EVENTS
UPCOMING EVENT
The Eira Conference 2026
The conference provides a unique opportunity to assemble policy-relevant research on the functions played by intellectual property rights, data rights, and other policy instruments on innovation, development, and financing incentives and structures in the biopharmaceutical and medical-device sector. Using economic concepts and empirical methods, contributors will deliver insights into the mix of intellectual property rights and other policy instruments that can sustain and enhance European and other regional biopharmaceutical ecosystems as well as the global market in financing and developing new drugs, medicines, and other therapies, and medical devices, to improve human well-being and quality of life. Contributors will also address the unique legal and policy issues raised by the use of artificial intelligence in drug discovery and development.
October 29-30, 2026
Draft program
08:30 – 09:00 | Breakfast & Registration
09:00 – 09:05 | Opening Remarks
Speaker: Jonathan Barnett (University of Southern California)
09:05 – 10:05 | Panel 1: Intellectual Property Rights and Biopharmaceutical Ecosystem Design
Commentator: Mark Schankerman (London School of Economics)
Ecosystem Definition and Detection in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Speaker: Angelos Stenimachitis (Univ. of Essex & Compass Lexecon)
When Ideas Become Collateral: Intellectual Property-Backed Lending through the Great Biotech Reset
Speaker: Christine McDaniel (World Bank)
10:05 – 10:25 | Morning Networking Break
10:25 – 11:55 | Panel 2: Patent Term, Tax Incentives, and Biopharmaceutical Innovation
Commentator: Margaret Kyle (Mines Paris – PSL, CEDP)
Patent Extension Eligibility in the European Union, its Changes, and its Effects: Evidence from Medeva v. Comptroller General of Patents
Speaker: Satyaki Chakravarty (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)
Patent Pendency and Innovation Outcomes in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Sectors
Speaker: Gaetan de Rassenfosse (EPFL)
Tax Incentives for Orphan Drug Development: Effects on Innovation and Sponsor Composition
Speakers: Simona Gamba (University of Milan) & Laura Magazzini (Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies)
11:55 – 12:55 | Lunch
12:55 – 13:25 | Keynote Address
Keynote Speaker: Mark Schankerman (London School of Economics)
13:25 – 14:55 | Panel 3: Reinvigorating the European and Global Biopharmaceutical Ecosystem
Commentator: David Bosco (Univ. Aix-Marseille)
Beyond the Blockbuster: Intellectual Property and the Emerging Transformation of European Life Sciences
Speakers: Andrea Dugo (ECIPE) & Oscar Guinea (University of La Rioja, ECIPE)
IPRs, Tech Transfer, Coopetition and Sovereignty:Promoting Europe’s Health &
Life Science Innovation in the Digital Age
Speaker: Timo Minssen (Univ. of Copenhagen) & Gabriela Maria Lenarczyk (Univ. of Copenhagen)
Fostering Higher Foreign Contributions to Pharma R&D Through Trade Deals, Deregulation and Aligning Incentives
Speakers: Alden Abbott (George Mason Univ., Mercatus Center) & Satya Marar (George Mason Univ., Mercatus Center)
14:55 – 15:15 | Afternoon Networking Break
15:15 – 16:45 | Panel 4: Price Controls, Pricing Policy, and Biopharmaceutical Innovation
Commentator: Jamie Simpson (C4IP)
Effects of European Price Control on U.S. Pharmaceutical Innovation
Speaker: Duane Schulthess (Vital Transformation)
Price Control Regimes and Pharmaceutical Innovation in Japan, Europe, and the United States
Speakers: Stephen Ezell (ITIF) & Sandra Barbosu (ITIF)
Intellectual property rights and value-based pricing
Speaker: Katharina Blankart (Bern University of Applied Sciences)
16:45 | End of Day 1 / Evening Reception
08:30 – 09:00 | Breakfast & Registration
09:00 – 09:05 | Opening Remarks
Speaker: Margaret Kyle (Mines Paris – PSL, CEDP)
09:05 – 10:00 | Panel 1: Intellectual Property Rights and Global Biopharmaceutical Markets
Commentator: Nikolaus Thumm (OECD)
Global Value Chains, Patent Protection, and Knowledge Diffusion in Pharmaceuticals
Speaker: Walter Park (American Univ.)
The Long March to Innovation: R&D and Competitive Evolution in the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry
Speaker: Chirantan Chatterjee (Univ. of Sussex) (Virtual Speaker) and Aniruddh Bhaskaran (Carnegie Mellon University)
10:00 – 11:40 | Panel 2: China’s Biopharmaceutical Ecosystem: Policy Insights and Global
Implications
Commentator: Sharon Belenzon (Duke University) and Jonathan Barnett (University of Southern California)
Regulatory Reform and Development of Pharmaceutical Industry in China
Speaker: Can Huang (Zhejiang University)
Chinese Industrial and Patent Policy in Pharmaceuticals
Speaker: Mark Cohen (UC Berkeley Haas Business School)
China’s biopharmaceutical revolution and policy implications
Speakers: Dan Prud’homme (Florida Intl. Univ.) & Tao Bai (University of Queensland)
11:40– 12:00 | Morning Networking Break
12:00 – 13:25 | Panel 3: Artificial Intelligence, Pandemics, and Biopharmaceutical Drug Development
Commentator: Jonathan Barnett (University of Southern California)
AI, Pharma and Exclusivity Rights: Opportunities and Pitfalls
Speaker: Sven J.R. Bostyn (Univ. of Copenhagen, Law)
Do Health Outbreaks Fuel Innovations?
Speaker: Xixi Hu (University of British Columbia)
The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Drug Discovery: Patent Strategy Considerations and Policy Approaches to Improve Legal Certainty
Speakers: Laura Fe (Murgitroyd, Law) & Alice Norga
13:25 – 14:25 | Lunch
14:25 – 14:55 | Keynote Address
Keynote Speaker: Yann Ménière (European Patent Office / EPO)
14:55 – 15:40 | Fireside Chat
Discussants: Nicolas Petit (European University Institute), Kamil Kiljanski (European Commission) & Peter-Anthony Pappas (US ITC)
Moderator: Bowman Heiden (Gothenburg University & UC Berkeley)
Event speakers
Alice Norga
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December 9, 2024. Online Webinar