Over 900 pharma and biotech executives gathered in Boston last week to attend the sixth annual international life science partnering event, BioPharm America™ 2013. Delegates representing 550 companies from 35 countries engaged in 2,950 one-to-one partnering meetings with over 750 licensing opportunities at BioPharm America. The yearly partnering forum is a strategic business development opportunity for executives in pharmaceutical companies seeking to advance their drug development pipelines by partnering with emerging innovator and startup companies, as well as biotech and multinational firms. Three days of intensive one-to-one partnering meetings, facilitated by partneringONE®, were the focus of the event, along with panels featuring industry executives from the life science sector.
“There was a really good energy at BioPharm America this year, and generally high optimism within the sector, especially in the wake of the recent uptick in IPOs,” said Florian Schoenhammer, Group Managing Director of EBD Group. “Partnering is up, and our data shows that the number of partnering meetings per company is also on the rise. This is good news for biotech and we expect to see a big turnout at BIO-Europe partnering event in Vienna in November.”
“This year’s BioPharm America, which brought together industry leaders from around the world, saw the largest number of partnering meetings yet,” said Robert K. Coughlin, President and CEO of MassBio. “These meetings are essential for the growth of our industry and the development of new treatments because, as we’ve seen increasingly over the past few years, collaboration is critical for the future of innovation here in Massachusetts and around the world.”
A very popular panel was “Who will be funding early stage biotech in the future?” moderated by Luke Timmerman of Life Science Initiatives, Xconomy. Venture capitalists from Atlas Venture, Third Rock Ventures, SR One, Aisling Capital and Poliwogg Holdings, Inc., gave their candid perspectives on the future funding of R&D, the effects of the JOBS Act, and the predicted resurgence of interest in emerging companies. Watch the VC panel here.
"The biotech venture capital world has been going through a historic contraction over the past several years, leaving fewer firms who are able and willing to make big bets on early stage life science innovations,” said Timmerman. “The VCs who are left in the game are going to have to coexist in a new world in which crowdfunding platforms are making it possible to bring many more angel investors into their portfolio companies. It´s creating a fascinating new financing dynamic for biotech startups, and I was delighted to be a part of a lively conversation on this trend at BioPharm America. This is a story I´ll be watching evolve over the next year."
A new track, the Academic Innovators™ Showcase, debuted at the event, and featured presentations on translational research opportunities from leading academic institutions and hospitals.
“The inclusion of the Academic Innovator’s Showcase in BioPharm America provided academic institutions with an opportunity to demonstrate their growing drug discovery capabilities which are forming the basis of academic-pharma partnerships such as those of Sanford-Burnham with Takeda and Janssen/J&J,” said Leslie Molony, Senior Director, Business Development, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. “These academic-biopharma relationships are increasing, as biopharma seeks to reduce the risk of internally funded target discovery and validation research.”
Full access to video coverage from BioPharm America is available on partnering360® | Insight. You can also keep the conversations going by joining partnering360®, the open online community of life science dealmakers.
BioPharm America is organized by EBD Group, the leading partnering firm for the life science industry, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio). One-to-one networking at BioPharm America™ is powered by partneringONE®, the leading conference networking solution for the life sciences.
About BioPharm America 2013
BioPharm America is where biotech industry partnerships get started. Meet face-to-face with biotech and pharma executives from around the world to identify and enter strategic relationships. Equipped with partneringONE®, BioPharm America is the only event in North America based on the same reputable formula as EBD Group’s acclaimed European events BIO-Europe® and BIO-Europe Spring®.
Additional links and information:
Follow BioPharm America 2013 on Twitter: twitter.com/ebdgroup (hashtag: #BPA13)
Notes to Editors:
Entry to BioPharm America 2013 is free to members of the press, including full access to the partnering system, sessions, press conferences, workshops, and pre-arranged partnering meetings. Visit the BioPharm America conference website at http://www.ebdgroup.com/bpa/registration/press_reg.php for press registration details.
Online Press Kit service for BioPharm America™ 2013, is offering services to enhance your public relations efforts.
About MassBio
MassBio, a not-for-profit organization that represents and provides services and support for the Massachusetts biotechnology industry, is the nation´s oldest biotechnology trade association. Founded in 1985, MassBio is committed to advancing the development of critical new science, technology and medicines that benefit people worldwide. Representing over 600 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, research hospitals, and service organizations involved in life sciences and health care, MassBio works to advance policy and promote education, while providing member programs and events, industry information, and services.
About EBD Group
EBD Group is the leading partnering firm for the global life science industry. Since 1993, biotech, pharma and medical device companies have leveraged EBD Group’s partnering conferences, technology and services to identify business opportunities and develop strategic relationships essential to their success.
EBD Group’s conferences are run with the support of leading corporations and international trade associations and include:
- BIO-Europe® and BIO-Europe Spring®, Europe’s largest life science partnering conferences, supported by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)
- BioPharm America™, the fastest growing partnering event in North America
- Biotech Showcase™, a unique forum in San Francisco for presenting to investors and business development executives, co-produced with Demy-Colton Life Science Advisors
- BioEquity Europe, the investor conference co-organized with BioCentury Publications and BIO
- ChinaBio® Partnering Forum, the first dedicated biotech/pharma partnering conference in China, co-produced with ChinaBio® LLC
- EuroMedtech™, EBD Group’s partnering event for the innovative medical technology industry
- Partnering for Global Impact®, an inspirational partnering conference providing an innovative forum to partner, identify and generate social and philanthropic investment and funding opportunities
EBD Group’s sophisticated web-based partnering service, partneringONE®, is used as the partnering engine at numerous third-party events around the world, and partnering360® is the open online community of life science dealmakers that enhances partnering experiences throughout the year.
EBD Group is an Informa company. Informa is the largest publicly-owned organizer of exhibitions, conferences and training in the world.
EBD Group has offices in the USA and Europe.
For more information please visit www.ebdgroup.com.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20130926006211/en/
