Fundraising Requires More Than a Plan. It Requires Execution. 

By Max Braht, VP of Business Development, LSN

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For early-stage life science companies, fundraising and partnering are not one-time activities. They require an ongoing, focused effort to identify the right market, communicate a clear opportunity, build relationships, and follow through consistently.

Many companies have the science, the data, and the ambition to move forward, but do not have a dedicated business development resource to manage that work throughout the year. Leadership teams are often balancing scientific progress, regulatory planning, operations, and fundraising at the same time.

Life Science Nation’s BD Assist program was developed to provide hands-on support for companies that need help executing their fundraising and partnering campaigns.

BD Assist is the execution layer of Life Science Nation’s commercialization system. It builds on the work of understanding a company’s readiness, identifying the right investor and licensing-partner market, and creating a Global Target List that can support a focused campaign.

The result is not simply a list of contacts. It is a structured process for moving from market intelligence to outreach, follow-up, and meeting generation.

From target market to active campaign

Every BD Assist engagement begins with an understanding of the company’s goals, financing needs, technology, milestones, and partnering objectives. Life Science Nation then works with the company to refine its narrative and marketing materials so the opportunity can be communicated clearly to the market.

Using Life Science Nation’s investor and licensing-partner intelligence, the BD Assist team helps construct and prioritize a Global Target List of relevant investors and strategic partners. The target list is informed by company-specific attributes as well as investor behavior, helping companies focus their efforts on the market most relevant to their opportunity.

From there, BD Assist supports campaign strategy, personalized outreach, follow-up, and meeting generation. Outreach activity is tracked through the client’s CRM platform, allowing the company to maintain visibility into campaign progress and investor engagement.

This ongoing execution is a key part of the program. A target list has value only when it becomes a disciplined campaign that continues to build relationships and create opportunities over time.

Extending a company’s business development capacity

BD Assist is designed to become an extension of a company’s business development capability.

Rather than providing recommendations for a company to carry out on its own, Life Science Nation helps manage the campaign workflow. This allows company leadership to stay focused on advancing the science, reaching development milestones, and preparing for productive investor and partner conversations.

The program also includes regular strategy discussions and campaign refinement as the company receives feedback from the market. As priorities evolve, BD Assist can help ensure that outreach remains aligned with the company’s current fundraising or partnering objectives.

For companies participating in RESI, BD Assist can also support their partnering activity and help them make the most of the investor and licensing-partner marketplace.

Part of a broader commercialization process

BD Assist is one part of a connected Life Science Nation commercialization system.

The Assessment Engine helps companies understand their evidence, risks, milestones, capital readiness, and investability. LSN Labs helps companies address gaps and prepare for the market. The Investor and Licensing Partner Database provides market intelligence. The Global Target List helps companies identify and prioritize their target market. BD Assist helps execute the campaign. RESI creates opportunities to meet the global investor and licensing-partner community.

For companies seeking investment, licensing opportunities, or strategic collaborations, this creates a more connected path from preparation to market engagement.

Fundraising is not only about finding names. It is about executing a consistent process that helps the right companies connect with the right market at the right time.

To learn more about BD Assist and discuss whether it is a fit for your company, complete the LSN Labs Company Assessment Report.

Apply for LSN Labs Company Assessment Report

Secure Your Dedicated Session and Meeting Space at RESI JPM 2027 

By Max Braht, VP of Business Development, LSN

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Every January, J.P. Morgan Healthcare Week transforms San Francisco into the global epicenter of life sciences, bringing together top-tier investors, corporate pharma scouts, and biotech innovators. For organizations seeking a visible, accessible base during the busiest week of the year, RESI JPM 2027 offers prime physical space inside the San Francisco Marriott Marquis.

Life Science Nation (LSN) is opening dedicated session and meeting spaces for booking across Monday, January 11 and Tuesday, January 12, 2027. Spaces can be reserved with flexible scheduling options: available by the hour, half-day, or full-day to accommodate presentations, private investor pitches, workshops, or ecosystem receptions. Additionally, hosting organizations receive official RESI JPM Sponsor status, featuring prominent brand exposure across RESI marketing and promotional channels.

Available Spaces and Layouts: Yerba Buena Ballroom (Lower B2 Level)

Located within LSN’s 17,000+ sq. ft. conference footprint across Salons 9–15:

Private Breakout Salons (Salons 10–15):

  • Size and Capacity: ~800 sq. ft. per room, seating up to 70 attendees.
  • Configuration: Fully enclosed private salons ideal for proprietary pitch sessions, closed-door investor roadshows, regional delegation showcases, or a private executive lounge.

Open Session Stage (Salon 9):

  • Size and Capacity: Open ballroom setting accommodating ~60 attendees.
  • Configuration: Positioned directly alongside the high-traffic partnering floor, maximizing foot traffic and casual walk-ins for open panel discussions and cohort spotlights.

Flexible Booking Windows (January 11–12, 2027)

Spaces are available throughout both in-person conference days:

  • Hourly Rentals: For focused company presentations, quick investor roundtables, or press briefings.
  • Half-Day Blocks (Morning / Afternoon): For structured cohort pitch sessions, seminars, or partner workshops.
  • Full-Day / Multi-Day Buyouts: To establish a dedicated branded headquarters and continuous meeting base right inside JPM week.

Immediate Next Steps

Contact LSN: Reach out directly to salescore@lifesciencenation.com to review specific floor plans, pricing tiers, and associated sponsor marketing packages.

RESI Boston 2026: Your Complete Conference Guide 

By Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, Life Science Nation (LSN)

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Life Science Nation (LSN) is pleased to release the RESI Boston 2026 Program Guide for the upcoming hybrid conference, taking place September 22–23 in person at the Westin Copley Place in Boston, followed by virtual partnering on September 25 and September 28–29.

Held during Biotech Week Boston, RESI brings together early-stage life science companies, active investors, strategic partners, and industry leaders for targeted fundraising and business development conversations. The event features the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge, investor panels, workshops, company showcases, and RESI Partnering, the conference’s purpose-built platform for scheduling one-on-one meetings.

The Program Guide offers a comprehensive look at the RESI Boston agenda, including sessions focused on the Boston biotech ecosystem, therapeutic innovation, pharma partnering, strategic capital, health systems, chronic disease care, family office investing, and impact investing. Attendees can also explore the participating investor, sponsor, exhibitor, and company lineup, along with networking opportunities throughout the event.

With partnering underway and meeting calendars continuing to fill in the final weeks before the conference, RESI Boston offers innovators a valuable opportunity to connect directly with investors and strategic stakeholders shaping the future of healthcare.

View the program guide and register for RESI Boston today.

Register for RESI Boston

The 2027 RESI Conference Lineup: Global Capital, Strategic Partnerships, and Life Science Innovation

By Max Braht, VP of Business Development, LSN

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The 2027 RESI Conference Lineup: Global Capital, Strategic Partnerships, and Life Science Innovation

Life Science Nation’s 2027 RESI conference calendar will connect early-stage life science companies with global investors, pharma partners, and industry leaders across four major life science hubs: San Francisco, Tokyo, Philadelphia, and Boston.

The year begins during JPM week and continues through Asia, BIO International Convention week in Philadelphia, and Boston’s biotech week in September. Each event is designed to help emerging companies build the investor relationships and strategic partnerships needed to move their companies forward.

RESI JPM 2027: January 11–12

San Francisco Marriott Marquis, San Francisco

Registration is now open for RESI JPM 2027.

Held concurrently with JPM Healthcare Week, RESI JPM brings early-stage companies into San Francisco during one of the world’s largest annual gatherings for healthcare investment and business development. The two-day in-person conference will be followed by virtual partnering on January 13, 18, and 19.

Previous RESI JPM conferences have drawn more than 1,000 attendees, including over 600 early-stage life science investors, innovators, and industry experts. For companies raising capital, pursuing strategic partnerships, or preparing for a major financing milestone, RESI offers a focused setting to make the most of the week.

RESI Asia Japan 2027: April 13

ANA InterContinental, Tokyo

RESI Asia Japan launches in collaboration with the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster (KBIC), Japan’s largest biomedical cluster.

Japan represents one of the life science industry’s most valuable and least accessible markets. Its leading pharmaceutical companies are active licensors and acquirers of external innovation, while the country offers deep clinical development capabilities and a progressive regulatory pathway for regenerative medicine, cell therapy, and gene therapy.

RESI Asia Japan will create a direct bridge between Japan’s world-class science ecosystem and global capital and partnering networks. The event is part of a broader collaboration between Life Science Nation and KBIC focused on strengthening commercialization pathways, entrepreneur education, capital formation, and international business development for Japanese life science companies.

RESI Philadelphia 2027: June 7

Convene, Philadelphia

RESI Philadelphia will take place during BIO International Convention week, complementing the broader industry activity in the city with a dedicated forum for early-stage companies and active investors.

Philadelphia is a leading center for cell and gene therapy, biopharma, medical innovation, and academic research. RESI provides companies and investors attending BIO week with a targeted environment for investor partnering, live pitch opportunities, and conversations that can turn promising science into fundable, strategic opportunities.

Virtual partnering dates will be announced soon.

RESI Boston 2027: September 22

Westin Copley Place, Boston

RESI returns to Boston during biotech week, bringing the global early-stage life science investment community together in one of the world’s most important innovation hubs.

Boston’s unmatched concentration of founders, investors, academic institutions, biotech companies, and strategic partners makes it an essential stop on the RESI calendar. The in-person event will offer targeted partnering, investor panels, educational programming, and the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge for companies seeking to raise visibility and advance fundraising conversations.

Virtual partnering dates will be announced soon.

A Global RESI Run

The 2027 lineup offers companies multiple opportunities throughout the year to engage the Life Science Nation network, deepen relationships with investors and strategic partners, and access new regional markets.

  • RESI JPM: January 11–12, San Francisco
  • RESI Asia Japan: April 13, Tokyo
  • RESI Philadelphia: June 7, Philadelphia
  • RESI Boston: September 22, Boston

Registration is now open for RESI JPM 2027. Register by October 2 to save $900 with Super Early Bird pricing. Learn more at resiconference.com.

Register for RESI JPM 2027

RESI Boston 2026 Innovator’s Pitch Challenge Finalists 

By Max Braht, VP of Business Development, LSN

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The Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) showcases early-stage companies developing breakthrough technologies across key sectors of life science and returns to RESI Boston with more than 65 innovative companies selected to pitch across 20 sessions over two days, September 22–23, 2026.

Each finalist will present to panels of active life science investors and industry leaders in sector-focused sessions spanning biotech, medtech, diagnostics, digital health, and more. The program gives fundraising companies the opportunity to share their technologies, receive practical feedback, and connect directly with investors and strategic partners seeking new opportunities.

For attendees, IPC is a chance to discover emerging companies and hear directly from the founders behind them. Finalists will also be available throughout the event exhibiting, networking, and attendees participating in partnering can schedule one-on-one meetings to continue the conversation.

Join Life Science Nation at RESI Boston during Biotech Week for two full days of company pitches, investor insights, and targeted partnering.

Register for RESI Boston 2026

Meet the RESI Boston Innovator’s Pitch Challenge Finalists:

 

Where Cross-Border Deal Flow Actually Happens 

By Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, Life Science Nation (LSN)

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Every VC and PE firm says they want cross-border deal flow. Few have it. Most cross-border relationships stop at an introduction that never becomes a term sheet, because access without real syndicate standing on the other side rarely converts.

At RESI Boston 2026, Life Science Nation is convening a Cross-Border Investor Luncheon with Simon Hua, Chairman of BioMetas, to explore how cross-border access actually works through one of the hardest markets to enter.

Simon Hua
Chairman of BioMetas

Simon spent fifteen years in investment banking in Hong Kong, then a decade building and scaling the equity-for-service model that turns CRO relationships into equity stakes and syndicate seats, first at Viva Biotech, then ChemPartner, and now BioMetas. He has led CROs and his own fund, CFS Capital, to incubate and invest in over 100 innovative biotechs globally, while building an ecosystem with academic research institutions, government platforms, and VCs including Huagai Capital, E-Fund Capital, and Qiming Venture Partners.

The luncheon is built around a simple premise: bring together VCs and PE firms that want genuine syndicate relationships outside their own region, with funds that can send them deal flow and receive it in return.

Simon will speak directly to how that access works: how the equity-for-service model surfaces promising biotechs before they are broadly shopped, and how that early visibility converts into syndicate seats alongside the region’s leading investors.

Whether you are looking east or west, the practical question is the same:

How do you actually get inside?

RSVP for Cross-Border Investor Luncheon Today

*You must be an active VC investment firm that makes direct investments into life science and healthcare companies for us to approve your RSVP.

Life Science Nation (LSN) Launches RESI Asia Japan

KBIC, Title Sponsor of RESI Boston 2026 and RESI JPM 2027, Collaborates with LSN on RESI Asia Japan

By Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, Life Science Nation (LSN)

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Life Science Nation is launching RESI Asia Japan, a new conference created in collaboration with the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster (KBIC), Japan’s largest biomedical cluster. The event opens April 13, 2027, at the ANA InterContinental Tokyo.

RESI Asia Japan is the culmination of a three-conference partnership, with KBIC a Title Sponsor of RESI Boston in September 2026 and RESI JPM in January 2027. Companies that attend in sequence gain three windows into the LSN network across seven months.

 

“Every great life science hub faces the same reality. The science is world-class, but the path from discovery to global capital remains a challenge. KBIC has done the hard part, with an elite science discovery engine. What we are building together is the bridge that carries that science into the global marketplace and carries the world’s capital and partners back to Japan.”

Dennis Ford
Founder and CEO, Life Science Nation

Why Japan matters to an early-stage company

Japan is one of the most valuable and least accessible opportunities in the industry. Takeda, Astellas, Daiichi Sankyo, Eisai, Chugai, and Ono are among the world’s most active licensors and acquirers of external innovation, and a Japan-rights deal is often early non-dilutive capital and a validation event. The PMDA offers one of the world’s most progressive routes for regenerative medicine and cell and gene therapy, where a product can earn conditional approval on demonstrated safety and probable benefit before full efficacy is proven. Japan also offers deep CRO and clinical trial capacity and is the world’s third-largest pharmaceutical market.

The obstacle is access. Arranging a first meeting with Japanese pharma, navigating PMDA, or finding the right partner is difficult from outside the region. That is what RESI Asia Japan is for.

Three challenges every life science hub shares

Every life science hub in the world faces the same three problems, no matter how strong its science.

  • Getting its regional assets into the global arena.
  • Bringing international players and stakeholders into its own region.
  • Getting regional and international investors to form syndicates together.

RESI was built to solve exactly these problems. The KBIC partnership puts all three to work at once.

Beyond the events, LSN and KBIC are working to strengthen the commercialization pathway for Japanese life science companies through entrepreneur education, company preparation, capital formation, and international business development.

About KBIC

KBIC brings together roughly 350 companies, research institutes, and specialized hospitals on Kobe’s Port Island, spanning regenerative medicine, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and digital health. It sits at the center of a country that leads the world in regenerative medicine and iPS cell science.

The Redefining Early-Stage Investments (RESI) Run

RESI Boston | September 2026 | The Westin Copley Place, Boston – Register Now
RESI JPM | January 2027 | San Francisco Marriott Marquis, Union Square – Register Now
RESI Asia Japan | April 2027 | ANA InterContinental Tokyo

Learn more about RESI at RESIConference.com.

Startups seeking Japan partnerships, global capital, and an APAC foothold should register for the run in sequence, starting with RESI Boston in September.

More details on registration, agenda, and participating companies will follow in the coming months.