Biotech Leaders Agenda

Day One | Day Two

Tuesday, June 21 - Investment and Partnering
(All times in EDT)

Addressing policy influences on the biotech sector in a post-pandemic environment

09:10am Chair’s opening remarks

9:15am Welcome address

Joseph Boncore, CEO, MassBio; Former Massachusetts State Senator (2016-2021)

9:30am Keynote Panel: State of the market – biotech boom or too volatile to handle?

Externally, the biotech market seems to be flying. Valuations are high and 2021 was a record year for public offerings. But in reality, investors are feeling one of the worst periods of performance in a decade. This session explores the state of the biotech investment landscape including market volatility, the real impact of high valuations and what to expect in the future. Discussion includes:

• A macro look at the trends and projections for H2 and beyond
• Impact of the buoyant biotech IPO market on investor confidence
• Wider context of the financial market and how this is likely to impact biotech investment
• What the current state of the market might mean for biotech investment in the near future, and how companies should prepare

Doug Giordano, Managing Director, Perceptive Advisors
Brad Loncar, Chief Executive Officer, Loncar Investments
Elizabeth Mily, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Chelsea Place Johnson, Principal, Atlas Ventures

10:15am Keynote Fireside Chat: Navigating regulation and compliance in 2022 and beyond

Bringing depth of experience across assorted government agencies, this conversation offers an insiders’ perspective on regulatory and compliance issues as well as strategic business advice for companies seeking approvals from 2022 and beyond. Discussion includes:

• Long-term impact of COVID-19 and booster approvals, with a focus on potential backlogs
  
• Insight into the accelerated approvals pathway and how this might evolve in the next 5 years
  
• Finding new ways to use data for drug approvals, including real-world evidence
  
• Advice for the advancement of new modalities and novel technologies

Stephen Hahn, CEO & Partner, Flagship Pioneering; CEO, Harbinger Health; Former US FDA Commissioner (2019-2021)
Host: Stacy Cline Amin, Partner, Morrison Foerster; Former Chief Counsel of the FDA and Deputy General Counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services (HS)

10:45am Coffee break and refreshments

How to build a successful biotech company

11:15am Company Panel: Building a “forever biotech” – exploring early foundation, sustainable capital and pipeline expansion

This session draws on the expertise of successful biotech founders, exploring the step-by-step process, key success factors and potential pitfalls of building and growing a biotech company. Discussion includes:

• How to build a business model around a core asset
  
• How to raise sustainable capital including key success factors, common pitfalls and “what I wish I knew then”
  
• How to develop a pipeline from a single core asset

Sharon Cunningham, CEO, Shorla Pharma
Jennifer Petter, Founder and CIO, Arrakis Therapeutics
Lara Sullivan, CEO, Pyxis Oncology
Moderator: Matthew Cardinal, VP Strategy & Program Leadership, Halloran Consulting

11:55am Investor Panel: Investors or company builders? Unpicking science-driven VC

This session looks at how to build quality biotech companies from scratch, from the perspective of VC company builders. Discussion includes:

• How to identify “must have” science early on
  
• Building an effective founding team including crucial roles and qualities
  
• Where to deploy capital at the outset and why
  
• What founders can learn from company builders

Christina Isacson, Partner, Lightstone Ventures
Uciane Scarlett, Principle, MPM Capital
Nina Kjellson, General Partner, Canaan
Nilay Thakar, Principal, ARCH Venture Partners

Investor insights

12:35pm Investor Panel: Risks vs rewards – how investors evaluate innovation and how to capitalize

This session explores how investors evaluate “the next big thing” and what biotech founders with novel or innovative technologies can do to put their best feet forwards. Discussion includes:

• How investors evaluate risk, particularly when looking at new fields or technologies
  
• Appetite for investing in novel biotechnologies vs platforms
  
• How investors keep on top of new ideas and what grabs their interest (and what turns them off)

Christine Brennan, Managing Director, Vertex Ventures HC
Ronjon Nag, Founder, R42 Group
Andrea Jackson, Director, Northpond Ventures
Tom Marron, Vice President, Venture Science, Eli Lilly
Moderator: Michael Cohen, Partner, Brown Rudnick
Moderator: Adam Schoen, Partner, Brown Rudnick

                   

1:15pm Lunch

2:15pm Investor Panel: Syndication in practice

This session looks at how syndications are established, negotiated, and completed, with a focus on common pitfalls and what biotech executives need to be aware of throughout the process. Discussion includes:

• Finding a lead investor – how to convince an interested party to take the lead in building an investment syndicate; what their role entails and how biotech executives can offer support
  
• What biotechs need to demonstrate for due diligence
  
• Navigating investor alignment (and ensuring that founders are on the same page)
  
• Common pitfalls that biotech executives should be aware of throughout the process

Maha Katabi, General Partner, Sofinnova Investments
Henry Chen, Founder & Managing Partner, Delos Capital Partners
Chris O'Donnell, Executive Director of WRDM and Partner, Pfizer Ventures
Matthew Roden, Executive Partner, MPM Capital; Chief Executive Officer, AKTIS Oncology

2:55pm Expert Insight Panel: Driving diversity and healthcare equality through investments and partnerships

The impact of healthcare inequality has never been more evident that during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the importance of diverse teams and inclusion within companies is well documented as a “must have” for biotechs and investors alike, the real potential for social good is perhaps lagging. This session looks at how investment and partnerships broadly can be used to drive company diversity and expanded product scope with the goal of reducing healthcare inequality, for both social and commercial good. Discussion includes:

• How and why LPs are demanding change
  
• How a term sheet can be used to drive more diverse companies and funds
  
• How partnerships can and should be structured to expand product scope with the goal of reducing healthcare inequality
  
• Developing drugs with health equality in mind, and how to work with partners to ensure access to a wider pool of patients

Lizabeth Leveille, Vice President and Head, Boston & European Innovation Hubs & Discovery Transactions, Merck
Alisa Mall, Managing Director, Foresite Capital
Jason Mellad, CEO, Start Codon
Minji Kim, General Manager, AffaMed Digital
Moderator: Ramani Varanasi, Managing Director, ReVive Advisors

3:35pm Coffee break and refreshments

Partnering to drive innovation

4:00pm Expert Insight Panel: What makes a successful partnership? Creating a win-win environment for Big Pharma and early-stage innovators

Partnerships between pharma and early-stage biotech have sparked the development of some of the most interesting and important new drugs on the horizon, from cell therapies through to nucleic acid. This session looks at what makes a successful partnership and how biotechs can best work with Big Pharma companies to advance drug programs. Discussion includes:

• Decoding how Big Pharma “works” including major partnership priorities and how biotechs should approach pharma partnerships
  
• What a genuine partnership looks like from a Big Pharma perspective, and what turns them off
  
• Appetite for new business models like autologous cell therapies and how these might fit into a traditional pharma model
  
• Indications and technologies of particular interest, including how this landscape is likely to evolve in the next 5 years

Stuart Mackey, Global Head of Business Development, Daiichi Sankyo
Nouhad Husseini, SVP and Head of Business Development & Corporate Strategy, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Jens Bitsch-Norhave, VP, Transactions & Innovation Partnering, East North America, J&J Innovation
Sam O'Connor, Head, Business and Operations, Emerging Sciences & Innovation (ES&I), Pfizer
Travis Coy, Vice President, Transaction and M&A, Corporate Business Development, Eli Lilly
Moderator: Peter Bak, Managing Director, Back Bay Life Science Advisors

                   

4:45pm Expert Insight Panel: Finding the next CRISPR – strategic advances in unlocking promising research for industrial purposes

The worlds of academia and industry are thankfully closer than ever, bringing a promising combination of genuine innovation together with funds and business acumen. This session looks at the increasingly important role of technology transfer and accelerators in bringing novel technologies to industry and ultimately, to patients. Discussion includes:

• Assorted tech transfer and acceleration models in life sciences including how to marry the different priorities, experience and culture of academia and industry
  
• Addressing major challenges or gaps in the current infrastructure, and suggestions for improvement
  
• Experience of working with VC, including what works and what doesn’t
  
• Promising new fields within biomedicine and life sciences, and what to keep an eye out for in the next 5 years

Amir Naiberg, Associate Vice Chancellor and CEO & President, UCLA Technology Development Group
Paul Roben, Associate Vice Chancellor for Innovation & Commercialisation, UC San Diego
Steven Neier, Principal, Binney Street Capital, Dana Farber Ventures Fund

       

5:30pm Networking Drinks Reception

The networking drinks reception takes place Tuesday, June 21. Attendees can look forward to a fantastic night of networking and double down on their event relationship building.

Wednesday, June 22 - Strategy and Capital Deployment
(All times in EDT)

People, partners and culture

9:15am Company Panel: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – how to build a great team in a competitive market

This session looks at how companies have successfully recruited and retained staff in a highly competitive environment, with a focus on company culture and understanding what drives people. Discussion includes:

• The ideal – establishing a good company culture and avoiding toxicity in the workplace, including determining what this looks like at the outset
  
• The operational – best-practice recruitment and retention strategies
  
• The pitfalls – how to avoid common recruitment mistakes, keeping costs in check and assessing experience vs potential

Ivana Magovčević-Liebisch, President & CEO, Vigil Neuro
Ankit Mahadevia, Founder and CEO, Spero Therapeutics
Melissa Bradford-Klug, President & CBO, RareStone
Michael Bailey, President & CEO, Aveo Oncology
Shaan Gandhi, Director, Northpond Ventures

10:00am Company Panel: When and why to build clinical and commercial support

So, you’ve raised your early rounds and are looking to generate pivotal data. Why would you hire clinical and commercial functions at this early stage? This session looks at how early is too early to build clinical and commercial expertise, and why. Discussion includes:

• What do clinical and commercial functions bring to biotech from the earliest stages, and how to assess whether they justify the deployment of your hard raised capital
  
• How early is too early? And how late is too late?
  
• Can partners play a role in plugging the gaps in the short term, and to what extent?

Derek Hicks, Chief Business Officer, Intellia Therapeutics
Christopher Leo, Managing Director, Back Bay Life Science Advisors
Sharon Benzeno, Chief Commercial Officer, Adaptive Biotechnologies
Sarah Liu, Chief Commercial Officer, 9 Meters Biopharma

           

10:45am Coffee break and refreshments

Operational excellence, growth & exit strategies

11:15am Expert Insight Panel: Going Public: Planning Today for Post-Transaction Success and Longevity

While 2021 was a record year for biotech companies seeking to enter the public market, the story has completed changed in 2022. How should private companies seeking to go public take note of their immediate predecessors? What can be learned from the past year? This session explores the current market landscape and predictions for the remainder of 2022 – with significant emphasis on the various “going public” avenues biotechs should assess, along with guidance on how best to prepare for success post-transaction.

• Assessment of the current landscape and predictions for the rest of the year
  
• How to determine the right public route for your business – IPO, SPAC or reverse merger
  
• How to best prepare for success post-transaction

Moderator: William Hicks, Co-chair Securities & Capital Markets Group, Mintz Levin
Denise Scots-Knight, CEO, Mereo BioPharma
Huw Nash, COO and CBO, Stoke Therapeutics
Peter Day, Co-Head of Healthcare Investment Banking, Piper Sandler

11:55am Fireside chat: Managing risk in the new world – strengthening operations, clinical practice, cyber security and supply chain

Following a historic 24 months, life sciences businesses need to take stock of new business risks emerging as the world recovers from COVID-19. This session explores what sort of business risks biotech executives should prepare for, and how to mitigate them. Discussion includes:

• Operational risk assessment including safeguarding models of development and protecting company leadership
  
• Protecting clinical trial momentum and how to mitigate clinical risk
  
• A look at the cyber threat landscape for life sciences and where to focus efforts for current and future protection

Moderator: Rob Barberi, Senior Vice President, Director - Cyber Security & Professional Risk, WTW
Christopher Mellen, Chief Information Security Officer, Ginkgo Bioworks

12:15pm Pharma Partnering Presentation

Eli Lilly

12:30pm Pharma Partnering Presentation

Konstantina Katcheves, SVP, Business Development, Innovative Technologies & Geographic Search, Bristol Myers Squibb

12:45pm Pharma Partnering Presentation

Imran Nasrullah, Vice President & Head, Open Innovation Center North America, Bayer

1:00pm Lunch

2:00pm Pharma Partnering Presentation

Daachi Sankyo

2:15pm Pharma Partnering Presentation

Johnson & Johnson

2:30am Pharma Partnering Presentation

Otsuka

2:45pm Fireside chat: State of the Union - pricing, patents, antitrust, misinformation and other stories

Life sciences has faced several turbulent years of both setbacks and massive gains, which are set to continue throughout 2022 and beyond. This session sets the stage for the “state of the union” in which pharmaceutical and biotech businesses must operate, looking at threats and opportunities coming out of Washington and how to navigate them, including:

• Impact of a potential drug pricing overhaul on innovation
  
• Will temporary patent waivers on COVID vaccines have a lasting impact, and how can innovators prepare to mitigate risk?
  
• Concerns about anti-trust and price gouging among regulators, and how they might affect M&A policy decisions
  
• Tackling medical misinformation – what is the role of policymakers and industry?

Tamar Thompson, Head, Corporate Affairs, Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease
Sheila Frame, President of the Americas, Amryt Pharma
Luba Greenwood, Managing Director, Dana-Faber Ventures Fund; CEO, Kojin

3:30pm Expert Insight Panel: Merging of teams, cultures and assets – when M&A makes sense and how to prepare

In 2021 biopharma M&A dipped to one of its lowest levels on record, with companies tending to prioritise strategic partnerships over acquisitions. This session explores how the M&A landscape is evolving, the circumstances in which M&A is preferable to partnerships and how both parties should prepare for a successful merger and integration of teams and cultures. Discussion includes:

• How much will M&A rebound in 2022 and where will the most exciting opportunities come from?
  
• Will we see more megadeals and what is their impact on antitrust concerns?
  
• How to prepare for a merger including best practice and common pitfalls
  
• What does success post-merger look like? What could companies do to prepare for a successful merging of teams and cultures?

Moderator: Michael Machin, Senior Vice President, M&A Group, WTW
Douglas Fambrough, Former CEO, Dicerna
Carrie Cook, Chief Business Officer, Cerevance
Chuck Triano, Chief Financial Officer, Xalud Therapeutics
Ruta Laukien, Managing Partner, Graybella Capital

4:15pm Close of congress