Conference Co-Host

BIO Double Helix Sponsors



BIO Helix Sponsors



Conference Sponsors



Media Partner

Where is the Venture Model Headed in Biotechnology?

Tuesday, March 31st
3:45 pm - 5:00 pm
Constitutional Ballroom B

Today, we are all asking ourselves whether the venture model will recover and be redefined to withstand the test of these challenging times.  Join this panel of experts as they discuss managing under cost-constraints, new business models and their views on how to get capital in and out of companies focused on resource-intensive R&D activities.  With the current model so much at risk, how do newly formed entrepreneurial companies develop a rational business plan, raise money and negotiate partnerships and manage through risk – all while defining an acceptable exit? 

Moderator

Panelists

Who's Who

Christopher D. Earl, PhD; Dr. Christopher D. Earl is President and CEO of BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH). He previously served as Managing Director of the Perseus-Soros BioPharmaceutical Fund, L.P. (PSBF), a leading investor in later-stage life science companies, where he managed investments in biopharmaceutical companies and served as a director on portfolio company boards. Earlier in his career, Dr. Earl was President and CEO of Avitech Diagnostics, Inc., and a General Partner of Plant Resources Venture Funds. Dr. Earl serves on the board of Asuragen, Inc., and is a Trustee of the Committee for Economic Development. Dr. Earl received a BA in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in Cellular and Developmental Biology from Harvard University.

Ronald W. Lennox, D.Phil; Dr. Lennox invests in the biotechnology and molecular diagnostic sectors. He has served on the boards of eighteen companies including General Surgical Innovations, Inc. (acquired by Tyco International Corp.), GeneOhm Sciences, Inc. (acquired by Becton Dickinson), Protometrix, Inc. (acquired by Invitrogen Corp.), and Applied Molecular Evolution Inc. (acquired by Eli Lilly). He was founding CEO of Protometrix, Inc. as well as of CGI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of OpGen, Inc. and on the boards of BIKAM Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and BioRelix, Inc. Prior to the founding of CHL Medical Partners, he was a general partner at Hancock Venture Partners (now HarbourVest Partners) where he invested in sixteen healthcare companies, ten of which had successful IPOs. Dr. Lennox graduated from the University of Glasgow with a B.Sc. in Molecular Biology, Oxford University where he received a D.Phil. in Cell Biology and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Bruce Peacock; Mr. Peacock joined SVLS in 2006. He serves as the president and CEO of SVLSF III portfolio company Alba Therapeutics and sits on the boards of portfolio companies Ikano and NeurogesX as well as the public company Ligand. He has held senior executive positions with a number of biotechnology, medical device, and service organizations focused on healthcare. He was most recently CEO of The Little Clinic, a start-up medical care services company. Prior to that, Mr. Peacock served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a director of Adolor Corporation, as President and Chief Executive Officer and director of Orthovita, Inc., as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and a director of Cephalon, Inc., and Senior Vice President and CFO of Centocor, Inc. He received his BA from Villanova University in 1973 and his CPA in 1975.

Steven D. Weinstein; Mr. Weinstein joined the Novartis Venture Fund in 2006 as a Managing Director.  From 2001, he was a Principal at Prism Venture Partners, where he focused on investments in medical devices and life sciences.  He led the investments and/or served on the boards of iScience Interventional, ROX Medical, and Sensitech (sold to Carrier/UTX). With 20 years of operating, entrepreneurial, and venture experience he started his career as an entrepreneur and turnaround CEO, raising angel funds to buy the assets of a defunct distribution business out of bankruptcy, and rebuilding the business over the for next five years. Prior to Prism, he was a Principal and Kauffman Fellow with Mid-Atlantic Venture Funds. There he invested in and served as a board observer for several early stage communications and software companies.  He holds an MBA with distinction from the University of Michigan Business School and a BS in mechanical engineering from Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science.  He focuses on both medical device and bio/pharma investments for the fund.  He is responsible for investments in Ablation Frontiers (sold to Medtronic), Sonitus Medical, Catalyst Biosciences, and Cylene Pharmaceuticals and serves on the University of Michigan Wolverine Venture Fund Advisory Board and the board of the Family to Family Project.

Matthew P. Young; Mr. Young has been in investment banking for approximately 17 years and is currently a Managing Director in Global Healthcare at Barclays Capital responsible for coverage of life sciences companies. Previously, he was head of U.S. Life Sciences at Citigroup, and prior to that was head of West Coast Healthcare and directed the Life Sciences coverage effort at Lehman Brothers. He also spent approximately ten years at Merrill Lynch, holding numerous positions including leading the firm’s medical technology coverage effort and working with healthcare services clients. He has worked on over 130 transactions incorporating the disciplines of mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance.  He received his B.S. in Economics and his M.B.A. from The Wharton School of Business. He is on the Board Committee of the American Hearth Association Research Roundtable.