BioTechNZ and Business Events Wellington have renewed their agreement, with the fourth, fifth and sixth iterations of the Life Sciences Summit to be held in Wellington.
In its first three editions, the summit has brought together the life sciences sector and highlighted its importance, been a platform for government to announce a change in regulations around gene technology and delivered sector specific content to hundreds of delegates.
The 2025 event, which drew more than 360 attendees, also included tours of biotech facilities in Wellington.
“A lot of attendees were international visitors wanting to see what New Zealand is doing, where the opportunities lie for selling product into New Zealand and researchers finding out whether there’s partnering opportunities here,” explained BioTechNZ executive director Zahra Champion.
“After a trio of successful conferences, we want to continue building on the momentum here in the capital, both within the sector and in terms of growing government awareness and support.”
The 2025 summit garnered highly positive feedback from delegates, with 96 per cent of attendees agreeing that the meeting addressed the challenges faced in biotech, 93 per cent reporting a stronger connection to the sector as a result of attending the summit and 99 per cent making at least one valuable connection.
“That’s amazingly positive,” said Champion.
“The huge opportunity for the New Zealand clinical trial sector, good communication and governance on the farm, and the next round of gene regulation submissions would be my three big action points to take from this event.
“At the 2026 event uniting the life sciences community remains essential – not just to showcase the sector’s scale, but to drive real impact.
“This conference will empower delegates to co-create the agenda, shaping the key issues New Zealand must address to unlock future growth.”
Business Events Wellington’s manager, Irette Ferreira, said the summit delivered “huge benefits to Wellington” as well as having a positive impact for those working in biotech.
“The event draws international audiences who engage with our local biotech industry, share their knowledge, plus spend time and money exploring what our city has to offer,” said Ferreira.
“It’s estimated that the conferences hosted over the past three years have generated more than $1.2 million in delegate spend in the city.”
