By Tony Jones, CEO, One Nucleus (Special Guest Contributor)
Every January, JPM Week serves as a useful reference point for the global life sciences industry. It brings together capital, companies, and partners at an unmatched scale with so many co-located events. Processing how to spend their time at JPM Week is a great exercise for companies to evaluate their wider investment and dealmaking plans given not all partnering and investment environments are the same.
How to choose the best event for their company is a frequent question we receive at One Nucleus from our network and having spent time with a range of UK and European companies trying to focus their cash and time resources to optimise chances of success. JPM Week is an obvious hub to target in the US, of course, provided the homework and planning is done to try and be in the right place at the right time. Having spent time with UK and European executives at JPM, it is clear that for early-stage teams in particular, the experience they describe reinforces an important lesson. Access to an event or partnering platform alone is insufficient and depends on whether it is designed to support where a company actually is on its journey and what it needs next.
In the absence of a JPM Week, although the nascent London Life Sciences Week is trying to evolve in that direction, early-stage European companies seeking investment have a far less obvious starting point. The larger, bio-partnering events play an important role and are extremely efficient for biopharma companies of all stages in that capacity. Equally, the larger investment events play a somewhat effective role but are perhaps more suited to later-stage companies with established programs, clear clinical development strategies and well-defined buyers. This is not a reflection of scale, attendee mix or necessarily cost which is a relative term, it is a question of fit and whether that is the right place to be at the right time to justify the budget spend.
What early-stage companies can need is a different kind of forum that prioritises readiness, qualification, and stage-appropriate engagement over shots on goal. Taking a hands-on approach to curating the attending companies and investors, can create a better fit and hence increase the chances of success for all concerned. The early-stage dominance of the European sector means Europe needs this part of the conference jigsaw, providing quality connection to both local investors and channels to global investors active in their space and stage. Translating strong science into something global investors and licensing partners requires preparation, clarity around risk, and disciplined positioning, issues many young companies need guidance to work through.
That is why platforms such as RESI Europe matter in the European context. As an ecosystem organisation, One Nucleus sees the additional, not just competing value the LSN platform brings to our members, providing options over how and when to leverage different forums.
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