Press Release
Contact: Cassandra Cranston |
Phone: (919) 549-7500 |
TIP SHEET: Biotech 2008
TIP SHEET
Entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers and industry
leaders from biotech, pharmaceuticals and life sciences
will gather at Biotech 2008, sponsored by the Council for
Entrepreneurial Development, on Monday and Tuesday, May
19 and 20, at The Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem,
N.C. We’ve developed a few story ideas to aid in your coverage.
For more information on the conference, press passes or
to arrange interviews, please contact Cassandra Cranston
at ccranston@cednc.org or 919.226.0460.
Bridging the Pipeline Gap
“The entire pharmaceutical industry is at an interesting
juncture,” proclaims Vipin Garg, president and CEO of Durham-based
biotech company Tranzyme Pharma, and a conference co-chair.
“Big pharma is under tremendous pressure to maintain its
growth rate with blockbusters coming off patent and not
enough new molecules to replace them. Bridging the pipeline
gap – that’s where biotech is shining. We’ve been quietly
working on new ideas and as they mature, we’re becoming
the pipeline for pharma.” A panel discussion will cover
this topic in-depth from 9-10 a.m., Tuesday. Panelists include:
- Jack Anthony, CEO of Osprey Pharmaceuticals, which has offices in San Francisco and Montreal, and is developing and commercializing a first-in-class family of therapeutic proteins to treat chronic diseases.
- Edward Saltzman, founder and president of Defined Health, a Florham Park, N.J.-based consultancy in business development and disease-area strategy for the pharmaceutical industry.
Two featured speakers also will discuss the future of the industry:
- Tuesday, 8:30-9:00 a.m., Saltzman will give a solo presentation.
- Tuesday, 1:00 p.m., John Maraganore, president and CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based company developing RNAi technology to treat many diseases.
All are available for interviews upon request.
Strong Universities Fuel a Growing Industry
Home to major research universities such as Wake Forest,
NC A&T, UNC, Winston-Salem State and Duke, North Carolina
is a center of higher education and innovation. More than
60 Tar Heel bioscience companies are developing concepts
based on technologies developed at area universities. “North
Carolina’s research universities are economic drivers of
technology that provides for commercialization of new ideas
into companies,” says Gwyn F. Riddick, regional director
of the Piedmont Triad office of the North Carolina Biotechnology
Center. “The four research universities in the piedmont
Triad alone garner $300 million in extramural research annually
and over 30 new bioscience related companies have located
or started up in the last four years in the Triad.” Meet
the entrepreneurs and government and university leaders
involved in some of North Carolina’s most successful spin-outs
during the North Carolina Initiatives and Centers of Innovation
presentations at 2 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. on Monday, May 19.
Meet the Father of North Carolina’s Biotechnology Industry
Former Governor James B. Hunt is considered by many to be the father of biotechnology in North Carolina. “It was his vision that created the N.C. Biotech Center to focus on creating new jobs, recruiting nationally renowned faculty to our universities and getting people trained in biotech at our community colleges,” explains Biotech 2008 co-chair Sue Cole of Granville Capital, a Greensboro-based investment firm. The result of Hunt’s efforts are clear. There are approximately 450 biotech companies operating in the Old North State today, employing approximately 56,400 employees. That makes the state the third-largest biotech hub in the U.S. In addition, there are dozens of other publicly traded national and global bioscience companies that have a significant presence in North Carolina, such as Novo Nordisk, GSK and BASF. Governor Hunt will talk about creativity and education in life sciences throughout the state from 3:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, May 19, and will be available for interviews upon request.