Life Science Nation Considers RESI China

February 1, 2018June 25, 2018 ~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

By Jessica Yang, Investor Research Analyst, LSN

Life Science Nation (LSN) has created a fully integrated global matching platform that allows for buyers and sellers in the early stage life science arena to find and connect with each other based on a company’s stage of development and product. An integral part of LSN’s matching platform is the Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) conference series that that currently is held six times a year in life science technology hubs throughout North America and Europe. RESI is a one-of-a-kind partnering event, in that the event has a 1:1 ratio of scientist/entrepreneurs to investors/strategic partners. Hundreds of investors and strategics regularly attend the RESI conference to source technology deals.

LSN has been approached over the last two years regarding bringing the RESI conference to China. The LSN Research team has done significant outreach to help establish a strong ecosystem of China-based investors who speak on our RESI panels and use RESI as a vehicle to source and vet diverse technology assets across the silos of drugs, devices and diagnostics and digital health.

You Can Help LSN Decide on RESI China

LSN currently has concerns about bringing RESI to China, and indeed to Asia. At a typical RESI event, half of the attendees are scientist-entrepreneurs who have left a major pharma/healthcare firm or a university to create their own startup company, with initial funding sourced from government grants, friends and family, or angels. These scientist-entrepreneurs then attend RESI conferences to find additional funding. The issue for LSN and RESI is to understand if China has a sufficient number of scientist-entrepreneurs in China who are starting companies independently of government, pharma or academia? Also, if the Chinese model of life science company development is different, how can RESI adapt our conference to the Chinese model and make it work? If you’re interested in seeing RESI come to China, please take this survey below to help us better understand how we can successfully bring RESI to China. We are looking for sponsors and partners to support us in this initiative.

2017 In Pharma Licensing Deals: Global Pharmas Looking Earlier Than Ever

January 25, 2018January 25, 2018 ~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

By Lucy Parkinson, Director of Research, LSN

It’s no surprise that pharma companies continue to make licensing deals at a rapid pace; in 2017, LSN’s Licensing Deals platform on average logged one new deal every 3 days.

Taking an overview of the data LSN gathered in this pacy year of dealmaking, we can see a few patterns emerging over the course of the year that show where pharma appetite is currently focused. (LSN’s Licensing Deals platform only logs reported deals in which some financial information is available, whether it’s an up-front payment or future milestones. Deals reported without any financial details are not included in our sample set. Corporate M&A activity isn’t included either – just in-licensing).

Deals Are Getting Earlier

Some deals involved a research platform rather than a drug asset; however, in deals that involved a new drug, 2017 saw a substantial shift toward preclinical and Phase I opportunities. Last year, Phase II assets accounted for 35% of deals; this has slipped to 29%. Overall, Phase II and III deals have gone from representing almost 50% of deals to under 30%. Pharma has become substantially more aggressive about making deals early in an asset’s development cycle. Conversely, as pharma has been moving down this path for years, there may be fewer attractive late stage assets on the shelf than there were in previous years.

Oncology Remains King, But Interest Increases in GI and Metabolic Diseases

Not every deal report specifies the lead indication area for the asset, but among those that do, cancer is overwhelmingly the most active field for pharma licensing deals. However, we have seen some movement in other fields compared to 2016. In particular, appetites for digestive system, metabolic and endocrine therapeutics were higher in 2017.

New Modalities Come Into Play

The LSN Licensing Deals platform is in some cases able to provide information about an asset’s modality, and we saw a great range of therapeutic technologies involved in deals in 2017. Antibodies, drug delivery and kinease inhibitors or agonists remain key technologies; there were also several new deals announced in the vaccine space.

2017 saw several newer technologies become pipeline presences; prodrugs, RNai therapeutics, and gene and cell therapies each garnered several licensing deals, and there were also 2 deals involving microbiome therapeutics.

Asia Pharmas Go Global For New Assets

Have you been talking to the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies about a potential strategic partnership for your asset? That’s a good start, but in 2017 a total of 77 different licensees announced deals for new pipeline assets, from long-established majors to young firms looking to expand on their own in-house successes. These licensee firms include pharmas based all over the world, including several rising pharma powers in China. We saw many of firms based in the Asia region making deals with early stage companies in the West.

If you’re curious, 2017’s most publicly active licensee was Takeda, followed by Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi and Merck. However, with such a large number of licensees snapping up promising new drugs ever earlier in the development cycle, major firms are going to have to fight hard to keep up in therapeutic innovation. If you’re a startup CEO, it’s never too early to start locking in your strategic deals, and there’s a large universe of potential targets.

Investors and Strategics Unpack China’s Complicated Market Potential For Medical Technology

January 25, 2018January 25, 2018 ~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

By James Huang, Research Analyst, LSN

james-wp This year, I had the fortune and pleasure to both organize and sit in on the China Medtech Panel at RESI JPM. The four panelists from Guoqian Venture Capital, Button Capital, Elite Capital, and Unistone Ventures all provided great information and many new insights into how the Chinese markets work. What most stood out to me was their elucidation of key differences between China and the US that many entrepreneurs fail to see, and their explanation of how life science startups can best situate themselves to deal with these differences.

1. China’s Markets Are Very Different from US Markets

According to our RESI panelists, one cannot assume that the market in China is the same as the market in the US or other Western countries. Many companies think that they’ll do great in China simply by running population metrics and not taking into account that China’s health system functions very differently compared to Western countries. China’s system has a different reimbursement process, China’s hospitals are all state-run and follow a different ruleset, and the government plays a large part in pricing. As a result, many digital health companies based in the US and Europe have no market in China, and many other device and therapeutics companies that assume they have a large market in China may not actually have that market.

The investors specifically talked about what they called “fake demand.” Basically, many companies will pitch to them that they have a large opportunity in China based off of research that they’ve done, but the investors say that often times, the demand that these companies claim to see is not accurate based on what they know at all. Part of the issue they say is that companies apply metrics from the US and Europe to China, assuming that many procedures and payment methods are all the same, when in fact a surgical procedure that’s done in the US might not be used at all in China.

2. Keys to Success in China for Foreign Companies

So how does a company correctly understand where they stand within Chinese markets? According to the panelists, the best way is to find a strong partner within China who can help them. The partner could be a strategic, an investor in China, etc. so long as they have roots in China and have experience working in China. Having someone native to China working as a partner is key since they’ll have experience with the system there and oftentimes, many strategic partners and investors have prior experience working with the government as well.

However, how does one identify these strong partners and access them? For manufacturing partners, many public Chinese medical device and therapeutic companies are constantly looking for innovative technologies to license to China. In fact, we’ve been seeing a trend where many Chinese pharmaceuticals and medical device manufacturers have started setting up offices and incubators within the US in order to identify more technologies to license back to China. Alongside Chinese investors, these groups have become more prevalent at conferences such as RESI. As the demand for innovative technologies increase, conferences like RESI will become better places to meet Chinese partners. After the USA, China is the second most represented country among investor profiles on the LSN Investor Platform, and we only expect that constituency to grow in the future. If you’re aiming to source an investor or partner from China, it’s important to use all the information sources and potential meeting points available to build a connection.

Life Science Nation Scores A “Hat Trick” with the Third RESI in Toronto – April 10th at MaRS Discovery District

January 18, 2018June 25, 2018 ~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

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

LSN is pleased to announce that RESI on MaRS is on schedule to land in Toronto April 10th, and JLABS and MaRS Discovery District will be the Title Sponsors. The big news here is that this event will be larger from an international perspective than previous RESI on MaRS events. The global early stage life science investor and partnering community has stepped up efforts to source technology assets throughout North America, and Toronto has a trove of up and coming startups across the domains of drugs, devices, diagnostics, and healthcare IT.

LSN has built a compelling group of investors and strategic partners (dubbed “the tribe”) that use the RESI conferences as a vehicle to source and vet new technologies. These investors all have a mandate to allocate capital resources in order to fill their portfolios and product pipelines and expand their global channels. LSN has already seen very strong interest from investors based in Asia, Europe and the U.S., who are vying for panel slots at the upcoming conference. RESI’s panels will feature investors from Asia-based pharma and strategics, global family offices, venture capital firms, angel syndicates, private equity, corporate venture, foundations and impact funds. The market is heating up for early stage technology, and 2018 looks like it will be a banner year for dynamic global partnerships.

Last year, RESI on MaRS hosted over 250 Canadian and international investors who participated over 900 meetings with fundraising CEOs and scientist-entrepreneurs in one day. These investors went to Toronto with mandates for investment and indeed fostered relationships that led to deals. Part of RESI on MaRS is the Innovation Challenge which will feature 30 top life science startups that has become a major draw for the investors that attend the event. The Innovation Challenge showcases these local startups on a global stage.

MaRS and JLABS will work together to showcase best-of-breed technology to the global players at this event. RESI is also part of the Toronto Health Innovation Week, which features a bevy of activity over the course of five days, leveraging the fact that RESI on MaRS will bring in the global players. Looking forward to seeing you on MaRS!

Also Offering Premier Partnering Plus

RESI on MaRS 2017 Dynamic Statistics

January 18, 2018June 25, 2018 ~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

By Chris Cummings, Senior Marketing Manager, LSN

In April 2017, RESI brought over 250 qualified life science investors to the Toronto ecosystem. The investors came from all corners of the globe; large strategic partners flew in from China to join local family offices just down the street from MaRS Discovery District. Over 900 meetings occurred over the course of the day. Taking a closer look at exactly where investors came from and who they met with confirms the global cross-pollination of early stage life science RESI fosters.

RESI, for that day, was able to expand the pool of capital in Toronto beyond Canada’s borders. About 50% of the investors who attended the event were from the United States, Europe, or Asia.

Investment firm types were far from homogenous as well. No single category of investor dominated the event, creating a platform where every fundraising company can find the capital that most accurately suits their needs.

Investors came to RESI on MaRS primarily to meet with new interesting technology. Over 80% of investor meetings were with fundraising companies.

RESI also offers a platform for fundraising companies to collaborate with relevant service providers, non-profits, and even other fundraising companies.

This data goes to show that RESI on MaRS truly offers an unparalleled platform for players in the early stage life science game to find partners from across the world, driving innovation forward and, ultimately, putting much needed treatments in the hands of patients.

Toronto Health Innovation Week – 2018

January 18, 2018July 5, 2018 ~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

By Gregory Mannix, Vice President International Business Development, LSN

Where Health Means Business
For the second year running, RESI on MaRS will be the centerpiece event of the Toronto Health Innovation Week, taking place from April 9th to 13th, 2018. 30+ events will be taking place that week in the Toronto Region, bringing together key players in the life sciences from Canada and around the globe. Life science entrepreneurs, investors, opinion leaders and many others will converge on the region for an intense week of partnering and discussions. Here are some of the highlights:

Impact Health Summit. April 9th (All day)
Industry leaders and stakeholders from Canada and the world come together to build new partnerships and accelerate the ecosystem. The day will include keynotes and panels from industry leaders, roundtables, workshops and the Health Partnering Forum.

HealthKick Investor Summit. April 9th (Afternoon)
An inside look at the emerging trends, opportunities and challenges shaping the investment climate for human health and life sciences. Gain insight into the state of financing in healthcare today and the industry developments driving investments.

RESI on MaRS. April 10th (All day)
350+ global investors and strategics will meet 350+ early-stage life science companies and quality service providers in the industry’s premier partnering event for funding.

Also Offering Premier Partnering Plus

For more information: https://www.healthinnovationweek.ca/

Are You Ready For RESI JPM? Time To Check Out The Program Guide

January 4, 2018June 25, 2018 ~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

By Nono Hu, Director of Marketing, LSN

JPM week is almost upon us, and at Life Science Nation, we’re making the final preparations for RESI San Francisco. It’s our largest event of the year; if you want to join over a thousand life science executives and investors for targeted one-on-one meetings, you’ve got 5 more days to sign up. In the meantime, please check out the RESI Program Guide below to see all our RESI Innovators, sponsors, exhibitors and speakers. With attendees from all over the world coming to RESI to make new connections and continue compelling dialogues, RESI San Francisco is the most focused event next week for early stage companies and investors. We’ll look forward to seeing you all face to face next week.