European Lifestars Awards 2026

The European Lifestars Awards (ELAs) are Informa Connect's annual awards for the European life science industry. The evening recognises the executives, investors, teams and organisations behind the past year's breakthroughs, fundraises, licensing deals and M&A, and brings the region's life science deal-making community together for one night in London.

Award categories

Categories cover the whole deal and company-building cycle over a 12-month qualifying period, including:

• Seed, Series A, Series B and Series C+ Raise of the Year
• Venture Capital Firm of the Year
• Pharma BD Team of the Year
• Licensing Deal of the Year
• Biotech of the Year
• Medtech of the Year
• Deal of the Year (<€500m and >€500m)
• M&A of the Year
• Deal Adviser of the Year
• Women-Led Business of the Year
• CEO of the Year

Judging

Finalists are scored by an independent faculty of industry investors and business development leaders; Informa removes internal involvement from application, judging and scoring. 2026 judges include representatives of GSK, Ipsen, EQT Life Sciences, Sofinnova Investments and M Ventures.

Who attends

Life science C-suite executives, investors, pharma business development teams, advisers and deal-makers. The organizer promotes networking with 500+ C-suite executives and decision-makers.