Billions of dollars are being poured into R&D against cancer, by governments and pharma companies all over the world. I write about it pretty much every week on Xconomy. So it shouldn’t be any surprise we’ve been itching around here to pull off a socko event that gathers some of Boston’s top entrepreneurs in the cancer field for an in-depth conversation about the state of cancer R&D and where it’s going.
So here it is. We are thrilled to announce our next big public event, “Boston’s War on Cancer.” It will be held on the afternoon of October 20 at Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company in Cambridge, MA. Details below.
This event will feature some of the big names on the local cancer drug development scene, and maybe a few that you don’t know, but will in time. Millennium CEO Deborah Dunsire will kick things off with her view of the state of the art in cancer drugs in a keynote talk. We will also hear from CEOs at some of New England’s top venture-backed startups, who are working on a variety of cutting edge strategies against cancer. The group includes Doug Fambrough of Dicerna Therapeutics from the field of RNA interference drugs; Alexis Borisy of Foundation Medicine and Third Rock Ventures on discovery of promising new cancer targets; Mark Goldsmith of Constellation Pharmaceuticals on epigenetics; and Dave Okrongly of Quanterix on new diagnostics precise enough to spot early signs of cancer in a drop of blood.
In between, we’ll hear from a distinguished panel of people who have devoted their careers to thinking about how to take promising new cancer drugs all the way through the FDA approval process and into the marketplace. This group includes Tuan Ha-Ngoc, the CEO of Cambridge-based Aveo Pharmaceuticals; Adelene Perkins, CEO of Cambridge’s Infinity Pharmaceuticals; and Nancy Simonian, the chief medical officer of Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company’s global cancer development operation. Xconomy’s own life sciences columnist, Sylvia Pagan Westphal, will moderate this conversation about all the opportunities and challenges facing these companies as they pursue new cancer treatments.
I’m personally curious to hear what all these people have to say, and will be flying in from my base in Seattle to emcee this gathering. My job, as usual, will be to help pass the microphone around to make sure this is a highly interactive conversation, and not some snoozer where we all sit back and die by PowerPoint. So mark your calendars, and get your questions ready for this distinguished group of Boston experts on cancer R&D. You can see all the details on how to register by CLICKING HERE. I look forward to seeing you on October 20.
