Inaugural CALAsia Attracts 300 Life Science Execs to San Diego
BIOCOM's Inaugural CALAsia Forum "Bridging the Pacific" A Success
Two-Day Event Brought Together Leaders From the United States and the Asia Pacific Region
More than 300 life science leaders from California and the Asia-Pacific region gathered in San Diego June 15 and 16 for BIOCOM's inaugural CALAsia forum to discuss the challenges and potential business opportunities both regions have to offer. The event featured 51 keynote speakers and panelists, who provided in-depth knowledge and insight into issues concerning partnering, raising capital, licensing, mergers and acquisitions, and intellectual property. In addition to the keynote speakers, CALAsia had 5 interactive workshops.
Speakers and guests came from all parts of the Asia-Pacific region representing the life science industries of China, Japan, India, Korea, Singapore and Australia. About 250 of the attendees seized the opportunity to schedule an individual partner meeting with a key speaker or potential business partner. The event also provided insightful workshops, interactive sessions, networking opportunities, and explored ways in which Asia-Pacific and US companies can leverage partnerships and new markets.
"We are very pleased with the outstanding turnout for the first CALAsia forum. We at BIOCOM wanted to create a truly global experience providing different perspectives addressing the trends and challenges facing the biotech industry in the Asia-Pacific region," stated Joe Panetta, CEO of BIOCOM. " We wanted to create a pro-active venue in which California based biotech companies can develop or further strengthen their relationships with the Asia-Pacific region and vice-versa."
CALASia was the subject of a comprehensive story by San Diego News Network's Helen Chang. SDNN also posted video interviews with some of the forum participants. CALAsia also attracted the attention of Xconomy’s Bruce Bigelow, who wrote a question and answer piece. The San Diego Daily Transcript sat down for a video interview during the conference with BIOCOM’s CEO and an Australian official. Meanwhile, Trista Morrison at BioWorld also filed a report.
 |
 |
 |
Spotlight on Reproductive and Sexual Health
With each issue of the Biocommunique, BIOCOM is continuing to take a monthly look at drugs and devices that member companies have in development to treat a specific disease. Following our 2009 "Art of Research" Calendar, each month, we'll look at a new disease and our companies’ efforts in it, with the information posted to the "About Southern California" section of our Web site.
In the spotlight this month are companies with products and devices in development to strengthen reproductive and sexual health. This product area seeks to help people overcome health issues that prevent them from having a responsible, satisfying and safe sex life so that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so. Reproductive ill-health may involve complications regarding sexually transmitted diseases, prenatal care, fertility, or both male and female reproductive systems. Reproductive and sexual ill-health accounts for 20% of the global burden of ill-health for women, and 14% for men.
The following companies responded to our request for summaries of their reproductive health efforts. Is your company not on the list? Please email Michelle Wright and we'll update you on our site.
Next month's spotlight will be on companies working in vision research. Please contact Michelle Wright with any questions or to make sure your company is on the list.
Southern California life science companies working in reproductive health include:
Gen-Probe, Halozyme Therapeutics, Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Medicinova, MK Bio, Nventa Biopharmaceuticals, Protein Polymer Technologies, Quidel, Sequenom, The Institute for Sexual Medicine
Gen-Probe: is a global leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of rapid, accurate and cost-effective nucleic acid tests (NATs) used primarily to diagnose human diseases and screen donated human blood. NATs harness the power of biotechnology to detect diseases more rapidly and/or accurately than older testing methods. Gen-Probe is developing APTIMA® HPV Assay, a NAT to detect high-risk strains of the human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer. APTIMAÒ HPV Assay employs the APTIMA technology to target mRNA expression of genes that are known to contribute to cancer progression.
Halozyme Therapeutics: focuses on providing life-saving and life-enhancing solutions to the endocrinology, oncology, dermatology, and drug delivery markets. Halozyme developes and commercializes products targeting the extracellular matrix. Cumulase is a formulation of rHuPH20 to replace the bovine enzyme currently used for the preparation of oocyte prior to IVF during the process of intracytoplasmic sperm injection. The enzyme strips away the hyaluronic acid that surrounds the oocyte. This allows the clinician to then perform the ICSI procedure, injecting the sperm into the oocyte.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals: The Company’s research and development programs are built around their proprietary intracellular (IR) technology. IR technology is a powerful technology for gene transcription that has already generated numerous compounds which have advanced to late-stage clinical development.
Medicinova: is a biopharmaceutical company focused on acquiring and developing novel, small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with unmet need with a specific focus on the U.S. market. MN-221 is a novel, highly selective β2-adrenergic receptor agonist under development for the treatment of preterm labor. Pre-clinical results suggest that MN-221 may be effective in reducing premature births and/or providing for longer gestation.
MK Bio: Founded in 1991, MK Bio has been recognized as a “National Excellent Foreign Investment" and a "Shanghai New High Technology Company." Their rapid test product line focuses on Fertility, Infectious Disease, Drugs of Abuse, Tumor Markers and Cardiac Markers.
Nventa Biopharmaceuticals: is developing innovative therapeutics for the treatment of viral infections and cancer, with a focus on diseases caused by the human papillomavirus. Nventa’s lead initiative is the development of HspE7, an investigational therapeutic vaccine, also known as an immunotherapeutic, made using recombinant DNA technology that covalently fuses a heat shock protein (Hsp) to an HPV E7 viral protein to form one CoVal™ therapeutic protein.
Protein Polymer Technologies: As a pioneer in protein design and synthesis, PPTI’s goal is to create products that aid in the natural process of bodily repair, including the healing of tissue, and the restoration or augmentation of its form and function. PPTI is focused on developing bio-active medical devices that integrate biological and physical product components to provide for optimized clinical performance and patient outcomes.
Quidel: is a leader serving to enhance the health and well being of people around the globe through the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of rapid diagnostic solutions at the point of care (POC) in infectious diseases and reproductive health. Quidel currently produces tests that aid in the diagnosis of several disease or condition states, including influenza, RSV, fecal occult blood, Strep A, pregnancy, bacterial vaginosis, infectious mononucleosis, H. pylori, and Chlamydia.
Sequenom: is committed to providing the best genomic and genetic analysis solutions for the research and molecular diagnostic markets. Sequenom is developing diagnostic products to improve the healthcare of women with the objective of making safe, non-invasive prenatal testing available to all women, independent of age and other factors that may contribute to pregnancy complications. SEQureDxÔ isolates and analyzes circulating fetal nucleic acid from a maternal blood sample. The technology has promise for developing new, non-invasive tests for fetal gene and chromosome abnormalities.