The annual Boston conference will explore strategic partnering, device innovation, and delivery solutions for emerging therapeutics.
Tobin bridge, Zakim bridge and Boston skyline panorama at sunset | Image Credit: © mandritoiu - stock.adobe.com
The 15th annual Partnership Opportunities in Drug Delivery (PODD) conference, set for October 27–28, 2025, at the Westin Copley Place in Boston, will spotlight the latest developments in drug delivery technology with a program of expert panels, presentations, and industry-driven sessions (1).
Organized by the Conference Forum, the event brings together pharmaceutical developers, biotech innovators, and drug delivery specialists to examine advances in the formulation, design, and commercial deployment of therapeutics across a range of modalities (1).
·Drug delivery partnerships are evolving, with top pharma leaders outlining strategic evaluation frameworks for external technologies and collaboration models.
·Pharma innovation leaders are refining internal scouting, sharing insights into sourcing enabling technologies that accelerate drug development pipelines.
·Health economics of drug delivery are under scrutiny, as payers assess how delivery systems influence value, pricing pressure, and access for emerging therapies.
Among the most anticipated sessions is Partnering to Advance Drug Delivery Innovation, a panel moderated by Ester Caffarel-Salvador, PhD, director of strategic innovation for rare diseases at Chiesi USA (1). The session will explore critical considerations for evaluating external drug delivery platforms, with panelists offering perspectives from both early-stage and mature development environments.
Panelists include:
Sean Bedingfield, PhD, research & development advisor for Genetic Medicine at Eli Lilly and Company
Annette Bak, PhD, head of advanced drug delivery at AstraZeneca
Jaymin Shah, PhD, head of global biopharmaceutics and senior research fellow at Pfizer
Rashmi Thakur, PhD, director of portfolio strategy & integration at Bristol-Myers Squibb.
The discussion will focus on partnership pathways, strategic fit assessments, and the evolving landscape of delivery technology collaborations (1).
Pharmaceutical leaders share internal approaches to innovation
Representatives from Novartis and AbbVie will offer insights into their respective organizations' approaches to sourcing and integrating drug delivery and enabling technologies (1). Mateja Kramer, PhD, global head of innovation at Novartis, and Nicholas Schill, PhD, senior director of landscaping & platform definition at AbbVie, will present as part of the conference’s Pharma Company Spotlights.
These presentations are expected to provide transparency into current technology scouting efforts and collaborative models used to accelerate therapeutic development (1).
A dedicated session on Payer Perspectives on Drug Delivery will explore the intersection of innovation and reimbursement, with a focus on the pharmacoeconomics of delivery-enabled therapeutics (1). The panel will assess how delivery systems influence value perception, pricing pressures, and market access—especially in the context of drug classes such as incretins and nucleic acid-based therapies.
Speakers include:
Mark Simon, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries
Lambert van der Walde, UnitedHealth Group
Michael Sherman, MD, RA Capital Management
Dr. Gail Ryan, PharmD, formerly of Point32Health.
The 2025 agenda includes a comprehensive lineup of drug delivery technology presentations categorized into several themes (1):
injectable formulations and delivery platforms
self-injection devices, wearables, and connected delivery tools
oral, nasal, pulmonary, and alternative non-injectable systems
cell and gene therapy delivery approaches
innovations in excipients and combination product platforms
primary packaging solutions including syringes and containers.
Sessions will also explore specialized approaches to delivery challenges in advanced modalities (1). Topics include:
brain delivery via formulation and physical mechanisms
novel vehicles for genetic medicine administration
ADCs and bioconjugation strategies
tissue-specific targeting for nucleic acid therapeutics
manufacturing scale-up strategies for clinical and commercial readiness
sustainability in drug and device development.
The conference will feature speakers and presenters from across the global pharmaceutical ecosystem (1). Participating companies include major developers and technology providers working in small molecules, biologics, cell and gene therapies, and RNA-based drugs.
Participating organizations include: Amgen, Astellas Pharma, AstraZeneca, Beam Therapeutics, Biogen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chiesi USA, Eli Lilly and Company, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck, Moderna, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Regeneron, Roche, Sanofi, Sun Pharma, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceuticals, UCB, and others.
"PODD connects industry leaders and innovators who advance the design and development of drug delivery systems and devices to improve patient lives," said Andrew Goldstein, senior conference producer (2).
Designed to support scientific exchange and partnership building, PODD offers attendees a structured environment to explore delivery solutions for a wide range of therapeutic challenges (1). The forum supports deal-making, technology scouting, and collaboration-building across traditional boundaries in the pharmaceutical sector.
The full agenda release comes three weeks after keynotes were announced (3). At the time, Goldstein said, “In presenting a strategic-level program for R&D scientists and business development professionals, the PODD Conference is committed to securing keynotes who demonstrate excellence in science.”
Keynotes will feature prominent voices in pharmaceutical science and patient advocacy (3). George Yancopoulos, MD, PhD, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Regeneron, will join Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Robert Langer, ScD, to discuss the current landscape and future potential of drug delivery innovation. Lotte Bjerre Knudsen, DMSc, chief scientific advisor at Novo Nordisk, will present on the development of liraglutide and semaglutide, emphasizing how drug delivery intersected with the scientific and clinical advancement of these obesity treatments. Patient advocate Jimi Olaghere will share his experience living with sickle cell disease and undergoing treatment with a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, or CRISPR, -based therapy, as well as his efforts to improve access to genetic medicines. Mansoor Amiji, PhD, university distinguished professor at Northeastern University, will present on strategies for endogenous targeted delivery, addressing how biological transport mechanisms can be leveraged to improve drug efficacy and safety.
References
Drug Solutions Podcast: A Closer Look at mRNA in Oncology and Vaccines
April 30th 2024In this episode fo the Drug Solutions Podcast, etherna’s vice-president of Technology and Innovation, Stefaan De Koker, discusses the merits and challenges of using mRNA as the foundation for therapeutics in oncology as well as for vaccines.
Drug Solutions Podcast: Gliding Through the Ins and Outs of the Pharma Supply Chain
November 14th 2023In this episode of the Drug Solutions podcast, Jill Murphy, former editor, speaks with Bourji Mourad, partnership director at ThermoSafe, about the supply chain in the pharmaceutical industry, specifically related to packaging, pharma air freight, and the pressure on suppliers with post-COVID-19 changes on delivery.
