Obesity and diabetes are the two biggest health scourges we’ll face over the coming decades, according to public health officials. Yet it has never seemed more daunting to develop new treatments or technologies to put a dent in the twin epidemics.
We had a fascinating conversation about the dilemma of this business last night at the Xconomy event “San Diego’s Fight Against Diabesity” at Amylin. There were certainly some hard issues to think about. Amylin and Arena Pharmaceuticals’ setbacks with the FDA in the past year are well-chronicled. When I asked last night’s audience if they think Orexigen will win approval for its obesity drug by the FDA deadline on Monday, I only saw one hand go up out of about 130 biotech professionals. And this is after an FDA advisory panel gave a positive recommendation.
And so it goes in biotech. People learn lessons from past missteps and move on. I won’t try to recap everything that was said last night, partly because I was too busy organizing and moderating. But I did snap a few photos to give you a sense of the evening, as did my Xconomy colleague Bruce Bigelow. Sam Armstrong of Wells Fargo also generously shared a few photos.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed to making this event a success. Special kudos go out to Amylin as the event host; Halloran Consulting Group as the event sponsor; and Biocom as the event partner. We also would like to thank our underwriters, who provide Xconomy San Diego with ongoing support. They are: Alexandria Real Estate Equities, AMRI, Biogen Idec, Invest Northern Ireland, J. Robert Scott Executive Search, the Kauffman Foundation, Latham & Watkins, Morrison Foerster Cleantech Group, and the Science & Technology Directorate of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
As usual, you can click on one of the thumbnail images below if you’d like to see a larger image.
