By Joey Wong, Investor Research Analyst, Hong Kong BD, LSN

The LSN team will be collaborating with Hong Kong Science and Technology Park (HKSTP) on October 19-20 and Life Science Incubator (Singapore) on October 29 to deliver the LSN Entrepreneurial Education boot camp to fundraising CEOs and scientist-entrepreneurs, aiming to help kick start their fundraising campaign and business developments on a truly global scale, and enhance LSN’s presence in the Asia Pacific region.

In recent years, the global healthcare and life science industries have undergone a remarkable transformation, characterized by increased capital inflow, soaring investment activities and groundbreaking innovations. Asia emerged as the epicenter of this moving landscape and Hong Kong and Singapore have solidified their positions as innovation hubs that offered unique advantages for fostering life science and healthcare innovation ecosystems. Their strategic locations, favorable government policies & promotions, and robust infrastructures make them the preferred destinations for early-stage life science and healthcare innovators who are looking to make an impact in one of the largest and most rapidly evolving life science markets, the Asia Pacific region, estimated to be USD 7.21 billion as of 2023.

Here are some recent highlights on Hong Kong and Singapore’s innovation ecosystems:

Geographic Advantage: Collaboration with China’s GBA

The strategic geographical location of both Hong Kong and Singapore are an invaluable asset for their life science and healthcare innovation ecosystem. Hong Kong, located on the southern coast of Mainland China, is a bridge to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Great Bay Area (GBA), which comprises several fastest-developed, major cities of Mainland China. Notably, there has been a surge in collaborations aimed at promoting tech and life science innovations between the governments, with a new science park established on the Hong Kong-ShenZhen border. In 2023, special measures were placed for medical devices and drugs that were approved in Hong Kong. This geographic position presents unparalleled opportunities for cross-border collations and access to the vast Chinese market.

R&D Powerhouse and Elite Research Facilities

Both Hong Kong and Singapore have made substantial efforts in fostering a conducive environment for research and development. With over 50 national and international research facilities, state-of-the-art laboratories and top-ranked universities, there is no lack of scientific talent and research capacities in HK and Singapore.

From 2021-2023, both Hong Kong and Singapore have set up partnerships with leading global pharmaceutical companies, such as Johnson & Johnson, Roche and AstraZeneca, to promote healthcare innovations and co-incubate early-stage projects.

Government Supports

In addition to research facilities, the government policies in both regions are designed to promote life science and healthcare innovations. These include grants, tax incentives and various financial support schemes. Prominent government initiatives such as Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR) and Hong Kong’s Research Grants Council (RGC) actively support scientific research and innovation.

LSN believes a global ecosystem with strong interconnections and cross border collaborations will benefit both investors and entrepreneurs from around the globe, driving healthcare and life science forward with quality projects being properly funded despite their locations. Below are information and registration links for the two Boot Camps. I hope you can join us and we look forward to meeting healthcare & life science innovators in Hong Kong and Singapore.

By Erika Wu, Business Development Manager, Global Tech Hubs, LSN

Life Science Nation (LSN) proudly announces that California Life Sciences (CLS) will serve as a title sponsor for RESI JPM again. RESI JPM is LSN’s flagship conference taking place January 9-11, 2024, at Marines’ Memorial Club & Hotel, San Francisco, during JP Morgan Healthcare week.

Earlier this year, during RESI JPM 2023, CLS not only brought many their members to participate in RESI but also featured 8 early-stage life science startups across the biotech and medtech sectors in the RESI Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) as part of the CLS Innovation Track. This section successfully connected these outstanding life science innovators with LSN’s global investors and partners.

Read: Interview with Shikha Sharma, Senior Director, Innovation at California Life Sciences (CLS)

RESI JPM 2024 will see over 500 investors and licensing partners and 500 fundraising executives congregate during JPM week, CLS will bring their members who are early-stage life science startups to participate in RESI JPM which will serve to further the visibility and growth of these fundraising firms with LSN’s global partner network. With this excellent event for collaboration, CLS will bring into the spotlight many of the elite technology assets emerging from the state’s most impactful life sciences trade association. As part of CLS’s portfolio of entrepreneurship services, CLS seeks to establish partnerships with respected partnering and investor conferences to aid CLS members in their fundraising journeys. Importantly, opportunities like RESI connect them with Seed and Series B investors, channels, and licensing partners.

CLS is the state’s most impactful life sciences membership organization, advocating for the sector and its diverse innovation pipeline. For more than 30 years, CLS has served the community by supporting companies of all sizes, from early-stage innovators and startups to established industry leaders in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medical technology. As integral components of a healthy and collaborative ecosystem, CLS also works closely with universities, academic and research institutions, the investment community, and other critical partners that promote this vibrant sector. On behalf of our more than 1,200 member organizations, CLS works to shape public policy, improve access to breakthrough technologies, educate lawmakers, and advance equity within our ecosystem by championing innovative solutions for some of the most pressing challenges of our times. In doing so, CLS fulfills its mission to protect and nurture California’s life sciences industry, empowering discoveries that lead to healthier lives around the world.

A new venture capital firm established in early 2019 by a network of hospitals, clinics, and home care services with a presence in multiple states in the USA. The firm’s first fund closed at $100M and is reserved for direct, strategic investment in early-stage companies (with approximately half of this allocation dedicated to follow-on investments). The firm’s initial investments are usually in the range of $1-3M, and it is geography agnostic and will consider all technologies across the globe.

The firm’s investments focus on these 4 verticals: digital health, medical devices, healthcare technology systems, and healthcare services. The firm will not invest in biopharmaceuticals or in vitro diagnostics, though they may consider life science tools. In terms of medical devices, the firm prefers to invest in products who have achieved FDA approval, though the firm may consider and is open to speaking with earlier stage companies with strong fit. The firm expects technologies to have a strong alignment with the hospital network, and these technologies need to be useable and easily integrated with the health system. Practically, the firm expects to have a contract (or direct line of sight to a contract) at the time of investment. Some areas of particular interest include mental and behavioral health, postpartum care, interoperability among devices and health records, cognitive support for millennials, use of voice to diagnose and monitor health conditions, etc. Overall, the firm will take high interest in technologies that help deliver care outside of the hospital.

While the firm has no specific team requirements, the firm does like to see entrepreneurs and management teams with a strong tie to the product or market. To date, the firm has only done follow-on investments as part of a syndicate, but will be open to acting as lead investor in future opportunities, most likely starting from 2020 and beyond.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email salescore@lifesciencenation.com.

A $300 million strategic corporate venture capital fund by a full-fledged oncology pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan seeks to make equity investment in startup companies that discover and develop innovative therapeutic products and/or drug-enabling platform technologies that demonstrate a clear potential to benefit cancer patients. Investment size can be flexible depending on the deal. The firm will also consider the option-type of investments and spin-outs, in addition to pure equity investments. The fund is currently seeking opportunities in the USA, Europe and Japan, the focus being mainly in the USA and Europe.

The firm will consider early-stage (generally research to pre-IND) first-in-class/new biology-based approaches in drug discovery and innovative platform technologies for drug discovery, especially assets that have a strategic angle to TPC’s pipeline. The firm considers a wide variety of modalities (biologics/oncolytic viruses and small molecules) as well as cell and gene therapy on an opportunistic basis. The firm’s primary indication of interest is oncology, but the firm is also interested in immunology, allergy, musculoskeletal, and orphan indications.

While the firm is primarily focused on therapeutics, the firm may review technologies in medical device, diagnostic, or digital health sectors on a very selective basis if there is a strong strategic alignment.

The firm is looking for teams with strong sector expertise. With the support of the firm’s established expertise in the field of oncology product discovery and development, the firm will provide financial resources and company outreach to build strategic alliances to help translate novel research and high potential drug candidates into cornerstone products. The firm may request regional options or rights on a case-by-case basis.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email salescore@lifesciencenation.com.

By Momo Yamamoto, Investor Research Analyst, LSN

Life Science Nation (LSN) is excited to announce our largest RESI of 2024: RESI JPM San Francisco! It takes place at the Marines’ Memorial Hotel on January 9 followed by virtual partnering on January 10-11. LSN is expecting over 500 investors and strategic partners and 500 startup companies to attend the conference.

In addition to partnering, Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) sessions, and educational workshops, we will be hosting a robust schedule of investor panels. Gathered by seasoned investors and industry experts, we are looking forward to hearing about upcoming trends, areas to avoid, valuable practical advice, and more! Please join us to listen in on the following investor panel topics:

RESI JPM 2024 Investor Panels
9AM PST	Big Pharma Strategies for Pre-Clinical & Early Clinical Assets
10AM PST	Cross Border Investments Fostering Partnerships With Global Partners
11AM PST	Health System Partners Innovation Arms Dedicated to Improving Quality of Care
1PM PST	Early Stage Therapeutics A Glimpse Ahead: Investing in Therapeutics in 2024
2PM PST	Mental & Behavioral Health Investing in Technologies that Help Manage Well-Being
3PM PST	Medical Devices Forward Looking Trends in Medical Device Innovations
4PM PST	Family Offices Perspectives on Early Stage Investments

Panel recruitment remains ongoing as we seek out speakers and their stories through early-stage investment. If you are an accredited investor in our LSN database and interested in joining any of these panels, please contact LSN research team at research@lifesciencenation.com.

By Caitlin Dolegowski, Marketing Manager, LSN

Calling all life science industry sponsor partners and media outlets: partner with us in promoting Life Science Nation (LSN)’s RESI conference series in 2024 and get valuable discounts for the members of your ecosystem! LSN is prepping for our biggest conference in the new year, RESI JPM. As we look forward to preparations for this conference during the largest life science week of the year hosted by JP Morgan in San Francisco, we are looking for sponsors and media partnerships.

LSN’s partnering conference series is the biggest in North America focusing on early-stage life science investments and strategic partnerships. At each conference event, we expect between 700-1,200 attendees to participate from more than 8 continents.

Benefits of sponsoring a RESI conference include increasing global brand and reach, sourcing, vetting, and developing key relationships with your target audience, showcasing your product and services through workshops and panels, and using our one-of-a-kind match-based partnering platform to connect with strategic partners and build relationships.

Check out our Sponsorship Brochure to meet your goals and reach your intended audience.

Media partnership isn’t just a promotional tool for publicity and customer loyalty, it can also be expected to generate goodwill and awareness at LSN’s conference series. LSN makes media sponsorship as convenient as possible. As a media sponsor, you would promote and advertise LSN partnering conferences through your communication channels, and in return, LSN offers including:

• Your logo on LSN’s Next Phase Newsletter (45,000+ readership), event websites, and program guide.
• A unique discount for your subscribers for RESI conferences.
• Our media partners receive a complimentary ticket and additional free tickets for every two registrations you provide.
• For additional exposure we offer two posts on our LinkedIn network and a banner ad featured in our newsletter during 2024.

For more information, please contact Caitlin Dolegowski, Marketing Manager, LSN

By Cameron Hurlburt, Manager of Business Development – West Coast (US), LSN

Life Science Nation (LSN) has been at the forefront of fostering invaluable connections between investors and innovators, and for the past decade, LSN has helped 400+ companies raise $5B+ through 45+ RESI conferences and LSN products. LSN understands that securing the right investor is paramount to your company’s success. That is why we offer a key step to the process of successful fundraising, the Investor and Licensing Partner Database.

The Investor and Licensing Partner Database subscription provides details of 3,000+ investment firms across 10,000+ contacts in the early-stage life sciences industry. It is a comprehensive collection of insights and connections right at your fingertips. With over 80 sub-sectors and indications to search and filter from, life science CEOs can craft a precisely targeted list of investors that is perfectly aligned with their company’s partnering and fundraising goals. LSN’s Database is available in two formats, as a standalone database or integrated into Salesforce via the Salesforce App exchange as the LSN Global Partnering Campaign (GPC) app. All the information is sourced and maintained by LSN’s Investor Research Analyst team, and includes key data as follows:

Allocation Information: Discover an investor’s usual investment range, their inclination towards specific investment rounds, and whether they lead rounds or prefer co-investment.

Sectors and Subsectors of Interest: Gain clarity on the sectors they actively invest in, whether they lean towards opportunistic or specialized sectors, and if they are eyeing specific subsectors.

Company and Management Team Requirements: Understand any specific company or management team prerequisites they have before making investments.

Message From Investor: Learn how potential companies should initiate contact, including what materials to share in the initial outreach.

To explore how the LSN Investor and Licensing Partner Database can open doors to the investors and strategic partners who are the best fit for your company’s technology and stage of development, please fill out your information here. A member of the LSN Business Development team will contact you and walk you through the process to demonstrate how our platform is critical to securing the funding you need

Do not miss this opportunity to unlock the path to strategic investor connections.

Life Science Nation Business Development Team
East Coast  (USA) & International	Midwest (USA) & Canada	West Coast  (USA)	Southeast (USA) & Global Tech hubs
Greg Mannix Vice President International Business Development Book a Meeting Email Me	Antoinette Lowre Manager of Business Development Book a Meeting Email Me	Cameron Hurlburt Manager of Business Development Book a Meeting Email Me	Erika Wu Manager of BD, Global Tech Hubs Book a Meeting Email Me