Harvard University · Boston — From October 1 to 3, 2026, the 13th Aging Research and Drug Discovery Conference (ARDD 2026) was held at the David Rubenstein Treehouse at Harvard University. As the largest and most prestigious annual academic gathering in the global longevity biotechnology field, this year's conference brought together executives and leaders from the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis, Pfizer, Takeda, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, Menarini, GSK, and Moderna, as well as scientists from top academic institutions such as Harvard Medical School and MIT. Dr. Hao Pei, Founder and CEO of MobiDrop, was invited to attend and will deliver a keynote presentation titled "Aging Is Multidimensional — So Must Be the Data: Co-registered Single-cell Readouts for Longevity Drug Discovery."

Figure 1. ARDD 2026 attendees gather for a group photo.

Sharing the Stage with World-Class Pharma Leaders, Dr. Hao Pei Enters the Core Circle of Global Longevity Science

The speaker lineup at this year's ARDD conference can only be described as a "pharma all-star cast." According to the official conference agenda, the pharmaceutical CEO roundtable brought together Christophe Weber, former CEO of Takeda; Fiona Marshall, President of Biomedical Research at Novartis; Ariel Feldstein, Chief Internal Medicine Officer at Pfizer; and Elcin Barker Ergun, CEO of Menarini, moderated by Alice Park, Senior Health Correspondent at TIME. In addition, Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, also attended the conference, joining global leaders to discuss how virtual cells can guide pharmaceutical R&D and human longevity research.

As Founder and CEO of MobiDrop, Dr. Hao Pei was invited to attend alongside these global pharmaceutical executives and to deliver a keynote presentation — a clear sign that this scientist from Wuzhen, China, and the "single-cell multi-omics data infrastructure" pathway he champions have entered the core dialogue circle of global longevity science and virtual cell research.

Figure 2. A session at ARDD 2026.

Keynote Report Focuses on "Multidimensional Aging" and "Co-registered Single-cell Readouts"

The title of Dr. Hao Pei's presentation speaks directly to the core proposition in the current virtual cell and longevity drug discovery field: aging is multidimensional, and so must be the data. The presentation will systematically elaborate on how "Co-registered Single-cell Readouts" can provide truly traceable and intervenable underlying data support for longevity drug discovery.

Figure 3. Program listing for Dr. Hao Pei’s featured presentation.

This presentation topic resonates strongly with the "Virtual Cell in Time Forum" specially organized at ARDD 2026. This forum focuses on how next-generation virtual cell models can capture biological changes, cellular states, and aging processes over time, with researchers from Harvard Medical School, MIT/Whitehead Institute, Stanford University, and other institutions participating in the discussions. Dr. Hao Pei's presentation, precisely within this cutting-edge topic, proposes MobiDrop's solution from the perspective of data infrastructure.

Figure 4. Dr. Hao Pei presents at ARDD 2026.

MobiDrop: The "Data Infrastructure Builder" of the Virtual Cell Era

At a time when the virtual cell track is becoming increasingly crowded, MobiDrop has chosen a path distinctly different from mainstream overseas players. While companies such as Ginkgo, Tahoe, and Xaira race to launch virtual cell models with billions of parameters, leading the benchmarking competition with an "algorithm-first, data-later" logic, Dr. Hao Pei maintains a clear engineering judgment: "At first glance, virtual cells appear to be a competition of models, but in essence, it is a competition of data and experimental closed loops."

This judgment is rooted in Dr. Hao Pei's unique background. He holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tsinghua University and a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Harvard University, where he studied under Professor David Weitz, a foundational figure in microfluidics and a member of all three U.S. National Academies. His mechanical engineer's foundational thinking led him to realize, upon his first visit to a biology laboratory, that there exists a tremendous gap between the "handcrafted feel" of traditional biological research and engineering standardization. This realization drove him to found MobiDrop, starting from microfluidic chips and single-cell sequencing hardware, and gradually building an industrialized data factory and a dry-wet closed-loop system.

Figure 5. Dr. Hao Pei concludes his presentation at ARDD 2026.

MobiDrop has developed China's first single-cell sequencing reagent kit based on droplet microfluidics and photo-excitable molecular tag microspheres, becoming the world's second company capable of producing such a product and breaking international monopoly. Its MobiNova® series products achieve internationally advanced levels in cell capture rate and data quality, with products covering hundreds of research institutes and tertiary hospitals across China and successfully expanding into European and American markets.

In September 2026, MobiDrop signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Insilico Medicine. The two parties will engage in deep collaboration around the production, integration, and application of "high-quality, traceable, AI-ready" single-cell data. MobiDrop's large-scale multi-omics data output will be systematically integrated into Insilico Medicine's Pharma.AI platform, providing training, validation, and model iteration support for its virtual aging cell platform. This collaboration is regarded by the industry as a benchmark practice of "real cells teaching virtual cells."

During the same period, MobiDrop joined NVIDIA Inception, NVIDIA’s program for innovative technology startups. By combining microfluidics and single-cell multiomics, MobiDrop is linking high-quality life-science data production with virtual cell development while exploring future applications in virtual patients and clinical trials. NVIDIA Inception provides members with AI development tools, technical training, and access to industry and investment networks. Companies highlighted in NVIDIA’s published member stories include Perplexity, Hugging Face, Cohere, and Insilico Medicine. As part of this global innovation network, MobiDrop is advancing its MobiBrain intelligent wet-lab/dry-lab closed-loop system and virtual cell engine, creating a continuous feedback cycle among data generation, model learning, and experimental validation.

ARDD 2026: The "Davos" of Longevity Science

The ARDD conference was founded in 2014 by Dr. Alex Zhavoronkov, Founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine, and has developed into the most influential annual conference in the global aging research field. The 2026 conference moved to Harvard University, coinciding with the opening of Boston Longevity Week, gathering over 1,000 participants.

In addition to the pharmaceutical executive roundtable, the conference also features special sessions including FDA and ARPA-H regulatory discussions, XPRIZE Healthspan finalist team presentations, AI drug discovery forums, and pet and animal longevity forums. George Daley, Dean of Harvard Medical School, will deliver the opening remarks, and global leaders in aging biology such as David Sinclair, George Church, and Vadim Gladyshev will speak at the conference.

Dr. Hao Pei's invitation to deliver a keynote presentation at ARDD 2026 is not only recognition of his personal academic and entrepreneurial achievements, but also signifies that Chinese enterprises are substantively enhancing their voice in the global virtual cell and longevity science infrastructure field. As global pharmaceutical leaders and top scientists discuss "how virtual cells can guide pharmaceutical development," what Dr. Hao Pei and MobiDrop bring is precisely the most indispensable element in this conversation — real, traceable, and scalable single-cell data.

About MobiDrop

MobiDrop was founded in 2018 with a founding team composed of Harvard University Ph.D. graduates. The company focuses on the R&D and industrialization of single-cell multi-omics technologies, committed to becoming the core data infrastructure builder of the virtual cell era. MobiDrop is a national-level "Little Giant" enterprise specializing in niche sectors, with products covering hundreds of research institutions and medical institutions worldwide.