Who are the innovators who will help keep the San Diego region’s life sciences sector vibrant in the years to come? Which of the emerging ideas here will help transform the way we treat and prevent disease around the world? And how is the San Diego region poised to work with leaders from other hubs to stay on the leading edge of science and business?
These are some of the questions we plan to explore at the next Xconomy Forum we’re organizing in San Diego for the afternoon of December 14: “Tomorrow’s Biotech—Innovators and Innovations.” I’m thrilled to announce today that Xconomy has assembled a world-class group of life scientists and entrepreneurs to discuss where this is all headed.
The keynote speakers include David Baltimore, the Nobel Laureate and Caltech biology professor, and John Maraganore, the CEO of Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]), a leader in the emerging field of RNA interference treatments. Both have strong ties to the San Diego biotech scene as members of the board of directors at Carlsbad, CA-based Regulus Therapeutics. We will also hear presentations from three venture-backed startups in San Diego with the potential to shake up their respective fields of medicine—Fate Therapeutics in stem cells, Regulus in the microRNA field, and Intellikine, which is pursuing one of the hottest targets in cancer biology.
The third and final component of the program will feature a panel discussion with some of the brightest young scientific entrepreneurs at San Diego’s research centers. They are Sheng Ding, a professor of chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute; Trey Ideker, the chief of genetics at the UCSD School of Medicine; and Peter Kuhn, an associate professor of cell biology at Scripps. All have their eyes on new ways of bringing their research to commercial reality. This panel will be moderated by a veteran biotech entrepreneur and venture capitalist, David Kabakoff, executive-in-residence at Sofinnova Ventures in San Diego.
The event will take place from 2 pm-6:30 pm on December 14 at Calit2’s Atkinson Hall, on the UC San Diego campus. You can find more information about how to register by clicking here. There will be time for networking before and after the event. I will personally be coming down from Seattle for the forum, and I look forward to seeing many of you there.
