ON Helix has always been a place that brings the life science community together to create conversation on the emerging trends, technologies and ideas that are shaping the translational research landscape. It is an opportunity to learn about where the sector is heading, what this means for your organisation and how these new approaches could shape the way we work and ultimately improve outcomes for patients. It is also a place to build relationships across the ecosystem, exchange knowledge and ideas, and create new collaborations and opportunities. Over the years, ON Helix has included a conference app, providing a dedicated way for attendees to identify and connect with the people they want to meet.
As the life sciences sector is evolving, so too is ON Helix. ON Helix returns with several changes designed to create an even more valuable experience.
ON Helix 2027 is moving from the first week of July to 27 May 2027. By bringing the event forward, we want to give our community the opportunity to connect, exchange ideas and stay up to date ahead of major international events such as BIO, as well as other key events taking place around the same time. We hope this new timing will help attendees make the most of their time with us and ensure they are as informed and connected as possible ahead of a busy period in the life sciences calendar.
The conference’s new strapline captures more clearly what makes ON Helix distinctive: From Discovery to Impact. At the heart of ON Helix is the whole translational journey, from early scientific discoveries and improving our understanding of disease, through to translating those insights into new diagnostics, therapeutics and approaches to disease management that can ultimately deliver better outcomes for patients. A change reflecting how fully integrated solutions across biology, technology, diagnostics and treatment are the future of medicine. Of course, that journey is not straightforward. Turning scientific potential into impact requires the right investment, data, skills, regulatory approaches and partnerships to help progress ideas through development towards commercialisation and adoption. ON Helix will touch upon these aspects in context.
ON Helix 2027 will bring all these different perspectives together through a refreshed programme, exploring what is changing across the translational landscape, where the barriers remain, and what we need to do differently to turn scientific potential into real world impact.
ON Helix will be structured around four programme themes, each looking at a different part of the journey from discovery to impact:
What Are We Discovering?
This theme will explore what we are discovering that could fundamentally change how we understand diseases and thus, how and where we might intervene. For example, researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators recently carried out a study of millions of cells from the human gut to reveal new ways to understand the genetic risk of inflammatory bowel disease. As technologies such as single cell sequencing allow us to see disease at a greater resolution, it is exciting to speculate what other insights might fundamentally reshape our understanding.
How Are We Aligning Lifespan and Healthspan?
With an expanding landscape of therapeutic modalities and diagnostic technologies impacting how we monitor and manage disease, this session will explore not only what we can treat, but how we manage disease over the course of a lifetime. Multiple myeloma provides a compelling example. The recent results from Bristol Myers Squibb’s QUINTESSENTIAL Trial, which met its primary end point and key secondary endpoint in a heavily pretreated patient population, illustrate how new therapeutic modalities are continuing to expand the options available when existing therapies fail. This evolution could point towards a new frontier in cancer care, one in which disease may increasingly be controlled, modified and/or cured, bringing lifespan and healthspan closer together.
How Are We Identifying and Mitigating Future Challenges?
This theme will explore the developments in predictive medicine that are transforming our ability to understand disease risk, predict disease earlier, and how individuals may respond to different interventions. In June 2026, researchers from UCL and the Francis Crick Institute identified a signature of 14-proteins in the blood that could predict future lung cancer risk more than five years before diagnosis. The findings point towards a future in which we may not simply detect disease earlier but identify those at risk and who could benefit from tailored lifestyle or early interventions before the disease develops.
How Are We Maximising the ROI on AI-enabled Discovery and Translation?
This theme will explore how investors and organisations can think about value, impact and returns as AI continues to reshape R&D. In May 2026, Isomorphic Labs raised $2.1 billion in Series B funding to scale its AI drug-design engine. But as AI moves from promise to application, the critical question becomes how we translate this investment into measurable scientific, clinical and commercial value.
ON Helix brings together the diverse people and perspectives needed to make this journey happen. From scientists and clinicians, to entrepreneurs, investors, technology providers and industry leaders. Translating discovery into meaningful impact has never been the responsibility of a single organisation or one part of the sector. It takes collaboration across the ecosystem, and this is what ON Helix has always been about.
Mark your calendars for 27 May 2027 at Babraham Research Campus and we look forward to welcoming you to Cambridge.