Investor Panels
BIG PHARMA
Pipeline Strategy for Preclinical and Early Clinical Assets
BIG PHARMA
BIG PHARMA
Pipeline Strategy for Preclinical and Early Clinical Assets
In recent years, big pharma companies have begun looking outwards for innovative new therapeutics to add to their pipelines. This panel brings togerther speakers from various big pharma companies discussing topics such as:
- How big pharma sources assets
- The evaluation and investment process
- Key factors of interest
- How early-stage big pharma is willing to look
These panelists will shed light on the process that big pharma goes through when sourcing early-stage assets and advise startups on how they can best make a case for themselves. Panelists will also explore various trends within the therapeutics marketplace, what assets are of interest to their company, and what they think will be big in the future.
Lisa Mendoza, Director, External Innovation & Alliances, Bayer
Dr. Mendoza has served as a Director for Bayer’s Global External Innovation & Alliances, a team of scientists working to establish partnerships with academic and biotech researchers focused on novel therapeutics, drug discovery platforms and technologies in areas of cardiology, hematology, oncology, women’s health and ophthalmology. As part of Global External Innovation & Alliances at Bayer, Mendoza supported the company’s incubator space adjacent to Bayer’s West Coast Innovation Center, the CoLaborator, to support start-up life sciences companies aligned with Bayer’s interests.
Dr. Mendoza earned her Ph.D. at UC San Diego in Biology and after her postdoctoral studies in Immunology at UC Berkeley joined Berlex Biosciences working in the Immunology Department on both small molecule and biologic discovery projects before joining Bayer.
Michel de Baar, Executive Director, BD&L, Early Stage Search & Evaluation, Infectious Disease Europe, MSD
Michel is a business development and licensing professional with experience in all steps of business transaction processes within the global pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostics industries. He joined the Global Business Development & Licensing team of MSD about 4 years ago. The goal is to augment the pipeline for MSD. Michel is responsible for search and evaluation of opportunities in Europe and the Middle East in the therapeutic areas of Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, Immunological, Cardiometabolic & Respiratory diseases.
Jessica Droge, Executive Director, Business Development, Amgen
Jessica Droge is a vice president external R&D at Amgen, where she leads the search and evaluation efforts for all drug therapeutics. Her group identifies and reviews external opportunities in support of all licensing, collaboration, and acquisition deals. Jessica brings over 20 years of experience to her role, with expertise in small and large molecules, as well as medical devices. Previously, she led clinical development activities to support global scientific, regulatory, and commercial strategies in academia, startups, and large companies. She has experience leading clinical trials in experimental vaccines for the CDC and UCLA’s Center for Vaccine Research, as well as heading the Clinical Affairs departments at a series of private companies. Jessica joined Amgen’s Clinical Development group in 2005, and transitioned to BD in 2011. Jessica received her undergraduate degree from UCSD and her PhD from UCLA.
Fiona Mack, Head of JLABS TMCx, Johnson & Johnson Innovation
As Head of JLABS @ TMC, Fiona is responsible for external engagement, innovation sourcing, company onboarding, portfolio management, operational excellence, educational programming and P&L. In this role, she catalyzes and supports the translation of science and technology into valuable solutions for patients and consumers across the pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer, and healthtech sectors.
Prior to joining JLABS, Fiona was Senior Director of External Innovation at Ipsen, supporting the expansion of the Rare Disease and Neuroscience portfolios. Before joining Ipsen, Fiona was a Director of External Innovation Oncology Discovery at Roche. While at Roche, she led cross-functional teams to identify and evaluate opportunities based on their scientific merit and strategic alignment with oncology/immuno-oncology early discovery and clinical development pipelines. Notable activities include the acquisition of Tensha Therapeutics, Tusk Therapeutics and Ignyta, in addition to early discovery academic collaborations.
Fiona began her career in industry as a Senior Research Scientist at Wyeth Oncology and eventually took on a senior leadership role when the company was acquired by Pfizer. Fiona was able to complement internal early drug discovery expertise with external innovation as a program leader for pipeline projects. She also led external collaborations to support IND-enabling studies for anti-sense therapeutics, bi-specific immunotherapies and antibody drug conjugates.
Fiona earned her Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and her undergraduate degree in Biology from Cornell University. Her innovative work has been published in high impact journals and she also has several granted patents.
Natalia Novac, Director, Emerging Technology & Innovation, Eli Lilly & Co
Natalia Novac is a part of the Emerging Technology and Innovation Group and is responsible for search and evaluation of novel healthcare technologies across all Eli Lilly indications in Europe. Natalia is involved in the scientific evaluation of novel life science assets coming from multiple venture funds where Eli Lilly participates as a limited partner. Natalia is an experienced pharmaceutical industry professional with solid background in oncology, endocrinology, immunology and multiple sclerosis. Natalia has a PhD in molecular biology and MSc in Microbiology. Natalia’s LinkedIn
GLOBAL INVESTMENTS & PARTNERSHIPS
A Discussion on International Deal-Making and Advice on How Fundraising Start-ups Should Play on a Worldwide Stage
GLOBAL INVESTMENTS & PARTNERSHIPS
GLOBAL INVESTMENTS & PARTNERSHIPS
A Discussion on International Deal-Making and Advice on How Fundraising Start-ups Should Play on a Worldwide Stage
A discussion of early-stage investments on the global stage. Have the strategies for fundraising changed due to Covid-19? What should early-stage companies do to better attract global investors at this time? What recommendations do panelists have for start-ups to weather through the Covid-19 storm from fundraising, global expansion, and partnership perspectives.
This panel will feature 4 speakers and a moderator. Questions include, but not limited to:
- What is the current investment thesis in healthcare during and post Covid-19?
- What are the major differences in the life science industry between US/Europe and Asia from an investment perspective?
- What global investment and partnership trends do you see in your geography and/or sector?
What suggestions do you have for founders/companies to reach out to international investors, especially at this “special” time we are in?
Judy Lee, General Manager, Onelin Capital
Judy is a veteran in the investment world with 15+ years of both public and private equities experience. Coupled with years of global marketing experience, Judy is energetic and widely regarded as a growth catalyst with contagious passion. Judy currently serves as Onelin Capital Principal & General Manager, overseeing the entire family office’s operation as well as fund investments.
Weiyong Sun, Senior Director, Specialty Medicine Search & Evaluation, Daiichi Sankyo
Dr. Weiyong Sun is currently Senior Director, Searching and Evaluation, Global Business Development at Daiichi Sankyo Group. He joined Daiichi Sankyo Japan in April 2002. He was involved in a broad range of R&D activities from target discovery to clinical development of a number of anti-diabetes drugs. In October 2007, Dr. Sun was elected to be assigned to work for Daiichi Sankyo Research Institute in the U.S. He was responsible for identifying and evaluating in-licensing, partnering and research collaboration opportunities. His current focus is in Immunology Cardio-Renal, Ophthalmology and Rare Disease. Dr. Sun received an M.D. from Beijing Medical University (now Peking University Medical School), a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from Columbia Business School. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Blood Research Institute, Medical College of Wisconsin.
Yao Li Ho, Senior Director of Business Development, LYFE Capital
Yao Ho is a Senior Director of Business Development at LYFE Capital. Previously, he was a part of Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group, where he was a BD Manager. At Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group, he was part of a team that would help the parent organization source, evaluate, coordinate due diligence and negotiate with potential international partners for pharmaceuticals, biologics and medical devices. Yao has also worked at various diagnostics, nanotechnology and digital health startups where he started as an R&D Engineer and was a member of the founding team at other companies. Yao is an MBA graduate from Tsinghua University in partnership with MIT and Bachelor’s in Biomedical Engineering from UC-Irvine with a specialization in bio-photonics and research in microfluidics.
Haolin Sung, Managing Partner, Chaperone Investment
Haolin Sung is the founder and the managing partner at Chaperone Investment, a Taiwan based VC fund focusing on angel and early stage investment in healthcare and biotech sector. He has 10+ years of experience in this field and serves as a board director for several companies including Panlabs, MountainVet, and was the board director at Pharmigene. Mr. Sung also serves in critical roles at several of the Chaperone portfolio companies including Celtech and Caliway to assist these companies in funding and business development/ licensing activities. Prior to Chaperone Investment, Mr. Sung was the director of the direct investment department for Diamond Biofund, the largest Biotech VC in Taiwan and the deputy director of Microbio Biotech Shanghai. He also worked for First Capital Management as a healthcare/biotech industry analyst. Mr. Sung earned his EMBA at Columbia University and London business school and has a B.S. in Biochemistry from Dong Hwa University.
Haruhiko Sugino, Director, Global Business Development, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals
Currently on an expatriate assignment from Japan, Haru Sugino is leading the global scouting activities for Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd working closely with Otsuka’s US and EU BD affiliates. Haru is a part of Otsuka’s evaluation and negotiation team, charged with identifying, evaluating, and negotiating transactions to in-license new innovative compounds that address unmet medical needs in CNS/neuro and renal diseases for both global development or for regional development in Japan and Asia. Haru has been with Otsuka for 22 years in various roles, including sales, pre-clinical drug discovery, clinical R&D, commercial, and business development. Haru has a PhD for neuropharmacology, and moved to business development in 2016 after successfully launching a drug in US on which he worked for 10 years from pre-clinical discovery through to commercialization.
DIAGNOSTICS INVESTORS
New Generation of Technologies Changing Treatment Paradigms
DIAGNOSTICS INVESTORS
DIAGNOSTICS INVESTORS
New Generation of Technologies Changing Treatment Paradigms
This panel focuses on investments in innovative diagnostics, ranging from IVD, genomics, precision medicine, and more. Topics may include:
- Current areas of interest
- Current challenges in this ecosystem
- Navigating the competitive landscape
- Commonly observed red flags
- Successful deals
Panelists will discuss how companies can successfully fundraise for their budding diagnostics technology and the best way to successfully approach and develop a relationship with relevant investors. Panelists will also explore current areas of interest and why they are relevant, as well as developmental and regulatory hurdles and how companies can address these problems to attain key milestones.
Nola Masterson, Managing Director, Science Futures
Nola Masterson is Managing Director of Science Futures LLC. Science Futures is a 26 year old investment and advisory firm. Ms. Masterson is a biotechnology industry leader and forward thinker with more than 32 years of business experience in the life sciences industry and in venture capital investment. From 2000 to 2005, she was a Venture Partner with TVM Capital GmbH, one of the first and largest venture capital firms in Germany. She was a co-founder and President of Sequenom, Inc., a DNA sequencing company which went public on Nasdaq in 2000, and wrote the first business plans for IDEC and Insight Vision, as a consultant to Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and for ReSound, with Dr. Rodney Perkins, the founder of ReSound. She was the first biotech analyst on Wall Street for Drexel Burnham and Merrill Lynch.
Ms. Masterson is a member of the Board of Directors of Repros Therapeutics Inc. (RPRX) and Generex Biotechnology Corporation (GNBT), both Nasdaq-traded companies, and serves on the Audit Committee and Compensation Committee of both companies. She also is on the Board of Directors of Omicia, Inc., an early-stage pharmaco-genomics company. She is Chairwoman of the BayBio Institute, a non-profit organization serving the Northern California life sciences industry by focusing on best practices, entrepreneurship, workforce development and science education, and also serves on the Board of Advisors to Astia, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing women entrepreneurs. She also is on the Board of Advisors of the Professional Women’s Healthcare Alliance and of BioAgenda. She is a graduate of the Stanford Law School Board of Directors College course.
In 2003, she was included in Irish America magazine’s annual “Business 100” and received the Alumni Achievement Award from Marymount College at Fordham University in 2004.
Rick Jones, Partner, BioAdvance
Dr. Frederick “Rick” Jones is a life science investor, entrepreneur and physician with extensive experience in biopharmaceuticals and healthcare.
Before joining BioAdvance, Rick was a Director at Broadview Ventures, a philanthropic venture investor with a mission to support early stage companies with potential breakthrough technologies in cardiovascular disease. At Broadview he participated in all aspects of the investment process including sourcing opportunities, diligence, negotiating deal terms, supporting portfolio companies and serving on corporate boards.
Before Broadview, Rick held a variety of roles in startup and medium sized biotech companies. He was CEO of Anchor Therapeutics, a company with a lipidated peptide platform technology to modulate refractory GPCR targets. Earlier, he was head of the pharma business unit at Devgen, a Belgian biotechnology company. Rick started his biotech career as Vice President of Business Development at BioRexis, a company with a platform technology to extend the half-life of peptides, where he participated in the successful sale of the company to Pfizer. Preceding his biotech positions, Rick worked in big pharma at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, where he held positions in Global Business Development and Global Medical Affairs.
Rick began his career as an internal medicine physician, most recently as Assistant Professor Clinical Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Prior to that he was on staff at the Lahey Clinic and served in the Naval Medical Corps at Long Beach Naval Hospital. Rick received his BA, MD and MBA degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.
Katherine Hill Ritchie, Director, Nottingham Spirk Family Office
Mrs. Hill Ritchie has worked internally for 5 single family offices and as an advisor to several prominent family offices and companies through her firm, Private Capital Investments, LLC. Her current role is Director for Nottingham Spirk Family Office, and her past roles include: Simon Group Holdings, Eden Capital, and PEX Global. She spent 7 years in Switzerland where she was a Managing Director at Palladio Alternative Research and Senior Analyst and Investment Committee Member for the Saad family office’s $3.5 billion investment portfolio. She was a Director for Wedge Alternatives, and also Hedgefund.net.
Katherine received her MBA from Fordham University and her BS in Psychology from University of Maryland. Her Board member activities include: Chair of the ACG New York Family Office Committee, Board Member of ACG NY, Family Office Advisory Board of TriState Capital, the Philanthropy and Education Committees of 100 Women in Finance, Fordham MBA Overseers Board, All Special Kids, Lighthouse Organization and Cancer101.
Yoke Sin, Managing Partner, iGlobe Partners
Yoke Sin was the founding CEO of Integrated Health Information Systems which delivers highly integrated and automated systems for the clinical and patient-administration systems for the entire public healthcare system in Singapore. She oversaw the attainment of the HIMSS EMRAM Stage 6 and 7 levels of IT adoption for the healthcare systems. She was admitted to the Hall of Fame by HIMSS in 2016 for her achievements in raising the level of technology in healthcare. As the past president of HIMSS Asia Governing council and board member of the US HIMSS organisation, she contributed to the IT standards for primary care, analytics and decision support for HIMSS.
Yoke Sin was the CEO of NCS, a Singapore Systems integrator spun off from the Singapore Government, that specialised in applications and infrastructural solutions for the government, healthcare and finance industries. She expanded NCS to the Middle East, Hong Kong, China, Australia and Korea. NCS grew its footprint to become the largest systems integrator in Singapore. She was involved with the development of the national e-government Masterplan and spearheaded SME technology adoption at the national level.
Prior to joining iGlobe, Yoke Sin was the Chief of Enterprise Business at StarHub and grew its AI, Cybersecurity, IOT and digital platform business. She oversaw the formation of Ensign, a cybersecurity company, specialised in cybersecurity forensics, advisory, systems integration and monitoring.
She serves as an advisory member of the KLAS board, the independent benchmarking service for software in the healthcare industry globally.
Yoke Sin is a Board Member of the Singapore Land Authority and is Chairman of the IT Board. She also sits on the Board of Governors of the Republic Polytechnic, SG Enable and the National Kidney Foundation.
Yoke Sin is the President of the Singapore Computer Society which has 35,000 members. She is a certified Healthcare Professional (CPHIMS), certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO) and a certified Project Manager (Senior). She holds a PhD in Chemistry and attended the Advanced Management Program of the Harvard Business School.
Michele Colucci, Managing Partner, DigitalDx Ventures
Michele Colucci, Co-founder/Managing Partner, is a lawyer, serial entrepreneur, and Founder of companies in the legal, technology, retail and entertainment spaces. She has extensive experience operating in highly regulated verticals and has focused on issues from management to legal (employment, corporate, international, litigation, torts, negotiations, business strategy and marketing). Her last company focused on the application of big data and artificial intelligence in legal technology. She has worked in law firms (Hughes Hubbard & Reed), ran her own media production company, owned and operated a chain of retail stores in the political space, ran a political fundraising venue, and founded a legal technology company. Currently, Michele is an Advisor to eHealth Analytics, a digital health startup, and Quantellia, a platform powering decision-based analytics through artificial intelligence. She has served on charitable boards including NOFAS (National Organization for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome), Hope After Divorce, City Hearts, and recently founded her own non-profit supporting Pro Se Litigants in resolution of their legal matters.
Michele currently serves on the public board of Global Indemnity Group. She is a Huffington Post blogger on female entrepreneurship and an award winning expert on E-Local. She was voted by the Business Journal as a Silicon Valley Woman of Influence, featured in the cover article of the American Bar Journal as a Leading Woman in Legal Technology, a Person to Watch by Gentry Magazine, and has been featured in stories on NBC, Inc. Magazine, The Mercury News, and Redbook. She has served as a regular guest lecture and mentor in the Stanford School of Engineering in both Global Marketing and Entrepreneurship and has lectured in classes at the USC Law School, and others.
Michele has a Bachelors degree from Georgetown University, a law degree from Georgetown Law School, and a Masters in Fine Arts from the American Film Institute. She has authored five patents in the technology space. Currently she is working with the Nobel Laureate Foundation as they expand their global footprint to help young scientists chosen from all over the world to attend their summer program where they connect, learn and interact with Nobel Laureates in their field of study. She speaks three languages, and lives in Silicon Valley with her four children.
CORPORATE VENTURE CAPITAL
The Corporate Landscape Morphed & New Opportunities Abound
CORPORATE VENTURE CAPITAL
CORPORATE VENTURE CAPITAL
The Corporate Landscape Morphed & New Opportunities Abound
This panel discusses what strategies are employed by corporate venture capital firms for investments and partnerships with early-stage companies. Potential topics for the panel include:
- What corporate VCs look for in companies
- What working with a corporate VC entails
- What companies should do to be relevant to the corporate VC
Panelists could also discuss the relationship between the corporate venture capital firm and the parent company and how it affects investment criteria.
Andy Merken, Partner, Corporate and Securities Co-Chair, Life Sciences, Burns & Levinson
Andy is a Partner in the Corporate Group and the Venture Capital & Emerging Companies Group. He is also the Co-Chair of both the Life Sciences Group and the Securities Group. Andy focuses on business and transactional matters for a wide range of clients, with a particular concentration on Seed round and Venture Capital financings, recapitalizations, mergers & acquisitions, private equity transactions, and corporate governance.
In addition to his corporate finance and mergers & acquisitions work, Andy represents entrepreneurs, start-up and growth-stage companies, and investment banks, as well as venture capital investors, private foundations, family offices, and angel investors, in formation and structuring matters, equity and compensation, business contracts and general business advice and planning. Andy also represents C-level and R&D executives in employment matters, including equity compensation.
Andy works with clients in a variety of industries, including life sciences (biotech/biopharmaceutical, medical device, healthcare, digital health, and healthcare services), business services, software, financial services, venture capital, investment banking, consulting, legal services, consumer products, staffing, food services, real estate, and entertainment.
Mark Ralph, Executive Director, Digital Health, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund
After completing his Master’s degree in chemistry, Mark joined Boehringer Ingelheim in 2001 as an Associate in the medicinal chemistry department. During his tenure with the company, Mark has successfully transitioned into several diverse roles. As a manager of international external resources, he led the development and implementation of processes that were responsible for increased productivity from outsourced resources in China and India. Upon completion of his MBA (Finance) in 2009, Mark took a new role as a finance manager in the prescription medicine controlling group, in which, he provided fiscal guidance to brand teams in the planning and execution of direct promotion budgets. In his current position, Mark is responsible for leading cross functional teams in the identification and evaluation of new discovery stage platform technologies. Through the management of the research and development contracts group, he is also responsible for leading the negotiation of strategic partnerships with universities and evaluation studies with biotechnology companies and contract research organizations.
Lana Ghanem, Managing Director, Hikma Ventures
Lana is the Managing Director of Hikma Ventures which she helped establish in 2015. Lana started her career at Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC in 2012 as the Assistant to the CEO and Director of Corporate Strategy & Development where she worked on strategic projects across the company’s various functions including strategy, M&A, operations and finance. Prior to joining Hikma, Lana worked as a Financial Analyst in the Mergers and Acquisitions department at Dresdner Kleinwort Investment Bank in London where she worked on transactions for clients across multiple industries. Currently, Lana heads the Innovation & Leadership Advisory Board (ILAB) at Hikma which consists of young Hikma employees whom share a dedication to advancing Hikma and ensuring it is at the frontier of innovation.
Tom Gibbs, Director, Debiopharm Innovation Fund
Dr Gibbs received his BSc in Applied Biology from the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology, and earned his Ph.D. in Microbial Genetics at the University of Warwick. He has spent more than two decades in the commercialization of life science technologies, split equally between the pharmaceutical industry and scientific tool developers. He has been responsible for a wide range of activities including quality assurance, operations, late-stage product development and marketing, and increasingly business development. Dr. Gibbs has broad experience in both start-ups (Cytion, Covalys, Med Discovery) and more established companies (Delta Biotechnology, Molecular Devices, Debiopharm) in Europe and the USA. He joined Debiopharm International SA in 2012.
FAMILY OFFICES & ANGELS
How Do Family Offices View Seed & Series A Rounds?
FAMILY OFFICES & ANGELS
FAMILY OFFICES & ANGELS
How Do Family Offices View Seed & Series A Rounds?
When Life Science Nation (LSN) first launched the Redefining Early Stage Investments Conference Series (RESI), we focused on bringing investors from beyond venture capital to meet face to face with entrepreneurs. Angels and family offices are two of these alternative sources of early stage capital. These investor types are distinct from each other in many ways but also work well together. The Angels & Family Offices panel will introduce RESI’s entrepreneurs to these distinctions and also the ways in which these private capital pools are working together to fund healthcare innovation.
- What do Angels and Family Offices have in common?
- How do Angels and Family Offices plan their investment horizons?
- Are Angels and Family Offices looking at the same sectors and opportunities as VCs?
Rob Manning, Chairman, Cherrystone Angel Group
Robert Manning is President and Owner of Gray’s Point Investments LLC, a private family investment company. Mr. Manning is also the Chairman of the Cherrystone Angel group, a 65 member angel investing consortium based in Providence, R.I. He is or has been on the boards of Windgap Medical Inc, Avaxia Inc., Respiratory Motion Inc., Smartcells Inc., Cartcraft Corp, Narragansett Brewing Corp, and the advisory board of Ximedica Inc. Prior to establishing Gray’s Point, Mr. Manning retired after 25 years with Citibank and Citigroup, where he was most recently Managing Director and Head of Corporate Finance for Citigroup in Japan. He was a Citigroup Senior Credit Officer, and one of five global co-heads of Citigroup’s Structured Products business. He has an MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a BA from Brown University in International Relations.
Laura Davis, Managing Director, Golden Seeds
Laura Davis manages Golden Seeds’ Office Hours program, co-leader of the Health Care Sector Group, and assists with Health Care deal flow activities for the Boston Chapter. She is active in the Boston life sciences ecosystem, mentoring at the Harvard iLabs and judging for numerous pitch competitions. Laura was an academic scientist in cell biology and genetics for over 20 years, as a faculty member at Duke Medical School and subsequently Brandeis University. She did her postdoctoral work at the Whitehead Institute at MIT, and has a Ph.D. from The Rockefeller University.
Ron Paliwoda, Founder and President, Paliwoda Group
Ron Paliwoda is an accidental entrepreneur and seasoned investor, primarily through the Ventures arm of The Paliwoda Group, the firm he founded over 20 years ago. The firm’s evergreen Health Tech Fund targets early-stage innovation that reduces costs to healthcare consumers, including projects that promote cost transparency to help consumers make more informed decisions in selecting service providers; that weave raw data streaming from remote patient monitors into insight about one’s health and fitness (i.e. BioArray); and innovations at the intersection of molecular diagnostics and computational biology that use machine-learning tools to better understand complex disorders (i.e. Genotype Diagnostics). Ron actively advises entrepreneur leaders working to solve care and education challenges at underserved communities, and is a passionate advocate of local working environments where startups are nurtured and high-potential teams can excel.
Marcia Dawood, Managing Partner, Individual Angel
Marcia Dawood is a Managing Director in two angel investment groups, Golden Seeds (New York City) and BlueTree Allied Angels (Pittsburgh), where she is also the Chairman of the Education Committee. Marcia evaluates and mentors startup companies and investment opportunities with a clear emphasis on women led businesses. She served on the board of directors of a company where she was a founder and legal/compliance/financial director giving her experience as an entrepreneur. Previously, Marcia spent 16+ years with Kaplan Higher Education Campuses (KHEC), serving as Vice President of Career Services and also in sales and marketing, operations, and compliance. She is a graduate of the Global Executive MBA program at UNC’s Kenan Flagler’s School of Business.
Merom Klein, Entrepreneur Mentor, Keiretsu Forum
Merom is a business psychologist – who advises investors and entrepreneur CEOs about innovation leadership and the “people issues” that impact success as they teams acquire capital, customers, partners and scale. Merom also works with several angel investment groups as an entrepreneur mentor, including Keiretsu Forum Mid-Atlantic/Southeast and iAngels – advising portfolio company CEOs on their pitches, due diligence, human capital growth plans and innovation leadership practices. Merom is a Principal at Courage Growth Partners in the US and the Courage Institute in Israel. He is a world renowned authority on leadership practices that impact Courage – with books, simulation exercises and assessments that give leaders feedback about the Courage that equips their teams to break free of risk-averse thinking traps and improve inventive thinking with diverse flat matrix teams. He earned his PhD in Organizational Psychology at Temple University, Philadelphia USA.
IMPACT INVESTORS
Life Science Investors Looking for More Than Financial Returns
IMPACT INVESTORS
IMPACT INVESTORS
Life Science Investors Looking for More Than Financial Returns
This panel features four speakers and a moderator from firms that make equity investments into early-stage companies and organizations with the intent to generate a positive social or environmental impact alongside a financial return. Some of these firms focus on impacting a specific patient population, whereas others have broader goals in creating an impact for their local region, or the world. Topics may include:
- What is impact investing?
- How is the investment mandate affected by the impact goal? • How do investors measure and increase the impact of their capital?
- How should startups approach impact investors for fundraising, and what criteria do they use to evaluate opportunities?
- What separates an impact investor from a traditional VC?
Panelists will discuss how impact investors provide capital to address challenges in life sciences and healthcare sectors worldwide. While impact investing market is a relatively new trend, panelists will also discuss how companies can successfully fundraise from impact investors and the best way to develop a relationship with relevant investors.
Lore Gruenbaum, Vice President, Therapy Acceleration Program, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS)
Dr. Lore Gruenbaum joined LLS in 2020 as the Vice President for the Therapy Acceleration Program (TAP), the LLS venture philanthropy program aiming to accelerate high-risk, innovative blood cancer therapeutics. She brings 20 years of drug discovery and clinical development experience to LLS working on small molecules, biologics, RNA-directed and cell therapies in multiple therapeutic areas including oncology, immunology, virology and neuroscience. Most recently, Dr. Gruenbaum was employed as the Vice President, Biology at Gotham Therapeutics pioneering drug discovery in Epitranscriptomics. Prior to this, she was part of the executive leadership team at Applied Biomath where she led collaborative mechanistic modeling projects to accelerate and de-risk drug development for biotech and pharma and acted as the principal investigator on a NIH small business grant. Dr. Gruenbaum held roles of increasing responsibility at Boehringer Ingelheim and Roche Pharmaceuticals driving technical innovation, predictive toxicology, novel mechanistic and biomarker strategies for drug discovery and clinical projects. She completed her Ph.D. at Free University of Berlin with ‘summa cum laude’ and conducted postdoctoral studies at Yale University.
Chris Penland, VP, BioPharma Programs
Chris Penland, Ph.D.- completed his doctoral studies at East Carolina University in the Department of Physiology where he examined ion transport of bronchiolar tissues. A postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University followed where Dr. Penland was part of a larger team seeking to identify a naturally occurring primate model of cystic fibrosis. Although no such animal was identified Dr. Penland was given a chance to further his efforts in CF, this time behind a desk rather than at the bench, when he joined the US Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as Director of Research in 1999. For the next 15 years Dr. Penland oversaw the basic science investments the Foundation made and served on the advisory committees of numerous drug discovery and development projects. In 2015 Dr. Penland transitioned to a new role at the Foundation where he now facilitates relationships between it and biopharmaceutical companies engaged in CF-related drug discovery and development. A significant portion of the CF Foundation’s >$200M annual research and development budget is devoted to advancing promising therapies for the benefit of persons with CF.
Kuldip Dave, Vice President of Research, ALS Association
Dr. Dave is a former director of research programs at The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, where he developed and implemented the Foundation’s ambitious research vision in the biology of Parkinson’s. He convened scientists from academe and the pharmaceutical industry to fund promising research opportunities, and he was deeply involved in advancing the study of alpha-synuclein, a protein linked to Parkinson’s disease.
“Dr. Dave will lead The ALS Association’s global research program, ensuring transparency, accountability and impact across our extensive research portfolio,” said Neil Thakur, executive vice president, mission strategy. “In his new capacity, he will ensure that that the Association continues to drive research that improves the lives of people with ALS and helps us find a cure.”
Dr. Dave received his undergraduate degree in biology from Rutgers University, and a Ph.D. in pharmacology and physiology from Drexel University College of Medicine. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at a biotechnology firm and later joined the pharmaceutical company Wyeth, where he was the biology team leader for programs in the Women’s Health Department. He later moved to Galleon Pharmaceuticals as a senior research scientist. Dr. Dave lives in Spotswood, New Jersey.
Michael Cole, Founder and General Partner, Global Neurohealth Ventures
Dr. Cole is a Managing Partner at Global Neurohealth Ventures and an Assistant Clinical Professor at UC Berkeley. He provides strategic and scientific consultation for healthcare companies as well as investment diligence consultation for VC firms and family offices. Dr. Cole published 20+ peer-reviewed journal articles and continues to also provide direct patient care. Previous positions include Associate Clinical Professor at UC Davis, Director of Medical Affairs at Pacira Pharmaceuticals, and Head of Strategy and Business Development at OccamzRazor. He received his PhD in neuropsychology from the University of Florida, completed his internship and residency in clinical neuropsychology at the UCLA School of Medicine, and obtained an MBA from UC Berkeley.
Paul Larkin, Manager, Research Innovation, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation
Paul is the Manager of the IBD Ventures program at the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. IBD Ventures seeks to accelerate the development of products that improve the quality of life of patients with inflammatory bowel disease by investing in new product development across therapeutics, devices, diagnostics and digital health. Prior to joining the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, Paul worked in commercialization of life science in consulting, venture capital, tech transfer and business development roles. Paul completed his PhD at UCSF and postdoctoral studies at Stanford.
MEDICAL DEVICE INVESTORS
Investing in Novel Engineering
MEDICAL DEVICE INVESTORS
MEDICAL DEVICE INVESTORS
Investing in Novel Engineering
This panel focuses on investment in new medical devices from development stage through to early commercialization. Topics may include:
- What are investors looking for?
- Areas of interest
- Overcrowded areas
- How to approach an investor
- Successful deals they’ve done before
- Common mistakes/Red flags
Panelists will discuss how to meet the challenges of raising financing for a new device and advise startups on how to make the investment case for their novel technology. Panelists will also explore what technology areas are of top interest to them and how a startup can get them into dialogue regarding an investment or deal.
Greg Mannix, VP of International Business Development, Life Science Nation
Greg Mannix is Vice President of International Business Development at Life Science Nation. After graduating from the University of California, he moved to Europe where he began a career in the life sciences and obtained a Master’s degree from IE Business School in Madrid. He has extensive experience in sales and marketing management in the medical devices field. He has worked extensively in Europe, North America and Latin America and he speaks English, Spanish and French. Greg’s role at LSN is to provide international early-stage companies with the tools and strategies to succesfully fundraise and to facilitate cross-boarder investments, licensing and M&A transactions.
Dr. Laurent Choppe, Managing Partner, Cukierman & Co. Life Sciences
Laurent leads Cukierman & Co. Life Sciences since 2008 and has been involved in more than 100 medtech, biotech and digital health corporate finance transactions and advisory assignments for the Cukierman group. His team works worldwide with venture-backed and middle market companies for fund raising, licensing deals and M&A transactions as well as strategic projects for key life sciences industry players.
Laurent brings an extensive international life sciences experience in managing multifunctional teams and setting up new businesses in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, nutraceuticals, animal health and direct-to-consumer markets.
After a veterinary practice and a new venture management experience, he worked 10 years in Schering-Plough (acquired by Merck & Co.) in marketing positions in dermatology, allergy, respiratory and animal health in France, General Manager in Israel and Vice President, Virology, Oncology and Cardiology in Canada. He then served 4 years as General Manager at Bellus Health (ex-Neurochem, NASDAQ & TSE, dedicated to Alzheimer’s disease).
Dr. Choppe is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine of the University Paris XII, laureate of the École Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, CES of Veterinary Ophthalmology and earned a MBA from INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France). He is married, father of three, grandfather of one and lives in Lausanne (Switzerland) and Tel Aviv (Israel).
William Dai, Founding Partner, ShangBay Capital
William Dai is the Founding Partner at ShangBay Capital, a VC firm focusing on healthcare investments. ShangBay Capital has built a portfolio of companies founded by Stanford, Berkeley, Duke, Harvard, MIT, UNC – Chapel Hill faculties and graduates as well as top industry corporate alumni. William has more than 20 years of experience in corporate finance, M&A, and capital markets in both China and the U.S. He has held senior executive roles at U.S. multinational companies. In those roles, William was responsible for overall execution and was held accountable to the highest ethical standards in his business dealings. In addition, due to his hands-on experience leading multiple large international medical device companies, he has an in-depth knowledge of the industry and its market dynamics. William holds a Master’s in business administration with an emphasis on finance from Michigan State University.
Benedikt Luhmann, Principal – Healthcare, VI Partners
Benedikt joined VI Partners in 2018 as Principal focusing on Life Sciences/ Healthcare investments. In his previous career, Benedikt build and grew a digital health start-up as COO, he provided advise as consultant of international strategy consultant firms (i.a. Boston Consulting Group) on product development and commercial strategy to medical device and pharmaceutical companies. In addition, he served as assistant to the management of a European hospital company and focused as scientist of a university hospital on oncology research. He is closely involved in many investments, like Inositec, Altoida, and iOnctura as well as completed transactions, like Amal Therapeutics. In addition, he serves pro bono on boards of various organizations such as OneBio. Benedikt received a graduate (MD/ PhD) in medicine from the University of Kiel after studying medicine at the University of Kiel, University of Cape Town, Yale University and Harvard University. His PhD thesis addressed oncology/ cancer biology. Benedikt has authored articles in leading scientific publications, including Leukemia (Nature Publishing Group).
Norm Gitis, Founder, Managing Partner, Lymo Ventures
Norm has a Ph.D. in engineering, was a visiting professor at MIT, advisory engineer at IBM, engineering manager at Maxtor. He founded and led a high-tech company making scientific instrumentation and became a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. After selling the company with multiple offers, he founded a multi-family office, which actively invests in start-ups, mostly in California and New England. Currently, Lymo Ventures has an active portfolio of 17 companies, about three quarters of them are in med-tech.
Norm chairs Boards of directors of two med-tech companies, serves on a Board of a medical diagnostics company, is an active mentor of numerous start-up companies, managing partner of the multi-family office, and a member of screening committees of prominent angel associations in Silicon Valley, including Band of Angels and Life Science Angels.
DIGITAL HEALTH
Leveraging Software to Lower Costs and Improve the Quality of Care
DIGITAL HEALTH
DIGITAL HEALTH
Leveraging Software to Lower Costs and Improve the Quality of Care
This panel focuses on investing in innovative digital health products that bring new efficiencies to the healthcare system, change how care is delivered or managed, and how patients are involved in their own care. Panelists will explore topics related to investing in digital health, including:
- In what kinds of digital health technologies are they interested in investing?
- What metrics and evidence do you look for in a digital health startup?
- How can an early stage digital health company demonstrate the value of their products?
- What are the main challenges for startups raising capital in this space?
The moderator and panelists will discuss this rapidly evolving field of healthcare investment, and will introduce the audience to the key fundraising opportunities and challenges facing digital health entrepreneurs today.
Robert Garber, Partner, 7wire Ventures
For over 25 years, Robert Garber has worked with early-stage healthcare and technology companies, co-managing three venture funds with $200M+AUM and holding leadership positions with three high-growth companies. Robert is currently a Partner at 7wire Ventures, where he focuses on investments in digital healthcare and technology-enabled services that empower consumers to be better stewards of their health and healthcare expenditures. 7wireVentures is an early stage, healthcare venture firm that supports entrepreneurs who focus on empowering the Connected Informed Health Consumer to create great companies and change the status quo. 7wire believes that mobile, connected platforms, the cloud, and sophisticated insights will improve the efficiency of the healthcare system and improve outcomes for all.
Evan Cohen, Associate Principal, Strategic Investing, Healthbox
Evan is part of the investment team for the DaVita Venture Fund. Previously, he led M&A and strategic payer activities at Genoa Healthcare (OptumRx division), the country’s leading behavioral health pharmacy, telepsychiatry and medication management services company. Evan joined Genoa Healthcare through the acquisition of 1DocWay, where he managed clinic-based telepsychiatry sales. He was formerly a healthcare investment banker at Piper Jaffray, where he advised biopharmaceutical, medical device, and healthcare services companies on capital raising and M&A transactions. Evan began his career at BlackRock, where he served as a fixed income product specialist managing institutional client business totaling nearly $100B AUM. Evan resides in New York City and received his BA in Economics from Northwestern University and his MBA from Columbia Business School.
Ben Evans, Managing Director, InHealth Ventures
Ben started his career as a doctor in the NHS before working in the UK and US across early stage medtech, management consultancy and hospital management. He has a particular interest in technologies that can improve the working lives of clinical and non-clinical healthcare staff.
InHealth Ventures is a healthcare-focused venture capital firm linked to the InHealth Group, the largest provider of preventative and diagnostic services in the UK and Ireland, with about 3 million patients per year. The firm currently has a $50M seed stage fund through which they invest mainly in Seed to Series A companies across all geographies. Though the firm is affiliated with the InHealth Group, the firms are separate entities and as an institutional venture capital firm, financial return is an important factor. However, because of this affiliation, InHealth Ventures is able to leverage corporate benefits to support the growing needs of their portfolio companies. As of February 2020, the firm has invested in 5 UK companies and 4 USA companies. Initial sizes of investment can largely vary, from $250K to 3M and a portion of their fund is reserved for follow-on investment.
Netalie Nadivi, Partner, TriVentures
Netalie has 20 years of professional experience in technology start-up and global corporate environments. Netalie’s interdisciplinary and holistic background, working with start-ups from different vantage points throughout her career, contributes greatly to the evaluation and identification of investment opportunities and portfolio management.
Netalie spent over a decade at Philips in various corporate capacities including Director of Business Development and M&A. She brings with her tremendous transaction and project management experience in investments, strategic partnerships, acquisitions and post-merger integration spanning across several industries including healthcare and consumer health and wellness.
Prior to her time at Philips, Netalie gained experience in a technology start-up and an accelerator that set up companies from stage zero. In both positions, Netalie held senior multidisciplinary CEO support roles where she was responsible for the companies’ business, legal and financial affairs.
Netalie holds a M.S. in Management from Boston University and a B.A. in Legal Studies from the University of California at Berkeley.
Pierre Socha, Partner, Amadeus Capital Partners
Pierre joined Amadeus Capital Partners in 2012 and leads early stage Health & Bio investments at Amadeus. He is on the boards of Inotec, Ori Biotech, Doctify, Congenica, PhoreMost, Quibim and oversees our investments in Lumeon and Organox.
Pierre brings operational experience to these investments, having managed the growth of several life science businesses in Asia and Europe. During a decade at biotech company Avesthagen, he guided the group’s strategy and European activities, contributing to acquisitions, joint ventures and exits.Pierre is French and holds an MSc in Environmental Economics (Hons.-SciencesEco) from Université de Provence, France and a BSc in Finance (Math Spe.-SciencesEco) from Université Louis Pasteur, France. He has attended executive programs at Harvard, MIT and Stanford.Pierre speaks French and English.
EARLY STAGE THERAPEUTICS INVESTORS
Bringing the Newest Therapies to the Clinic
EARLY STAGE THERAPEUTICS INVESTORS
EARLY STAGE THERAPEUTICS INVESTORS
Bringing the Newest Therapies to the Clinic
This panel aims to bring a diverse group of experts & senior decision making staff from VCs, corporate pharma, and other investor types together to discuss topics such as:
- How they make decisions
- What can startups do to be more attractive?
- Areas of high need
- Overcrowded areas
- Common mistakes/red flags
The moderator will guide the discussion through topics including how the investors source & vet novel therapeutic assets, what kinds of technology are of interest to them right now, and how they as investors work with a startup to move a new drug toward commercialization.
Scott Weiner, Partner, Amzak Health
Scott joined Amzak Health in 2020 and leads the Firm’s activities to expand and manage its biotech portfolio. Prior to that he was a Partner at Pappas Capital where he spent 13 years focused on life science venture investing. Scott was previously an investment manager and research analyst for Silverback Asset Management’s life science fund where he focused on healthcare securities investing. Before joining Silverback, he spent three years at Chicago Growth Partners focused on healthcare venture investments, and prior to that, he spent three and a half years in investment backing at Lehman Brothers where he worked in New York, London and Hong Kong. Scott has been a buy side investor in the life science sector for over 18 years and has been involved in over 30 venture transactions including Achillion (NASDAQ: ACHN), Inhibitex (NASDAQ: INHX, acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb), Milestone Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MIST), Plexxikon (acquired by Daiichi Sankyo), Rotation Medical (acquired by Smith & Nephew) and TESARO (NASDAQ: TSRO, acquired by GSK)
Scott received an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a BS in Biological Anthropology and Anatomy from Duke University.
Bettina Ernst, Partner, BERNINA BioInvest
Bettina has been investing in healthcare companies for the past 6 years. She also serves on the board of several early-stage biotech companies in Switzerland, on the board of the Swiss Biotech Association, and as a member of the advisory board of the Swiss Entrepreneur Fund and of the Innovation Council of Innosuisse. Bettina is a co-founder of two biotech companies. Prior to her investment and entrepreneurial activities, she worked for 10 years in fundamental immunology in the US (Scripps Research Institute, San Diego, CA) and in Europe. Bettina holds a PhD in immunology and an undergraduate degree in natural science from the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. Bettina resides in Switzerland.
Bibhash Mukhopadhyay, Principal, New Enterprise Associates
Bibhash is a Principal at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), where he focuses on investing in emerging therapeutics and device companies, assisting them grow and create value. Previously, he was at AstraZeneca / MedImmune as an Associate Director of Business Development, where his responsibilities spanned end-to-end in the deal-making spectrum, from search and evaluation to transactions, with focus on the immune-oncology and immunology spaces. He started his career at Johnson and Johnson, where he held multiple Business Development roles, at different times, in Global Surgery, Oncology and Emerging Technologies. Bibhash’s doctoral research work focused on pathophysiology of retinal diseases using tools of cell biology and mathematical modeling, during which he also consulted for venture funds and start-ups.
Jayson Punwani, Senior Partner, Takeda Ventures
Dr. Jayson Punwani joined TVI in October 2017 as Investment Director and is based in San Diego, CA. Prior to TVI, Dr. Punwani was a Senior Principal at Pappas Ventures, where he represented the firm as an observer on the Board of Directors for Balance Therapeutics, CardioDx, CoLucid (acquired by Eli Lilly), Lumena Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Shire), and OrphoMed, among others. Prior to his six years on the investment team at Pappas Ventures, he was co-manager for the Kenan-Flagler Private Equity Fund. He also worked in the Office of Technology Development at UNC-Chapel Hill, where he developed and executed commercialization and licensing strategies for biomedical technologies.
Dr. Punwani earned his M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his Ph.D. in biology from the University of Utah, and his B.S. in Biology with a minor in chemistry from the College of New Jersey.
Sascha Berger, Partner, TVM Capital Life Science
Sascha Berger, PhD, joined the TVM Capital Life Science team in Munich in 2016. He is active in deal flow generation, investment due diligence, deal and exit transactions, investor communication as well as corporate finance aspects of the fund.
Sascha has a strong financial background with almost ten years of professional transaction and strategy experience. He has a track-record of concluding 20 M&A transactions, five of those he led as responsible project manager in his previous role as Senior M&A Manager in a PE backed global corporation. He was a core team member in a successful EUR 2.5bn revenue cross-border merger and successfully coordinated global merger clearance procedures (USA, China, EU, Korea).
Prior to this recent role, Sascha successfully advised multiple renowned clients in corporate finance and strategy projects working as (senior) consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Boston Consulting Group. He was selected for the global leadership development program in his previous role and was named a global high-potential in PwC.
Sascha studied technology management in Munich, Singapore and Boston and holds a Master from Munich University of Technology with majors in entrepreneurial finance and chemistry, magna cum laude. In his master thesis he analyzed the specific challenges of biotech VC financing rounds. Later he completed his PhD studies in banking and finance while already working for PwC. He is a regular speaker on corporate finance topics for German universities and business schools.
During his studies he already supported TVM Capital Life Science part-time; he supported the IPO of a German technology company at Deutsche Bank and advised Private Equity funds at Deloitte in summer internships. He lived in Singapore and New York, co-founded a student initiative on Entrepreneurship in Munich and in his spare time enjoys triathlon and world travelling.
MEDTECH STRATEGICS
Large Medical Device Firms Seeking External Innovation
MEDTECH STRATEGICS
MEDTECH STRATEGICS
Large Medical Device Firms Seeking External Innovation
In the medical technology sector, major corporations are increasingly looking to external startups and inventors for innovative new technologies. In addition to traditional M&A, these major strategic players in the medtech world are exploring innovative strategies to partner with early stage startups, and our speakers will explore topics such as:
- How do major corporations find new device technologies that are a fit for their pipelines?
- What can an early stage startup do to find the right partner?
- How do partnerships work, and what conditions might a major partner have?
- What kind of technical and commercial validation will be required to secure a partnership?
The panelists will explore these topics with reference to the technology areas that they are looking at for their future pipelines.
Geoff Dacosta, Director, Business Development and Licensing, Medtronic
Geoff DaCosta is currently a Director of Business Development and Licensing within the Surgical Innovations business of Medtronic, where he coordinates M&A and strategic partnership activities. Geoff joined Medtronic in 2015 following its acquisition of Covidien PLC. He started with Covidien in 2008, serving in various roles, including Director of Strategy and Business Development within the Vascular Therapies business. Previously, he worked in the Transaction Advisory Services group of Ernst & Young, as well as multiple Boston boutique advisory firms. Geoff holds an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Christina Salys, Sr. Mgr. New Business Development, Intuitive Surgical
Christina Salys is a Director of Business Development at Intuitive Surgical where she leads the process for evaluating and executing transactions ranging from technology acquisitions and structured acquisitions, licensing and co-development collaborations, and strategic equity investments. Previous to Intuitive, Christina started out her career designing implantable cardiac leads for St. Jude Medical where she went on to hold roles in engineering management and program management. Christina also spent time at Flextronics Medical where she led a program management organization and conducted technical business development activities. Christina holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical and biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, a Master of Science in biomedical engineering from UCLA and a Master of Business Administration from UCLA Anderson School of Management.
David Uffer, Senior Partner, Alira Ventures
David Uffer joined Alira Health with over 25 years of management experience in the medical device, products and clinical diagnostics field. He has lead strategy development, strategic planning and business development activities in these fields for mid and large cap public companies.
David has directed business development deals ranging from M&A, licensing, distribution and co-development for companies such as Medtronic (legacy Covidien) in their respiratory and medical products business, as well as Hologic and Boston Scientific. He has held management roles at Integra Lifesciences and Abbott Labs.
David has a BA from Clark University, Worcester, MA and an MBA from Thunderbird, School of Global Management, Glendale, AZ.
Rupert Winckler, Head of EMEA New Business Development, Olympus Corporation
Olympus is a global technology leader, crafting innovative optical and digital solutions in medical technologies; life sciences; industrial solutions; and cameras and audio products. Olympus’ Medical Business works with health care professionals to combine our innovative capabilities in medical technology, therapeutic intervention, and precision manufacturing with their skills to deliver diagnostic, therapeutic and minimally invasive procedures to improve clinical outcomes, reduce overall costs and enhance quality of life for patients. Throughout the company’s 100-year history, Olympus has focused on being true to society and making people?s lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling. The company’s commitment to our purpose along with our major presence in hospitals around the world aligns with our goal to invest in future developments that will improve the experiences of providers and patients and transform Healthcare around the world.
ONCOLOGY INNOVATION
The Search for New Approaches to Diagnosing & Treating Cancer
ONCOLOGY INNOVATION
ONCOLOGY INNOVATION
The Search for New Approaches to Diagnosing & Treating Cancer
This panel is a discussion on topics relevant to investment in current innovations in the oncology space. Topics the panelists might consider discussing include:
- The technologies/approaches that investors find the most compelling
- Whether platform technologies or single assets are preferred for investment/partnerships
- What criteria do investors use when assessing companies for their portfolio or pipeline
Panelists can discuss the industry-wide changes currently seen, including the advance of personalized medicine and the rise of new therapeutic approaches (CAR-T, oncolytic viruses etc.), and how that is affecting the investing landscape.
Steve Yoder, Vice President, Business Development, Taiho Oncology
Steve joined Taiho Oncology Inc. as Vice President, Business Development in June 2020. In this newly created role, he is leading the company’s efforts to in-license and acquire additional oncology marketed products and late-stage development therapeutic candidates for treating solid tumors and hematological malignancies. These partnered assets will be added to Taiho Oncology’s expanding portfolio of internally-discovered candidates and approved products addressing the needs of cancer patients in North America.
Dr. Yoder received his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Virginia and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. He subsequently received a Masters of Business Administration in Health Care Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Steve has over 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including work in a variety of roles in Strategic Planning, New Product Development, and Marketing at Pfizer. More recently, he served in leadership roles in Search & Evaluation at both Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celgene Business Development, and has been involved in completing many transactions involving therapeutic candidates and collaborations.
Steve serves on the Board of Directors of Life Sciences Pennsylvania.
Anthony Bajoras, Managing Director, Cancer Fund
Anthony Bajoras is the Founder and Manager Director of the Cancer Impact Fund. He also serves as a BioAccel Board Member, manager of their for-profit BioAccelerator investment fund, and is a limited partner in the Arizona Founders Fund. Anthony is a former technology executive and entrepreneur with 20+ years experience leading early and growth stage companies.
Barbara Lavery, Chief Program Officer, Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy
Named for the 1965 hit song by the Beach Boys, Barbara Ann Lavery has a passion for creativity. Whether she’s transforming the landscapes of Ireland, Iceland, and California into large-scale abstract paintings or finding and funding life-changing opportunities to cure cancer, Lavery is guided by an inspired sense of appreciation for innovation.
“Cell and gene therapies embrace an entirely new paradigm,” says Lavery whose years of experiences with non-profit and for-profit organizations, government agencies, and academic institutions helped build her framework of knowledge in life sciences. “Since its inception, ACGT has led the way in recognizing and advancing revolutionary new ideas that really matter.”
As Chief Program Officer, Lavery is responsible for many ACGT initiatives, including leadership of the Academic Research Program and the Biotechnology Investment Program. “This is my dream job,” says Lavery. “It combines science and research with business development and venture philanthropy in a forward-thinking, non-profit environment that’s dedicated to brilliant people who are finding creative new solutions to some of cancer’s toughest challenges. I love it!”
Mark Krul, Partner, Aglaia Oncology Funds
Mark has been involved in anticancer drug development since 1993 and has a background in molecular biology and immunology. Before founding Aglaia in 2003 he was Program Director of the NDDO Research Foundation. He held several positions with NDDO Oncology BV (formerly the EORTC New Drug Development Office) with respect to oncology drug development strategies (1997-2002). From 1993 until 1997 Mark was Research Manager of the European Cancer Center and headed the Department of Molecular Virology at the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection from 1989 until 1993.
Duncan Young, Director, Search and Evaluation Oncology, BD&L, AstraZeneca
Duncan is a Experienced Business Development professional passionate about early innovation and technology, with keen interest new models of collaborative working and open innovation between academia, the charity sector and industry, and supporting and mentoring life science entrepreneurs.
Specialities: Open Innovation, Drug Discovery, Mentoring, Medical Technologies, Technology Transfer, IP Management, Technical Due Diligence and Evaluation, Networking, Agreement Negotiation, Consortia Drafting, Strategy
HEALTH SYSTEM PARTNERS
Care Providers And Payers Seek New Technologies
HEALTH SYSTEM PARTNERS
HEALTH SYSTEM PARTNERS
Care Providers And Payers Seek New Technologies
Healthcare organizations are embracing innovations and becoming a key training ground to test the medical benefits, technical feasibility, and business viability of new technology breakthroughs. From innovation centers to investment vehicles, healthcare organizations have become critical partners for entrepreneurs. This panel will reveal the changing role healthcare organizations are playing in fostering innovation. Topics may include:
- What are hospitals and health networks doing to engage with new technology companies?
- How can a startup get the most out of conducting pilot studies with a healthcare system partner?
- How do early stage companies work with healthcare systems to generate user experience for their new technologies?
- How can healthcare organizations share their technical expertise with startups?
This RESI panel will help entrepreneurs navigate complex healthcare systems and bring their companies to the next milestone.
Mayank Taneja, Director of Venture Investments, OSF Healthcare Ventures
Mayank is a versatile physician investor, bringing experience from practicing medicine, conducting clinical and translational research and working on healthcare venture and innovation projects. At OSF Ventures, Mayank’s primary role is to source new opportunities in the medtech and digital health space and to help lead due diligence on the clinical and business aspects. Mayank represents OSF Ventures as a Board Observer for InsightRx, Epharmix and Paradigm Diagnostics. Before joining the OSF Ventures team, Mayank worked with the OSF’s usability studies team and helped new device startups in piloting their technologies and performing human factor studies for FDA submission. Prior to joining OSF, he worked at Zimmer Inc. in its post market risk surveillance division as part of the Zimmer Leadership Program. He received his medical degree from Maulana Azad Medical College in India and his MBA from The Ohio State University (Fisher College).
Cyril Philip, Principal, Providence Ventures
Cyril Philip is a Principal at Providence Ventures (PV), where he focuses on investments in healthcare technology, tech-enabled services, and digital health. Cyril joined Providence as one of the first hires of the newly formed venture team in 2015. He currently serves as a Board Observer at Binary Fountain and Wildflower Health. Cyril also served on the Board of precision medicine company N-of-One prior to its exit. In addition, he has also participated on the deal teams for PV’s investments in InDemand Interpreting (sold), Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems, Kyruus, Protenus, and Trilliant Health.
Prior to joining PV, Cyril was at Halyard Capital, where he focused on private equity investments in mid-stage companies in the technology, business services and healthcare sectors. Prior to Halyard, Cyril spent five years at UBS Investment Bank in the Global Healthcare group, where he worked on over 30 transactions across healthcare services/technology, life sciences and medical technology. Cyril graduated from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon with a B.S. in Business Administration.
In his free time, Cyril enjoys volunteering, watching sports, and travelling. He sits on the Board of the Northwest Association for Global Affairs, a non-profit based in the Pacific Northwest that promotes experiential education in global affairs for college students in the region. Cyril is a transplant to Seattle from New York.
Rajesh Aggarwal, Executive Vice President, Jefferson Strategic Ventures
Rajesh Aggarwal is a clinician in bariatric and minimally invasive surgery, a global academic leader in simulation technologies with respect to health professions’ education, a health care innovator, a speaker and educator, and a successful fundraiser. He undertook his Bachelor’s degree in Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge, and medical school at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine. Subsequently, he completed general surgical residency at Imperial College London. Rajesh has continued to maintain an academic and clinical practice, as a Faculty member at Imperial College London, University of Pennsylvania and, most recently at McGill University where he was also charged as Director of the Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning. In 2017, Rajesh took on his role in strategic ventures and partnerships at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health.
Linda Maxwell, Director, Biomedical Zone
Dr. Linda Maxwell is the founding and executive director of the Biomedical Zone, a first-in-class, hospital-embedded business incubator. The Ryerson-affiliated group helps emerging health technology companies by matching them with industry leaders and its strategic partnership with St. Michael’s Hospital. Through her work Maxwell helps strengthen, grow and build Toronto’s leading health-focused technology businesses.
Under the Harvard alum’s leadership, the Biomedical Zone has supported over 160 innovators, facilitated fundraising for startup companies in excess of $15 million dollars in private investment, supported companies through two commercial exits and engaged in twenty-five hospital innovation projects.
SEED FUNDS
Investing in Emerging Science to Pursue High Rewards
SEED FUNDS
SEED FUNDS
Investing in Emerging Science to Pursue High Rewards
This panel features four panelists and a moderator exploring the benefits and risks associated with funding seed-stage life sciences companies. Topics may include:
- How much proof-of-concept validation is needed for seed funding
- What increased benefit is needed to mitigate the increased risk
- What is unique in the structure of seed-stage deals (convertible notes vs straight equity)
- Does the early stage of the company lead investors to take a more active role
Many investors prefer to wait for later stages due to the decreased risk of failure. Those investors who are willing to take the risk of seed-stage investment will share their approach and selection criteria when assessing early-stage companies.
Gary Gershony, Medical Device Committee, Life Science Angels
Dr. Gershony grew up in Toronto, Canada and attended the University of Toronto where he graduated from medical school at age 23. He continued his training in internal medicine and general cardiology at the University of Toronto where he also served as Chief Medical Resident. Dr. Gershony continued his training in interventional cardiology, serving a fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta under the auspices of Dr. Andreas Grüntzig, the inventor of coronary and peripheral angioplasty. From 1993-1997, Dr. Gershony was Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories and Interventional Cardiology at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center. For the past 20 years he has practiced interventional cardiology at John Muir Cardiovascular Institute in the San Francisco Bay Area where he is currently the Director of Cardiovascular Research, Education and Technology, and has established a successful Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) program. Dr. Gershony’s research interests include novel devices for complex coronary and peripheral angioplasty, percutaneous valve therapies and local drug-delivery to prevent restenosis. He has participated in numerous multi-center clinical trials as a Principal Investigator. Dr. Gershony is board certified in general cardiology and interventional cardiology and is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the Royal College of Physicians, the American Heart Association and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. Dr. Gershony has authored over 100 manuscripts and abstracts in the field of cardiology and is a regularly invited faculty lecturer to the preeminent U.S. and international interventional cardiology meetings.
Dr. Gershony was the Founder of Vascular Solutions, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN), which had a successful IPO in 2000, and for which he served as Chief Medical Officer and a member of the Board of Directors from 1996-2002. Dr. Gershony was the principal inventor of the Duett™ Vascular Sealing Device manufactured by Vascular Solutions. Dr. Gershony was also the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of AngioScore, Inc. (Fremont, CA), a medical device company devoted to developing unique angioplasty scoring balloon catheters to address a variety of important clinical needs during coronary and peripheral interventional procedures. He was a member of the senior management team from 2003 until AngioScore’s successful acquisition in 2014.
Dr. Gershony has served on the adjunct faculty of the Stanford Biodesign Innovation Program. He also completed an Executive Program in finance and accounting (FANFE) at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2007.
Dr. Gershony is the author of 10 issued medical device patents. He has been a member of the scientific advisory board or a consultant to numerous medical device companies and venture capitalists in the Bay Area and elsewhere.
Dr. Gershony is an active early stage MedTech company investor and mentor, a member of Life Science Angels Medical Device and Digital Health Committee, and a member of the Band of Angels.
Prathna Ramesh, Executive Director, Maple Leaf Angels (MLA)
Prathna joined MLA in 2017. As Managing Director, she works collaboratively with MLA’s Board of Directors to set overall strategic and operational objectives for the group. She manages the MLA48 Fund I & II Limited Partnership, an Angel fund making investment decisions in 48 hours. Prior to this, she worked with About Communications, a Telecommunications & Information Technology firm. Prathna brings experience in account management, client operations and project management. She holds a B.Com degree from the Rotman Commerce Program at the University of Toronto.
Nancy Torres Kaufman, CEO, Beacon Capital
Nancy Torres Kaufman is the founder of Beacon Capital. A Cuban born emigrant and serial entrepreneur passionate about impact and humanitarian efforts. She has accumulated 19 years of experience in advisory, life science and biotechnology investments. As an entrepreneur and financier, she has completed $13 billion of transaction experience in the areas of Aviation, Banking & Insurance, Media, Fine Art, and Life Science/Pharma. Nancy founded her social impact family office, Beacon Capital, some 10 years ago. Beacon Capital has financed and advised over 49 biotechnology companies, with a cumulative amount of $1.5 billion of family office capital invested. In 2017 Beacon Capital and family was involved in the acquisition and repositioning of the Legacy Novartis Campus in Suffern, New York. The 162 acres campus was the first home of Beacon Life Science Center for Research, a strategy which subsequently raised interest from the Palm Beach Economic Development Unit recruiting the project to be established in Jupiter, Florida. Prior to founding Beacon Capital Nancy was a team member of investment boutique Violy & Co a group focused on the expansion and diversification of ultra-wealthy multigenerational family offices. In terms of her education, Nancy was awarded a full academic Scholarship to the College of St. Elizabeth, consisting of an accelerated medical program with UMDNJ for her Bachelors in Biochemistry, and Women’s Leadership at Yale School of Management. Nancy is based in Florida and New York.
Jun Deng, Investment Partner, Joyance Partners
Jun has over a decade of experience in biomedical research and years of experience in venture capital investment. Jun shapes strategy for health-tech and bio-tech related investments, leads the “Inception” program for academies and universities, and has led more than a dozen investments across the US and Europe. So far, Jun has been involved in 50+ investments in technology and life science innovation. Jun received her PhD in molecular physiology at UCLA. She is also an investor at Health Tech Capital, a mentor at Singularity University, and an Investment Partner at Social Starts.
Anya Roy, Head, Illumina Accelerator Cambridge, Illumina
Illumina Accelerator is a company creation engine building and investing in early-stage startups with extensive mentorship, financial support, and access to genomics systems and lab space in the SF Bay Area and Cambridge (UK). Every 6 months, Illumina Accelerator invests in 3-5 startups advancing breakthrough applications in genomics, including therapeutics, diagnostics, agriculture, synthetic biology, software/hardware, and direct-to-consumer. Since 2014, we have invested in more than 40 companies who have collectively raised over $550M in VC funding. At RESI, we’re connecting with early-stage companies, as well as other folks to collaborate with or co-invest in our genomics-driven startups. We’re also interested in connecting with academia and medical centers to recruit talented entrepreneurs to apply to Illumina Accelerator.
Entrepreneur Workshops
Fundraising BootCamp
Fundraising Boot Camp Workshop
Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, Creator of RESI Conference Series, Life Science Nation
Dennis Ford is an entrepreneur and author with expertise in sales, marketing, and business development. He has spent most of his career finding, vetting and launching a myriad of technology-based companies. Over the last decade, he has worked extensively with global alternative investors and is deeply interested in getting funding for high-growth early-stage technologies. He is a big proponent of using profiling and matching technology to find that all-important business fit in the marketing and selling process. In today’s context Dennis can connect early stage life science companies with 10 categories of global partners thus making the finding of capital and distribution channels very efficient.
Dennis created the Redefining Early Stage Investments conference series to facilitate an interactive ongoing dialog between buyers and sellers in the life science arena. Before LSN, Dennis was the President and CEO of a company that improved the way hedge fund and private equity fund managers raised capital and marketed their funds to investors.
Ford is the author of The Peddler’s Prerogative and The Life Science Executive’s Fundraising Manifesto, two well-received sales and marketing books.
Branding & Messaging
Branding & Messaging
Greg Mannix, VP of International Business Development, Life Science Nation
Greg Mannix is Vice President of International Business Development at Life Science Nation. After graduating from the University of California, he moved to Europe where he began a career in the life sciences and obtained a Master’s degree from IE Business School in Madrid. He has extensive experience in sales and marketing management in the medical devices field. He has worked extensively in Europe, North America and Latin America and he speaks English, Spanish and French. Greg’s role at LSN is to provide international early-stage companies with the tools and strategies to succesfully fundraise and to facilitate cross-boarder investments, licensing and M&A transactions.
Negotiating Term Sheets
Negotiating Term Sheets
Negotiating Term Sheets: What’s Best for the Company and What’s Best for You?
This interactive workshop, organized and led by McDermott Will & Emery, will provide wisdom to early stage CEOs and management on the latest trends in term sheets, with a focus on founder and management equity opportunities. The workshop will cover common issues of concern to entrepreneurs (valuation/dilution, liquidation preference, board makeup, protective provisions, anti-dilution). Experts from the legal, investment and entrepreneurial community will discuss the interplay of financing milestones in the term sheet discussion.
- Roger Kuan, Partner, McDermott Will & Emery
- Mark Mihanovic, Partner, McDermott Will & Emery
- Ha Nguyen, Sr. Director, Office of Technology Development, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
- Jeffrey Cleland, Chairman, CEO & President, Ashvattha Therapeutics
- John Demeter, General Counsel, Khosla Ventures
Company Valuation for Fundraising
Company Valuation for Fundraising
Company Valuation for Fundraising
Valuation is a key factor for any biotech, medtech and pharma company. Learn what the key value drivers are when speaking to investors and how to calculate and determine the right assumption for the valuation of your company. Valuation in Life Sciences is probably one of the most difficult tasks. What should be the equity share to a new investor? How much dilution do you have to accept? These are critical question for most life sciences companies. However, valuation is more than just numbers – its about the assumptions and about understanding the business, so it comes down to the potential of a product or company and the associated risk. In this workshop you will learn according to an example what the key parameters are and how a valuation can be structured.
Patrik Frei, Founder & CEO, Venture Valuation AG, Switzerland
NIH Funding and Support for Small Business Product Development
NIH Funding and Support for Small Business Product Development
The NIH Small Business Programs (SBIR and STTR) provide non-dilutive funding and a wide range of business development services to small businesses developing life science products and services. The NIH Small Business Programs invest over 1.2 billion dollars every year in more than 1,500 United States small businesses. In this panel, startups, investors, and strategic partners can learn about NIH small business funding opportunities and resources from representatives from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institute on Aging (NIA), and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The panel will also highlight how NIH has partnered with major life science organizations and conferences to showcase innovative NIH-supported technologies to investors and industry strategic partners. These NIH programs and services help small businesses overcome development challenges and strengthen the early-stage product development pipeline.
Matthew McMahon, PhD, Director, SEED, NIH
Matt leads the SEED Office to accelerate NIH-funded biomedical innovations from bench to bedside. SEED supports a comprehensive translational research ecosystem that includes a national network of academic proof-of-concept centers and a small business program that invests over $1 billion annually in a portfolio of more than 1500 life science companies. SEED also provides technical and entrepreneurial advisory services and builds relationships with business, finance, and healthcare stakeholders to ensure these innovations will impact patients’ lives. Matt has a diverse background in academia, biomedical small business, congressional policy, and NIH program development and management. His previous experience also includes service as the principal scientist for the bionic eye company Second Sight Medical Products and as a staff member on both the United States Senate and House of Representatives committees responsible for science, technology, and innovation policy.
Stephanie Fertig, MBA, HHS Small Business Program Lead, NIH
Ms. Stephanie J. Fertig is the HHS Small Business Program Lead in SEED (Small business Education and Entrepreneurial Development) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She currently oversees the Health and Human Services (HHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, which includes the NIH SBIR and STTR programs. The HHS SBIR and STTR programs are congressionally mandated set-aside programs that provide over $1.2 billion dollars per year to small business concerns. Prior to joining SEED, she managed the SBIR and STTR Programs at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). During her over 15 years at NIH she has led the development and implementation of multiple programs focused on small businesses and translational research. Ms. Fertig has a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry with a major in Physics from the University of Virginia and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.
Chris Sasiela, PhD, Team Lead, Innovator Support, SEED
Dr. Sasiela has over a decade of experience providing support and consultation to academic innovators and small businesses engaged in therapeutic, device, and diagnostic development programs. As the Innovator Support Team Lead in SEED (Small business Education and Entrepreneurial Development) in the Office of Extramural Research at the National Institutes of Health, Chris coordinates the activities of a team of seasoned professionals with experience in product and business strategy, business development, fundraising, partnerships, reimbursement, and regulatory affairs. Chris is passionate about enabling NIH’s innovator community to progress their discoveries as far as science and human biology permit. Starting her career as a researcher, Chris worked in basic research at the University of Southern California and the University of Maryland, and in drug discovery, development, and improvement groups at Baxter, the Department of the Army, and the National Cancer Institute. Chris transitioned from a research to a regulatory career path via an Interagency Oncology Taskforce Fellowship at the US Food and Drug Administration. Continuing her regulatory career path at Social & Scientific Systems, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Chris deepened her experience working with product development researchers understand, develop, and execute regulatory plans to get their innovative technologies from ideas to first-in-human and beyond. She regularly conducts project-focused consultations, delivers educational seminars, and develops regulatory resources for internal and external audiences. Dr. Sasiela earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Whittier College, a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Maryland, School of Pharmacy, and has maintained Regulatory Affairs Certification status from the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society since 2011.
John Sullivan, MBA, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, SEED
John Sullivan has been a leader in healthcare technology innovation throughout his career, with extensive experience in operating, investing in, developing and acquiring market-leading businesses. Prior to the NIH, John worked with healthcare leaders such as Cardinal Health (VP, Strategy and Business Development) and Boston Scientific. He was a Partner with Foundation Medical Partners, a national healthcare venture capital firm with financial backing from the Cleveland Clinic. He also helped to start Molecular Staging Inc., a biotechnology tools company spun out of Yale University School of Medicine. Working with Yale University founders, he helped grow the company to over 100 employees, develop its product and service lines, and ultimately sell the company to Qiagen, a global life sciences company. He has served on the boards of directors of Semprus Biosciences (acquired, Teleflex), Coapt Systems (acquired, MicroAire), KEW Group, and Direct Flow Medical and held board observer roles at BridgePoint Medical (acquired, Boston Scientific) and Explorys (acquired, IBM). John earned a BS in Industrial Engineering degree with distinction from Stanford University and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Non-Dilutive Startup Funding & Resources from the NIH
Non-Dilutive Startup Funding & Resources from the NIH
NIH recently created the SEED Office to accelerate NIH-funded biomedical innovations from bench to bedside. SEED supports a comprehensive translational research ecosystem that includes a nation-wide network of academic proof-of-concept centers and a small business program that invests over $1 billion annually in a portfolio of more than 1500 life science companies. SEED also provides technical and entrepreneurial advisory services and builds relationships with business, finance, and healthcare stakeholders to ensure these innovations will impact patients’ lives. This panel will highlight NIH’s strategic focus in early product development, resources and opportunities available to academic and small business innovators, and the ways strategic partners and investors can partner with NIH to access novel technologies.
Intellectual Property (IP) Workshop & Fireside Chat
Intellectual Property (IP) Workshop & Fireside Chat
Economic Frameworks and Impacts: How will AI impact how we innovate and create, produce, and deliver new products and services, and work and engage with one another? How might the new tools and insights offered by AI improve our ability to recommend and assess changes to IP policy?
Patents and Trade Secrets: How can AI-related inventions be protected? What are the challenges that inventors and rights-holders face, whether they are a Fortune 500 company, a start-up, or a nonprofit?
Trademarks: Will AI change the likelihood of confusion and liability? How will it impact the branding of products and the protection of trademarks?
Copyright: Who is the author of AI-generated content? Are such works copyrightable? What policy did implications arise from the use of copyrighted works for the purposes of machine learning?
IP Enforcement: Counterfeit goods make up an estimated $461 billion or 2.5 percent of all global trade. How is AI improving counterfeit detection? And how can we leverage new technologies to solve this age-old problem?
International Perspectives: How are other major economies addressing AI, and in what ways do they differ from the U.S. approach? How do those differences matter to U.S. companies and researchers?
Howard Susser, JD, Partner & Chair, IP Litigation, Burns & Levinson LLP
Howard Susser is a Partner and Chair of IP Litigation in the Firm’s Intellectual Property Group. He is also a member of the Firm’s Business Litigation, International, Life Sciences and Science & Technology Groups. He has extensive experience in litigation involving patent, trademark, false advertising, unfair competition, copyright, licensing, trade secret, employment and antitrust laws. For over three decades, Howard has litigated intellectual property cases in the nation’s courts concerning diverse high tech and life sciences industries. A member of the Patent Bar with an engineering background, Howard advises clients at the intersection of science, technology, and law. He has represented clients in computer hardware and software, telecommunications, electronics, Internet, e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical device, chemicals, and numerous other high and low technology industries as to intellectual property and related matters. Howard has conducted numerous commercial arbitration and mediation proceedings involving intellectual property. If litigation cannot be avoided through alternative dispute resolution techniques or negotiation, he brings a hands-on, detail-oriented style to the table, and develops close client relationships to understand and efficiently achieve a client’s business objectives. Howard regularly counsels clients in complex business transactions involving intellectual property assets, including drafting and negotiating research and development, sales and license agreements, and supporting M&A, funding rounds and other due diligence. Howard also counsels clients regarding patent prosecution, and has conducted U.S. Patent & Trademark Office proceedings, including inter partes reviews, patent reexaminations and interferences, as well as trademark oppositions and cancellations.
Mark Schonfeld, JD, Partner, Burns & Levinson LLP
Mark Schonfeld concentrates his practice in complex business and intellectual property litigation, especially protection of corporate intellectual property through effective methods of trademark, copyright and patent litigation. Mark has extensive experience in protecting the world’s leading brand names from infringement and is responsible for the seizure of millions of dollars in counterfeit merchandise from distribution centers, retail operations and factories that manufacture counterfeit products. He is highly skilled in preventing and stopping “gray market” imports by using innovative techniques. Mark has conducted software audit raids for major software companies and several of his cases have resulted in federal criminal prosecution. He obtained the first “asset freeze” order in Massachusetts in a trademark counterfeiting case. Mark also serves as counsel to the Imaging Supplies Coalition, an organization formed by prominent computer companies to combat counterfeiting and unfair and deceptive trade practices affecting the computer supplies industry.
Christopher Schultz, JD, Partner, Burns & Levinson LLP
Christopher S. Schultz is a patent attorney who has litigated and counseled clients in intellectual property law for over twenty years and is the head of the firm’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) practice. He is an experienced lead trial attorney who has successfully litigated patent and trade secret matters in federal district court, the PTAB, the International Trade Commission (ITC), and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Mr. Schultz lectures on patent litigation at the Practicing Law Institute in New York City. Mr. Schultz has a degree in electrical engineering and is skilled on matters involving complex technologies, particularly in computer hardware and software, networking, wireless telecommunications, artificial intelligence, and medical devices. In his counseling practice, Chris advises clients in licensing, due diligence, freedom to operate, portfolio management, patent prosecution, and monetization of IP rights. He also works extensively with startups and venture-backed companies. Prior to becoming an attorney, Chris was a patent examiner in the electrical engineering art. He also served as a full-time intern for the Honorable Randall R. Rader at the U.S. Court of Appeals to the Federal Circuit. In his pro bono work, Chris works on matters with the New England Innocence Project.
Critical Funding: How Non-Dilutive Technology & Equipment Financing Works
Critical Funding: How Non-Dilutive Technology & Equipment Financing Works
Pediatric Drug Development, Critical Regulatory Insights
Pediatric Drug Development, Critical Regulatory Insights
Paidion CEO Barry Mangum shares invaluable insights for pediatric drug development programs. Barry explores the current industry landscape, regulatory perspectives, and emerging issues such as the Orphan Drug Statute, Priority Review and Rare Pediatric designation so that readers can understand “A Pediatric Practical Approach.”
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