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Fostering Networks
Coming events
BioVaria goes Europe
3rd BioVaria, April 2010, Munich
Though still young, BioVaria has earned its place as one of the few ‘must join’ events for many technology scouts and investors from the international biopharmaceutical sector: primarily, because it is the only life-science event that provides a comprehensive overview of licensing opportunities emanating from publicly funded research. Originally, presenting institutions and universities came from all over Germany. In the future, however, they will come from all over Europe: for the upcoming 3rd BioVaria, patent agencies from Norway, Austria and France will join the German technology transfer organizations as event partners. ‘BioVaria attracts an audience that is truly interested in licensing or funding innovative early-stage projects’, Stéphane Mottola from the French technology transfer specialist FIST comments. ‘For us, this is a unique chance to gain visibility for our technologies and establish relevant contacts. Moreover, we strongly endorse BioVaria’s approach to working together across organizational, regional and national borders in order to improve the transfer of research results into application.’
For further information see www.biovaria.org
For entrepreneurs: Investment and football strategies
4th Biotech-NetWorkshop, February 2010, Tegernsee
Creating viable growth strategies is not easy these days, in particular for life-science entrepreneurs seeking funding for early-stage projects. The upcoming Biotech-NetWorkshop will therefore discuss various corporate development strategies with a particular focus on financing and mergers and acquisitions. In the familiar and inspiring atmosphere of Schloss Ringberg, life-science entrepreneurs will have the unique opportunity to exchange experience and learn from seasoned investment managers, business angels and life-science executives. In addition, Dr Markus Merck, former FIFA referee, will provide some insights into decision making gained from his experience as a football professional. Last but not least, the program leaves ample space for networking and individual discussions during breaks, social and sporting activities.
The workshop is jointly organized by Max Planck Innovation and Ascenion and exclusively addresses entrepreneurs from Ascenion’s partner institutions or Max Planck Institutes.
Are you interested? Please download the full program from Ascenion’s homepage (www.ascenion.de) or contact Susanne Letzelter (letzelter(at)ascenion.de) for further information.
Looking back
From blue skies to pots of gold at the end of the rainbow
With this lyrical theme, the Helmholtz Association invited opinion leaders from research, industry and technology transfer for an evening in Brussels to discuss the challenges and opportunities of collaborations between research and industry. During his welcoming address, Prof. Dr Jürgen Mlynek, President of the Helmholtz Association, made the Association’s strategic vision very clear: ‘To secure our future by doing cutting-edge research.’ Or, in more catchy words: ‘To spot and find the big challenges.’ The strategy in the health research area is threefold: focusing on research that is consistently disease-oriented, translational and collaborative. How to make this approach work was then illustrated by case studies and further elaborated in a panel discussion moderated by Clive Cookson from the Financial Times. Although some participants challenged a too rosy view of today's cooperation between science and business, there was a consensus that the times of 'academic ivory towers' are mostly gone. Finally, the facts speak for themselves: within the last four years, three novel medicines originating from Helmholtz research have reached the market, and all of them have been developed in collaboration with industry. Two of these, Removab® and Ixempra® come from partner institutes of Ascenion, one from the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the other one from the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research.
STS Forum Japan: The future of mankind
Like the World Economic Forum at Davos, the STS forum aims to foster an open dialogue between opinion leaders of various disciplines. The goals are similarly ambitious: finding new ways of addressing the key challenges of mankind, including global warming, food and energy supply, education, communication, etc. What differentiates the STS forum from Davos is not only its focus on the Asia-Pacific region, but also the deliberate integration of scientists. Many Nobel laureates were present. ‘In 2009, the overall tenor of discussions was “gently radical”’, comments Christian Stein, CEO of Ascenion, who joined the event as a member of the German federal delegation and an invited speaker on the harmonization issues in international patent law. The final demands of the STS forum included more stringent political intervention against global warming and serious economic deficits; the reclamation of new farmland and the maintenance of existing farmland with the help of genetic engineering, and a basic right to education.
Crossing borders: 13th Health Industry Forum (HIF) in Beijing
For the first time, Ascenion was not only an invited speaker but also a co-organizer of the International Health Care Forum, one of China’s largest biopharmaceutical conferences. The technology transfer workshop that was jointly held by Ascenion and the BPBC met with strong response from research and industry. Moreover, it triggered several ideas of how to continue and intensify the collaboration between the partners in order to further promote the exchange of experience between Europe and Asia, improve technology transfer standards and, last but not least, join forces for the development of early-stage projects that could positively impact the lives of millions of people worldwide. ‘We are very pleased with the positive spirit of our interaction’, Christian Stein comments. ‘Chinese companies, researchers and technology transfer organizations have become important players in the worldwide IP landscape. We just cannot afford to ignore their potential – as licensors, licensees or partners in translational development.’
