Global drug development executives converge on Boston for BioPharm America™ 2016
Sep 30, 2016, 04:20 ET
CARLSBAD, Calif. and BOSTON, Sept. 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 800 executives from the life science industry attended BioPharm America™ life science partnering event in Boston in early September. The one-to-one partnering meetings that take place propel M&A and deals in the drug development industry.
The highly successful 2016 event was accentuated by robust activity, including attendance by delegates from 530 companies representing 32 countries. As well, 2,424 one-to-one partnering meetings took place at the event where 881 licensing opportunities were on offer.
The 9th annual event was held over three days, September 13–15, at the Boston Marriott Copley Square, and featured daily "Food for Thought" keynotes with executives from pharma and finance speaking on pressing topics, including:
- "Has the IPO window closed?" with moderator John Carroll of Endpoints and panelists Christiana Bardon of MPM Capital; David Sabow of Silicon Valley Bank; and Simos Simeonidis of RBC Capital.
- "What makes a serial entrepreneur tick and why are they so successful?" with moderator Luke Timmerman of Timmerman Report, and panelists Tillman Gerngross of Adimab; Michael Gilman of Atlas Venture; and Troy Wilson of Kura Oncology.
- "The intersection of technology and medicine" with moderator Asher Rubin of Hogan Lovells, and panelists Jared Josleyn of Verily Life Sciences; James Mault of Qualcomm Life; and Kathleen McGroddy Goetz of IBM Watson Health.
A pitch contest took place the first day, where biotech startups pitched their company to investors to win a coveted one-on-one meeting with the investor of their choice. The winner was Michael Winlo, CEO of Linear Clinical Research Limited, who pitched on his Perth, Australia-based dedicated early phase clinical trials facility.
A special program track on Partnerships in Cell and Gene Therapies took place on September 13, and focused on industry updates and opportunities in this developing field.
Two concurrent one-day programs took place during the event. Biotech Startup Day on September 14 drew investors to the company presentations given by a curated group of startup companies. A Biotech Startup Day pitch competition took place where qualified startups pitched their companies to a top-notch panel of judges comprising BD execs, venture capitalists, and industry experts. The overall winner of the competition for both "best pitch" and "most investable company" was Ailis Tweed-Kent, Founder and CEO of Cocoon Biotech, Inc.
"We are thrilled to receive recognition from the Biotech Startup Day pitch competition," said Tweed-Kent. "That such an esteemed panel of biotech investors appreciates our vision is exciting. The Cocoon team is committed to developing new treatments for osteoarthritis that will improve pain and function for millions of patients worldwide."
The winners for the category of "best pitch" were first runner up Jeremy Chrisp, CEO of EpiAxis Therapeutics, and second runner up Christopher Per, CEO of Virvio. For the category of "most investable company, the first runner up was Leo Cytrynbaum, CEO of HepaPharm, and second runner up Jeremy Chrisp, CEO of EpiAxis Therapeutics.
The second one-day program, Digital Medicine Connect, took place on September 15 and focused on challenges and opportunities for digital medicine stakeholders in this emerging field. A highlight of the day was a morning panel moderated by Nicole Fisher or HHR Strategies, with panelists from Evidation Health, Pear Therapeutics and Hogan Lovells speaking directly about findings from the just-published white paper, "The Digital Medicine Crystal Ball: Unlocking the Future of Real-Time, Precise, Effective, Healthcare."
BioPharm America 2017 will be held in Boston September 26–27, 2017.
Additional links and information:
Follow BioPharm America on Twitter: @EBDGroup (hashtag: #BioPharmAmerica).
About EBD Group
EBD Group is the leading partnering firm for the global life science industry. Since 1993, biotech, pharma and medical device companies have leveraged EBD Group's partnering conferences, technology and services to identify business opportunities and develop strategic relationships essential to their success.
EBD Group's conferences are run with the support of leading corporations and international trade associations and include:
- BIO-Europe® and BIO-Europe Spring®, Europe's largest life science partnering conferences, supported by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)
- BioPharm America™, the fastest growing partnering event in North America
- Biotech Showcase™, a unique forum in San Francisco for presenting to investors and business development executives, co-produced with Demy-Colton Life Science Advisors
- BioEquity Europe, the investor conference co-organized with BioCentury Publications and BIO
- ChinaBio® Partnering Forum, the first dedicated biotech/pharma partnering conference in China, co-produced with ChinaBio® Group
- Biolatam®, facilitating partnering among global life sciences executives in Latin America's vibrant life science hubs
EBD Group's sophisticated web-based partnering service, partneringONE®, is used as the partnering engine at numerous third-party events around the world, and partnering360® is the open online community of life science dealmakers that enhances partnering experiences throughout the year.
EBD Group is an Informa company. Informa is the largest publicly-owned organizer of exhibitions, conferences and training in the world.
EBD Group has offices in the USA and Europe.
For more information, please visit www.ebdgroup.com.
SOURCE EBD Group