LSN: 10 Years Connecting Players In the Life Sciences

March 30, 2023 ~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

By Greg Mannix, Vice President International Business Development, General Manager Europe, LSN

At Life Science Nation (LSN) for the past 10 years, we have been connecting early-stage companies with investors and licensing partners who are a fit for their technology and stage of development. We saw that startups were struggling to identify the right partners outside of their immediate communities and really needed a conduit to the rest of the world. Fast forward 10 years and LSN is helping to make those connections in an array of different ways!

Watch the video below to learn more about the LSN story.

LSN Entrepreneurial Education Program at BioMedSA

March 30, 2023March 30, 2023 ~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

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

Life Science Nation (LSN) will be delivering an Entrepreneurial Education Workshop in concert with BioMedSA’s annual event, BioFest Invest! BioFest Invest will held on Wednesday, April 19th at the University of the Incarnate Word, and will feature programming topics relevant to life science entrepreneurs, a pitch competition, and networking opportunities with a wide array of resources and potential collaborative partners and investors.

During the week leading up to the event, on Thursday, April 13th, LSN will be hosting a one-day educational course for a group of BioMedSA’s fundraising startups who will be attending and pitching at BioFest Invest. This LSN one-day education course will be hosted by LSN’s CEO, Dennis Ford, and Business Development Manager, Antoinette Lowre, and will feature three lectures and 1 on 1 coaching sessions revolving around developing a compelling storyline and netting out the value of the founders, team, technology and market impact.

Entrepreneurial Education Courses at BioMedSA

1. It All Starts with The Story

The most successful entrepreneurs are always the best storytellers. Finding a way to naturally formulate your company’s unique story and portraying this through multiple modalities whether it be a 1-minute elevator pitch or a 12-slide pitch deck is one of the most effective ways to get potential investors and partners on board with your value proposition. This bootcamp will cover the importance of entrepreneurial agency, finding your voice and developing a compelling narrative for the different players that will emerge along a deal chain, and language tools to refine your hook.

2. First-Time CEOs: Avoiding Pitfalls

This session will cover some of the most common pitfalls that catch first-time and serial entrepreneurs off guard. From false premise and being tentative to surrounding yourself with executives that do not have augmentative and complimentary skillsets, there are many things that can slow the growth of your early-stage life science entity. By learning how to avoid these issues and not run yourself over, your chances of making it to the market will increase greatly.

3. Branding & Messaging

Discuss the importance of preparing, planning and executing a global fundraising or licensing campaign. Learn how to position and pitch your company by telling your story and communicating effectively through a tagline, elevator pitch, tear sheet, executive summary, and slide deck.

1-1 sessions to perfect your story and marketing materials.

If you have any questions about hosting an LSN education course, or are interested in meeting LSN in San Antonio, Texas, please contact Antoinette Lowre.

Hot Investor Mandate: Family Office Invests in Clinical Stage Devices & Diagnostics Companies Interested in Expanding into the Canada Market

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A family office based in Canada looks to invest in clinical stage medical devices and diagnostics technologies as well as digital health companies. The firm looks to invest in companies with large market opportunities. The firm prefers to invest in Canadian companies, but will consider companies outside of Canada if they wish to expand to the Canadian market. The firm prefers to co-invest alongside other investors, and will invest $100,000-$250,000 in the initial investment, potentially contributing to additional rounds of funding.

The firm is looking for device companies, either in the medical device or diagnostic space. The firm will also consider digital health companies, focusing on mobile applications. For devices and diagnostics, the firm prefers 510k devices, but will consider PMA devices as well. These devices should be in the clinical development phase. The firm is indication agnostic, but does look for there to be a large market potential.

The firm looks for companies with strong management teams with good team dynamics, although previous entrepreneurial experience is not required.

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

Hot Investor Mandate: Cross-Border Fund Seeks Global Opportunities in MedTech, Most Interested in CVD, Chronic Diseases, and More

March 30, 2023 ~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

A venture capital fund founded in 2015 and based in China closed its second fund at ¥100M that again focuses on opportunities in China. The firm invests in early-stage life science ventures from Seed to Series A. Typical initial size of investment ranges from $500k-1M USD.

The firm will consider medical devices especially minimally invasive medical devices, and diagnostics. Within medical devices, the fund is interested in 510k and software-enabled devices and looks at the in-development phase (must include proof of concept). Particularly, the firm is interested in devices related to digital technology such as artificial intelligence. Within diagnostics, the firm is interested in in-vitro diagnostics that are in-development. The main indication areas of interest are heart disease, infectious disease, chronic disease, and rehabilitation.

The firm prefers to work with a management team with established industry partners. The fund also prefers the CEO to have expertise in the respective life science fields. The fund is open to both leading and co-investing and will not require board seating. Although it has a China focus, the fund has supporting partners who are able to work with offshore companies that are interested in attaining proof of concept in China.

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

Hot Investor Mandate: USA Investment Firm Actively Seeks Novel Medical Devices & Smart Manufacturing Technologies With Strong IP

March 30, 2023 ~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

A venture capital firm founded in 2016 and is headquartered in the USA. The firm currently manages 3 funds, and also has an advisory business that is solely dedicated for companies trying to enter the Asian market. The firm has a focus on early-stage investments (pre-Series A to Series B) and has portfolio companies spread over the USA. The firm’s initial investment size varies, but typically falls under the $250K – 2.5M range and is dedicated to follow-on financings of existing portfolio companies. The firm invests only in USA and Canada.

Within life sciences/healthcare, the firm is most interested in medical devices and smart manufacturing in life sciences, and is much more selective when it comes to biotech or therapeutics investments. Most importantly, the firm is focused on assessing the company’s patent status and the degree of novelty. While the firm is agnostic to stage of development, ideally the companies should have a working prototype and significant key data that validates the high potential of their technology. In terms of different types of technologies or diseases areas/indications, the firm is opportunistic.

The firm has no specific management team requirements, but considers patent strategy key in reviewing potential investments. Companies should have key patents issued or a clear strategy on improving their IP portfolio. The firm has great expertise in helping USA/Canada-based companies enter Asian markets (i.e. greater China) and extend their IP coverage. The firm can act as either lead or co-investor and will seek a board seat if they come in as a lead investor.

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

Hot Investor Mandate: China-Based VC Firm With an Inaugural USD Fund Seeks Investment Opportunities in Therapeutics & Diagnostics Addressing Unmet Clinical Need

March 30, 2023 ~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

A venture capital firm founded in 2014 and based in China. The firm currently holds ¥3B in assets under management. Historically, the firm focused on investing only in China. However, the current fund of $300M USD is focused on opportunities in the United States. The firm invests in early-stage life science ventures from Seed to Series B. Typical initial size of investment ranges from $100k-5M USD.

The firm will consider cost-effective therapeutics and diagnostics that reach urgent and unmet clinical needs. Within therapeutics, the firm is interested in cell & gene therapy, gene editing, and organoids, and looks at pre-clinical to Phase III. Within diagnostics, the firm is open to all types of technologies and phases of development.

With an overarching focus on the aging population, the firm is interested in technologies that can improve the quality and longevity of life. The main indication areas of interest are neurological pathways, CNS, and chronic and acute pain management.

The firm does not have any requirements of the management team. Further down the road, the firm is able to support companies that are interested in entering the China market. However, having a China angle is not necessary for investment. The firm intends to act as a co-investor.

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

Congratulations to the IPC Winners, Next Up RESI Boston, June 5-7

March 22, 2023 ~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

By Claire Jeong, Chief Conference Officer, Vice President of Investor Research, Asia BD, LSN

Congratulations to all Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) finalists that participated in Digital RESI March last week. During the 3-day virtual conference, 30+ pitch companies were featured on a dedicated landing page that hosted their supplementary materials and participated in a live Q&A session with a panel of judges, who are active investors or industry experts in the space. They presented their unique and innovative technologies and products to the RESI attendees, and these technologies and products represent the future of life science arena. RESI attendees voted for their favorite pitch companies. Congratulations to the three IPC winners!

1st Place

Recognized as the 2022 Top Emerging Company at BIO International, SiVEC Biotechnologies has developed BactPac™, a live biotherapeutic delivery platform to enable the next generation of nucleic acid and gene editing therapies. BactPac is engineered to produce therapeutic payloads (mRNA, siRNA, proteins, and CRISPR/Cas) and safely deliver these payloads to targeted tissues (e.g., pancreas, lungs, heart and brain) that cannot be targeted by viral vectors and lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). BactPac can generate large and varied therapeutic moieties that have applications in a wide range of disease indications, including cancer, genetic, infectious, and chronic diseases. Using the BactPac platform, SiVEC is developing a first-in-class therapeutic pipeline targeting a range of therapeutic areas, including oncology, respiratory diseases, and rare genetic diseases. SiVEC has secured nearly $4M in NIH SBIR funding, has a strong patent portfolio, and has an early collaboration with a gene-editing company. We are seeking a $7M seed investment.

Check Out SiVEC Biotechnologies’ Dedicated Page

2nd Place

Reglagene is a therapeutics company dedicated to developing transformational therapies for brain diseases. Reglagene’s product RGN6024 demonstrated proof of concept, safely shrinking tumors in a therapy resistant animal model of brain cancer and beating todays standard of care head-to-head. RGN6024 is the subject of a 2023 patent filing, has a concise manufacturing process, and a risk-mitigating, diversified clinical development plan. We anticipate the start of human clinical trials in mid 2024. Reglagene’s second product in development leverages what we’ve learned from RGN6024 biology to target diseases driven by neuroinflammation, such as Parkinson’s Disease.

Check Out Reglagene’s Dedicated Page

3rd Place

Amplified Sciences is a clinical stage life science in-vitro diagnostics company with an ultra-sensitive molecular-sensing platform technology with composition of matter IP exclusively licensed from Purdue University focused on accurately detecting debilitating diseases sooner. Their lead assay for early detection of pancreatic cancer is supported with clinical published data and provides increased accuracy and earlier detection helping gastroenterologists stratify patients at risk for pancreatic cancer. Open $3M Series Seed Preferred, led by OCA Ventures and Elevate Ventures will fund opening of clinical lab, CLIA regulatory milestone, and support commercial launch in 2023 as well as scale additional assays on their ultrasensitive chemistry reagent platform.

Check Out Amplified Sciences’ Dedicated Page

The show never stops. If you missed the opportunity to pitch in March, applications are now open for RESI Boston, June 5-7. Apply to pitch in-person pitch on June 5. RESI Boston June is a hybrid format conference starting with a one day (June 5) in-person conference experience including partnering meeting, investor panels, IPC, workshops and Global Partnering Campaign and Roadshow Preparation classes at The Westin Copley Place in Boston, MA. Followed by two days (June 6-7) of a virtual partnering only event. Pitch applications are accepted on a rolling basis, so get yours in today!

Application deadline is Friday, April 21.

Want to be part of RESI Boston June? Register now to save $500 on super early bird rates by April 7. RESI also provides sponsorship and exhibition opportunities to help you increase your brand visibility at RESI Boston June or any future RESI conferences, contact us to learn more.