BioPharm America™ 2013 Program Overview

Win a one-to-one meeting with a leading life science private equity investor. Members of the audience will have 30 seconds to pitch their company, product, technology or service to a star-studded panel of judges representing at least six life science investment firms. The top picks will be selected for a second round that includes two minutes of presentation and/or Q&A time with the judges. First and second place winners will receive a full 30-minute private follow-up meeting with the panelist of their choice. Judges will receive a written summary of all participant pitches and their scores, should they wish to follow up on their own. Audience preparation notes:

Participants will be judged on the quality and effectiveness of the overall 30-second pitch. Remember, the primary goal of an elevator pitch is to spark interest for a follow-up meeting. Pre-workshop coaching is available from the moderator (contact: doug@macbiocom.com). Practice, practice, practice!

Moderator:
Douglas MacDougall – President, MacDougall Biomedical Communications

• Bernard Davitian – VP, BD and Structured Investments, Sanofi
• Brian Gallagher, Jr. – Partner, SR One
• Kevin Johnson – Partner, Index Ventures
• Sander Slootweg – Managing Partner, Forbion Capital Partners

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Big pharma companies today are "balance sheet rich but P&L poor." They would like to invest in startup biotechnology companies in order to foster innovation and have access to new drugs. Investment by pharma companies in biotechnology companies could help fill the void left by vanishing venture capital and a lackluster IPO market. But if pharma companies are required to consolidate their investments, then the development spend of their startup investees hits the pharma P&L and R&D budgets.

In the good old days, a pharma company could avoid consolidating an investment in a biotechnology company if it owned less than 20% of the equity. But today, in the wake of the Enron debacle, the rules for consolidation are much more complex. Today, FIN 46 sets forth guidelines for the consolidation of "variable interest entities." This panel of industry experts will explore the landscape of pharma investment and consolidation, and examine how different pharma companies have come to very different conclusions about the requirement to consolidate, and what thresholds trigger that decision.

Moderator:
David Collier – CEO, Velocity Pharmaceutical Development

• Carola Schropp – President, EBD Group
• Robert K. Coughlin – President and CEO, MassBio

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Long-term pipeline planning in drug development is like a Rubik's cube that changes colors as its surroundings do. How can companies make better strategic decisions despite the disconnect between decade-long R&D timelines and the ever-changing demands among payers and patients? How are these different organizations addressing regulatory and reimbursement challenges to bring better drugs to patients?

Moderator:
Vaughn Kailian – Managing Partner, MPM Capital

• James Hoyes – President, EMD Serono
• David P. Meeker – President and CEO, Genzyme

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Why are virtual business models so popular these days? Are they actually the better models, or—with less venture money available and shorter investment periods—simply the only option for most biotechs in today's environment? Are management and employees of a virtual company dedicated to developing great science or just focused on a quick-flip? Join executives from biotech and the investment community and discuss these and other questions around lean biotech business models.

• Michael Gilman – Senior VP, Early Stage Pipeline, Biogen Idec

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When a speaker at a recent conference asked a room full of biotech executives who among them was planning to build a commercial company, one lonely hand went up. Is it impossible these days to become "the next Genentech/Amgen/ Biogen Idec"? If so, what are the reasons and what are the consequences? Is big pharma profiting by dictating deal terms that would not have been acceptable in the "good old days"? Are today's biotech-pharma partnerships struck (and timed) strategically or out of despair? When is the right time/situation to partner? We will discuss these questions and have a look at some of the partnering data to support or oppose some conclusions.

• Stephane Bancel – President and Founding CEO, Moderna Therapeutics
• Christoph Pittius – VP, Strategic Partnering and Business Development, Cardiovascular/Metabolic, AstraZeneca
• Ed Saltzman – President, Defined Health

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Over recent years a strong and flourishing angel community has sprung up in Boston. Individuals or groups of angel investors are funding companies with up to USD 60–70 million, making VC investments for these companies obsolete. How far can you go with an angel investor base these days? What are the advantages of angel versus VC investment? Do they mix? We will discuss with angel-funded companies their operating methods, hear from VCs whether they see angels as competitors, and learn some advantages and downfalls of this model.

• Mark Leuchtenberger – Former CEO, Rib-X Pharmaceuticals

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A productive and functional board is crucial to the success of a young company. The leaders of this discussion are experienced board members and/or company executives. Exchange your experiences on why a board can be either highly functional or dysfunctional, get advice on how to assemble a productive board, and hear war stories from the boardroom.

• Carol Greve-Philips – CBO, Pronota

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The days when only a few niche players tackled orphan diseases are over. An abundance of opportunities, few competitors in the respective areas as well as innovative regulatory and pricing approaches have whetted pharma's appetite for orphan indications. What types of business models work in indications with very small patient populations? Can these models work for large pharma? In fact, should pharma be spending money and resources on ultra orphan indications? Is this an area where biotech should "go it alone"?

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The large CNS indications, especially those related to aging, are among the most intractable and costly diseases and present tremendous challenges to patients, payers and society. Despite the indisputable medical unmet need, the life science industry has made little headway in improving patient outcomes in these diseases. Why have so many experimental drugs for neurodegenerative disorders failed? How can industry work together to bring forward more promising drug candidates and to manage the risk of these often large and expensive trials? How can biotechs drive innovation in this area, if most VCs won't touch CNS indications with a ten-foot pole? Are recent pharma-to-pharma collaborations the light at the end of the tunnel? For this session we will assemble leaders from biotech, pharma, venture capital, academia and patient advocacy for a productive discussion on new R&D and business models in CNS indications.

• Richard Brudnick – VP, Co-Head BD/M&A, Biogen Idec
• David Silbersweig, MD – Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Co-Director, Institute for the Neurosciences, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Stanley Cobb Professor of Psychiatry, HMS Dean for Academic Programs, Partners Healthcare, Harvard Medical School

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• Daphne Zohar – Founder, Managing Partner, PureTech Ventures

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Moderator:
Luke Timmerman – VP, Life Science Initiatives, Xconomy