Program

The BioBusiness Masterclass runs once a year starting each October.

Save the dates for the 2025/2026 edition

Module 1: 22-24 October 2025
Module 2: 19-21 November 2025
Module 3: 21-23 January 2026
Module 4: 18-20 February 2026
Module 5: 18-20 March 2026
Module 6: 29 April – 1 May 2026

The Teachers

You’ll learn from over 40 seasoned life sciences entrepreneurs, experienced lecturers, and professional coaches. These experts are not just instructors — they are your gateway to a valuable and experienced biotech network. They will be available to answer your questions and offer guidance throughout your journey.

The Modules

The Masterclass consists of 6 modules. Each module consists of two full-day courses and two evening sessions. Business and personal growth challenges are discussed in small peer groups, supported by professional coaches. These coaches guide participants in discovering their strengths and weaknesses, providing tools to aid in their personal development process.

Modules

Please see below more information about each module of the BioBusiness Masterclass 2024.

Module 1: Entrepreneurship and Business Plan

After an inspiring start, it’s up to the participants to present their business cases. Participants select the most interesting business cases and groups are formed. Each group works on one of the business cases during the BioBusiness Masterclass.

 

Date Starting time Program Lecturer
Wednesday
October 16
2024
5.30 PM Guest lecture Wietse Mulder

Thursday
October 17
2024

 

 

 

 

09.00 AM Presentation business cases and forming of the teams Chrétien Herben, Kees Recourt
01.00 PM Business plan development Kees Recourt
07.30 PM Personal development in peer groups

 

Geerte Hesselmans, Hella Abma, Janneke van den Hoek

 

Friday
October 18
2024
09.00 AM Teambuilding Els Molenaar
01.00 PM Communication patterns Els Molenaar

 

Module 2: Intellectual Property Rights and Product Development

Well-protected findings are often a biotech company’s most valuable assets. Therefore, the second module gives insights into the European intellectual property system. Several IP experts, from industry leading legal firms, explain the basics of patents and licensing agreements. With this knowledge and support from the experts, the teams develop their intellectual property strategy to build or grow their business. A crash course on regulatory affairs and contractual strategies is also given in this second module.

 

Date Starting time Program Lecturer
Wednesday
November 20
2024
5.30 PM Guest lecture Eline van Beest
Thursday
November 21
2024
09.00 AM Intellectual property rights Bruno Vandermeulen
01.00 PM Patent enforcement Carine van de Brink
08.00 PM Personal development in peer groups Geerte Hesselmans, Hella Abma, Janneke van den Hoek
Friday
November 22
2024
09.00 AM Regulatory affairs and product development: Medical Devices & IVD Jeroen Pieper
01.00 PM Regulatory affairs and product development: Pharma Ineke Jonker

 

 

Module 3: Business Development, Communication, and Personal Development

Experienced business developers take the participants along their routes to success. They explain what to do to close a successful deal and, even more important, what not to do. The guidance of these experts will help participants to further develop their own business development plan.

There is hardly a single topic more fundamental to the business process than communication. Participants will therefore discover more about their communication preferences during this third module and they will learn how to use this knowledge to communicate effectively with different target groups.

 

Date Starting time Program Lecturer
Wednesday
January 29
2025
5.30 PM Guest lecture Eliane Schutte
Thursday
January 30
2025
09.00 AM Know your customer Stephan Botz
01.00 PM Negotiation Chantal Suissa-Runne
08.00 PM Personal development in peer groups Geerte Hesselmans, Hella Abma, Janneke van den Hoek, Anne-Claire van Altvorst
Friday
January 31
2025
09.00 AM Personal strengths Sandra Minnee
01.00 PM Flexible leadership Sandra Minnee

Module 4: Finance and Venture Capital

In this module the participants learn all the essentials of financial accounting. This helps the entrepreneurs and managers (to be) to read, understand, and effectively use balances, P&L statements, and cash flow statements. Examples from well-known life sciences companies will be used.

Then, one of the most essential questions for a biotech company will be asked: how to get financed? Several venture capitalists will explain their preferences and give elaborate feedback on the business cases. Their coaching is strict, but fair and is always highly valued by the participants.

 

Date Starting time Program Lecturer
Wednesday
February 19
2025
5.30 PM Guest Lecture Markwin Velders
Thursday
February 20
2025

09.00 AM

1.00 PM

 

 

7.30 PM

 

Financial Accounting Part 1

Financial Accounting Part 2

 

Personal Development in Peer Groups

 

Joost de Vries

Joost de Vries

 

Hella Abma, Janneke van den Hoek, Anne-Claire van Altvorst

Friday
February 21
2025

09.00 AM

 

 

 

01.00 PM

Venture Capital

 

 

 

Business Plan Coaching

Jaap de Bruin, Eleonor Price

 

Lieke Hamoen, Wouter Bax, Henk Vietor, Hans van den Berg, Thijs van de Munckhof, Pedro Tetteroo, Arwin Ridder

 

 

Module 5: Leadership and Market Access

The fifth module focuses on improving participants’ leadership capabilities. Different leadership styles fit different people and different companies best. The participants will find out what fits them and their innovative companies best.

As (future) leaders the participants guide their companies in the preparation for market success. Useful tools for market place analysis and marketing management are dealt with in this fifth module as well.

 

Date Starting time Program Lecturer
Wednesday
March 5
2025
05.30 PM Guest lecture Giel Hendriks
Thursday
March 6
2025

09.00 AM

01.00 PM

07.30 PM

Market Access

Digital Strategies

Personal development in peer groups

 

Stephan Botz

Jaap van Zessen

Geerte Hesselmans, Hella Abma, Anne-Claire van Altvorst

Friday
March 7
2025

09.00 AM

1.00 PM

Leadership Part 1 

Leadership Part 2 

Sandra Minnee

 

 

Module 6: Media Training and Business Plan Presentation

The last module is all about presenting the business cases. The entire module is focused on providing tools for the perfect presentation. Media experts train the participants in how to deal with the media and mock presentations are given. The finale of the Masterclass is the presentation of the business cases to a jury of experts. The most promising start-up with the best business plan receives the BioBusiness Masterclass Award.

 

Date Starting time Program Lecturer
Wednesday
April 30
2025
05.30 PM Guest lecture Daan Luining
Thursday
May 1
2025

09.00 AM

 

 

7.30PM

Media training: interview training and theatre sports

 

Graduation, Class of 2024

Ingrid van Frankenhuyzen

and 4 professional coaches to be announced

Friday
May 2
2025
09.00 AM Mock presentations business plans Anne Claire Altvorst, Chrétien Herben, Kees Recourt
01.00 PM Business plan presentation Jury of experts
05.00 PM

Announcement of the Top 2 Business Plans

 

 

BioBusiness Masterclass

Karpervijver 17, 3703 CJ Zeist, The Netherlands

office@biobusinessmasterclass.nl