Emma is the CEO and co-founder of Weatherden, a leading global clinical development consultancy transforming early-stage drug development. Under Emma’s leadership over the past seven years, Weatherden has significantly improved the probability of technical and regulatory success (PTRS) in early clinical development, from candidate selection (CS) to proof of concept (PoC), achieving an impressive 65 percent success rate compared to the industry average of 29 percent.
To date, Weatherden has partnered with over 200 biotech companies and investment funds, contributing to programmes that have collectively generated more than $25 billion in value through mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships.
Weatherden is now advancing KALEIDOSCOPE, its proprietary Clinical Development Decision Platform, designed to transform clinical development at scale. The company is also spinning out clinical-stage assets into new vehicles in collaboration with leading venture capital firms and delivering them through its hybrid clinical development model.
"The problem in strategy is not its formulation—it’s in its translation into the choices that matter." — Martin Reeves, BCG Henderson Institute, HBR, “Your Strategy Needs a Strategy”
For CEOs steering therapeutics or medical device venture, the true strategic challenge often emerges not in building the pitch deck or the pipeline, but in choosing the single path that can deliver meaningful risk-adjusted value at speed. As early-stage innovation collides with biological uncertainty and capital efficiency pressures, it is not enough to know the science—you must map a strategy that is clinically feasible, commercially sound, and regulatorily defensible. Yet across the industry, this critical transition—from asset concept to viable development path—remains chronically underpowered. Many teams falter not because their asset lacks promise, but because the strategic blueprint lacks precision.
This session takes us inside the frameworks and decisions that have consistently outperformed industry benchmarks, enabling successful movement from candidate selection to proof of concept (PoC)—where so many programmes stall. We'll explore how integrating clinical tractability, regulatory foresight, and real-world market fit can double, even triple, your probability of technical and regulatory success (PTRS).
Why This Is Relevant for You
Whether your asset is in immunology, cardiovascular, oncology or rare diseases, the core issue is the same: how do we design a strategy that unlocks both capital and clinical progression?
Emma’s session addresses this question with real-world, cross-functional insights across therapeutic areas and modalities. We will explore:
Rigorously evaluate indication selection using clinical tractability, market need, and regulatory leverage—as seen in Weatherden’s indication prioritisation for cardiovascular assets and rare disease programmes.
Build target product profiles that align scientific rationale with reimbursement realities, using KOL insights, epidemiological data, and competitive intelligence.
Translate mechanisms of action into patient value through integrated bioinformatics, early regulatory engagement, and adaptive protocol design—as exemplified by Weatherden's platform work in immunology.
Avoid the common pitfalls in first-in-human study design, CRO selection, and quality systems setup that can undermine otherwise promising assets.
These aren’t hypothetical strategies—they are the precise decisions behind a 2x+ improvement in clinical milestone success. In an environment where capital is tight and timelines are unforgiving, these insights may not just inform better decisions—they may determine which ventures move forward at all.
We are looking forward to a candid exploration of what it takes to design a strategy that delivers—not just in theory, but in the clinic, at the regulator’s desk, and in the market.