By Karen Deyo, Senior Investor Research Analyst, LSN

For many therapeutics companies, acquisition by a Big Pharma is the most sought-after exit scenario. The big question always is: how do startups get there? The Big Pharma panel at RESI Boston, taking place on Wednesday, Sept 11^th, looks to answer this, and other, questions. The panelists will discuss how to get in front of the right people at a Big Pharma, the different types of partnerships and collaborations that can be a first step towards potential acquisition, and even how Big Pharma companies may be expanding beyond traditional therapeutics.

We are excited to announce the panelists participating on the Big Pharma panel at RESI Boston. Moderated by Guillermo Yudowski, Principal Investigator, External Portfolio Innovation Unit (EPIU) at Biogen

Guillermo Yudowski serves as Principal Investigator at the Laboratory of Neuronal Cell Biology (LNCB) and the External Portfolio Innovation Unit (EPIU) in Biogen. As member of the EPIU, Guillermo represents Biogen externally to establish a global network with industry and academia fostering partnerships and collaborations focused on developing innovative therapies for people living with serious neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Prior to joining Biogen, Guillermo held various academic appointments at The University of Puerto Rico and the University of California San Francisco where his research focused on understanding fundamental aspects of neuronal function. He was a visiting scientist at Pfizer, the Weizmann Institute and is recipient of several honors including been selected as Pew Latin American fellow.

The panelists are:

Javier Cote-Sierra, Head of External Innovation Inflammation & Immunology at Sanofi

Javier is the Head of External Innovation Inflammation & Immunology. Before joining Sanofi, Javier was Senior Director External Science & Innovation Inflammation & Immunology Research Unit at Pfizer. Prior to joining Pfizer, Javier was the Director of Immunology at the GSK Center for Skin Biology. Javier joined GSK from Hofmann-La Roche where he was Senior Scientific Investigator, in the Respiratory, Inflammation & Autoimmunity department. Javier started his career in the Immuno-Inflammation TA at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Javier has a BSc in Microbiology from Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia, a MSc in Molecular Biology and a PhD in Immunology from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium. He completed his postdoctoral studies in Immunology at NIAID, NIH in Bethesda, MD.

Mark Stencik, Executive Director, Business Development & Licensing, Boston Innovation Hub at Merck

Mark has more than 17 years of industry experience mainly focused in business development and licensing. Mark currently leads transactions at the Merck Boston Innovation Hub, which is a Business Development and Licensing team focused on early-stage therapeutics (pre-clinical proof-of-concept) as well as accessing innovative research and technologies through collaboration, licensing, or mergers and acquisitions in the academic, pharma and biotech communities. Mark has led the negotiation of various complex transactions, including Merck’s acquisition of Tilos Therapeutics and licensing deals with Skyhawk, Dragonfly, Moderna, among others. Prior to Merck, Mark spent over five years at Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Business Development and Strategic Operations roles. Prior to that he spent time at Amgen in various finance roles including Treasury and Business Development & Strategy. Mark holds a B.S. in Accounting from the Pennsylvania State University and an MBA in Finance from New York University.

Jennifer Ma, Executive Director, Business Development & Licensing at Novartis

 

 

 

 

Greg Fralish, Director, Oncology Business Development at Takeda

 

 

 

 

By Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, Life Science Nation; Creator of RESI Conference Series

With RESI coming to Asia for the first time in November, with events taking place in Shanghai (November 12th) and Taipei (November 14th), it’s a good time to take a top-level look at why RESI’s model is such a good fit for the life science ecosystem, and why we chose to bring the event to a new marketplace in Asia.

Early stage product development in the Life Sciences industry is usually outsourced. This has created a virtual global ecosystem comprised of scientist/entrepreneurs, early stage investors and channel partners as well as the service providers that help with the execution of product plans, product development and testing.  This virtual model is unique to the life science arena because of the prohibitive costs of infrastructure and staff for these highly specialized scientific services. The life science outsourced service arena has evolved into a dynamic, global, trillion-dollar industry.

LSN’s RESI Partnering Conference Series brings together companies seeking funding from global investors and regional distribution channel partners.  By forming two-way partnerships with technology hubs all around the world, LSN has unlocked the market potential of previously disconnected players in the life science ecosystem.

The key strengths of the RESI Conference events are:

• RESI is a real investor conference that delivers highly qualified global early stage life science investors with vetted investment mandates to a bevy of early stage CEOs seeking capital for the latest drugs, devices, diagnostics and health IT products that they are inventing.
• The RESI Conference series has created a unique format that runs every few months, which allows both the fundraising CEOs and the investors to incorporate RESI into their regular business schedules.
• LSN has developed an expert system that not only ranks technology assets but also matches the right technology asset to the right investor, making RESI partnering meetings extremely compelling and efficient for both the buy side and sell side.

LSN Next Stage:  Working with Asia partners to take advantage of the global partnering “ecosystem” and build a two way bridge between US/Europe and Asia

LSN is seeking partners that can complement and augment the next stage of growth for LSN and RESI internationally. The ideal partners want to leverage LSN’s global reach by using LSN to help build its global brand awareness, source out-of-reach global technology assets and bring global early stage players to the Asia region.

LSN’s ecosystem encompasses both the ‘sell side’ fundraising CEOs and scientist/entrepreneurs and the ‘buy side’ investors and channel partners in the early stage life science market place. RESI also offers service providers an opportunity to access this ecosystem.

What is needed, and what LSN can offer, is a new approach to the global early stage marketplace and a new set of programs and offerings specifically designed to connect global companies with new partners in Asia.  This can be accomplished by leveraging the ecosystem that LSN and the RESI Conference Series has created.

Click here to download RESI Asia Brochure

By Lucy Parkinson, VP of Investor Research, LSN

The Partnering Platform for RESI Boston is open! Take advantage of this powerful resource to identify and schedule meetings with investors, strategic partners, service providers or other companies in your space. It is a unique platform, with a lot of information on attending people and organizations that you won’t find at other conferences. If you learn how to leverage its capabilities, you can get excellent meetings at RESI with players who are a fit for you, cutting through the white noise of sending out blind meeting invitations.

So with Partnering up and running, what’s the best way to get meetings with the right investors for your startup?

• • Use RESI Partnering’s customized search filters.  First, you can filter attendees by type: if your goal is to raise a financing round, click on ‘Investors’ to focus your search.  The other filters allow you to narrow down to investors who focus on startups like yours.  Here are some of the most important filter criteria:
  • Sector: Does the investor focus on biotech, medical technology, diagnostics, or digital health?

• Biotech Phase of Development or Medtech/Diagnostic Phase of Development: Many investors have a particular phase of development focus that aligns with their fund’s risk profile.

Other filters allow you to focus on a particular Investor Type (perhaps you want to meet Large Pharma scouts, or Family Office investors), or to filter by your product’s Indication to further narrow down your search.

• Click the ‘Account’ tab to fill out your own startup profile.  RESI Partnering provides a lot of fields for showcasing your startup’s strengths and potential.  It may be that not all the fields are currently applicable for your company – it’s OK to leave some fields blank.  Use this profile to provide the key information you want investors to know about you.
• Write a concise, punchy message.  When you hit the Book Meeting button, you have the opportunity to send the investor a message explaining why you want to meet.  It’s important to remember that you don’t have to explain your entire value proposition in this brief message; if you’ve filled out your account profile, you can direct the investor to read the profile for more in-depth information.  The message is more like an elevator pitch; it shouldn’t be more than 2-3 paragraphs and should explain why your startup could be important to that particular investor.
• Send requests to all the relevant investors you can find.  With hundreds of investment firms registered for RESI, it’s likely that you can use the filters to find dozens of relevant investors to request meetings with.  More newly registered investors are added to RESI Partnering every day.  It’s therefore a good idea to send out your first batch of meeting requests ASAP, then log in again at least once a week to look for newly registered investors who might be a fit for you.  (When you run a search, the results are by default ordered alphabetically – but below the Search bar you have the option to change this setting to ‘Order by date approved’, which will mean the new investors will all pop up at the end of the list, allowing you to assess all the new results together.)  LSN has seen that startups get the best results by sending at least 40 requests, so log in regularly to look for new potential hits.
• Follow up with frequent reminders.  We know from experience that the most successful companies in landing meetings with investors and strategics at RESI are organized and persistent in following up. Sending follow-up messages in the weeks leading up to RESI does make a difference, but a lot of companies fail to do this.

Happy Partnering! We are here to help you if you have any questions.

By Jessica Yang, Investor Research Analyst, LSN

New regulations and laws have been put in place by both the US and China that are likely to have a significant impact on the cross-border investments and strategies between both sides. Many Chinese investors and pharmaceutical corporations are still actively seeking investments and licensing opportunities globally, however, it is still challenging for many entrepreneurs to understand how they can work with a partner from China.  It is important for these entrepreneurs to understand the current landscape and look for strategies to enter the market.

In the upcoming RESI Boston Conference on September 11^th, we invite 5 domain experts who currently invest or partner with early-stage life science innovators internationally to share their insights on China Cross Border Partnerships. Navigating the bilateral ecosystem, panelists will touch upon how the current market in China may be different from the US or other global markets. Panelists will also discuss the best ways that companies can approach investors like them and how companies can better prepare themselves if they’re interested in working in China. The panelists are:

Larry Cai, Executive Director, Business Development, Fosun Pharma

Larry Cai is Executive Director of Business Development at Fosun Pharma USA, based in Boston MA.  He has more than 20 years of experience in business development and research and development in life science industry.  Larry is responsible in search and evaluation of innovative assets, ranging from early stage technology platform to late clinical stage therapeutics.  Prior to Fosun, he was head of business development and public affairs at Qilu Pharmaceuticals, helped establish Qilu Boston Innovation Center (QBIC).  Larry completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees in the US, after transferring from Peking University. He was involved in the volunteer based New England Sino-American pharmaceutical Professionals Association (SAPA-NE), serving as its president from 2017-2018.

Grace Fu Palma, CEO, China Med Device

Seasoned bilingual and bicultural MedTech executive, specializes in NMPA (CFDA) regulatory, CRO and commercialization services. 20+ years of experience driving global business strategy, commercialization, partnerships, and China operations for both large multinationals and startup companies. Regulator speaker at key national and local MedTech meetings, RAPS, CABA, NEHEN etc. Writer for multiple journals, FDA News, RAPS Forum, MedTech News. Grew up in Beijing, China and received a Joint BA from Peking University, China, and an MBA from Yale University, USA. Founder of China Med Device, LLC with offices in Beijing and Boston providing turnkey solutions for western medical device/IVD companies to enter China with regulation/CRO/commercialization services.

Don Lin, Co-Founder, Managing Director, Guoqian Venture Capital Investment

Dr. Lin has more than 30 years of experience in biotech industry and in innovation. Before co-founding US Innovation Center, he co-founded Guoqian VC; serviced as Vice President of Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics, Co., Ltd., the largest medical company in China; and Chief Technical Officer of Cardiac Science, Inc , which he helped to build from his garage to NASDAQ national market. He helped many startups to become public companies and/or be acquired. He led the development of many award winning products. Dr. Lin received his Ph.D. and Master degree from the University of Michigan and Bachelor degree from Beijing Normal University.

Kim Nearing, Managing Director, Head of Life Sciences, Cedrus Investments

Kimberly Nearing has over 20 years of international life sciences experience, including in ­nancial services, operations (Amgen, Merck, IBM Healthcare) and consulting. As the Managing Director, Head of Life Sciences at the Cedrus Group, a Hong Kong-based global boutique investment ­rm, Kim is focused on driving international business and investment between the U.S., Europe, Greater China, and broader Asia regions. She is also an Independent Director of a biotech company in Silicon Valley, Board of Directors/Executive Committee Member of a Foundation in Washington D.C., and Regional Leader for BayHelix (exclusive professional Chinese healthcare organization). * Master of Science with Honors from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction from the University of Michigan.

Meng Yen, Attorney, MT Law LLC

Meng Yan’s practice includes intellectual property law, corporate law and trust and estate planning and related matters. Mr. Yan advises both U.S. and international clients on a wide range of intellectual property matters, including trademark and patent preparation, filing and prosecution, technology transfer and licensing, copyright registration and dispute resolution in relation to IP. Mr. Yan also advises client on corporate matters from company set-up to legal issues in the course of business operation and growth in various industries. In addition, Mr. Yan works closely with the firm’s estate planning group to set up trust agreement, will and other related documents for domestic and international clients.

Before joining MT Law, Mr. Yan had practiced law in both Chinese and U.S. prestigious law firms for nearly six years, and gained rich experience on intellectual property law, including patent, trademark prosecution and litigation, anti-counterfeiting, copyright consultation, and other IP related matters.

By Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, Life Science Nation; Creator of RESI Conference Series

Partnering for RESI Boston launches on Monday August 12th, when RESI attendees will commence booking meetings with hundreds of investors from all over the world. Each attendee can book up to 16 one-on-one meetings with investors of all types, strategic partners, service providers and startups from seed to series B.

RESI’s uniquely valuable Partnering experience is powered by investor data sourced by LSN’s Investor Research team.  This data helps startups target investors who are a fit for their company in terms of technology, stage of development, and other factors.  This is why hundreds of life science deals have begun at RESI in the last 6 years.

Who could you meet at RESI?  Take a look below.  If you’d like access to RESI Partnering at launch on Monday, register now.

Confirmed RESI Boston Investors

By Jessica Yang, Investor Research Analyst, LSN

In 2019, LSN has taken RESI on a tour of the world, including our first RESI Europe event and now our first RESI Asia events, coming up in November.  The early stage life science ecoystem is increasingly global, with new technologies emerging from labs throughout the Pacific Rim, and in Taipei, LSN will partner with NARLabs to introduce Taiwan’s most innovative biotech and medtech discoveries to investors from across the world.

RESI Asia Taiwan will take place in NTUH International Conference Center in Taipei on November 14th.  LSN and NARLabs are creating a must-go Pacific Rim partnering venue for early stage investors and life science startups.

As a new addition for RESI’s journey to Asia, startups that participate in the RESI Innovation Challenge will be featured in an all-day RESI Pitch Challenge Track, as well as presenting their companies via poster display in RESI’s exhibit hall.  RESI Taipei will also feature two tracks of panels and workshops, including sessions that focus on investors in technology sectors in the region such as Genomics, Smart Hospital & Homecare, AI in Healthcare, and Investing in Cell & Gene Therapy.  Our sponsor McDermott Will & Emery will present a workshop on Negotiating Term Sheets, and you can also catch LSN’s Fundraising Boot Camp for early stage companies that are looking to build a financing campaign.  We look forward to seeing you in Taipei!

Click Here to Download RESI Taipei Brochure