A speaker presenting to a large audience in an auditorium
November 5–6, 2026 Boston, MA

BIOTOLD: Real Stories from Biotech 2026 Real stories from the people who actually do the work.

The first biotech conference where every speaker is a working practitioner. We curate talks together with you — from a ready list of topics or from your own experience. Our team helps shape your story into something the room will remember.

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600+
Attendees
80+
Speakers
4
Tracks
40+
Sessions
5hrs
Open Floor
2
Days

The best conversations in biotech happen in the hallway. We made them the main event.

— The BIOTOLD team

Why we exist

Every conference is built for the top of the org chart.

CEOs give keynotes about vision. Investors discuss deal flow. Professors present papers. Meanwhile, the senior scientist who just cracked a six-month assay problem sits in the audience — silent.

BIOTOLD flips the script. The microphone goes to the people who do the work.

Actively building

We're meeting with practitioners, consulting on topics, and shaping the lineup together. Final list of speakers published by end of June 2026.

Apply to Speak
Venue secured Keynotes confirmed Speaker applications open Sponsors onboarding
The Program

Four tracks.
Every story in biotech.

Whether you pipette at the bench, train models, scale bioreactors, or file INDs — there's a stage for your story.

01

Discovery & Research

The assay that failed 47 times. The hit from a screen you almost cancelled. Where breakthroughs actually begin.

BiologyChemistryAssay DevScreening
→
02

Data, AI & Computational

The pipeline that survived a GxP audit. The model that convinced a skeptical biologist. The code behind the cure.

ML/AIBioinformaticsData EngLIMS
→
03

Development & Manufacturing

The tech transfer that went sideways. The optimization that cut costs 40%. Turning molecules into medicine patients can take.

Process DevCMCQA/QCSupply Chain
→
04

Clinical & Regulatory

The FDA question that changed everything. The 2 AM protocol amendment. The regulatory gauntlet, told honestly.

Clinical OpsReg AffairsPVMed Writing
→
Explore every track and suggested talk topics →
Key Dates

Mark your calendar

Now open
Speaker applications
20-minute talks & lightning talks across all 4 tracks
Apply now
Sep 1, 2026
Early-bird registration closes
$149 rate ends — general admission $299 after
Save $150
Sep 15, 2026
Speaker applications close
Final deadline for talk proposals
Oct 1, 2026
Full program announced
All speakers, session times, and room assignments published
Nov 4, 2026
Speaker dinner & AV rehearsals
Evening reception for speakers at the Omni
Nov 5–6, 2026
BIOTOLD 2026
Two full days · Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport
The event
A talk you might hear

This is what the stage sounds like.

Biomanufacturing bioreactors
Track 03 · Development & Manufacturing

"The batch that failed at 2,000 liters — and what it taught my whole team."

"We'd run the process forty times at bench scale. Flawless. Then we scaled to 2,000L for the first GMP run, and watched three months of work go cloudy in twenty minutes. Here's what we missed, how we found it, and why I'm almost grateful it happened…"

— The kind of honest, first-person story every BIOTOLD talk is built on.

The Voices

Practitioners, not panelists.

80+ speakers from across biotech and life sciences. Every talk is shaped together — we match you with a topic from our curated list or help develop yours into something the audience will lean in for. Any role, any level. The program is built with you, not handed to you.

Dr. George Church
Opening Keynote

Dr. George Church

Geneticist · Harvard Medical School

"Reading, writing, and editing genomes — 30 years in."

Dr. Reshma Shetty
Keynote
Dr. Reshma Shetty
Co-founder, Ginkgo Bioworks
"From the bench to billion-dollar biology."
Dr. Daphne Koller
Keynote
Dr. Daphne Koller
Founder & CEO, insitro
"ML meets drug discovery: what actually works."
Coming Soon
Keynote — Discovery
To be announced
Coming Soon
Keynote — Manufacturing
To be announced
Coming Soon
Keynote — Clinical
To be announced
Coming Soon
Featured Speaker
To be announced
Coming Soon
Featured Speaker
To be announced
+ 70 more
practitioner speakers across 4 tracks
Apply to Speak See all speakers →
People in conversation at a conference

"I learned more in one hallway conversation here than in a year of webinars. This is where the real work gets talked about."

— What we're building BIOTOLD to be

As featured in

STAT Endpoints News Fierce Biotech BioSpace GenoMag
The Format

More than just talks.

BIOTOLD combines keynotes, practitioner talks, lightning rounds, an open floor, and structured networking — each designed for a different kind of learning.

20 min + Q&A

Practitioner Talks

The core: real stories from real people. One speaker, 20 minutes, first-person — the format everything is built around.

7 min each

Lightning Talks

One idea, one lesson, seven minutes. Fast, punchy, and open to anyone — no slides required.

Day 2 · 5 hours

Open Floor

The entire afternoon of Day 2. Back-to-back short talks from the audience — any role, any level. Your stage.

Both days

Networking by Role

Lunches, coffee breaks, and receptions organized by function — meet the process engineer at the company you've been curious about.

Day 2 · Poster hall

Poster Sessions

Present ongoing work as a poster — a lower-pressure way to share, get feedback, and start conversations.

45 min · invited

Keynotes

Three headline talks from practitioners who've shaped the industry from the bench — opening, midday, and closing.

Who's in the room

Built for the people who do the work

The audience is the lineup. If you work in any of the roles below — we'd love to hear your story and help you shape it for the stage.

Bench Scientists

Data Scientists

Process Engineers

Biostatisticians

Regulatory Affairs

Clinical Ops

QA/QC Analysts

ML/AI Engineers

Medical Writers

CMC Specialists

Why Boston

The densest biotech community on Earth

We're not picking Boston by accident. For thousands of practitioners, BIOTOLD is a subway ride — not a flight.

14 / 20

of the top global pharma companies

have major offices or labs in Greater Boston — from Moderna and Vertex to Takeda and Novartis, most within a few miles of the venue.

1,000+

life-science companies

cluster across Kendall Square, the Seaport, and Cambridge — the highest concentration of biotech employers anywhere in the world.

Since 2002

a community that already gathers

Groups like BiotechTuesday draw 200–300 scientists every month. BIOTOLD gives that energy a stage — and two full days.

The Program

Two days. At a glance.

Detailed schedule with speaker names published October 1. View full schedule →

Day One

Wednesday, November 5
8:30 AM
Registration & coffee
9:30 AM
Opening Keynote
10:30 AM
Track sessions — Block 1 (4 parallel)
12:30 PM
Lunch & networking by role
2:00 PM
Lightning Talks (8 speakers, 7 min each)
3:30 PM
Track sessions — Block 2
5:30 PM
Networking reception

Day Two

Thursday, November 6
9:00 AM
Morning Keynote
10:00 AM
Track sessions — Block 3
12:00 PM
Lunch & poster sessions
1:00 PM
Open Floor — 5 hours, back-to-back practitioner talks
5:00 PM
Closing Keynote
6:00 PM
Closing reception & after-party
Early Voices

What practitioners are saying

Early reactions from the biotech community we've been talking to.

"Finally, a conference where I'd actually want to give the talk. I've got three stories from the last year alone that never fit anywhere else."

Dr. Nia Okafor
Dr. Nia Okafor
Senior Scientist · Vertex Pharmaceuticals

"The 'no proprietary data' framing is exactly right. It means I can talk about how we work without a week of legal review. That's rare."

James Chen
James Chen
Process Engineer · Sarepta Therapeutics

"Every other event is built for my VP. This one's built for me and my team. I already told eight people in my group to apply."

Priya Nair
Priya Nair
Computational Biologist · Moderna
The Setting

Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport

Ensemble Ballroom at Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport

In the heart of Boston's biotech corridor

450 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02210

Seaport District — steps from 200+ biotechs
15 minutes from Logan Airport
25,000 sq ft of stage & session space
1,054 rooms — stay where it happens

Walking distance from Moderna, Vertex, Sarepta, and the labs where so many of our speakers spend their days.

Travel, hotels & directions →
Attend

One conference. Priced for the people in it.

Low enough to expense without three approvals — or to pay out of pocket without thinking twice. Speakers attend free.

 
Student / Postdoc
$49
Valid .edu required

For the next generation — grad students and active postdocs.

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Best value · save $150
Early Bird
$149
Until September 1, 2026

Full access plus priority seating at the keynotes. The smart time to register.

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General
$299
After September 1, 2026

Standard admission to all two days, both keynotes, and every track.

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By application
Speaker
Free
Selected from applications

Give a talk and attend free — plus speaker lounge, dinner, and a professional recording.

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Every ticket includes All 4 tracks & 40+ sessions Both keynotes Lunch & coffee, both days Networking events Session recordings

Our team has attended & contributed to

BIO International·JPM Healthcare·AACR·ASCO·Bio-IT World·SynBioBeta·HLTH·MassBio·Festival of Biologics·Biotech Showcase· BIO International·JPM Healthcare·AACR·ASCO·Bio-IT World·SynBioBeta·HLTH·MassBio·Festival of Biologics·Biotech Showcase·
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Our Story

We've sat through BIO International, JPM Week, AACR, and dozens more. Every one put executives and investors on stage.

But the conversations that actually changed our careers? They happened in hallways — with someone from another company who'd just solved the problem we'd been stuck on for months. BIOTOLD is an entire conference built from those hallway conversations.

The most valuable knowledge in biotech lives in the heads of practitioners. It deserves a stage.

Read our full story →
2026 · Inaugural Year

Work in biotech? Let's find your story.

You don't need a talk ready. You don't need to have spoken before. Reach out — we'll listen to your experience, share our curated topic list, and work with you one-on-one to shape something the audience will genuinely want to hear. The stage, the coaching, the production, the recording — all on us.

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