Turning science into a company

Between the lab and the patient lies a long and difficult road: intellectual property, funding, manufacturing, partnerships, regulation, scalability and strategic choices. For life sciences innovation, that road often determines whether a promising discovery remains research, or becomes something that can eventually reach people.

In this session, Prof. Els Henckaerts shares her perspective on what happens when science becomes a company. As a KU Leuven professor, gene therapy researcher and co-founder of Handl Therapeutics, later acquired by UCB, she has seen how breakthrough research can move from academic discovery into a broader pharmaceutical and entrepreneurial context.

The conversation will explore when a scientific idea is ready to become a venture, what changes once investors and partners enter the picture, and how researchers can navigate the tension between scientific ambition, patient need and economic reality.