Panels

Biotechnology: The Scalability of Innovation

Survival in the biotech industry has always been a challenging prospect. Drug product R&D is risky, with long product cycles and expensive clinical trials. In the past decade, the low hanging fruit has been taken and the focus is back on innovation for growth. Companies of different sizes each have unique challenges and approaches to sustaining growth and the discovery of innovative therapies. One view of the world suggests that innovation is inversely proportional to a company's size, which has led to record breaking small company acquisitions at hefty premiums in the recent past. Many have focused on strategic alliances, essentially giving themselves an option to purchase innovation at a lower upfront cost. Finally, other companies strive to feed their growth with in- house discovery and innovation. This panel explores these different approaches that small, medium, and large biotech companies have taken to promote and sustain innovation as they scale.

Confirmed Panelists:

Moderator: Dr. Craig Parker, Head of Biotech Equity Research, Lehman Brothers
Anjay Bansal, CFO and SVP of Finance, Corporate Development and Corporate Communications, Tercica
Matthew Hudes, US Managing Principal, Biotechnology, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Mark McDade, CEO, PDL BioPharma
Suzy Jones, Senior Director, Business Development, Genentech
Eric Bjerkholt, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.