Don’t Be Boston 2.0, And Photos From “Bringing Back the Expats”

Be your own biotech cluster, not a Boston redux. Accelerate the momentum that’s already begun, don’t let it fizzle. And above all, be fearless entrepreneurs. You’ll need to be if New York biotech will ever become what its champions hope.

Those were just a few lessons ex-New Yorker biopharma veterans had for the nascent life sciences scene in the Big Apple last week at Xconomy’s “Bringing Back the Expats.” Today we’re circling back with a few tidbits from the festivities through a slideshow and a few takeaways, but first some thank-you’s to everyone who made the event possible.

Thanks first to our speakers: Decibel Therapeutics CEO Steve Holtzman, Flagship Pioneering executive partner David Epstein, Ovid Therapeutics chairman and CEO Jeremy Levin, and Alexandria Venture Investments senior VP of science & technology Jenna Foger. Thanks also to our event host, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, our sponsors Fish & Richardson, Eastman Cooke Construction, and PRA Health Sciences, and to Kevin Kane Photography for the pictures.

And big thanks as well to our attendees.

With that, hope you enjoy the photos and see you again soon, New York.

Author: Ben Fidler

Ben is former Xconomy Deputy Editor, Biotechnology. He is a seasoned business journalist that comes to Xconomy after a nine-year stint at The Deal, where he covered corporate transactions in industries ranging from biotech to auto parts and gaming. Most recently, Ben was The Deal’s senior healthcare writer, focusing on acquisitions, venture financings, IPOs, partnerships and industry trends in the pharmaceutical, biotech, diagnostics and med tech spaces. Ben wrote features on creative biotech financing models, analyses of middle market and large cap buyouts, spin-offs and restructurings, and enterprise pieces on legal issues such as pay-for-delay agreements and the Affordable Care Act. Before switching to the healthcare beat, Ben was The Deal's senior bankruptcy reporter, covering the restructurings of the Texas Rangers, Phoenix Coyotes, GM, Delphi, Trump Entertainment Resorts and Blockbuster, among others. Ben has a bachelor’s degree in English from Binghamton University.