The last time the BIO International Convention was in San Diego, in 2024, Ram May-Ron of the non-dilutive funding specialists FreeMind Group began discussing a strategic partnership with a large pharma company. Discussion continued at BIO 2025 in Boston, where they signed a pre-agreement term sheet.
“BIO is just an amazing opportunity to meet so many investors, partners, clients,” May-Ron said. “Everyone in the same building; you get to be very, very efficient.”
This year, the BIO International Convention brings the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry back to San Diego during June 22-25, for expert panels, company presentations—and a lot of fruitful networking.
“We have 35,000 scheduled meetings as of June 8. We’re expecting to end with a record of 70,000 or above,” said Mackensie Vernetti, SVP of Partnering at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).
Whether they’re looking for investment, licensing deals, manufacturers, or partners for development, participants in the BIO International Convention can register their interests ahead of time in the BIO Partnering™ system.
By leveraging the system, partners with matching needs can find one another and set up meetings before arriving. The BIO Partnering™ system will arrange a time that works for both partners and reserve a meeting place from among the 2,000 meeting rooms and booths set up at the San Diego convention site.
With meetings filling up at a rapid clip, Vernetti recommended BIO 2026 participants start engaging with the BIO Partnering™ platform right away.
“A lot of people want to have all of their meetings confirmed by the time they arrive,” she explained. “Of course we continue to schedule meetings up through the event so we can accommodate any last-minute requests.”
Finding start-ups and investors
One reason participants might want to keep a few meeting slots open is the Start-up Stadium, where representatives of exciting new small firms from around the world pitch their companies on stage for the benefit of potential partners.
“This year we have our most international group ever, with a delegation from the European Investment Council as well as companies presenting from Taiwan for a total of 50 presentations,” said Bernard Fallon, BIO VP of Industry Programs. “All of these companies are in our partnering system, and our attendees have an opportunity to meet these new start-ups early.”
In an investment market that can be challenging, the BIO International Convention provides an important opportunity, Fallon said.
“The BIO International Convention brings together the largest biotechnology community under one roof,” he explained. “This is the opportunity for a company to meet a greater variety of partners than they could meet in any other one place. And investors can get a very efficient view of the state of innovation in any given therapeutic area.”
The BIO International Convention also provides a constant for the industry, according to Vernetti.
“The market and investment climate go up and down, but year over year, we continue to have consistent partnering meeting activity—breaking or getting close to records in attendance and partnering,” she said. “We bring the whole biotech ecosystem together, so whether it’s straightforward investment or licensing deals, or other collaborations for research and co-development to advance your program, people are finding that at the BIO International Convention.”
Even if participants can’t make meetings for their specific partnering goals, Vernetti recommended they take advantage of the contacts they can make through the platform.
“Even if they’re not able to meet on site, a lot of the value is in the database and being able to reach out to those people. It’s still worthwhile to send meeting requests to at least exchange contact information to meet later on.”
As May-Ron of FreeMind Group can attest, a connection made at one BIO International Convention can pay off later—perhaps even at the next year’s convention.
