January 25, 2021 (CAMBRIDGE, MA) – Today, the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio®) launched its first-ever Partnering Week to connect early-stage companies developing breakthrough technologies with major biopharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic, and digital health organizations in complementary focus areas for partnering opportunities. This week-long event builds on the success of MassBio’s Pharma Days® which have enabled precision partnering opportunities between major life sciences organizations and early-stage targets since 2010.
“2020 was one of the most disruptive years our industry, and the world, has ever seen, but it also illuminated the outsized role startups and academic institutions play in rapidly bringing successful new therapies and cures to market,” said Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, President & COO, MassBio. “We are so excited to launch Partnering Week and provide even the smallest, earliest-stage innovators with an opportunity to connect and potentially partner with world-renowned life sciences companies in hopes of commercializing their ideas and technologies.”
Each day of the week will begin with a plenary session presented by a designated sponsor who will provide an overview of the company’s research and development strategy, partnering approaches, therapeutic focus areas, and 2021 outlook. The day’s sponsor will then host one-on-one meetings with select early-stage companies, academic institutions, principal investigators, and venture funds. Plenary sessions are open to the public.
Biogen, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, EMD Serono, and BeiGene are sponsors of the first-ever Partnering Week. The sponsors are listed in the order of their presentation days.
“At Biogen we are focused on investments that provide growth opportunities for the long-term and may accelerate our efforts to best serve patients,” said Mike McDonnell, Chief Financial Officer, Biogen. “MassBio Partnering Week provides an opportunity to demonstrate how we collaborate and align on new and different ways to approach problems and transform the lives of patients.”
“EMD Serono is a truly global company and a proud member of the local life sciences ecosystem, with more than 1,400 members of our team working here in the Boston area to discover and advance medicines into clinical practice,” said Rehan Verjee, President, EMD Serono and Global Head of the Innovative Medicine Franchises, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. “MassBio’s Partnering Week is an excellent initiative, and we look forward to engaging with teams from other Massachusetts companies and learning how we might work together to accelerate discovery, development, and access to new medicines and technologies for the benefit of patients across the globe.”
“As an organization deeply committed to advancing cutting-edge science through collaboration, we are excited to strengthen our connection with Massachusetts’s innovation ecosystem so that together we can better serve the global patient community,” said Angus J. Grant, PhD, Chief Business Executive, BeiGene
To learn more about MassBio’s Partnering Week, please visit the MassBio website or contact Rachele Ryan, MassBio’s Senior Director of Innovation Services.