Swiss Biotech Day 2026 – Basel

Held at Congress Centre Basel, Switzerland, Swiss Biotech Day is taking place on the 4-5 May 2026.

About Swiss Biotech Day

Since 2021, the Swiss Biotech Day has seen remarkable growth every year and has become a premier global biotechnology conference for life sciences professionals, fostering international collaboration and impactful partnerships. In 2025 it attracted more than 3,000 participants from 49 countries, including 25 international delegations. It was by far the biggest and most international edition of the Swiss Biotech Day ever.

Join the Swiss Biotech Day to network, exchange ideas and explore advances in R&D, manufacturing, data management, AI and innovative financing. In addition, the embedded Global Village provides international delegations a platform to strengthen their ties with the Swiss biotech hub to promote cross-border investments, public-private partnerships, R&D collaborations and the exchange of best practices.

Come and visit the MDC team at the Global Village Booth, located at Stand GV15, where we are co exhibiting with other UK organisations.

Dates: May 4-5 2026
Location: Congress Centre Basel, Switzerland

Learn more and register to attend the event below:

Dr Francesca Sadler

Chief Commercial Officer

Francesca Sadler has 20 years’ commercial experience in the drug discovery and development field.

Francesca started her career as a Clinical Scientist working at the Public Health Laboratory Service (now part of Public Health England) researching meningococcal disease. Following a rewarding early career in the laboratory, Francesca moved into the commercial arena, most recently serving as Chief Commercial Officer and Board Member at Charnwood Discovery. This follows a distinguished career in key roles at leading drug discovery companies including Eurofins Discovery, Cyprotex, Aptuit and Charles River Discovery.

Francesca gained her PhD in microbiology and molecular biology from Manchester Metropolitan University and an MBA from Alliance Manchester Business School.

Francesca joined MDC in 2025 as Chief Commercial Officer, bringing extensive experience in sales and marketing within the discovery and development services field, and is responsible for delivering MDC’s commercial strategy across the business, supporting MDC’s mission in reshaping drug discovery for patient benefit.

Johnny Habchi

Head of R&D Consultancy

Johnny is a leader in Life Sciences R&D with extensive experience spanning academia, biotech and consultancy.

Johnny began his career in academic research where he secured prestigious fellowships and led pioneering initiatives at top Universities, including the University of Cambridge. He then pursued several executive education programmes in management, R&D strategy and digital transformation at INSEAD, Cambridge Judge Business School and Imperial College Business School.

Johnny went on to co-found and scale a biotech startup that secured tens of millions in funding. In this role he built and managed high‑performance teams and developed and scaled proprietary assays and technologies that accelerated timelines from target identification to candidate nomination. He led several R&D programs, both internally and in collaboration with global pharma, provided consulting services to multiple drug discovery and biotech clients, and established strategic partnerships at the interface between academia and industry.

His work to date has yielded over 50 peer‑reviewed publications and patented technologies in drug discovery across multiple therapeutic areas. Johnny combines data-driven decision making, operational efficiency and R&D strategy to help clients scale platforms, reduce timelines and optimise discovery portfolios. An accomplished communicator and thought leader, Johnny has been invited to speak and serve on panels at numerous international conferences and has served on editorial and PhD committees internationally. He also holds a fellowship and supports entrepreneurial activities at Hughes Hall College, Cambridge, underscoring his commitment to science and innovation.