Made by Cells - Biotech Forum - April 10th 2025

24. helmik.

Join us at the Hanaholmen Cultural Center in Espoo Finland for inspiring talks on Pharma & Diagnostics, Food, Materials & Chemicals, Enzymes and Biotech investments, alongside valuable networking opportunities with leading biotech innovators and stakeholders. Discover cutting-edge advancements and collaborate to shape the future of biotechnology. The event is free of charge.

Don’t miss out—register here today!

The Event is in English

Preliminary Agenda

8:30 Coffee & Networking

9:15 – 9:30 Opening Session

Welcoming words from the Finnish Bioindustries

Biotechnology industry in Numbers - Case: Finland - Publication of the recent study conducted by ETLA investigating the Biotech sector in Finland.

9:30 – 10:35 Pharma & Diagnostics

Dr. Petri Bono - Chief Medical Officer - Faron

"A new Clever way to treat cancer: BEXMAB Phase I/II Immunotherapy Trial results"

Faron's lead asset bexmarilimab is currently being investigated in Phase I/II clinical trial as a potential therapy for patients with hematological cancers in combination with other standard treatments.

Bexmarilimab is a first-in-class anti-Clever-1 antibody and one of the most advanced myeloid cell-targeting immunotherapy candidates in clinical development.

In combination with standard-of-care, and in both solid tumors and hematologic malignancies, bexmarilimab may improve the efficacy of current cancer treatments and bring the promise of immunotherapy to a broader population.

Ville Paavilainen - Research Director - Avenue Biosciences

"Basic discovery science impacting protein therapeutic discovery"

Avenue Biosciences is a biotechnology company specializing in AI-enhanced protein engineering to accelerate the development of life-saving therapies. Originating from research at the University of Helsinki, the company has developed a proprietary platform that optimizes protein production by analyzing and engineering signal peptides, thereby improving yield and quality.

Tarja Hirvensalo - Vice President, R&D - Medix Biochemica

Medix Biochemica is a Finnish-based global supplier of high-quality raw materials for diagnostic tests. They provide antibodies, antigens, and other key components for immunoassays, clinical chemistry, and molecular diagnostics. With a broad product portfolio and strong expertise, they help customers develop reliable tests faster.

To be confirmed - Orion

Orion’s Innovative Medicines focuses on developing new treatments for pain and cancer, combining strong in-house R&D with market insights. They work on small molecules, biologics, and CAR T cell therapies, bringing novel drugs to global markets.

10:35 – 10:50 Coffee Break & Networking

10:50 – 12:10 Materials and Biotech

Michael Köpke - Chief Innovation Officer - LanzaTech

"Stepping On The Gas: Innovating For A Circular Carbon Economy"

Dr. Michael Köpke is the Chief Innovation Officer at LanzaTech ($LNZA), the carbon recycling company transforming waste carbon into sustainable fuels, chemicals, materials, and protein for everyday products using biology.

Michael holds a Ph.D. in biotechnology and has over 20 years of experience in the field. He is a pioneer in synthetic biology of carbon fixing microbes recognized by the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for Greener Synthetic Pathways and the ACS National Award for Team Innovation. Michael is an inventor of over 500 patents and has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He also co-led several community efforts including the development of a roadmap on synthetic biology approaches for climate and sustainability by an international consortium of over 90 experts or the initiation of the gas fermentation conference series.

Ilkka Kruus - Chief Engineer, R&D - IFF

"Designed Enzymatic Biomaterials"

At IFF, an industry leader in food, beverage, health, biosciences and sensorial experiences, science and creativity meet to create essential solutions for a better world – from global icons to unexpected innovations and experiences.

With the beauty of art and the precision of science, we are an international collective of thinkers who partners with customers to bring scents, tastes, experiences, ingredients, biomaterials and solutions for products the world craves.

Our annual sales are about $11.5 billion, we employ about 21,500 people worldwide, of which about 3,700 in R&D.

Anssi Laukkanen - Research Professor - VTT

"Virtual self-driving laboratories for synthetic biology"

Anssi Laukkanen, is VTT's first Research Professor in Computational Materials and Data Sciences. A key figure in the development of VTT ProperTune, Laukkanen specializes in digital and computational materials research, leveraging artificial intelligence and modeling to optimize material properties for industrial applications. His work focuses on discovering new materials, optimizing materials solutions, and tackling complex multi-level materials phenomena. By integrating AI-driven digital twins with autonomous manufacturing, he envisions a future where materials are custom-developed on demand, enhancing sustainability and efficiency in industrial sectors.

Ville Santala - Professor - Tampere University

"When one microorganism is not enough: tackling challenging feedstocks by multispecies approach"

Ville Santala, a biotechnology professor at Tampere University, specializes in synthetic biology and industrial biotechnology. His research focuses on engineering bacteria to produce valuable compounds from currently underutilized raw materials, advancing the circular economy. Santala envisions biology replacing conventional production methods for chemicals and materials. He sees synthetic biology as key to tackling global challenges and dreams of designing fully synthetic biological systems for specialized functions.

Yvonne Nygård - Research Professor - VTT Technical Research Center of Finland

"Biofoundries: Catalysts for Future Biomanufacturing"

Yvonne Nygård works as Research Professor at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. She also holds a position as Associate Professor at the Division of Industrial Biotechnology at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. Yvonne’s main research interest is to develop microbial cell factories for industrial applications, mainly related to the production of chemicals and proteins. She has done pioneering work on applying different CRISPR/Cas9 based technologies to industrial yeast and filamentous fungi. In recent projects she develops biofoundry platforms for constructing and screening non-conventional microorganisms in high throughput.

12:10 – 13:10 Lunch

13:10 – 14:05 Biotech in Food

Chris Landowski - CTO Co-founder - Onego Bio

"Cracking the code to producing egg proteins with precision fermentation"

Onego Bio is a Finnish biotechnology company specializing in the production of animal-free egg protein through precision fermentation. By leveraging microbial fermentation instead of traditional egg farming, Onego Bio offers a sustainable, scalable, and ethical alternative to conventional egg production, reducing environmental impact while maintaining the functional and nutritional qualities of conventional egg protein

Mary-Liis Kütt - CIO - ÄIO

"Sustainable microbial fats from sawdust"

ÄIO is an Estonian company specializing in the development of sustainable and healthier alternatives to traditional fats and oils. Utilizing natural and precision fermentation processes, they produce microbial oils rich in beneficial fatty acids, antioxidants, and pigments. Their products are designed to replace conventional ingredients like palm oil, coconut oil, and animal fats across various industries, including food, cosmetics, and household products. By upcycling low-value by-products from the food, agricultural, and wood industries, ÄIO emphasizes circular design models to maximize positive environmental impact.

Pekka Katajisto - Professor - Myocopia, University of Helsinki

Myocopia is developing a novel stem cell technology for cultivated meat production. Its innovation is based on regulating cellular metabolism, enabling controlled growth of muscle stem cells in bioreactors without relying on expensive growth factors. This approach aims to solve scalability challenges in cultivated meat production, making it more economically viable. It is supported by Business Finland's Research to Business funding.

14:05 – 14:20 Coffee Break & Networking

14:20 – 15:30 Biotech Chemicals & Enzymes

Magnus Wiman - Commercial Lead, Future Fuels and Chemicals - Novonesis

"The Future of Biotechnology enabled Biorefineries"

Magnus Wiman, Commercial Lead, Future Fuels and Chemicals at Novonesis, has many years of experience in project development and product development for the biorefining industry. In particular, the development of new enzyme and yeast products for the bioethanol business have been key contributions. Magnus has extensive experience on the scale-up and commerciallization of the cellulosic ethanol and biorefining industry through various projects and partner collaborations.

Currently Magnus is commercial lead Novonesis Future Fuels and Chemicals business, supporting biorefining/biofuels industry through new product and application developments. Magnus has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Lund University, Sweden.

Laurynas Karpus - CEO Co-founder - Biomatter

"Reimagine enzymes for biotech with Intelligent Architecture™

Biomatter - Vilnius-based enzyme development company - takes a fundamentally different path through bottom-up enzyme design. Rather than accepting the limitations of proteins shaped by evolutionary compromise, Biomatter starts with the search for what the perfect solution could look like. Their Intelligent Architecture platform™ combines physics-driven modeling with generative AI to design enzymes that were previously unimaginable, by reshaping both active sites and protein backbones for ideal performance. This approach has enabled breakthrough commercial applications across multiple industries: from redesigning enzymes for DNA synthesis enzymes, to improving the precision fermentation of complex human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), whilst partnering with major global partners, including Thermo Fisher Scientific, BASF, and Kirin Holdings.

Laura-Leena Kiiskinen - R&D Director Finland - Ab Enzymes Finland

"Discovery and development of industrial enzyme products"

Ab Enzymes Finland, formerly Roal Ltd, is one of the

world´s largest enzyme companies. The company produces enzymes for different industrial applications, e.g. baking, food, technical and feed industries. Core competence areas are Trichoderma, Aspergillus and Bacillus -fermentations.

Over 90 % of Ab Enzymes Finland products are exported worldwide.

Yagut Allahverdiyeva-Rinne - Professor - University of Turku

"Engineered living materials for solar driven photosynthetic chemical and fuel production"

Yagut is leading the Photosynthetic Microbes Lab (http://www.utu.fi/photo-microbes) at the University of Turku. Currently, she holds the position of full Professor of Basic and Applied Photosynthesis. She was involved as a junior PI in the Finnish Center of Excellence and later chaired the Nordic Center of Excellence NordAqua, “Towards Versatility of Aquatic Production Platforms: Unlocking the Value of Nordic Bioresources” (www.nordaqua.fi), funded by NordForsk (2017–2022). She is the director of the Biocity Turku Research Programme “Advanced Bioresources and Smart Bioproducts – Towards Sustainable Bioeconomy” (SmartBio, www.smartbio.fi). She is a coordinator of the EU Horizon RIA project Solar to Butanol (S2B 2024-2028)