Made in California: CLS Pantheon Awards Celebrate Home-Grown Innovation

This year, California’s life sciences sector is navigating real headwinds. A permanently capped R&D tax credit after 2030, significant federal budget uncertainty, and a more cautious investment climate have made it harder for many companies to sustain the momentum built in previous years. The 2026 California Life Sciences Sector Report documents consecutive employment declines in major regions and a 34% drop in San Diego biotech startup venture investment — numbers that reflect a sector facing competitive pressure from abroad and policy disruption at home.

Still, the work continues. Across the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego, researchers are translating discoveries into therapies, early-stage founders are building companies around novel science, and educators are working to bring the next generation into the field. The pipeline of breakthrough work coming out of California has not stopped.

The CLS Pantheon Awards exist to make sure that work gets seen.

For 23 years, California Life Sciences has convened industry leaders each fall to honor the scientists, founders, executives, educators, and institutions who define what California’s life sciences community stands for — not in abstract terms, but through specific achievements: an FDA approval, a landmark discovery, a company built from scratch, a mentorship program that changed the trajectory of a student’s life. This year’s ceremony takes place on November 12, 2026 at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, and nominations are open now through July 30.

23 years of recognizing California’s best

The CLS Pantheon Awards began as a way to pay tribute to the leaders shaping California’s pharmaceutical, biotech, and allied life sciences industries. Over two decades, the event has grown into one of the premier annual gatherings of California’s life sciences community — a night when the people who built this ecosystem are recognized by their peers.

What has stayed constant is the standard. Pantheon honorees are recognized for their impact: discoveries that create new clinical possibilities, products that reach patients with unmet needs, companies that take an idea from a hypothesis to a meaningful milestone, and individuals whose leadership shapes the sector.

Past awardees span the full range of what makes California’s life sciences community distinct: from academic institutions that produced foundational research, to early-stage companies that defied the odds, to executives who invested decades building the infrastructure others now rely on. The Pantheon advisory committee acts independently to review all nominations and make final recommendations.

The theme for 2026 is “Made in California.” It’s a deliberate statement at a moment when California’s competitive position is being actively threatened. The Pantheon Awards are a chance to acknowledge and celebrate the discoveries made here, the products approved here, the companies built here, and the people who made it happen.

2026 Pantheon Award categories

This year’s Pantheon Awards recognize achievement across seven categories, covering the full spectrum of the California life sciences ecosystem.

Academic Discovery of the Year

Every therapy, every device, and every breakthrough company begins with a discovery. This award honors a California academic institution, research institute, or non-profit whose scientific finding or research initiative has the potential to reshape human health. Nominated work must have advanced within the last 18 months and must have clear potential to improve patient outcomes.

AI Catalyst for Health

In California, academic and private organizations are using artificial intelligence to change how research is done, how diseases are detected, and how operations run. This award recognizes a life sciences organization, headquartered in California or with significant California presence, that has harnessed AI to drive transformative advances in healthcare, research, or operations.

BioPharma Product of the Year

California has long believed the hardest problems in human biology are worth solving. This award honors a California biotech or pharmaceutical company that has crossed a landmark regulatory milestone with a product that changes what treatment looks like for patients. Nominated products must have achieved FDA approval or other significant regulatory milestone recently (within the last 18 months) and must address a meaningful unmet medical need.

Convergent Technology of the Year

The future of healthcare is being designed in California, where engineering meets biology and where a single device or digital tool can profoundly change a person’s health trajectory. This award recognizes a medical device, digital health, or diagnostic company with California ties that has achieved a key regulatory or commercial milestone with a product that genuinely advances how we detect, monitor, or treat disease.

Elizabeth Schar Inspiring Future Leaders

Named in honor of Elizabeth Schar, a champion for equitable science education, this award recognizes non-profit or community-based organizations that have made exceptional contributions to inspiring the next generation of life sciences innovators. Programs serving underrepresented or under-resourced student populations are especially encouraged to apply.

Emerging Innovator of the Year

Every great California life sciences company started with a hypothesis and a founding team willing to bet on it. This award recognizes an early-stage company that is advancing novel science, hitting meaningful milestones, and building toward a future medicine hasn’t fully imagined yet. Companies must be founded in 2019 or later and headquartered in California to be eligible.

Leadership

California’s life sciences ecosystem is built on science and shaped by people. The Pantheon’s highest honor recognizes an individual who has demonstrated exceptional leadership, vision, and dedication to advancing the California life sciences sector through company building, scientific leadership, institutional impact, or ecosystem development. This award recognizes a legacy of impact and is open to both active and retired leaders across industry and research.

How to submit a nomination

Nominations for the 2026 Pantheon Awards are open now and close on July 30, 2026.

To nominate, visit the Pantheon Awards page and select the category that best fits the individual or organization you are recognizing. You will be asked to describe the specific achievement or body of work you are nominating, so it helps to identify the milestone or contribution clearly before you begin.

A few things worth knowing as you prepare your submission:

Recency matters: Most categories require that the nominated achievement occurred within the last 18 months. An FDA clearance, a new program launch, a published discovery — these are the kinds of milestones the Pantheon Awards are designed to recognize.

Clearly California: Limitless possibility lives here and all nominees must be headquartered in California or have a significant California presence. For individual nominees, direct and demonstrable ties to California’s life sciences community are required.

Find the best fit: Review the eligibility criteria for each category before submitting. The Pantheon Awards advisory committee evaluates nominations within their designated category only, so placing a nominee in the right one strengthens the submission.

If you know someone whose work deserves to be on that stage on November 12 — a researcher whose discovery opened a new clinical door, a founder whose company hit a milestone others said wasn’t possible, an educator whose program is changing who gets to be part of this industry, please put their name forward for consideration.

Join us on November 12 in San Francisco

The 23rd Annual CLS Pantheon Awards ceremony takes place on November 12, 2026, from 5 to 9 PM at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco. The evening brings together leaders from across California’s life sciences community — biopharma, medtech, digital health, academic research, and the service providers and investors who support them — for a night of recognition, connection, and celebration.

Tables and sponsorship opportunities are available at multiple levels, with benefits ranging from premier seating and President’s Reception access to category-level award sponsorships and exclusive branding throughout the venue. The Supporting Sponsor level also includes donated seats that CLS allocates to FAST California founders, patient advocates, and community leaders — a way to bring emerging voices into the room alongside established ones.

For information on sponsorship packages, contact Emily Morgan, Senior Director, Programs and Marketing, at [email protected].

Individual ticket and table purchase options are also available. Visit the Pantheon Awards page for full event details and registration information.