Tag: digital-marketing

Watch the Asset Flow, Not the Equity Flow: What I Learned at BioJapan

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By Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, Life Science Nation (LSN)

I recently returned from BioJapan, and the one takeaway I want to share with my global network is this: stop viewing Asia Pacific as a single market.

Regulations on both sides of the Pacific have made equity deals between the US and China much harder. But capital hasn’t stopped moving. It has changed form. Where equity deals run into friction, pharma licenses the asset instead. Chinese biotechs out-licensed $60 billion of assets in the first quarter of this year alone, up 73% from the same period a year earlier. That includes AstraZeneca’s deal with CSPC worth up to $18.5 billion. Large pharma faces a steep patent cliff before 2030, so its appetite for clinical-stage assets isn’t going away.

So watch the asset flow, not the equity flow. Here is what actually changed for me in Japan. I went in thinking about APAC as one market with local variations. It isn’t. It is three markets with three completely different jobs, and once you see them separately, the whole region stops looking confusing.

Three Markets, Not One

Each market plays a different role. China produces more assets than its domestic capital can absorb. Australia and Southeast Asia have the clinical infrastructure others can use. Japan and Korea stand out because they have both: a growing supply of academic innovation and deep corporate balance sheets looking for it.

Region Sell Side
(Early-Stage Assets)		 Buy Side
(VC / PE / Pharma)		 Characterization
Mainland China A large volume of high-quality assets, many moving faster than domestic capital can fund them Domestic equity is selective and US venture investment has pulled back, while global pharma licensing runs at record levels “The Asset Reservoir”
Japan, South Korea, & Taiwan A deep, largely untapped pool of academic assets, alongside mature platforms: ADCs and regenerative medicine in Japan, AI-driven discovery and diagnostics in Korea. Taiwan continues to produce world-class assets Active corporate venture arms and well-capitalized conglomerates “The Strategic Capital Track”
Australia & Southeast Asia Excellent trial infrastructure producing fast, high-quality human data Cross-border investors using local efficiency as a launchpad for global programs “The Clinical Fast Track”

Japan: Where Assets Meet Capital

Universities such as the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Keio University, Osaka University, Kobe University, and the University of Tsukuba, with RIKEN anchoring the discovery end, are producing a remarkable range of new assets across drugs, devices, diagnostics, and digital health. What’s new is a coordinated government effort to carry those assets to market:

  • AMED runs a 2:1 double match-up program. When a registered VC invests in a Japanese drug discovery startup, AMED can add up to twice that amount in non-dilutive funding, awarded per pipeline rather than per company, so a startup with three approved programs can draw on it three times.
  • MEDISO, under the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, pairs ventures and university spinouts with experts in regulatory affairs, international development, and fundraising.
  • J-Bridge, run by JETRO, connects international innovators with Japanese corporates.

Three state-backed institutions, answering to different ministries, are working on the same bottleneck, and regional clusters are carrying that work into the field. For global investors and partners, that means Japanese assets now arrive better funded and better prepared, and Japanese corporate capital is easier to reach than it has been in years.

One Japanese advantage almost nobody prices correctly: Japan maintains a conditional, time-limited approval pathway for regenerative medicine products that can grant market access on evidence of probable benefit. No other major market offers that. If you have a cell or gene therapy and have never looked at Japan as a first market rather than a third one, you are leaving an option unexercised.

KBIC, the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster, and LSN are working together to strengthen the commercialization pathway for Japanese life science companies through entrepreneur education, company preparation, capital formation, and international business development. At BioJapan in October, LSN presented joint sessions with KBIC, including one alongside MEDISO, on startup readiness and global fundraising.

RESI Asia: Tokyo and Kobe

That is why RESI is coming to Japan. RESI Asia Japan convenes in Tokyo on April 13, 2027, for global partnering. We expect to announce more events around RESI before and after the 13th

The Bottom Line

Regulatory boundaries have changed the rules, but pharma’s appetite for licensing shows the underlying science has never been more valuable. Watch the asset flow, not the equity flow. I look forward to seeing many of you in Tokyo next April.

RESI Asia Japan Registration:

Japan-base Registration (JPY)
Non-Japan-base Registration (USD)

Synaptic Bio, First-Place IPC Winner at RESI Boston: Building a Next-Generation Checkpoint Therapy

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Synaptic Bio, the First-Place winner of the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge at RESI Boston, is advancing a tetravalent bispecific antibody designed to improve both the efficacy and tolerability of cancer immunotherapy. In this interview, the team shares how SYB302 applies immune synapse biology to PD-1 therapy, its path toward the clinic, and the investor and partnering conversations sparked at RESI. 

Yotam Levin
CEO and Co-Founder at Synaptic Bio		 Caitlin Dolegowski
Program Director, LSN

Caitlin Dolegowski (CD): Introduce Synaptic Bio and the unmet need you are addressing in cancer immunotherapy. 

Yotam Levin (YL): Synaptic Bio is a spinout from Dr. Adam Mor’s lab at Columbia University, building bispecific antibodies around the biology of the immune synapse, the interface where a T cell and a tumor cell engage. Our lead program, SYB302, pairs a next-generation PD-1 blocker with IL-25 neutralization in a single asset. Checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) transformed oncology, but they leave a lot of patients behind. Roughly 800,000 people in the US are treated with ICIs each year, but an estimated 480,000 don’t respond. About half overall develop immune-related adverse events, an expected side effect of bolstering the immune system, and an estimated 140,000 patients have to stop therapy because of severe ones. So there are two problems: too few patients respond, and too many who do respond are forced off a drug that was working. We designed SYB302 to address both concerns.

CD: How does your tetravalent bispecific platform, including SYB302, leverage immune synapse biology to differentiate it from existing checkpoint therapies? 

YL: Today’s PD-1 antibodies mainly work by blocking PD-1 from binding its ligand. SYB302 adds a physical mechanism. Its PD-1 arms are long, and the molecule is larger than a standard antibody. That size pushes PD-1 out of the immune synapse so it can’t suppress the T cell. We have a cool movie on our website at www.synaptic-bio.com to show this. The tetravalent design adds a second mechanistic layer. IL-25 is a homodimer, so each IL-25 molecule can bridge two SYB302 antibodies. That clusters PD-1 on the T cell surface and drives its internalization and degradation. IL-25 is abundant in the tumor microenvironment, so the effect is strongest where we want it. IL-25 is also a driver of immune-related toxicity. Neutralizing this cytokine gives us a built-in safety brake. In preclinical models, including colon, melanoma, and bladder tumors, SYB302 showed stronger tumor control than anti-PD-1 with markedly less organ damage. A single antibody designed to improve both efficacy and tolerability – we have not seen any other antibody that does both.

CD: What are the most important scientific or development milestones over the next 12 to 18 months? 

YL: Our focus is moving SYB302 from a mature Development Candidate toward the clinic. The key milestones are:

  1. Stable cell line and process: completing cell line development and defining the manufacturing process, targeted around month 9 after funding.
  1. FDA engagement: a pre-IND meeting, targeted around month 12.
  1. GMP and toxicology: starting GMP manufacturing and GLP toxicology, leading to an IND submission at about month 24.

In parallel, we’ll expand our preclinical data in colorectal cancer and other indication-specific models, characterize IL-25 as a potential patient-selection biomarker, and advance the manuscript describing the SYB302 data. Colorectal cancer, particularly the MSS subtype that responds poorly to current checkpoint inhibitors, is our lead indication. CRC is a very prevalent disease with few treatment options. As supported by the biology of IL-25, this tumor shows that having high levels of IL-25 correlates highly with poor overall survival.

CD: What did being named First Place winner of the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge at RESI Boston mean to your team? 

YL: It was a meaningful validation, especially coming from an audience of investors and industry experts who evaluate hundreds of stories a year. Our science comes from a university lab and takes a different approach to PD-1 biology, so it’s rewarding to see that message resonate with people who understand the field. It also reinforces our conviction that the next generation of checkpoint therapy needs to deliver both better efficacy and better tolerability.

Preparing for the pitch was fun, because we had to distill a 30 to 60-minute story into a mere six minutes. This forced substantial simplification on one hand, but it also required us to ensure a sophisticated audience gets what they came for – understanding the essence of what we do. The most critical listener in the audience was, of course, Professor Mor – the fact that he liked the presentation was yet another award.

CD: What aspects of the RESI experience, including the pitch, judge feedback, or partnering conversations, were most valuable? 

YL:

  1. The pitch: We had to make multiple decisions on what to leave behind and not share. It’s like asking – of the 12 major value propositions of your assets, what are the one and a half that you really need to focus on?
  2. Judge feedback: The judges were very insightful, despite the brevity of the presentation and lack of detail. One asked about breakdown of budgets and its assumptions, identifying some assumptions we’ve taken without showing them. I was happy we could answer the questions quickly without to use backup slides for an answer.
  3. RESI Sessions: We really enjoyed the panels because they brought industry leaders and experienced investors. We could get a much better feel for what individual fund managers expect to see, how they differ from one another, how to overcome the overwhelming noise of hundreds of pitches and business plans, and whether or not there is a likely fit with certain parties. Meeting these investors in person instead of through email, Zoom, or networking apps made all the difference.

CD: Did RESI Boston lead to any meaningful investor, strategic partner, or scientific conversations that you expect to continue? 

YL: Yes. We had productive conversations with a few investors and potential strategic partners, and several are in the funnel. I can’t share specifics of course, but the interest has been in both SYB302 and the broader platform.

CD: What types of investors or strategic partners would be most valuable, and why should other early-stage companies consider the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge? 

YL: We’re looking for partners who understand the immuno-oncology landscape and can support a long development path. That includes biotech-focused venture investors for our seed financing, and strategic partners in oncology and immunology who see the value of a differentiated PD-1 backbone. For our lead asset, we prefer traditional seed funding; for our additional assets in Type2 inflammation we also foresee single-asset licensing, option-based co-development or a strategic investment. We think corporate VCs could be a natural fit, because they have deep scientific expertise but also an eye for market access. Our strongest asset is our science, data, and results – having experienced investors in our team would go a long way.

Apply to Pitch at RESI JPM 2027

The Missing Piece in Preparing Life Science Companies for Investors

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By Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, Life Science Nation (LSN)

One of the most pervasive problems we see across life science entrepreneurial programs is that Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIRs) help companies develop executive summaries and pitch decks that emphasize the science and market opportunity. This approach repeats across incubators, accelerators, universities, and entrepreneurial training programs worldwide.

The problem is that the two sides of the table are speaking different languages. The sell side presents science and market potential, while investors and licensing partners evaluate the seven-layer risk stack: market, technical, regulatory, execution, economic, financing, and exit risk. They want to understand which risks have been retired, which remain, and what evidence supports the company’s ability to overcome them.

This is precisely where LSN spends its time preparing companies for global roadshows and RESI partnering events.

We begin with the LSN assessment, which identifies where the company sits within the risk stack, what has been accomplished, and what remains to be de-risked. We then reconstitute the executive summary and pitch deck to speak the language of risk, supported by evidence rather than simply promoting the science and market opportunity.

We also develop a milestone-driven Gantt chart that shows the development milestones already completed and the value created, the one, two, or three critical milestones ahead for the remainder of the current year, and the subsequent development and de-risking milestones planned for years two and three.

The capital ask becomes the financial expression of the de-risking plan. By calculating the cost of the current and future milestones, the company can explain precisely how much capital it needs, what that capital will accomplish, which risks will be retired, and how achieving those milestones is expected to increase the asset’s value.

This is the fundamental distinction between a conventional pitch deck and a de-risked deck. One emphasizes the promise of the science and the size of the market. The other demonstrates a credible, milestone-driven, financed pathway to making that science investable.

That is the missing commercialization discipline LSN brings to the table, and it is what investors and licensing partners are looking for.

Register for RESI JPM 2027

Fundraising Requires More Than a Plan. It Requires Execution. (Part 2) 

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By Max Braht, VP of Business Development, LSN

Max-Braht-Headshot

Experienced life science executives who have successfully raised capital understand something that first-time fundraisers often underestimate: a successful fundraising campaign is not built around a handful of investor introductions or a series of meetings at industry conferences. It is built around a large, qualified, continuously evolving list of investor and licensing-partner targets, supported by the disciplined execution required to keep that list working throughout the campaign.

Last week, I discussed why fundraising requires both a focused strategy and consistent execution. But there is another critical component that deserves more attention: the target list itself. It is the foundation of the entire campaign, and building, maintaining, and continually replenishing that list is one of the most demanding aspects of raising capital.

At Life Science Nation, we have found that experienced fundraising executives are often the first to recognize the value of our BD Assist program. They have been through the process before. They understand that a serious life science fundraising campaign can take 9–18 months, and that a campaign of that duration needs to begin with approximately 800–1,000 qualified investor and licensing-partner targets.

Just as importantly, they know that the original list will not remain intact. Investors respond, decline, change their investment mandates, move into diligence, or prove to be inappropriate targets. Some relationships advance while others are eliminated from consideration. Throughout this process, new qualified targets must continually enter the pipeline to replace those that have fallen away. The campaign is constantly moving, with prospects entering, advancing, and exiting at different stages.

The target list is not a static spreadsheet. It is the engine that drives the fundraising campaign.

Keeping that engine running requires much more than sending emails. It means identifying investors whose investment theses align with the company’s technology, development stage, financing requirements, and geography. It means researching investment activity, finding the appropriate contacts, developing compelling messaging, canvassing prospects, tracking responses, managing follow-up, and maintaining a steady flow of new opportunities.

Experienced executives know how difficult this is because they have done it themselves. They understand that maintaining a professional fundraising campaign often requires a dedicated full-time resource whose responsibility is to keep the target list accurate, active, and continuously replenished. They also know how tedious and time-consuming that work can become, particularly while managing the scientific, clinical, regulatory, financial, and operational responsibilities of an emerging life science company.

This is the fundamental value proposition of LSN’s BD Assist program. LSN has spent years building and maintaining a global database of investors and licensing partners, developing the market intelligence and processes required to identify appropriate targets and execute sustained fundraising campaigns. BD Assist combines that infrastructure with the daily canvassing, outreach, scheduling, tracking, and follow-up needed to keep a campaign moving forward. Rather than building this capability internally, executives can leverage LSN’s existing database, investor intelligence, and business development team to maintain the campaign engine while they concentrate on running their companies and advancing relationships with interested investors.

The value is not simply that BD Assist takes work off an executive’s desk. It provides access to an established fundraising infrastructure that would otherwise take considerable time, money, and effort to replicate.

Timing: Preparing for RESI JPM

The life sciences industry is now preparing for JPM Healthcare Week, when biotech, medtech, diagnostics, digital health, and investment professionals from around the world will gather to establish new relationships and advance existing ones. RESI JPM provides an important opportunity for early-stage companies to meet investors and licensing partners whose interests align with their development and financing objectives. But experienced fundraisers know that conferences are not standalone fundraising strategies. They are opportunities within a much larger campaign.

The companies that benefit most from RESI are those that arrive with a well-developed target list, know which investors they need to meet, have already begun their outreach, and are prepared to continue those conversations long after the conference concludes.

A meeting at RESI may initiate a relationship, advance an existing discussion, or reveal that an investor is not an appropriate fit. Each outcome provides information that helps refine the target list and determine the next step. Meanwhile, the broader fundraising campaign must continue generating new prospects, new conversations, and new opportunities.

RESI creates access. The continuously replenished target list and the execution behind it turn that access into a sustained fundraising campaign.

For executives who have raised capital before, none of this is new. They know what it takes to build a successful campaign, and they know how difficult it is to keep the engine running for 9–18 months. What LSN offers through BD Assist is the infrastructure, investor intelligence, and dedicated execution capability to help them do exactly that.

Ready to Put Your Fundraising Campaign into Motion?

If you are preparing for RESI JPM or planning a sustained fundraising campaign, LSN’s BD Assist team can help you build, maintain, and continuously canvass the global investor and licensing-partner target list that drives the process.

Because a successful fundraising campaign does not run on meetings alone. It runs on a continuously replenished pipeline of qualified targets.

Get Your LSN Labs Company Assessment Report

Fundraising Requires More Than a Plan. It Requires Execution. 

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By Max Braht, VP of Business Development, LSN

Max-Braht-Headshot

For early-stage life science companies, fundraising and partnering are not one-time activities. They require an ongoing, focused effort to identify the right market, communicate a clear opportunity, build relationships, and follow through consistently.

Many companies have the science, the data, and the ambition to move forward, but do not have a dedicated business development resource to manage that work throughout the year. Leadership teams are often balancing scientific progress, regulatory planning, operations, and fundraising at the same time.

Life Science Nation’s BD Assist program was developed to provide hands-on support for companies that need help executing their fundraising and partnering campaigns.

BD Assist is the execution layer of Life Science Nation’s commercialization system. It builds on the work of understanding a company’s readiness, identifying the right investor and licensing-partner market, and creating a Global Target List that can support a focused campaign.

The result is not simply a list of contacts. It is a structured process for moving from market intelligence to outreach, follow-up, and meeting generation.

From target market to active campaign

Every BD Assist engagement begins with an understanding of the company’s goals, financing needs, technology, milestones, and partnering objectives. Life Science Nation then works with the company to refine its narrative and marketing materials so the opportunity can be communicated clearly to the market.

Using Life Science Nation’s investor and licensing-partner intelligence, the BD Assist team helps construct and prioritize a Global Target List of relevant investors and strategic partners. The target list is informed by company-specific attributes as well as investor behavior, helping companies focus their efforts on the market most relevant to their opportunity.

From there, BD Assist supports campaign strategy, personalized outreach, follow-up, and meeting generation. Outreach activity is tracked through the client’s CRM platform, allowing the company to maintain visibility into campaign progress and investor engagement.

This ongoing execution is a key part of the program. A target list has value only when it becomes a disciplined campaign that continues to build relationships and create opportunities over time.

Extending a company’s business development capacity

BD Assist is designed to become an extension of a company’s business development capability.

Rather than providing recommendations for a company to carry out on its own, Life Science Nation helps manage the campaign workflow. This allows company leadership to stay focused on advancing the science, reaching development milestones, and preparing for productive investor and partner conversations.

The program also includes regular strategy discussions and campaign refinement as the company receives feedback from the market. As priorities evolve, BD Assist can help ensure that outreach remains aligned with the company’s current fundraising or partnering objectives.

For companies participating in RESI, BD Assist can also support their partnering activity and help them make the most of the investor and licensing-partner marketplace.

Part of a broader commercialization process

BD Assist is one part of a connected Life Science Nation commercialization system.

The Assessment Engine helps companies understand their evidence, risks, milestones, capital readiness, and investability. LSN Labs helps companies address gaps and prepare for the market. The Investor and Licensing Partner Database provides market intelligence. The Global Target List helps companies identify and prioritize their target market. BD Assist helps execute the campaign. RESI creates opportunities to meet the global investor and licensing-partner community.

For companies seeking investment, licensing opportunities, or strategic collaborations, this creates a more connected path from preparation to market engagement.

Fundraising is not only about finding names. It is about executing a consistent process that helps the right companies connect with the right market at the right time.

To learn more about BD Assist and discuss whether it is a fit for your company, complete the LSN Labs Company Assessment Report.

Apply for LSN Labs Company Assessment Report

Volunteer Applications Are Open for RESI JPM 2027 

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By Caitlin Dolegowski, Program Director, LSN

RESI JPM 2027 is seeking committed volunteers to support Life Science Nation’s largest conference of the year during J.P. Morgan Healthcare Week in San Francisco.

Taking place January 11 to 12, 2027, at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, RESI JPM brings together life science innovators, active investors, pharmaceutical and medtech leaders, service providers, and global ecosystem organizations for two days of in-person partnering, followed by virtual partnering on January 13, 18, and 19.

For students and early-career professionals interested in life sciences, investing, business development, and entrepreneurship, volunteering at RESI offers a valuable opportunity to experience one of the industry’s busiest and most important weeks from inside the conference.

Why Volunteer at RESI JPM?

RESI volunteers play an important role in helping create a welcoming, organized experience for attendees. At the same time, volunteers gain exposure to a broad range of companies, investors, and leaders working across the life science ecosystem.

Volunteer benefits include:

  • Complimentary registration for RESI JPM 2027
  • Complimentary breakfast and lunch during both conference days
  • An invitation to the evening cocktail reception
  • The opportunity to connect with professionals across biotech, medtech, diagnostics, digital health, and investment

Volunteer Commitment

Volunteers can identify the days they are available to support RESI JPM 2027 in the application. Conference shifts will take place Monday, January 11, and Tuesday, January 12, generally from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. A setup shift will also be available on Sunday, January 10, with timing to be confirmed.

Life Science Nation is seeking reliable volunteers who can commit to the shifts they select.

Because volunteer roles are essential to the event experience, Life Science Nation is looking for applicants who can commit fully to their assigned shifts and attend as scheduled.

Please note that RESI provides conference registration, meals during the event, and access to the Tuesday cocktail reception. Travel and accommodation are not provided.

Apply to Volunteer

If you are interested in gaining hands-on event experience while connecting with the life science innovation and investment community during J.P. Morgan Healthcare Week, apply to volunteer for RESI JPM 2027.

Apply to Volunteer at RESI JPM

Secure Your Dedicated Session and Meeting Space at RESI JPM 2027 

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By Max Braht, VP of Business Development, LSN

Max-Braht-Headshot

Every January, J.P. Morgan Healthcare Week transforms San Francisco into the global epicenter of life sciences, bringing together top-tier investors, corporate pharma scouts, and biotech innovators. For organizations seeking a visible, accessible base during the busiest week of the year, RESI JPM 2027 offers prime physical space inside the San Francisco Marriott Marquis.

Life Science Nation (LSN) is opening dedicated session and meeting spaces for booking across Monday, January 11 and Tuesday, January 12, 2027. Spaces can be reserved with flexible scheduling options: available by the hour, half-day, or full-day to accommodate presentations, private investor pitches, workshops, or ecosystem receptions. Additionally, hosting organizations receive official RESI JPM Sponsor status, featuring prominent brand exposure across RESI marketing and promotional channels.

Available Spaces and Layouts: Yerba Buena Ballroom (Lower B2 Level)

Located within LSN’s 17,000+ sq. ft. conference footprint across Salons 9–15:

Private Breakout Salons (Salons 10–15):

  • Size and Capacity: ~800 sq. ft. per room, seating up to 70 attendees.
  • Configuration: Fully enclosed private salons ideal for proprietary pitch sessions, closed-door investor roadshows, regional delegation showcases, or a private executive lounge.

Open Session Stage (Salon 9):

  • Size and Capacity: Open ballroom setting accommodating ~60 attendees.
  • Configuration: Positioned directly alongside the high-traffic partnering floor, maximizing foot traffic and casual walk-ins for open panel discussions and cohort spotlights.

Flexible Booking Windows (January 11–12, 2027)

Spaces are available throughout both in-person conference days:

  • Hourly Rentals: For focused company presentations, quick investor roundtables, or press briefings.
  • Half-Day Blocks (Morning / Afternoon): For structured cohort pitch sessions, seminars, or partner workshops.
  • Full-Day / Multi-Day Buyouts: To establish a dedicated branded headquarters and continuous meeting base right inside JPM week.

Immediate Next Steps

Contact LSN: Reach out directly to salescore@lifesciencenation.com to review specific floor plans, pricing tiers, and associated sponsor marketing packages.