Wednesday, March 28, 2018 9:00 am

Sponsoring Organization:

Symposium Course Description:

There is a highly competitive search underway for promising early-stage assets as pharma and medtech companies around the globe seek to fill their pipelines with new products through in-licensing. In the past, successful in-licensing strategies typically required well-funded, fast-moving business development teams, strong research capabilities and on-the-ground scouts deployed in top technology centers. However, these investments do not always guarantee success in today’s highly competitive environment where the ability to uncover and aggressively pursue novel product opportunities is key. In addition, companies without the resources to build global business development teams or Asian companies seeking to access emerging technologies in the US/Europe can find themselves at a significant competitive disadvantage.

To help address these challenges, Life Science Nation (LSN) has developed a Sourcing and Ranking Service (SRS) which provides clients with a strategic opportunity to quickly source, vet, rank and engage with early-stage partners developing technology assets that are available for in-licensing. LSN’s unique position in the early stage space, and the range of capabilities we have developed, provide a strong foundation for SRS. By leveraging the LSN global partnering platform and our extensive experience assessing technology assets, SRS will efficiently find and do a preliminary risk analysis of promising assets, thus enabling our clients to quickly focus on top-tier assets that align with their interests. Our ultimate goal is to provide clients with a service that allows them to by-pass the research and technology vetting stages and position them to enter into diligence with the owners of the technologies they are interested in. Importantly, LSN brings global capabilities, which allows us to take on clients interested in any commercial market. SRS has built-in flexibility, which means clients can ‘pivot on the fly’ as they learn more about the early-stage domains of interest.

LSN has developed a unique process that works with the client’s strategic pipeline goals. Starting with a detailed assessment of the clients’ investment interests, LSN will conduct a global search for assets within that interest area. LSN’s Expert Ranking System will then be used to stack-rank assets based on technical and business criteria (80 to 100 assets anticipated). By playing a global numbers game, our clients have access to a larger pool of technologies, which casts a wider net and allows the identification of top technologies for in-licensing. LSN will conduct a detailed assessment of the companies holding the top 10 to 20 assets. Clients will have access to an on-line ‘data vault’ with all asset information. By merging LSN database search results with Salesforce.com, we offer our clients a customized CRM solution. Every client is provided with a transparent cloud-based portal that provides real-time project status and views into ongoing dialogues with all the potential firms involved in the process. Clients rave about having this 24/7 connectivity to the CRM and feel they are a part of the process.

An example of a pilot project will be presented.

Dennis Ford, CEO Life Science Nation

Dennis Ford is an entrepreneur and author with expertise in sales, marketing, and business development. He has spent most of his career launching new companies. Over the last decade, he has worked extensively with global alternative investors interested in high-growth early-stage technologies. His expertise encompasses using database subscription services to create business solutions and using the Internet to create an interactive dialog between buyers and sellers. He is a big proponent of using profiling and matching technology to find that all-important business fit in the marketing and selling process. Ford is the author of The Peddler’s Prerogative and The Life Science Executive’s Fundraising Manifesto, two well-received sales and marketing books.

William Kohlbrenner, PHD, CSO Life Science Nation

Prior to joining LSN in 2014, Dr. Kohlbrenner was a director at AbbVie (Abbott pharma) where he was involved in identifying and pursuing external research opportunities and early-stage assets around the globe. This work included leading a global scouting team and conducting strategic assessments of early- and late-stage pipeline opportunities in multiple therapeutic areas. Earlier in his career, Bill led drug discovery research programs in several therapeutic areas, including oncology, antivirals and antibacterials. He received his Ph.D. from the State University of New York (SUNY) and completed postdoctoral training at the Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA.

Who Should Attend:

• Pharma/MedTech Business Development Professionals
• Technology Scouts
• Biotech/Medtech CEOs
• Mid-size pharma/medtech CEOs