If you are interested in attending the Summit at no cost by volunteering, please email kposnanski@notes.cc.sunysb.edu no later than Friday, August 27. On the email, please include your name, affiliation, email address, mailing address, phone number, as well as the days and times you are available on Sept 22-23. There are a limited number of volunteer spots so register early!

As a volunteer, you will need to arrange for your own transportation to and from the event venue. Although we will work to have you experience as much of the summit as possible, you will have responsibilities throughout the event that may include but are not limited to: checking in summit attendees and speakers at the registrations desk, working the speaker preparation room, assisting in the partnering forum, staffing the panel rooms to ensure the session runs smoothly from a/v equipment to time management, serving as an information ambassador, and more.

This is a tremendous opportunity to attend a professional conference and network with industry executives, academic innovators, biotech investors and professional advisors. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Learn more about the Life Sciences Summit 2010 at www.lifesciencessummit.org ]]> http://fobip.org/alumni/volunteer-lifesciences-summit-2010/feed 0 http://fobip.org/alumni/life-sciences-summit-day-1 http://fobip.org/alumni/life-sciences-summit-day-1#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:33:12 +0000 Matt http://fobip.org/alumni/?p=357

By Mathew A. Engel

Day 1 Summary: Venture Capital Financing, Intellectual Property Management, and Emerging Business Models

The 2009 Life Science Summit took place from September 23 to 24, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Happauge, NY. There were hundreds of attendees representing the biotech industry and academia from all over the state. The industry attendees showed a diverse segmentation with strong representation from university technology transfer offices, law firms, venture capital firms, medicine, privately held biotech companies, mid and large-cap pharmaceutical companies. As a graduate student and alumni of the Fundamentals of the Bioscience Industry Program, I spent most of my time talking with accomplished professionals from successful companies who had experience commercializing technology,  raising capital, or evaluating new ventures. Below I will summarize my findings from the most interesting sessions throughout the first day of the summit. Hopefully, in the near future I will publish a follow-up covering day 2.

What Does it Take to Build a Biotechnology Company in Today’s Environment

The opening plenary session was a great way to spark the crowd’s interest and attention. In the back of my mind, I am always thinking about starting a biotechnology company and therefore always eager to hear advice from seasoned industry veterans. These individuals, especially those who volunteer as panelists or speakers are often willing to share their knowledge and offer some deep insight to beginners. In this session the speakers focused on how to raise capital. Those who are evaluating your proposal will be thinking “where is the technology” and “where is the project”. It is suggested that you network and these connections will lead you to investors who can also guide you into small collaborations. Their role is to keep these smaller companies on track. Currently, most of the demand is for products in late stage clinical trials, in this space demand remains high. Pharma is limiting their investment to certain therapeutic areas. The days of massive deal for a new platform technology are behind us. The huge investment in genomics with no products to show for it was cited. Most deals come about because someone knew someone. It’s not just writing a business plan and patents (though that is still required!). Venture capital (VC) will only stay in for a very short time. Pharma will only jump in Phase II. VC largely invests in people they know. Mailing the best business plan in the world to VCs randomly will get you nothing. Your job is to meet and know people who may be interested in investing. For example, some of the people on the panels at the Summit are Angel investors. Remember to “pick your partners”. The entrepreneur better be prepared to invest. It is important to consider if there are there other options besides a start-up? Many of the panelists, knowing what they do now, would not have chosen to start their own company. You’ve “got to be ignorant to go do it” they claimed. Today, businesses are focusing on staying extremely lean – infrastructure is minimized, reducing the amount of money necessary to operate. However, a company can only “be so lean” and achieve its business goals. VC is not going to be the “sugar baby” that’s going to take the company all the way through. There are drug discovery and medical chemistry labs on campus for basic R&D work. A good university should have a funding pool designated for small companies coming out of academia. One of the panelists spent time describing the experience of his friend who was trying to raise capital. His friend took ‘no’ as just another opportunity to go back to the VC. However, it’s good to get someone with a lot of experience and put together a team of people. “Build a culture and your company”. Medical devices are a great area to get into now. Diagnostic tools are a “neat area to be going into”. Get management in – VC looks at the management team. Get help and advice from your VC. Donald L. Drakeman, Venture Partner at Advent Ventures previously ran a company and was now a VC. His motto is “management, management, management”. What makes great management someone asked? “Management that will step aside”.

Is the VC funding Model Broken?

Mary C. Tanner, Managing Director at Peter J. Solomon & Co. and Maggie Flanagan LeFlore, Managing Director at MedImmune Venture Inc. were two of the most outspoken panelists during this business workshop. The panel delivered an overview of the VC industry covering current trends and their investment strategies. VC’s are adaptable and clever. They are in the business of building private companies to be sold. Their goal is to reach a deal with your company, in which payments are made as milestones are met. LeFlore completed 18 deals in the last year (given as a benchmark). Private companies are easier to sell. Fewer and fewer big pharma are in the market for these types of investments. There has been a fundamentals shift in exit strategy. Survival has followed those most adaptable to change. There are many exit strategies available. How does one get the VCs interest, a participant asked? Early stage risk is notorious, your goal should be to find little pockets of money to move things forward. The faculty members on your team better be well known (i.e. published in Nature, Science, Cell..). One of the panelists, E. Jonathan Soderstrom, Managing Director of the Office of Cooperative Research at Yale University had brought a compound to the attention of Lily and they asked for a proof of concept in humans! He did not even have POC in animals. The message is that you cannot expect Lily or Genetech to fund your development costs when the product is highly experimental.