The Evolution of the Biotech Business Model

This meeting will be held at the MBC Offices, located on the ninth floor of One Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142.

Meeting Overview:

The Evolution of the Biotech Business Model

Never more opportunity but never more risk to both the investor and the entrepreneur…

Join our panel of experts for a interactive discussion as we assess current as well as ever-present challenges of the biotech business model. Among the topics to be discussed:

• What will the successful biotech business models look like in three to five years?
  
• What strategies and tactics can a biotech entrepreneur or manager employ to navigate the current turbulence and ensure a greater chance of success?
  
• What can biotech learn from large pharma, and vice-versa? What can biotech learn from other industries?
  

Moderator: Robert Buderi, Founder and CEO, Editor in Chief, Xconomy.com

Bob is one of the country's foremost business and technology journalists. As a noted author and magazine editor, he is a sought-after commentator on innovation and global competitiveness. Before taking his most recent position as a research fellow in MIT's Center for International Studies, Bob served as Editor in Chief of MIT's Technology Review, then a publication with a circulation of 315,000, published ten times a year. Bob led the magazine to numerous editorial and design awards and oversaw its expansion into three foreign markets, its introduction of electronic newsletters, and its organization of highly successful conferences. As BusinessWeek's technology editor, he shared in the 1992 National Magazine Award for "The Quality Imperative," a special issue of the magazine.

Bob is the author of three books about technology and innovation. Guanxi (2006) looks at Microsoft's Beijing research lab as a metaphor for global competitiveness. Engines of Tomorrow (2000) describes the evolution of corporate research. The Invention That Changed the World(1996) examines the work of a secret lab at MIT during WWII. Bob served on the Council on Competitiveness-sponsored National Innovation Initiative and is an adviser to the Draper Prize Nominating Committee. He has been a regular guest of CNBC's Strategy Session and has spoken about innovation to many organizations, including the Business Council, Amazon, eBay, Google, IBM, and Microsoft.

Panel:

Mark Kessel, Co-founder and Managing Director,Symphony Capital

Mr. Kessel co-founded Symphony Capital, a private equity firm investing in the clinical development programs of bio-pharmaceutical companies. He is widely recognized as the leader in structuring product development investments for the biopharmaceutical industry. Mr. Kessel was formerly the Managing Partner of Shearman & Sterling, with day-to-day operating responsibility for one of the largest international law firms. He received a B.A. degree with honors in Economics from the City College of New York and a J.D. degree magna cum laude from Syracuse University College of Law.

Mr. Kessel is a director and Vice Chairman of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, a director of Fondation Santé and of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. He also served as a director of Antigenics, Inc., Heller Financial Inc. and Harrods (UK) Limited and a Trustee of the Museum of the City of New York.

He has written on financing for the biotech industry for Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, Nature Biotechnology and other publications and on issues related to governance and audit committees for such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Deal, and Euromoney.

Dr. Eric Elenko, Principal, PureTech Ventures

Dr. Elenko is a Principal with PureTech Ventures. Prior to joining PureTech, Dr. Elenko was a consultant with McKinsey & Company where he advised senior executives of both Fortune 500 and specialty pharmaceutical companies on a range of issues such as product licensing, mergers and acquisitions, R&D strategy, and marketing. Some of his projects at McKinsey included working on a multi-billion dollar merger, crafting a brand strategy for a blockbuster drug, and recommending both pre-clinical and approved products for licensing. Dr. Elenko did graduate work in molecular pharmacology and cell biology that resulted in several peer reviewed papers and was the recipient of NIH training grants. While a graduate student, Dr. Elenko started and served as President of the Technology Evaluation Group, LLC which performed technical due diligence for angel investors in early stage life science companies. Dr. Elenko received his BA in Biology from Swarthmore College and his PhD in Biomedical Sciences from University of California, San Diego.

Gautam Jaggi, Senior Manager, Editor, Beyond Borders, Ernst & Young

Gautam Jaggi is a Senior Manager with Ernst & Young's Global Biotechnology Center in Boston. He is the Managing Editor of Beyond Borders, Ernst & Young's annual report on the state of the biotechnology industry. In this capacity, Gautam is the principal author of most of the articles in the report and oversees much of the data analysis. Gautam has over 12 years of experience at Ernst & Young, where he has provided financial and economic advisory services to a spectrum of life sciences clients. This includes benchmarking analysis, public policy analysis and strategic planning assistance for public-, private- and nonprofit-sector clients. Gautam writes and speaks extensively on the biotechnology industry, covering emerging trends and their implications for the life sciences industry. He is a Contributing Editor to The Journal of Biolaw & Business and is on the Editorial Board of Scrip's BioPartneringMagazine. Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Gautam worked at the Institute for International Economics, where he conducted economic analysis and wrote on public policy issues related to international trade and finance in Asia-Pacific and North America.

Kevin J. Bitterman, Principal, Polaris Ventures

Kevin is a principal in the Boston office of Polaris Ventures. Kevin joined Polaris in July 2004 and focuses on investments in the life sciences. Prior to joining Polaris, Kevin completed his Ph.D. in genetics at Harvard Medical School under the guidance of Dr. David Sinclair. His doctoral research focused on small molecule regulation of a novel class of protein deacetylases. Kevin has authored papers in the journals Nature, Science and Molecular Cell and is a cofounder of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals. Kevin currently represents Polaris as a Director of Biolex Therapeutics, Certus Biomedical, Follica Inc., Genocea Biosciences, Parasol Therapeutics and Solace Pharmaceuticals. Additionally, Kevin is a Board Observer to Pulmatrix Inc. and Tempo Pharmaceuticals.

There will be a networking reception immediately following the panel.