AHNTI US Agenda | Kisaco Research
Agenda Days: 
  • Day 1: Monday, 26 Oct, 2026
    9:00am-9:30am

    Registration

    Time: 
    08:00am-08:15am
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    9:15am-10:45am
    Workshops

    Workshop 1

    Sponsor(s): 
    AskVet
    Time: 
    9:15am-10:45am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 4
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Workshop 2

    Sponsor(s): 
    Panitch Schwarze Belsario & Nadel
    Time: 
    9:15am-10:45am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 5
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    11:00am-2:00pm
    Forums

    Forum 1 - To Be Announced

     

    Time: 
    11:00am-2:00pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 6
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Forum 2 - To Be Announced

    Time: 
    11:00am-2:00pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 7
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    1:50pm-2:10pm
    2:10pm-2:50pm
    10 Minute One-to-One Meetings

    Meeting 1

    Time: 
    2:10pm-2:20pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 2

    Time: 
    2:25pm-2:35pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 3

    Time: 
    2:40pm-2:50pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    2:55pm-4:15pm
    Showcase

    Showcase Welcome

    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Niamh Gallagher

    Program Director - AHNTI
    Kisaco Research

    Niamh Gallagher

    Program Director - AHNTI
    Kisaco Research
    Time: 
    2:55pm-3:00pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 11
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Discovery Showcase

    Our Finalist Founders will provide a 5 minute pitch to our main stage audience of strategic partners, investors and fellow founders, with 2 minutes for live Q&A from the judges panel.

    Time: 
    3:00pm-3:25pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 11
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Biopharma Showcase

    Our Finalist Founders will provide a 5 minute pitch to our main stage audience of strategic partners, investors and fellow founders, with 2 minutes for live Q&A from the judges panel.

    Time: 
    3:25pm-3:50pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 11
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Diagnostics Showcase

    Our Finalist Founders will provide a 5 minute pitch to our main stage audience of strategic partners, investors and fellow founders, with 2 minutes for live Q&A from the judges panel.

    Time: 
    3:50pm-4:15pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 11
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    4:15pm-4:25pm

    Break

    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    4:25pm-5:05pm
    10 Minute One-to-One Meetings

    Meeting 4

    Time: 
    4:25pm-4:35pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 5

    Time: 
    4:40pm-4:50pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 6

    Time: 
    4:55pm-5:05pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    5:10pm-6:00pm
    Showcase

    Nutrition Showcase

    Our Finalist Founders will provide a 5 minute pitch to our main stage audience of strategic partners, investors and fellow founders, with 2 minutes for live Q&A from the judges panel.

    Time: 
    5:10pm-5:35pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 11
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Technology Showcase

    Our Finalist Founders will provide a 5 minute pitch to our main stage audience of strategic partners, investors and fellow founders, with 2 minutes for live Q&A from the judges panel.

    Time: 
    5:35pm-6:00pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 11
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    6:00pm-7:00pm
    Social
  • Day 2: Tuesday, 27 Oct, 2026
    8:15am-8:45pm
    8:45am-10:30am
    Plenaries

    Opening Remarks

    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Niamh Gallagher

    Program Director - AHNTI
    Kisaco Research

    Niamh Gallagher

    Program Director - AHNTI
    Kisaco Research
    Time: 
    8:45am-8:50am
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Keynote: How Health Outcome Data Will Transform Innovation Throughout Value Chain

    Understanding outcomes and sharing that data up and down the value chain could be the single biggest accelerator of growth across the whole market in the years ahead. In this session Dottie will discuss how MVH are tackling the associated challenges and thinking about what this future could hold.

    • The How: Developing an owner assessment of pet health and incorporating that into the medical record in a systematic and quantifiable way and combining this with the vet assessment
    • The How: AI enabling the creation of valid and reliable tools
    • Outcome: How can this data be used to de-risk investment in new biopharma, diagnostic, nutrition and tech solutions
    • Outcome: Incorporating health outcomes data into your daily practice, from single clinics to large groups, the clinical patient management use case
    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Dottie Cimino Brown

    VP Science & Healthcare Innovation
    Mars Veterinary Health

    Dottie Cimino Brown

    VP Science & Healthcare Innovation
    Mars Veterinary Health
    Time: 
    8:50am-9:10am
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Plenary Panel: Destination America - Global Strategies for the World's Largest Animal Health Market

    The US represents the world's largest and most dynamic animal health market, and we're seeing unprecedented investment and expansion from global leaders.

     

    This panel will explore the strategic rationale behind these major moves: what makes the US market uniquely attractive, how global leaders navigate regulatory complexity and competitive dynamics, and what this wave of international investment signals about where the industry is heading.

    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Esteban Turic

    Chief Executive Officer
    Biogénesis Bagó

    Esteban Turic

    Chief Executive Officer
    Biogénesis Bagó

    Author:

    Tim Bettington

    EVP Global Strategy and Market Development
    Elanco

    Tim Bettington

    EVP Global Strategy and Market Development
    Elanco

    Author:

    Jesper Nordengaard

    Chief Executive Officer
    Dechra

    Jesper Nordengaard

    Chief Executive Officer
    Dechra
    Time: 
    9:10am-9:50am
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Keynote

    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Laura Olsen

    President, North America
    Dechra

    Laura Olsen

    President, North America
    Dechra
    Time: 
    9:50am-10:10am
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Keynote

    Speaker(s): 
    Time: 
    10:10am-10:30am
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    10:30-10:40am

    Break

    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    10:40-11:25am
    One-to-One Meetings + Next Stages

    Meeting 7

    Time: 
    10:40am-11:00am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage: Navigating Regulatory and Supply Chain Hurdles to Achieve Market Readiness

    Approval alone doesn’t guarantee commercial success. Robert Jordan shares how Vetirus Pharmaceuticals combines in-house regulatory expertise with early manufacturing planning, ensuring supply, shortening timelines to revenue, and enabling global expansion.

    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Robert Jordan

    Chief Executive Officer
    Vetirus Pharmaceuticals

    Robert Jordan

    Chief Executive Officer
    Vetirus Pharmaceuticals
    Time: 
    10:40am-11:00am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 2
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage

    Time: 
    10:40am-11:00am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 3
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 8

    Time: 
    11:05am-11:25am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage: From Novelty to Value: Building a New Therapeutic Class

    Turning promising science into something the market understands and believes in is rarely straightforward. Leila de Koster shares how Hale navigated the realities of building a novel therapeutic category from the ground up, overcoming entrenched assumptions, earning trust across investors, regulators, and the veterinary market, and reaching the development and funding milestones that demonstrate the category is real.

    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Leila de Koster

    Chief Executive Officer
    Hale Animal Health

    Leila de Koster

    Chief Executive Officer
    Hale Animal Health
    Time: 
    11:05am-11:25am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 2
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage

    Time: 
    11:05am-11:25am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 3
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    11:30am-12:30pm
    Plenaries

    Fireside: Pioneering New Categories of Care: The Strategy, Funding, and Adoption Required to Go from First-in-Class to Standard of Care

    Some of the most commercially significant opportunities in animal health are in categories that barely existed five years ago. But building a new therapeutic category is fundamentally different from launching a product into an established one. There are no existing treatment protocols, no established referral pathways, and often no clear regulatory template. This session will explore what it takes to build a category from scratch: the science, the regulatory strategy, the commercial model, and the investment thesis.

    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Celine Halioua

    Chief Executive Officer
    Loyal

    Celine Halioua is the Founder and CEO of Loyal, a clinical-stage animal health company
    developing the first longevity drugs for dogs. Since founding Loyal in 2019, she has raised over $150M and has led the company through several historic regulatory milestones, including earning what is believed to be the first- and second-ever acceptances from the FDA that a drugcould be effectively developed for lifespan extension.


    Prior to Loyal, Celine was Chief of Staff at the Longevity Fund and pursued a DPhil in the
    economics of healthcare at Oxford University. She holds a B.S. in neuroscience from the
    University of Texas at Austin.

    Celine Halioua

    Chief Executive Officer
    Loyal

    Celine Halioua is the Founder and CEO of Loyal, a clinical-stage animal health company
    developing the first longevity drugs for dogs. Since founding Loyal in 2019, she has raised over $150M and has led the company through several historic regulatory milestones, including earning what is believed to be the first- and second-ever acceptances from the FDA that a drugcould be effectively developed for lifespan extension.


    Prior to Loyal, Celine was Chief of Staff at the Longevity Fund and pursued a DPhil in the
    economics of healthcare at Oxford University. She holds a B.S. in neuroscience from the
    University of Texas at Austin.

    Time: 
    11:30am-11:50am
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Plenary Panel: Designing an Ecosystem Where Everyone Wins: Aligning Pet Owner, Practice and Market Growth

    Placing the pet owner and their companions at the center of the entire animal health value chain, how do we design a future where everyone in this ecosystem wins? We’ll discuss…

    • The full spectrum of information that helps define prevalence of disease and wellness needs
    • Pet owners' need for convenience, transparency and accessibility
    • How data unlocks accessibility, affordability, personalization and prediction
    • In order for this vision to happen, what are the roadblocks we need to overcome?
    Speaker(s): 
    Moderator

    Author:

    Matt Salois

    President
    Veterinary Management Groups

    Matt Salois

    President
    Veterinary Management Groups
    Panelists

    Author:

    Jay Price

    Chief Executive Officer
    Mission Pet Health

    Jay Price

    Chief Executive Officer
    Mission Pet Health
    Time: 
    11:50am-12:30am
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    12:30pm-1:30pm
    1:30pm-2:40pm
    One-to-One Meetings + Next Stages

    Meeting 9

    Time: 
    1:30pm-1:50pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage: From On-Farm Proof to Commercial Momentum

    Fundraising often reflects progress, it doesn't define it. Michael Rhys (CEO) shares how Barnwell Bio has prioritised producer feedback, early customer validation, and real-world data generation to drive focus, support partnerships, and set the foundation for long-term scale.

    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Michael Rhys

    Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
    Barnwell Bio

    Michael Rhys

    Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
    Barnwell Bio
    Time: 
    1:30pm-1:50pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 2
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage

    Time: 
    1:30pm-1:50pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 3
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 10

    Time: 
    1:55pm-2:15pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage: Science Built the Foundation. Customer Understanding Fueled the Growth.

    AnimalBiome’s early growth was driven by products that genuinely improved the health of cats and dogs through microbiome science. But the company’s biggest acceleration came later—when it began deeply understanding how customers make decisions, build trust, and engage with pet health products. In this talk, Carlton Osborne shares the lessons AnimalBiome learned about branding, subscriptions, channel strategy, pricing, and customer behavior—and how those insights transformed a science-driven startup into a faster-growing, more customer-centric business.

    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Carlton Osborne

    Chief Executive Officer
    AnimalBiome

    Carlton Osborne

    Chief Executive Officer
    AnimalBiome
    Time: 
    1:55pm-2:15pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 2
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage

    Time: 
    1:55pm-2:15pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 3
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 11

    Time: 
    2:20pm-2:40pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage: B2B as the Unlock: Scaling a New Category in Animal Health

    Category creation requires more than great science. Andria Beale shares how EpiPaws used pilot data, strategic partnerships, and industry visibility to build credibility and commercial traction across consumer, veterinary, nutrition, and diagnostics markets, and what it takes to scale beyond the vet channel through retail, corporate, and reseller partnerships.

    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Andria Beal

    Chief Executive Officer/Founder
    EpiPaws

    Andria Beal

    Chief Executive Officer/Founder
    EpiPaws
    Time: 
    2:20pm-2:40pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 2
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage

    Time: 
    2:20pm-2:40pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 3
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    2:40pm-2:50pm

    Break

    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    2:50pm-4:20pm
    Panels

    Designing Better Animal Health Trials - Speed, Cost, and Access

    This session examines where the inefficiencies are, what's actually changing, and what a best-in-class development program looks like today. The adoption gap is just as important: designing a trial without thinking about how the product will be used in practice builds in a commercialization problem from day one.

    • Where the biggest time and cost sinks in trial design are structural versus fixable
    • Real-world evidence and PIMS data as a supplement to traditional clinical trials
    • What regulators, acquirers, and licensees actually need from your data package
    • Designing for adoption: building clinical utility and practice-readiness from the start
    • The CRO landscape: what's available, what's missing, and where the bottlenecks are
    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Tommy Jackson

    Chief Executive Officer
    Prelude

    Tommy Jackson

    Chief Executive Officer
    Prelude

    Author:

    Linda Black

    Chief Executive Officer
    Gallant

    Linda Black

    Chief Executive Officer
    Gallant

    Author:

    Cheryl London

    Director of Clinical Research
    Tufts University, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine

    Cheryl London

    Director of Clinical Research
    Tufts University, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
    Time: 
    2:50pm-3:20pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 8
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Managing a 360 View of the Pet Owner Experience to Strengthen Long Term Relationships

    While lifetime value isn’t a frequently used measure of the clinic/ owner relationship, we’ll discuss the key elements required to usefully drive a long-term relationship that drives better health and financial outcomes

    • Mapping the customer journey from nose to tail
    • Key blockers to client centricity
    • Communication engagement strategy and trust building
    • Predictable revenues
    • Moving to metrics that matter. Getting ahead of the lagging measure of retention
    • AI guiding CSR development and the use of sentiment analysis and agentic voice
    • Improving adherence and decreasing variability of care
    Speaker(s): 
    Panelists

    Author:

    Ben Olson

    Chief Medical Officer
    COVE Animal Health

    Ben Olson

    Chief Medical Officer
    COVE Animal Health

    Author:

    Sandra Faeh

    Chief Medical Officer
    NVA General Practice

    Sandra Faeh

    Chief Medical Officer
    NVA General Practice

    Author:

    Brady Beale

    Chief Executive Officer
    American Animal Hospital Association

    Brady Beale

    Chief Executive Officer
    American Animal Hospital Association
    Time: 
    2:50pm-3:20pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 9
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Sustainability at Scale: Building a Commercial Model That Actually Works for Producers

    A decade of sustainability commitment has not built a functioning financial model. Costs sit at the farm level, consumer premium has not materialized, and verification is too expensive. Yet the context is shifting. Financial regulation, mandatory climate reporting, and financed are creating genuine new commercial urgency. Despite this, the model that makes sustainability economically rational and practically achievable for producers at farm level has not yet been built. This session explores what a commercial architecture that actually works looks like. It will explore:

    • Why commitment has failed to build a functioning financial model, and what a viable producer value proposition actually looks like
    • How the industry distributes cost and reward proportionately across the value chain
    • How inset, offset, and credit markets need to be structured to protect rather than squeeze producers
    • What verification infrastructure is needed to support credible claims and reduce cost burden at scale
    • How the industry builds durable producer and public trust at a moment of growing institutional skepticism
    Speaker(s): 
    Moderator

    Author:

    Charles Brooke

    Program Director
    Spark Climate Solutions

    Charles Brooke

    Program Director
    Spark Climate Solutions
    Panelists

    Author:

    Paul Myer

    Chief Executive Officer
    Athian

    Paul Myer

    Chief Executive Officer
    Athian
    Time: 
    2:50pm-3:20pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 10
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    The Data Behind the Deal - What Acquirers and Licensees Are Actually Looking For

    In 2025, only four of the top ten animal health companies made acquisitions, the joint lowest on record. M&A spend fell from $8.8bn to $1.7bn. Deal volume dropped, but diligence quality went up. Acquirers and licensees are more selective, more data-driven, and more focused on development-stage risk than at any point in the last decade. This session pulls back the curtain on what drives deal decisions, and what founders and development teams need to build in from day one.

    • What a diligence-ready data package looks like
    • What kills deals: the most common data gaps, red flags, and avoidable mistakes
    • Licensing vs acquisition vs co-development: which structure fits which stage
    • How acquirers are pricing development-stage assets as valuations shift from revenue to data
    • What investors are underwriting and how to de-risk your development plan before the pitch
    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Spencer Swayze

    Managing Director
    Osiris Growth Capital

    Spencer Swayze

    Managing Director
    Osiris Growth Capital

    Author:

    Denise Bevers

    Founder and Chief Executive Officer
    VETmAb BIO

    Denise Bevers

    Founder and Chief Executive Officer
    VETmAb BIO
    Time: 
    3:20pm-3:50pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 8
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Leveraging PIMS Data to transform operations, build partnerships and improve clinical outcomes

    This session will share specific examples of how data is unlocking economic and medical advancement across the value chain and for the pet owners we serve.

    • Product Launch: Derrick will share how they leveraged their data to undertake a product launch roll out with a partner. How expectations were aligned and how ROI was achieved for both practice and partner
    • Clinical Outcomes: Jennifer will discuss how Arista are combining PIMS data with client and clinical team surveys to measure clinical outcomes.
    • Operational Effectiveness: Paula will share how data is at the heart of their client communication and engagement strategy
    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Derrick Kraemer

    Chief Executive Officer
    Doppler Veterinary Network

    Derrick Kraemer

    Chief Executive Officer
    Doppler Veterinary Network

    Author:

    Jennifer Welser

    President
    Arista Advanced Pet Care

    Jennifer Welser

    President
    Arista Advanced Pet Care

    Author:

    Paula Bamford

    Chief Operating Officer
    United Veterinary Care

    Paula Bamford

    Chief Operating Officer
    United Veterinary Care
    Time: 
    3:20pm-3:50pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 9
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Resilient by Design: How the Livestock Industry is Managing Risk and Investing for Growth

    Climate volatility, policy instability, and structural labor shortages are raising operational risk and reducing investment confidence across livestock production. This session explores how animal health innovation and agtech can serve as genuine strategic tools, building resilience and helping producers navigate a rapidly changing global market.

    • How tight-margin decision-making shapes what producers actually adopt
    • How animal health and agtech reduce operational risk and deliver visible financial return
    • How coordinated supply chains and verified quality reduce systemic risk and unlock the global protein opportunity
    • What collaboration, associations, and policy need to do to stabilize the commercial environment and make long-term investment rational
    Speaker(s): 
    Panelists

    Author:

    David Gnad

    Chief Executive Officer
    Heritage Vet Partners

    David Gnad

    Chief Executive Officer
    Heritage Vet Partners

    Author:

    Samantha Werth

    Executive Director
    US Roundtable for Sustainable Beef

    Samantha Werth

    Executive Director
    US Roundtable for Sustainable Beef
    Time: 
    3:20pm-3:50pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 10
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    AI, Synthetic Data and the Development Pipeline: Why Animal Health May Have the Edge

    Synthetic data enriches clinical datasets and simulates alternative scientific scenarios through computer-generated subject data, synthetic placebo groups, digital twins, and more. Combined with AI across target identification, trial design, and sample size modeling, a new toolkit is emerging that could shorten the time from idea to decision, and animal health may be better placed than human pharma to use it.

    • AI-driven target identification, trial design, and exploration of inclusion criteria
    • Synthetic placebo groups, digital twins, and enriching underpowered datasets
    • Real-world evidence and PIMS data as a development input
    • Addressing small, fragmented datasets in guiding product development decisions
    • Replacing, reducing and refining animal use through computational approaches
    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Margie Bell

    Principal Biostatistician
    Clindata

    Margie Bell

    Principal Biostatistician
    Clindata
    Time: 
    3:50pm-4:20pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 8
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Nutrition, Data and the Pet Owner - Building the Case for Clinical Nutrition in Practice

    Therapeutic nutrition is one of the largest underleveraged opportunities in companion animal care. The evidence base is growing, new data infrastructure is making outcomes measurable for the first time, and pet owner appetite for nutrition-led health solutions is clear. This panel explores what it takes to make nutrition a more integrated, measurable, and commercially sustainable part of clinical practice.

    • The evidence base for therapeutic nutrition: where it's strong and where the gaps are
    • Using outcomes data to make the clinical case for nutrition recommendations
    • Pet owner demand and how practices are, and aren't, meeting it
    • Communicating value and price in a category where D2C competition is growing
    • What a genuinely integrated nutrition strategy looks like inside a practice
    Speaker(s): 
    Panelists

    Author:

    Chelsie Estey

    Chief Veterinary Officer
    Hill's Pet Nutrition

    Chelsie Estey

    Chief Veterinary Officer
    Hill's Pet Nutrition
    Moderator

    Author:

    Julie Lawless

    President
    Lawless Strategic Communications

    Julie Lawless

    President
    Lawless Strategic Communications
    Time: 
    3:50pm-4:20pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 9
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Proving Value: Functional Nutrition from Prevention to Performance

    Functional nutrition is shifting from a performance input to an integrated management tool across health, immunity, and resilience. The challenge is not the science. It is translating it into validated, commercially representative studies that hold across the variability of real production systems and demonstrating economic value clearly enough that producers and supply chain partners are compelled to act. This session will discuss:

    • Integrated value across health, performance, and resilience: where the greatest opportunity sits
    • Why ROI remains hard to prove in commercial systems and where the validation models fall short
    • How variability across genetics, geography, and management undermines translation from trial to farm
    • What collaboration across producers, feed companies, and animal health partners needs to look like
    • The role that nutritionists and veterinarians play in bridging innovation and on-farm decisions
    Speaker(s): 
    Moderator
    Panelists
    Time: 
    3:50pm-4:20pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 10
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    4:20pm-5:50pm
    One-to-One Meetings + Next Stages

    Meeting 12

    Time: 
    4:20pm-4:40pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage: The challenges and pivots required to innovate in clinical drug discovery: a feline story:

    Cat Health Corp. pursued a non-traditional multi-API drug strategy, overcoming investor resistance and building a faster path to clinic by leveraging existing compounds and novel combinations. This session will explore why unconventional drug models face pushback, how existing molecules can accelerate development timelines, and what founders need to do to bring investors along on non-traditional strategies.

    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Alexandru Bacita

    Founder & Chief Operating Officer
    The Cat Health Company

    Alexandru Bacita

    Founder & Chief Operating Officer
    The Cat Health Company
    Time: 
    4:20pm-4:40pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 2
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage

    Time: 
    4:20pm-4:40pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 3
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 13

    Time: 
    4:45pm-5:05pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage: Navigating Startup Resource Optimization: How AI Tools Are Transforming Our Capital Efficiency

    Derick Whitley, CEO of TRAVV, shares how strategic AI adoption across operations is allowing them to achieve more with their raised capital than previous generations of startups. From automated coding and brand development to administrative workflows, he reveals which AI applications are delivering the highest ROI for resource-constrained companies and how this operational approach is creating competitive advantage in scaling diagnostics services.

    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Derick Whitley

    Founder and Chief Executive Officer
    TRAVV

    Derick Whitley

    Founder and Chief Executive Officer
    TRAVV
    Time: 
    4:45pm-5:05pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 2
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage

    Time: 
    4:45pm-5:05pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 3
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 14

    Time: 
    5:10pm-5:30pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage: Navigating Early Partnerships and Producer Engagement to Validate an AI Drug Discovery Platform

    For startups bridging AI and animal health, early commercial validation can be the difference between momentum and stalling. Bernardo Petriz, CEO & Co-Founder of Peptidus Biotech, shares how Peptidus secured its first seed round, engaged directly with livestock producers in Brazil, and built industry credibility through programmes like vHive, to move from discovery platform to commercial pipeline.

    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Bernardo Petriz

    Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
    Peptidus Biotech

    Bernardo Petriz

    Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
    Peptidus Biotech
    Time: 
    5:10pm-5:30pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 2
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage

    Time: 
    5:10pm-5:30pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 3
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 15

    Time: 
    5:30pm-5:50pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage

    Time: 
    5:30pm-5:50pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 2
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Next Stage

    Time: 
    5:30pm-5:50pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 3
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    5:50pm-6:50pm
  • Day 3: Wednesday, 28 Oct, 2026
    8:00am-8:15am

    Registration

    Time: 
    08:00am-08:15am
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    8:15am-9:50am
    One-to-One Meetings + Next Stages

    Meeting 16

    Time: 
    8:15am-8:35am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 17

    Time: 
    8:40am-9:00am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 18

    Time: 
    9:05am-9:25am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 19

    Time: 
    9:30am - 9:50am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    9:50am-10:00am

    Break

    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    10:00am-11:30am
    Panels

    The Regulatory Landscape: What's Changing and What it Means for Your Pipeline

    More products were approved in 2025 than in any year since 2021, expedited pathways are being used more creatively, and a growing wave of biologics submissions is testing frameworks built for small molecules. This session explores how the landscape is shifting and what that means for companies with assets in development.

    • What a best-in-class pre-submission strategy looks like in the current environment
    • The 2025 approval surge: what's driving it and whether it's sustainable
    • Regulatory strategy for biologics, mAbs, stem cells, and gene therapies: what's different and what's still being figured out
    • IP positioning, pathway choices, and how regulatory strategy shapes launch timing and competitive positioning
    • Expedited pathways: where the real opportunities are and how to qualify for them
    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Jeremiah Frueauf

    Director, Chair of Biotech and Chemical Practice
    Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox

    Jeremiah Frueauf

    Director, Chair of Biotech and Chemical Practice
    Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox

    Author:

    Dr Ellen Hart

    Vice President of Regulatory and International Affairs
    Animal Health Institute

    Dr Ellen Hart

    Vice President of Regulatory and International Affairs
    Animal Health Institute
    Time: 
    10:00am-10:30am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 8
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting pet families where they are: Contextualized care as a commercial strategy

    Expectations around care delivery and the veterinary value proposition are shifting, and both uncertainty and opportunity live in the spaces between. Contextualized care / spectrum of care recognize that the evolving needs of pet families will rely on a diverse set of veterinary and pet health offerings. Grasping the opportunities that sit outside the highest levels of care is a largely unmet opportunity for animal health organizations. 

    • Understand the commercial opportunity in broadening care delivery
    • Identify where the evidence base is strong and where further research is needed
    • Assess the opportunities in new care delivery models and in evolving current models
    • Outline how value might be communicated in the most client-centric manner (e.g., health outcome data)
    Speaker(s): 
    Moderator

    Author:

    Jules Benson

    Co-Founder
    Clarity Veterinary Surgical Center

    Jules Benson

    Co-Founder
    Clarity Veterinary Surgical Center
    Panelists

    Author:

    Douglas Aspros

    Chief Veterinary Officer
    Veterinary Practice Partners

    Douglas Aspros

    Chief Veterinary Officer
    Veterinary Practice Partners

    Author:

    Aimee Gilbreath

    President
    PetSmart Charities

    Aimee Gilbreath

    President
    PetSmart Charities
    Time: 
    10:00am-10:30am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 9
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Precision Livestock Technology at Scale: Designing for Real Operations

    Livestock technology has never been more capable. Yet a consistent pattern repeats: innovations that succeed in controlled settings fail in commercial production. The challenge is not innovation. It is translating data into simple, actionable decisions that deliver visible ROI within the real constraints of commercial livestock environments, where labor is scarce and untrained, infrastructure is hostile, genetics and climate vary enormously, and workflows leave no room for complexity. This session explores what designing for actual operational reality requires. This session will explore:

    • Why turning data into decisions is the defining ROI question, and what tools that genuinely change producer behavior look like
    • How workflow fit, simplicity, and the variability of real production environments determine whether technology delivers on its promise or fails at deployment
    • How data quality, fragmentation, and interoperability determine whether technology scales within a single operation and across a diverse producer base
    • What a commercially credible validation pathway looks like and where the roadblocks are
    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Brett Ramirez

    Professor of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
    Iowa State University

    Brett Ramirez

    Professor of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
    Iowa State University
    Time: 
    10:00am-10:30am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 10
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Beyond Contract Manufacturing: How Manufacturing Relationships are now a Competitive Advantage

    The rise of biologics has introduced manufacturing complexity that didn't exist a decade ago. Monoclonal antibodies, stem cell therapies, and mRNA platforms all demand specialist capability. This session explores how manufacturing is moving from a back-office function to a strategic differentiator.

    • The biologics manufacturing challenge: what's required for mAbs, stem cells, and mRNA, and who can deliver it
    • API sourcing and supply chain resilience: where ingredient-level decisions create downstream risk
    • Manufacturing strategy for start-ups: why your CDMO relationship is a founding decision, not an operational one
    • COGS and commercial viability: how unit economics at the manufacturing stage determine whether a product can reach market
    • Manufacturing as a diligence factor: what acquirers and investors look for in your CMC package
    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Russell Miller

    VP Global Sales and Marketing
    Enzene

    Russell Miller

    VP Global Sales and Marketing
    Enzene
    Time: 
    10:30am-11:00am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 8
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Beyond the API: Building a Vet Tech Stack That Actually Works in Practice

    The technology available to veterinary practices has never been more capable. But capability does not always directly correspond to performance. Open API access remains inconsistent, integrations break quietly after go-live, and the real cost of connecting systems is rarely what anyone discussed. The gap is not just adoption. It is the absence of a true orchestration layer that makes the pieces work reliably in a clinical environment.

    This session will address the real performance and interoperability challenge head on: what it actually costs to connect systems, why integrations fail in practice rather than in demos, and what measurable value looks like across different practice types and workflows.

     

    • The Integration Reality: Why does API access remain inconsistent, and what does the absence of a true orchestration layer cost practices operationally and financially?
    • Who Pays: What are the real economic costs of integration in markup, staff time, and implementation burden?
    • Performance Over Capability: How do practices evaluate technology against clinical outcomes rather than feature lists?
    • Proving Value: What are the concrete metrics, documentation time, charge capture rate, staff retention, and revenue balance, that define success and hold partners accountable?
    Speaker(s): 
    Moderator

    Author:

    Adam Wysocki

    President & Founder
    VetSoftwareHub

    Adam Wysocki

    President & Founder
    VetSoftwareHub
    Panelists

    Author:

    Jamie Carroll

    Vice President and GM Critical Care Division
    Rarebreed Veterinary Partners

    Jamie Carroll

    Vice President and GM Critical Care Division
    Rarebreed Veterinary Partners
    Time: 
    10:30am-11:00am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 9
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    From Genetic Potential to Commercial Proof: Building Connected Livestock Value Chains

    The science to select livestock for feed efficiency, disease resilience, heat tolerance, and productivity simultaneously already exists. Genetics may represent the single greatest untapped opportunity to transform livestock production, moving from herd-level averages toward individual animal intelligence that connects breeding decisions to productivity. The barrier is not scientific. It is commercial: the architecture needed to verify, attribute, and reward genetic value across the supply chain is still being built. This session explores what unlocking that transformation requires. We will discuss:

    • Why genetic value fails to translate into financial reward at producer level and what business models and data infrastructure are needed to change that
    • What the shift from herd-level to individual animal management requires in terms of traceability, shared frameworks, and aligned incentives
    • How fragmented systems, proprietary platforms, and misaligned stakeholder interests get overcome to create shared, verifiable value
    • What downstream financial signals from processors, retailers, and buyers are needed to make producer-level genetic investment rational
    Time: 
    10:30am-11:00am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 10
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Beyond the Pitch Deck - What Makes Animal Health Companies Fundable

    Great science doesn't guarantee investment. Funding decisions happen based on factors that rarely make it onto slides: market validation, team composition, regulatory strategy, and business models that actually work. This panel explores what investors are really evaluating when they assess animal health opportunities.

    • What separates fundable companies from well-pitched ones
    • Market validation: what investors need to see before they believe the opportunity is real
    • Regulatory strategy as an investment signal: how pathway choices affect risk and return
    • Team composition and what investors are actually backing
    • Business model scrutiny: the unit economics and revenue assumptions that get stress-tested hardest
    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Natalie Marks

    Chief Executive Officer
    VANE

    Dr. Natalie Marks is a small animal veterinarian with over twenty years of clinical experience. She owned the largest animal hospital in Chicago. More recently, she has been the founder and president of MarksDVMConsulting, an educational and strategy consulting firm working with companies of all stages nationally and internationally. She is also on the Executive Committee of VANE, the premier veterinary angel network investor group. VANE currently has 28 portfolio companies and provides direction, connection, and funding to start-ups in the animal health space.

    Natalie Marks

    Chief Executive Officer
    VANE

    Dr. Natalie Marks is a small animal veterinarian with over twenty years of clinical experience. She owned the largest animal hospital in Chicago. More recently, she has been the founder and president of MarksDVMConsulting, an educational and strategy consulting firm working with companies of all stages nationally and internationally. She is also on the Executive Committee of VANE, the premier veterinary angel network investor group. VANE currently has 28 portfolio companies and provides direction, connection, and funding to start-ups in the animal health space.

    Author:

    Nick Bova

    Founder
    Arrow Ventures

    Nick Bova

    Founder
    Arrow Ventures
    Time: 
    11:00am-11:30am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 8
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Managing & Meeting Pet Owner Expectations: Factoring in their cost, time and emotional investment

    Affordability can sometimes hide a broader conversation about identifying what’s important to the pet owner. What does the data tell us about pet owner preferences for the delivery of care?

    • Communicating value and price
    • Financing, insurance, wellness plans and flattening out the lifetime cost of ownership
    • Capturing and using sentiment analysis
    • Chronic disease management and the complexity of long term care
    • Communication prior to in-clinic visits
    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Andrew Rosenberg

    Director of Medical Operations
    Animal Dermatology Group

    Andrew Rosenberg

    Director of Medical Operations
    Animal Dermatology Group
    Time: 
    11:00am-11:30am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 9
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    The Prevention Gap: Overcoming the Barriers to Adopting Preventive Health Innovation

    HPAI costs hundreds of millions per outbreak. PRRS circulates persistently through the most biosecure swine systems in the world. The science to prevent both exists. Yet delivering solutions at a commercial scale is limited by challenges in demonstrating ROI and operational capacity.  

    • How the economics of prevention need to be reframed around visible, near-term financial return rather than disease avoidance alone
    • How data, diagnostics, and early detection are shifting biosecurity from reactive to preventive, and what tools are genuinely changing producer behavior
    • The role of vaccination and emerging biological tools in building more resilient production systems at commercial scale
    • What designing prevention systems for real operational conditions, consolidating herds, untrained workforces, and hostile environments, actually requires
    • What collaboration across producers, industry, and regulators needs to look like to make progress at scale
    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Martha Scott Poindexter

    Chief Executive Officer
    Animal Health Institute

    Martha Scott Poindexter

    Chief Executive Officer
    Animal Health Institute
    Time: 
    11:00am-11:30am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 10
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    11:35am-12:20pm
    One-to-One Meetings

    Meeting 20

    Time: 
    11:35am-11:55am
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 21

    Time: 
    12:00pm-12:20pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    12:20pm-1:20pm

    Women in Leadership Lunch

    Sponsor(s): 
    WILMAH
    Time: 
    12:20pm-1:20pm
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    1:20pm-2:20pm
    Plenaries

    Panel: Innovation and the Systems of Care Delivery - Understanding workflows and adoption challenges

    Earlier detection and the expanding therapeutic toolkit present great opportunities to improve health outcomes, but this complexity also increases the need for greater collaboration between practice leaders and industry partners.

    Innovation does not succeed at approval; it succeeds when it works in the clinic, supports the team and creates sustainable economics for the practice.

    Panelists will discuss:

    • How founders and partners can support practice in integrating these innovations into workflows and operations.
    • Helping practice leaders to manage and meet pet owner expectations
    • What are the challenges for founders and industry partners in supporting adoption
    Speaker(s): 

    Author:

    Matt Salois

    President
    Veterinary Management Groups

    Matt Salois

    President
    Veterinary Management Groups

    Author:

    Dr Christie Long

    Chief Medical Officer
    Modern Animal

    Dr Christie Long

    Chief Medical Officer
    Modern Animal
    Time: 
    1:20pm-1:50pm
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Panel: The Innovation Gap: Why Great Science Still Fails to Reach the Clinic, and What Needs to Change

    A significant share of the innovation being funded and developed today is not reaching the animals, clinics, and farms it was designed for. This session brings together voices from across the value chain for an honest conversation about what is breaking in the handoff between innovation and adoption, and what it would take to fix it.

    • The affordability reality: how should founders and funders think about pricing and access from day one?
    • The missing veterinary voice in early-stage decision-making
    • From approval to adoption: where are the biggest bottlenecks?
    • Industry-academia collaboration: what would a better model look like?
    Speaker(s): 
    Time: 
    1:50pm-2:20pm
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    2:20pm-2:25pm
    Showcase

    Winner Announcement

    Time: 
    2:20pm-2:25pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 11
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    2:25pm-2:35pm

    Break

    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    2:35pm-4:10pm
    One-to-One Meetings

    Meeting 22

    Time: 
    2:35pm-2:55pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 23

    Time: 
    3:00pm-3:20pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 24

    Time: 
    3:25pm-3:45pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0

    Meeting 25

    Time: 
    3:50pm-4:10pm
    Agenda Track No.: 
    Track 1
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
    4:10pm
    Close

    Close of Conference

    Time: 
    4:10pm
    Session Type: 
    General Session (Presentation)
    Force Inline Description: 
    0
Agenda Tracks: 
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Development
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Livestock
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Showcase
Track Color: 
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