On November 27th, in Vilnius, the Lithuania–Poland Life Sciences & Biotech Ecosystems Summit took place. This strategic event aimed to strengthen collaboration between the rapidly growing life sciences and biotechnology sectors in both countries.
The one-day Summit brought together leaders from science, industry, investment, and policy to foster an integrated, competitive, and attractive bioecosystem in Lithuania and Poland for international investors. The event also marked the beginning of a new phase of bilateral collaboration.
Participants noted that the ecosystems in both countries are growing rapidly and that closer cooperation could unlock new opportunities. Insights from five thematic sessions were presented during the Summit.
The event started with opening ceremony where representatives from Lithuanian ministries and the Polish Embassy – Daniel Naumovas, Vice-minister, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania, Paulius Petrauskas, Vice-minister, Ministry of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania and Andrzej Dudziński, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Republic of Poland.
The first session focused on strategic priorities and opportunities for the Baltic and Central European life sciences and biotech ecosystem.
Discussions emphasized that collaboration must be systematic, coordinated, and long-term. Lithuania and Poland possess different but complementary strengths, and effectively combining them would create favorable conditions for accelerated scientific research, technology transfer, startup growth, and investment development.
During the second session, representatives from universities and research institutes highlighted that both countries face similar challenges in technology transfer, ranging from insufficient incentive systems to limited researcher engagement in commercialization. Discussions explored opportunities for the countries to share best practices and strengthen institutional collaboration.
The session on startups and scaleups examined cooperation opportunities across the Baltic and Central European region and ways to accelerate the global market entry of biotech startups. The discussion also highlighted the lack of visibility between ecosystems: both researchers and companies often do not know each other’s competencies or infrastructure. Creating a transparent and easily accessible platform to showcase expertise and potential partners was identified as a key step.
The pitch session featured presentations from PsyLink, Pulseto, WPD Pharmaceuticals, and a4Bee.
During the fourth session, the biomanufacturing competence of Lithuania and Poland were presented in detail. The expertise demonstrated by BIOCITY and BIOTON revealed the potential to build a strong regional biomanufacturing infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe. Participants emphasized that only by gaining a better understanding of each other’s infrastructure and industrial capabilities can both countries reduce duplication, enhance production flexibility, and contribute more effectively to strengthening biomanufacturing across the EU.
The final session addressed the current state of investment in Central and Eastern Europe, key growth opportunities for biotech, investor expectations, and how closer Lithuania–Poland collaboration could strengthen the region’s position in Europe and globally. Participants noted that the impact of Lithuania and Poland on the global biotech investment landscape remains limited, especially in the biotech segment. Discussions also identified practical steps for establishing structured joint initiatives between business angels and venture capital funds from both countries.
Summary of the event and discussions (download PDF).
We would like to thank all speakers, moderators, and partners – Polish Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce, Innovation Agency Lithuania, and BioForum for their participation, contributions and valuable discussions.
We look forward to meeting again next year!
The event is co-funded by the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania.
