For more than 23 years, Buzz4Bio has been forging its path in the biotech and medtech world with a unique approach: creating intimate meeting spaces that lead to lasting collaborations.
With trusted partners such as Quality Assistance, the 2026 edition of Oncology Beyond Frontiers vol. 3 once again promises to combine scientific excellence, a human-centered approach, and powerful networking opportunities.
But who are Frédérique Lentiez and Murielle Rata, the duo behind Buzz4Bio, shaping events through such a rare and precious formula?
Let’s take a closer look at their journey, their method, and the distinctive touch that makes each of their events so unique.
We all know Buzz4Bio, but who are Frédérique Lentiez and Murielle Rata?
It may not sound glamorous, but we actually met in a wine-tasting club in Toulouse exactly 20 years ago… Already 20 years. Hard to believe!
At the time, Frédérique had just launched Buzz4Bio to stabilize her rather turbulent professional life (new region, new job every 18 months) and finally build a tailor-made career that would keep her engaged. A successful gamble: it’s been running for 23 years.
Murielle, on her side, was a medical representative and part of the first wave of layoffs in the pharmaceutical industry. The timing was perfect to join forces and launch an activity in event organization.
As a duo, we are complementary: one is calm (a bit of a “false calm”), the other more lively (though she has softened over time). A real yin-yang dynamic.
Buzz4Bio is much more than an event organizer. How do you define it yourselves?
Buzz4Bio is, above all, a well-oiled yet convivial organization. The goal is to allow healthcare biotech professionals to meet without fuss, to share, to discover new talent, and to feel part of a big family.
After 20 years, some participants are still attending our congresses. Some even contribute to shaping the program. Doing business, yes but in the right conditions. And in Belgium, we are particularly well served in that regard!
Professional slow-dating has become your signature. Can you tell us more about this format?
You might have guessed: the inspiration came from the Italian slow food movement, which values time, quality, and local roots, and which became popular in the early 2000s. As food lovers, we were immediately drawn to this philosophy! A way of life applied to business.
Why work if not to enjoy it? Our motto: take the time to do things well and enjoy all that life has to offer.
From this came the concept of B4B-Connections: two days of meetings in multiple formats, all in one shared space like a play in which each participant has a role to play, all within the same time and place.
What are the benefits? Why do people value it so much?
This is a question better answered by the participants who keep coming back year after year! One thing is certain: in such a competitive events landscape, if what we offered didn’t make sense, Buzz4Bio would have disappeared long ago.
Other organizers have tried to copy us with enormous resources. Yet we have remained true to our credo: living from our clients, not from public subsidies. Preserving our independence, our freedom of action, and choosing our collaborations carefully.
How do you design a program that truly meets participants’ needs?
Our method is quite particular. We work in cooperative mode and co-construct event programs together with our readers and participants.
When we launch a theme, we consult our community. Nothing is fixed. Full flexibility allows us to create events made by and for participants.
Our community is large and collaborative, enriched by the BioPark Charleroi ecosystem and this year’s strong sponsor—Quality Assistance,one of the BioPark Charleroi’s long-standing and key members, and a leading European CRO in analytical sciences. This is fertile ground indeed.
And then, of course, there are some powerful well-kept secrets that we prefer not to reveal too much—business obliges.
Nearly 24 years spent refining our model—it’s no small thing. We are highly flexible, responsive, and we work with pleasure. And participants appreciate that.
Oncology Beyond Frontiers is now in its 3rd edition. What makes it such a key event?
In the past, we often focused on Belgium’s strength in Cell and Gene Therapy, showcasing one of Europe’s central hubs in the field. Many French companies working on breakthrough innovations have since established themselves in Belgium—and continue to do so.
Oncology, however, had never been addressed in this territory. Yet many of our participants also work in oncology: vaccines, cell therapy, immunotherapies, antibodies, innovative biologics, CMC, and more.
This congress provides the opportunity to highlight Belgium’s already thriving, innovative, and collaborative oncology ecosystem. Oncology is transversal and connects with nearly every theme we have covered so far.
This edition will reveal oncology’s hidden gems, foster collaborations, and enable knowledge- and expertise-sharing—slowly but surely. That’s what “slow” is all about.
With our sponsor Quality Assistance—working with many European and global players—we will open new perspectives.
A fantastic bonus this year: participants will also be able to visit MITOSE, Quality Assistance’s brand-new facility inaugurated this year. Not to be missed!
With four decades of expertise and 280 professionals, the company has become a reference in analytical sciences for complex drug modalities such as biologics, nanomedicines, mRNA, and cell and gene therapies, making the visit all the more inspiring.
What is your greatest pride from previous editions?
Allowing participants to discover breakthrough innovations at their earliest stages, long before they became widely successful—liquid biopsy being one example.
In preparing this 3rd edition, we realized how much oncology has changed in just ten years. Innovation is everywhere, results are extraordinary, and entirely new ways of studying, diagnosing, and treating cancer have emerged. The breakthroughs are tremendous, and this congress will shine a light on them.
The link between Buzz4Bio and BioPark Charleroi is strong. How did this collaboration begin, and what makes it last?
It all started with a survey about 14 years ago. At the time, all our events took place in France. A small community of Belgian companies, fans of what we were producing in France, asked us to come to Charleroi, where the BioPark Charleroi was beginning to grow.
Dominique Demonté had just been recruited to structure and develop the BioPark into the success it has become today.
The Belgian partners confirmed the project in three days, whereas in France it often took us more than six months to convince stakeholders. We had never seen such motivated and responsive partners!
We didn’t fully know what we were getting into, but we moved forward because we really appreciated the Belgian CEOs. In the end, Dominique Demonté quickly understood the added value we could bring to the BioPark’s development projects.
We immediately connected with the BioPark Charleroi team and its successive leadership, building a relationship of trust and responsiveness. That dynamic has never stopped.
With the support of its partners and funding members (Sambrinvest, AWEX…), BioPark Charleroi has pursued ambitious goals, building a strong and growing team. This makes our work all the more enriching and rewarding from a human perspective.
And when you add the possibility of strong sponsorship—Quality Assistance this year, Cencora Pharmalex last year—it takes our collaboration even further.
Today, we operate almost like a small, decentralized Franco-Belgian company delivering tangible results. And let’s be honest: what would we do without our ritual exchanges—French wine for an annual supply of Belgian beer and chocolates? 😉
Over the years, Frédérique and Murielle have expanded Buzz4Bio’s impact across the biotech and medtech landscape. By cultivating the art of professional slow-dating and supported this year by a strong partner such as Quality Assistance, the 2026 edition once again promises to be rich in opportunities, reaffirming its ambition: to foster meaningful links and collaborations that truly matter.
Discover our labhotel equipped with an Environmental Monitoring System by contacting :
HÉLÈNE DE REYTERE
FACILITIES MANAGER
GET IN TOUCH
NEXT EDTITION OF BUZZ4BIO
MEMBERS & PARTNERS RELATED