The Best Cell and Gene Therapy Conferences in Europe for Developers
The best cell and gene therapy conference depends on what your company needs to achieve next.
For scientific developments and emerging technologies, the ESGCT Annual Congress is usually the strongest European option. For investors, company presentations and structured business development, the Cell & Gene Meeting on the Med deserves serious consideration. Advanced Therapies Congress is particularly useful for manufacturing, technology and commercialisation, while CAR-TCR Summit Europe provides a concentrated audience for developers of engineered cell therapies.
BIO-Europe remains important for broader pharmaceutical partnering, even though it is not dedicated exclusively to cell and gene therapy.
The mistake is treating all these events as interchangeable. A strong scientific congress, a fundraising meeting and a manufacturing exhibition attract different audiences and require different preparation.
This guide compares the main European events and helps cell and gene therapy developers decide where to spend their conference budget.
The main European cell and gene therapy conferences compared
| Event | Main strength | Best suited to | Commercial relevance |
|---|---|---|---|
| ESGCT Annual Congress | Science and translational research | Scientific teams and research-led developers | Moderate |
| Cell & Gene Meeting on the Med | Investment and partnering | CEOs, CBOs and fundraising companies | Very high |
| Advanced Therapies Congress | Manufacturing and commercialisation | Developers, CDMOs and technology providers | High |
| Advanced Therapies Europe | Senior networking and deal-making | Executives, investors and development leaders | Very high |
| CAR-TCR Summit Europe | Engineered immune-cell therapies | CAR-T, TCR-T, CAR-NK and related developers | High |
| Future of CGT | Practical company-building challenges | Founders and multidisciplinary development teams | High for a focused audience |
| BIO-Europe | Broad biopharma partnering | Clinical-stage and partnering-ready companies | Very high |
| LSX World Congress Europe | Fundraising and investment | Start-ups and growth-stage companies | Very high |
| Festival of Biologics | Broader biologics ecosystem | Developers seeking pharma, technology or manufacturing contacts | Moderate to high |
ESGCT Annual Congress: best for science and translational visibility
The European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Annual Congress is one of Europe’s central scientific meetings for the field. The 2026 congress will be held in Hamburg from 27 to 30 October in collaboration with the German Society for Gene Therapy. ESGCT describes its annual congress as a forum for scientists working in gene and cell therapy, with keynote lectures, selected presentations, posters and exhibitions focused on current research and techniques.
Who should attend ESGCT?
ESGCT is particularly valuable for:
- research-led cell and gene therapy developers;
- scientific founders;
- translational researchers;
- platform technology companies;
- teams presenting preclinical or clinical data;
- companies recruiting scientific talent;
- developers seeking academic collaborators.
The congress can also support business development, but that is not its primary function. A company attending mainly to raise capital or secure pharmaceutical licensing discussions may find a dedicated partnering conference more efficient.
The strongest reason to attend ESGCT is scientific credibility. Presenting data, joining technical discussions and understanding where the field is moving can be more important than the number of formal business meetings secured.
Best fit: Scientific exchange, translational research and technology visibility.
Less suitable for: Teams whose only priority is fundraising or high-volume partnering.
Cell & Gene Meeting on the Med: best for focused CGT partnering
The Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mediterranean is organised by the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine and is designed around the European advanced-therapy business community. The 2026 edition took place in Rome from 28 to 30 April and combined company presentations, strategic discussions and one-to-one partnering. The conference also featured an invitation-only CEO and investor summit.
Unlike a broad scientific congress, Meeting on the Med is built around company development.
Its 2026 attendee list included therapy developers, pharmaceutical companies, investors, CDMOs, manufacturing specialists, regulators and technology providers.
Who should attend Meeting on the Med?
The event is a strong choice for:
- CEOs and chief business officers;
- companies preparing a financing round;
- developers seeking pharmaceutical partners;
- clinical-stage companies;
- platform companies looking for strategic collaborations;
- advanced-therapy investors;
- companies ready to present a clear development and commercial story.
Companies should only attend once they can explain what they are looking for. “Meeting the ecosystem” is too broad an objective for an event centred on partnering.
A productive plan should identify whether the company seeks capital, licensing discussions, manufacturing partners, clinical collaborators or specialist suppliers before the partnering platform opens.
Best fit: Fundraising, licensing and senior-level CGT business development.
Less suitable for: Early research teams without a defined company or partnering proposition.
Advanced Therapies Congress: best for manufacturing and implementation
Advanced Therapies Congress in London positions itself as Europe’s largest commercial cell and gene therapy conference and exhibition. The 2026 edition took place on 17 and 18 March and brought together more than 3,000 executives, speakers, start-ups and suppliers across the ATMP value chain.
The event covers more of the delivery infrastructure behind advanced therapies than many science-led congresses.
Typical themes include:
- process development;
- viral-vector and cell manufacturing;
- automation;
- analytical development;
- clinical operations;
- regulation;
- supply chains;
- market access;
- patient delivery;
- commercial scale-up.
Who should attend Advanced Therapies Congress?
It is especially relevant for:
- developers making manufacturing decisions;
- CMC and technical operations leaders;
- companies evaluating CDMOs;
- manufacturing technology providers;
- regulatory and quality specialists;
- therapy developers preparing for clinical scale-up;
- companies seeking broad supplier access.
The exhibition is useful for evaluating technologies and service providers, but the breadth of the event can also create noise. Therapy developers should arrive with specific operational questions and a shortlist of relevant companies.
For suppliers, Advanced Therapies Congress offers strong visibility. For therapy developers, its greatest value often lies in solving defined development or manufacturing problems.
Best fit: Manufacturing, scale-up, technology selection and operational partnerships.
Less suitable for: Developers seeking a quiet, highly curated investor environment.
Advanced Therapies Europe: best for a more curated senior audience
Advanced Therapies Europe will take place in Barcelona from 7 to 9 September 2026. The event focuses on investment, clinical pathways, manufacturing, operational performance and commercialisation. Organisers describe it as a meeting for senior leaders, scientists, investors, regulators and solution providers across the advanced-therapy sector.
The event is smaller and more curated than some major exhibitions. Organisers indicate a limit of approximately 600 attendees and more than 1,000 one-to-one meetings.
That model may suit companies that value senior-level conversations over maximum footfall.
Who should attend Advanced Therapies Europe?
The event is relevant for:
- executive teams seeking focused industry relationships;
- developers navigating investment and commercialisation;
- companies addressing European clinical-delivery challenges;
- investors evaluating advanced-therapy businesses;
- manufacturing and development partners;
- companies that prefer curated networking.
Its value will depend heavily on the attendee list and meeting preparation. A smaller event can produce better conversations, but only when the right organisations are present.
Best fit: Curated business development, investment and senior industry discussions.
CAR-TCR Summit Europe: best for engineered cell therapy
CAR-TCR Summit Europe is one of the most focused European meetings for developers of engineered immune-cell therapies. The 2026 event was held in London from 24 to 26 February and covered CAR-T, TCR-T, CAR-NK, in-vivo cell engineering, manufacturing, regulation and commercial development.
The narrow therapeutic focus is its main advantage.
A general CGT conference may contain only a limited number of sessions or companies relevant to a particular cell-therapy platform. CAR-TCR Summit concentrates developers, investors, academics and service providers working on closely related challenges.
Who should attend CAR-TCR Summit Europe?
It is well suited to:
- CAR-T and TCR-T developers;
- CAR-NK and other immune-cell therapy companies;
- teams working on solid-tumour cell therapies;
- in-vivo cell-engineering developers;
- cell-manufacturing specialists;
- translational and clinical development teams;
- investors focused on next-generation cell therapy.
Companies outside engineered immune-cell therapy may find the audience too narrow.
Best fit: Specialist cell-therapy development and partnerships.
Less suitable for: Gene-replacement companies, broad regenerative medicine or non-cellular genetic medicines.
Future of CGT: best for practical company-building discussions
Future of CGT held its first edition in Leiden on 24 April 2026. The event was created for founders, therapy developers and functional leaders working through the practical challenges of building advanced-therapy companies. Its positioning emphasised applied lessons, discussion and cross-functional challenges rather than a long programme of conventional presentations.
This makes it different from both a scientific congress and a large commercial exhibition.
The audience includes people dealing with decisions around:
- funding and company focus;
- CMC and manufacturing;
- regulatory development;
- clinical translation;
- commercial positioning;
- partnerships;
- company building.
Who should attend Future of CGT?
The event is most relevant for:
- founders and senior leaders;
- early and clinical-stage therapy developers;
- multidisciplinary development teams;
- companies seeking practical peer discussions;
- international developers looking to connect with the Dutch CGT ecosystem.
Its smaller size means it will not replace BIO-Europe for high-volume partnering or ESGCT for broad scientific visibility. Its role is more focused: bringing people closer to the operational and strategic decisions involved in translating a therapy into a viable company and development programme.
Best fit: Practical translation, company building and cross-functional conversations.
BIO-Europe: best for broad pharmaceutical partnering
BIO-Europe is not a dedicated cell and gene therapy conference. Nevertheless, it remains one of Europe’s most important events for companies seeking pharmaceutical, licensing and investment relationships.
The 2026 event will take place in Cologne from 9 to 11 November and is expected to attract more than 8,000 life sciences professionals. Its partnering system supports a large volume of scheduled one-to-one meetings across biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and investment.
When does BIO-Europe make sense for a CGT developer?
BIO-Europe is valuable when a company:
- has a defined licensing or co-development proposition;
- wants to meet multiple pharmaceutical companies;
- is raising a substantial financing round;
- has clinical or meaningful preclinical evidence;
- needs relationships outside the specialist CGT community;
- can support an intensive partnering schedule.
It is less useful when the company’s proposition is still vague. The number of attendees and meetings can look attractive, but competition for pharmaceutical attention is significant.
Best fit: Broad pharma partnering and international business development.
LSX World Congress Europe: best for fundraising outside the CGT bubble
LSX World Congress Europe brings together biotechnology, medtech and healthtech companies with investors and strategic partners. The 2026 congress took place in Lisbon on 25 and 26 March and focused on investment, fundraising and strategic collaboration.
For cell and gene therapy developers, the main benefit is access to investors who look across the wider healthcare and biotechnology landscape.
This can be useful for companies that need to explain why their opportunity competes favourably for capital against less complex and less capital-intensive businesses.
Best fit: Financing, investor feedback and strategic growth discussions.
Festival of Biologics: useful when the audience extends beyond CGT
Festival of Biologics Basel covers antibodies, cell and gene therapies, immunotherapies and biosimilars. The 2026 event will take place from 13 to 15 October and is expected to bring together more than 3,000 participants from pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology businesses, academia, regulatory organisations and investment.
It is not as concentrated as ESGCT or CAR-TCR Summit Europe, but that can be useful when a company wants to reach the wider biologics industry.
It may be particularly relevant for:
- platform companies with applications beyond CGT;
- developers seeking large-pharma contacts;
- technology providers serving several biologic modalities;
- companies exploring manufacturing and market access;
- immunotherapy developers whose work crosses modality boundaries.
Best fit: Broad biologics relationships rather than CGT-only networking.
Which cell and gene therapy conference should you choose?
The simplest approach is to begin with the company’s immediate constraint.
| Current priority | Conference to consider first |
|---|---|
| Presenting scientific data | ESGCT Annual Congress |
| Raising capital | Cell & Gene Meeting on the Med or LSX Europe |
| Finding pharmaceutical partners | BIO-Europe |
| Solving manufacturing challenges | Advanced Therapies Congress |
| Meeting senior CGT leaders | Advanced Therapies Europe |
| Developing CAR-T or TCR-T therapies | CAR-TCR Summit Europe |
| Addressing practical company-building issues | Future of CGT |
| Reaching the wider biologics industry | Festival of Biologics |
Most companies do not need to attend all of them.
A focused developer might select:
- one scientific meeting;
- one commercial or investment event;
- one operational or manufacturing event;
- one broad partnering conference.
That already creates a substantial programme once travel, preparation, attendance and follow-up are considered.
How company stage should influence conference selection
Academic or spin-out stage
Prioritise scientific visibility, translational relationships and early investor feedback.
Relevant options include ESGCT, specialist therapeutic meetings and carefully selected start-up or investment events.
Preclinical company
Focus on scientific credibility, platform differentiation, funding and development partners.
ESGCT, Meeting on the Med, Future of CGT and LSX Europe may be relevant, depending on the company’s maturity.
Clinical-stage developer
Pharmaceutical partnering, manufacturing readiness, regulatory strategy and financing become more important.
BIO-Europe, Meeting on the Med, Advanced Therapies Congress and Advanced Therapies Europe are likely to become more valuable.
Late-stage or commercial company
Priorities may shift towards market access, hospital delivery, supply chain, manufacturing capacity and geographic expansion.
Broader commercial and operational conferences can then create more value than early scientific meetings.
Do not judge events by attendance numbers alone
A large exhibition may offer thousands of attendees but relatively little access to the small group that matters to your programme.
A more useful evaluation asks:
- How many priority organisations are expected?
- Are the right functions attending?
- Can meetings be scheduled in advance?
- Does the agenda match the company’s current development stage?
- Are competitors, partners or investors presenting?
- Can the team follow up properly afterwards?
- Does the event support an existing market or partnership strategy?
The most valuable conference is the one that advances the company’s current commercial and development priorities—not the one with the largest logo wall.
Build a conference strategy, not a collection of tickets
Cell and gene therapy developers face pressure to maintain scientific visibility, raise capital, secure partners, develop manufacturing solutions and remain connected to a rapidly changing field.
No single conference can achieve all of that.
ESGCT is strong for science. Meeting on the Med is designed around the CGT business community. Advanced Therapies Congress provides access to manufacturing and commercial infrastructure. CAR-TCR Summit Europe offers specialist depth. BIO-Europe provides broader pharmaceutical reach.
The right portfolio combines only the events that support a defined objective—and gives the team enough time to prepare, attend and follow up properly.
JPP supports cell and gene therapy companies with conference selection, commercial positioning, target-account planning, pre-event outreach, meeting preparation and post-event follow-up.
Planning your next European conference cycle? Contact JPP to build an event strategy around the partners, investors and commercial outcomes your company actually needs.
