BIO InvestorForum 2006 to Highlight Investment Trends and Feature Companies Positioned for Growth
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 2, 2006) – The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), along with its sponsors, will host the BIO InvestorForum 2006, a conference designed to offer timely insights into investment trends and select private and public companies positioned for growth in the coming year, Oct. 18-19 at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
“This annual conference highlights the remarkable maturity of the biotechnology industry and the extraordinary promise captured in future pipelines and innovation. With more than 300 products in late-stage clinical trials and thousands more in development, this robust industry is pressing forward in offering broader profitability and predictable valuations driven by continued focus on product success and healthy investment,” said Jim Greenwood, BIO’s President and CEO. “The BIO InvestorForum provides public and private investors with ample opportunities to meet with corporate management as well to collect in-depth information on a variety of therapeutic areas.”
BIO InvestorForum provides select public and private companies, as well as those on the “growth watch list,” an opportunity to network with investors through individual company presentations and a host of therapeutic workshops and industry roundtables addressing investment trends and growth watch areas. The conference attracts institutional investors, hedge fund managers, venture and private equity investors, in addition to research analysts and bankers representing leading banks in the sector.
The conference program kicks off at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18 with an investor- and industry-led opening plenary session, “Picking Your Financing Pathway. The Right Model at the Right Time.” BIO and its conference advisory committee have secured a sophisticated group of industry leaders and public and private investors to discuss how to select the best financing model in the current environment, while balancing near- and long-term corporate objectives with shareholder, employee and Board satisfaction.
James Sabry, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of Cytokinetics, Inc., will moderate the plenary session.
Providing context for the plenary, panelist Deepa Pakianathan, Ph.D., a general partner with Delphi Ventures, said, “In the face of a financial market’s low appetite for risk, we are seeing biotechnology companies evaluate a wide array of financing options from large biotech and pharma as well as non-traditional funding sources that are allowing them to advance the development of new and exciting products.”
Meanwhile, Annette Grimaldi, a panelist and managing director of Jefferies & Company, Inc., added, "It's gratifying to witness the maturation and evolution of the sector as public companies advance their pipelines and become commercial organizations while new companies on the cutting edge of science continue to emerge. The challenge is matching the capital needs of the sector with the requirements of the financial community. I look forward to furthering the dialogue on the topic at the BIO InvestorForum."
Other panelists include Biotech CEOs Mark J. Ahn, Hana Biosciences, Inc. and Steven H. Holtzman, Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and industry investors include Kurt von Emster, General Partner, MPM Capital and Karen Boezi, Partner, Thomas McNerney & Partners.
Indeed, U.S. biotechs have raised $12 billion in public and private financing this year to date, in contrast to the public markets in 2005 in which $20.8 billion in financing was raised. In 2005, U.S. public biotechnology firms invested nearly $16 billion in research and development, and launched more than 30 biotech and biotech-related therapies, according to Ernst & Young’s annual report, Beyond Borders.
While networking opportunities at the BIO InvestorForum 2006 are abound, reporters and other attendees may update their knowledge by attending a series of therapeutic workshops, industry roundtables and plenary sessions. For more details on the program, visit http://investorforum.bio.org/opencms/bif/2006/program/.
Advance media registration for BIO InvestorForum 2006 is now available online. Registration is complimentary for credentialed members of the news media. To register, please visit http://investorforum.bio.org/opencms/bif/2006/Registration/media.jsp. Only reporters and editors working full-time for print or broadcast news organizations may register onsite with valid media credentials. All freelancers and online publications must register in advance by Friday, Oct. 6.
The BIO InvestorForum host sponsor is Rodman & Renshaw; co-hosts are Bank of America and Jefferies; the corporate sponsor is RBC Capital Markets; and the industry sponsors are Amgen, Aquilo Partners, BioWorld Today, BMO Capital Markets, Dorsey, Ernst & Young, Foley, HellerEhrman LLP, Johnson & Johnson, Latham & Watkins LLP, Merck, Pfizer, PR Newswire and VWR International.
BIO represents more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and 31 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. www.bio.org
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