigating the funding landscape, and scaling biotech ventures.

• Mid-Day | Networking & Light Lunch: A chance to foster authentic professional connections without aggressive pitching or rigid schedules.

• Afternoon | Collaborative Group Workshops: The room transitions into a highly interactive lab of ideas. Participants break into collaborative sessions to dissect the morning’s debates, translating high-level insights into practical, actionable blueprints for their own companies.

Key Event Details

Date & Time: Thursday, 18 June from 10 am – 4.30 pm

Venue: The National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB), Cambridge

Audience: Limited to ~60 Biotech Founders, CEOs, R&D Directors, and Life Science Investors and a few service providers.  A big thanks to our sponsors who include Pelago Bioscience AG, CDD Vault, GeneRx.life and Co-Labs by Journey who provide the venue.

Core Ethos: No boring data dumps. Pure, authentic, disruptive conversation.

Why Attend? The commercialization journey is full of unseen barriers. This forum is designed to expand your confidence outside your comfort zone, arming you with an agile network of peers who have faced—and conquered—the exact scaling and drug-discovery challenges you are facing today.