Reinventing Biotech: Meet Corey Goodman, Kevin Starr & More April 3

Xconomy Forum: Reinventing Biotech's Business Model

When people think of innovation in biotech, it’s usually about the whiz-bang science behind new drugs. But after years of sticking to a pretty standard playbook, we’re now starting to see more creative thinking in the business models needed to attract investors who keep the industry afloat.

This is one of the big questions of the day in biotech, so I’m excited that Xconomy is able to bring together so many national thought leaders on this subject to Seattle. This is for our next big event, “Reinventing Biotech’s Business Model,” which will be held from 2 pm to 6 pm on April 3 at PATH’s headquarters in South Lake Union.

This event will bring together an ensemble cast of speakers from around the country to discuss the business models they are experimenting with to get more bang for the buck.

Kevin Starr

We’ll hear stories from people who come at this question from quite different perspectives. From the VC ranks, we’ll hear from Third Rock Ventures’ Kevin Starr, venBio’s Corey Goodman, Versant Ventures’ Brian Atwood, Accelerator’s Carl Weissman, and WRF Capital’s Thong Le. From the entrepreneur’s side, we’ve gathered a standout crew that includes Plexxikon’s Kathy Glaub, AnaptysBio’s Carol Gallagher, Forma Therapeutics’ Steven Tregay, Acylin Pharma’s Bard Geesaman, Cardeas Pharma’s Bruce Montgomery, Blaze Bioscience’s Heather Franklin, and Inception Sciences’ Peppi Prasit.

Corey Goodman

Lastly, we’ll hear from a public company CEO, John Maraganore of Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]), who can speak from experience about keeping short-term thinkers in Big Pharma and Wall Street interested in a long-term, high-science project like RNA interference drug development.

Like most Xconomy events, I’ve banned PowerPoint for this occasion. That means these people will be forced to engage in a lively series of questions and answers about the trade-offs they had to consider when crafting their new business models. I’ll be the emcee, making intros, keeping the trains on time, and moderating a couple of the key sessions. But I’ve also drafted a couple of top-notch guest moderators who will help the speakers tell their stories. Ed Saltzman, a well-known industry consultant with Florham Park, NJ-based DefinedHealth will be the guest inquisitor for part of the festivities, along with Alex Lash, a San Francisco-based reporter/editor who writes for The Pink Sheet, StartUp, and In Vivo.

John Maraganore

There’s only one week left to get the Early Bird discount of $150 for this half-day forum, and tickets have been going fast. There are still a few discounted student tickets left, and some for startup companies with fewer than 20 employees. This is shaping up to be one of Seattle’s biggest national biotech events in a long time. It’s essentially an event that any West Coast biotech entrepreneur, executive, or service provider won’t want to miss. So tell your friends to be there or be square, and if you haven’t already, be sure to get your tickets before they run out. See you there on April 3.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.