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The New Frontier: Are Virtual Biotech Companies the Future of the Life Science Industry?

As challenging economic markets force new ways of doing business, a new model for biotech, drug and device development has emerged: the virtual company, where a group of senior managers guides a new therapeutic or device through development via the extensive use of service providers. While cost-savings may be readily apparent, what are the long-term implications for the future of the company? Can service providers replace in-house know-how, experience and expertise? Join BIOCOM as we hear from a variety of life science companies as they talk about their plans to bring health-care innovations to market and create successful life science businesses.

Speakers:

Jeff Stein, Ph.D, President and CEO, Trius Therapeutics
Jeff Stein, Ph.D, president and CEO of Trius Therapeutics has held executive management positions in the biopharmaceutical industry for the past 20 years. He is also currently a Venture Partner with Sofinnova Ventures in San Francisco where he was a Kauffman Fellow from 2005 to 2007. Prior to joining Sofinnova, Jeff was Executive Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer and a Director of Quorex Pharmaceuticals, a San Diego based anti-infectives company he founded in 1999. Prior to forming Quorex, Jeff was an early employee and Principal Scientist with Diversa Corporation and, before that, Principal Scientist with the Agouron Institute in La Jolla, Ca. He also recently served as Director of Venture Development at UC San Diego. Jeff conducted his postdoctoral studies as an Alexander Hollaender Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at Caltech and his graduate work as a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Fellow at UCSD's Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Charles P. Theuer, M.D. Ph.D, President and CEO, Tracon Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Charles P. Theuer is President and Chief Executive Officer of Tracon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Theuer previously was Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Clinical Development at TargeGen Inc., where he led the development of small molecule kinase inhibitors in oncology, ophthalmology and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Theuer joined TargeGen from Pfizer where he led the clinical development of Sutent (sunitinib maleate) in kidney cancer; Sutent was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January, 2006 for treatment of advanced kidney cancer. Dr. Theuer also held senior positions at IDEC Pharmaceuticals and the National Cancer Institute developing other agents, including small molecules and monoclonal antibody therapies.

Steve Kaldor, Ph.D, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ambrx, Inc.
Prior to joining Ambrx, Inc., Dr. Kaldor served as President and CSO of Takeda San Diego Inc., the US Discovery Research Center for Takeda Pharmaceuticals. He instigated and led the March 2005 $270MM acquisition of Syrrx Inc. by Takeda that resulted in the creation of Takeda San Diego. Dr. Kaldor ran Syrrx, a privately held, structure-based drug discovery company, as its President and CSO from 2003 -2005. Syrrx built a robust portfolio of metabolic diseases and oncology clinical candidates during his tenure including SYR-322 (Alogliptin), a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor for the treatment of diabetes now in Phase III clinical trials. Prior to joining Syrrx, Dr. Kaldor gained over 12 years of drug discovery and development experience at Eli Lilly and Company, as both a researcher and Director with line management responsibility for groups of up to 270 people. He received his formal education in organic chemistry at Harvard University, (Ph.D, 1989) and Columbia University, (B.S., 1984). Dr. Kaldor is the co-inventor ofmultiple compounds that have advanced into the clinic including ViraceptTM, a marketed HIV protease inhibitor.

John D. Dobak, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, Lithera
John Dobak, M.D. has served as Founder and CEO of several venture backed life science companies. Dr. Dobak is the Founder and President of the JAKK Group, a life sciences technology accelerator, which has created several companies including Lithera, Leptos Biomedical, INNERCOOL therapies, and CryoGen/CryoCor. Dr. Dobak's companies have developed and marketed therapeutics ranging from endovascular hypothermia to treat cardiac arrest to implantable neurostimulation for obesity. These ventures have been financed by top tier venture capital firms and have achieved exits through acquisition and an IPO. Dr. Dobak and these companies are the recipients of several awards for entrepreneurship and innovation, including UCSD Connect's Most Innovative New Product and MIT's TR 100. Dr. Dobak received a Bachelor's Degree from UCLA and a Medical Doctorate from UCSD

Bruce Bolton, Vice President Consulting Services, Portford Solutions
Prior to Portford Solutions, Bruce worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and led a content management consulting group. His experiences in industry and consulting helped to build a practice focused on helping clients realize the benefits of implementing content and document management solutions. In addition to his practice development responsibilities, Bruce held Engagement and Project Management positions on projects, overseeing the design, development and implementation of complex solutions. Bruce is currently responsible for Portford's technology and consulting group.

When

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 - Wednesday, March 25, 2009 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

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Tuesday, March 24, 2009 12:00 p.m.

Where

Marriott La Jolla 4240 La Jolla Village Dr La Jolla, California 92037

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