EBD Group Unveils BIO-Europe Spring® 2011 Program Highlights

With two weeks to go registrations running 5 percent above last year's record attendance

ZURICH & MILAN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- EBD Group today announced program highlights of the BIO-Europe Spring® 2011 partnering conference to be held March 14–16 at the Milano Convention Center (MIC).

BIO-Europe Spring is Europe's second largest partnering conference after BIO-Europe®, also produced by EBD Group, serving the global biotechnology industry. This edition of the event is poised to break the attendance and partnering records set by BIO-Europe Spring 2010 in Barcelona, which saw 1,738 delegates from 1,056 companies engage in 9,016 one-to-one partnering meetings.

The first day of the event kicks off with the plenary session Drug Development in the Next Decade: Looking Past the Rhetoric. Moderator Vaughn Kailian of MPM Capital will be joined by Michele Garufi, NicOx; Paul Hastings, OncoMed Pharmaceuticals; and Dr Bernhard Kirschbaum, Merck Serono in an exploration of what is likely to happen at the intersection between discovery and development in the next decade.

The plenary is followed by three parallel tracks of panel discussions—Business Development, In the Spotlight, and Therapeutic Insight by Defined Health. All tracks feature leading biotech dealmakers who will delve into the key issues, new business approaches and policy trends underlying strategic decision making. The business development track includes:

What Makes a Great Biotech Company?

Over the past eight years John Carroll, the editor of FierceBiotech, has highlighted 120 biotech companies as among the best in the industry. He will lead a group of industry leaders, including executives from Fierce 15 companies, in a discussion of the key attributes that characterize the best in biotech. He will be joined by Katrine Bosley, Avila Therapeutics; Lubor Gaal, Bristol-Myers Squibb; Simon Meier, Roche Venture Fund; and James J. O'Mara, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals.

Deconstructing the Deal: A Close Look at Recent Dealmaking Activities

This session examines some of the significant deals of the last 12 months. Moderated by Tony Gibney of Leerink Swann, a panel that features Mercedes Diz from Almirall, Philippe Lopes-Fernandes from Merck Serono, and Clifford J. Stocks from Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, Inc., will discuss the transactions they have been involved in, and what these deals reveal about pharma’s priorities, strategy and the options available to drug development companies in need of a corporate partner.

Pharma Out-licensing: What Do They Have and Where Do They Have It?

Not many big pharma players are very proactive in out-licensing, however some of them seem to have revived outbound partnering activities recently. Moderator Ben Bonifant from Campbell Alliance will be joined by leading pharma dealmakers Glenn Batchelder, Civitas Therapeutics; Ian Kirk, AstraZeneca; Markus Werner, Nycomed; and Robert Wills, Johnson & Johnson to explore what it takes to make a successful out-licensing strategy work.

Breaking Ground in Personalized Medicine: What Do the Recent Deals Mean for Drug Development?

"Personalized Medicine" seems to be the buzzword for the life science industry. Though for a while it was mainly seen as a threat to their blockbusters, pharma companies are now realizing that the shift towards personalized medicine will happen, and that they must adapt accordingly. Recent deals reflect the rising emphasis of companion diagnostics and biomarkers in drug development, but many questions still go unanswered. Moderator Alain Huriez, MD, TcLand Expressions will be joined by Harry Glorikian, Scientia Advisors; Gabriela Lavezzari, Medco Research Institute; Richard Watts, QIAGEN; and Matthias Will, Novartis Pharma to examine the critical questions now facing the industry, such as: Who will be setting benchmarks and dictating the deal terms around personalized medicine, pharma or diagnostics? Which other healthcare players will be involved? Are there viable business models for companion diagnostics today?

About EBD Group

EBD Group is the leading partnering firm for the global life science industry. Since 1993, biotech, pharma and medical device companies have leveraged EBD Group’s partnering conferences, technology and services to identify business opportunities and develop strategic relationships essential to their success.

EBD Group’s conferences are run with the support of leading corporations and international trade associations and include:

  • BIO-Europe® and BIO-Europe Spring®, the world's largest stand-alone life science partnering conferences, supported by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)
  • BioPharm America™, the fastest growing partnering event in North America
  • EuroMedtech™, EBD Group’s partnering event for the innovative medical technology industry
  • BioEquity Europe, the investor conference co-organized with BioCentury Publications and BIO
  • ChinaBio® Partnering Forum, the first dedicated biotech/pharma partnering conference in China, co-produced with ChinaBio® LLC
  • Biotech Showcase™, a unique forum in San Francisco for presenting to investors and business development executives, co-produced with Demy-Colton Life Science Advisors

EBD Group’s sophisticated web-based partnering service, partneringONE®, is used as the partnering engine at numerous third-party events around the world.

Outside of the conference format, EBD Group’s consultants provide hands-on assistance for firms seeking to in- or out-license products and technologies.

EBD Group has offices in the USA and Europe.

For more information please visit www.ebdgroup.com.



CONTACT:

EBD Group
Constantine Theodoropulos, 617-401-3116
[email protected]

KEYWORDS:   Europe  Switzerland  Italy

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Health  Biotechnology  Cardiology  Clinical Trials  Genetics  Infectious Diseases  Medical Devices  Optical  Pharmaceutical  Radiology  Other Health

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