Panel / Workshops

With renowned experts and professionals from the industry sharing their views and experience, the BioSquare conference analyzes new industry trends and developments and discusses the approaches biotechnology companies can adopt in facing the current challenges. Topics cover partnering, finance and other issues of importance to the biotech industry.

  • Interactive Workshops: You will be provided with practical tools for problem solving. We specifically limit the number of participants and encourage audience participation.

  • Panel Discussions: Comprehensive discussion on topics of interest to the entire audience.


Preliminary workshops and panels program
(Topics and Time slots mentioned may be changed by the organizers)


 

Panel sessions


Wednesday, March 12 - 1.00pm  Opening Session

Pierre Erwes - CEO, BioEvents
Hans-Peter Wessels - CEO, Basel Area
Ralph Lewin - Ministry Economic Affairs, Basel Government
Severin Schwan - CEO, Roche Group    
Francis Waldvogel - Chairman of the board of Directors, Novartis Venture Fund
Johan Vanhemelrijck - General Secretary, EuropaBio
Ichiro Kitasato - President of Japan Bioindustry Association(JBA), Cheif Corporate Adviser of Meiji Seika.


Wednesday, March 12 - 2.00pm  Ernst & Young, Beyond Borders 2007 - mid-year update
Ernst & Young will provide an update of the 2007 data, presented in "Beyond Borders 2007 - The Ernst & Young Global Biotechnology Report" and discuss some of the trends within the life sciences industry, most likely to affect biotech and pharma companies in the near to mid-term future.

Jürg Zürcher - Biotech Industry Leader for Central Europe, Ernst&Young Switzerland


Wednesday, March 12 - 2.45pm The OECD’s report: “The Bioeconomy to 2030: Designing a Policy Agenda.”
The project is a two-year endeavor looking at the set of economic activities relating to the invention, development, production and use of biological products and processes. The project brings together experts from the public and private sector to take stock of the long-term opportunities and challenges facing the bioeconomy worldwide, and to propose a set of policy recommendations which aim to enhance the bioeconomy’s contribution to economic and social development in the years to come. Once background work was undertaken on laying out the current state of the bioeconomy, the project moved into its prospective phase including work focused on emerging business/economic models, value chains, legal and regulatory policies, and improving the institutional framework.
The presentation will include a description of the work undertaken and a discussion of preliminary results and recommendations.

Anthony Arundel - Senior Research and Policy Analyst, OECD



Wednesday, March 12 - 4.00pm Relations between VCs & Pharmas. How the establishment of relations between VCs and Pharmas could benefit the sector?
How the establishment of relations between VCs and Pharmas could benefit the sector? 
The current model for a biotech company is first to be funded by a VC until phase II, and then be partly or totally integrated by a Pharma.
VC-Pharma collaborations from phase II or before could create more value and minimize risks.

Jean-Pierre Loza - Former Head of new investments, Inserm Transfert Initiative
Joern-Peter Halle - Head Early Stage Licensing, Merck Serono
Anja Koenig - Managing Director, Novartis Venture Fund
Gilles Nobecourt - Partner, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners
Nigel Sheail - Global Head Licensing and Pharma Partnering, Roche



Wednesday, March 12 - 5.15pm Alliances evolution between Pharmas and Biotech
New collaboration models?
 2 major trends should influence the evolution of relations between Pharmas and biotech:
~ Upstream the industry: How to improve the relation between Biotech and pharma to help financing early stage clinical trials?
A better coordination between both parties would allow a more efficient process for early clinical trials. Indeed, a co-financing of these trials would present several advantages:
On one hand, Pharma would have a better knowledge of the products in trial and could base their purchases on more accurate information. On the other hand, Biotech would benefit from funds and from credibility, based on the interest of well-known Pharma companies to their product.
~ Downstream the industry: today, biotech products can reach the market without the traditional collaboration with a Pharma. In Europe more than in the US, deals become more and more expensive for Pharma companies. What’s the reason for the emergence of these trends? What will the new collaboration models look like?

John Hodgson - Director, Critical I
Ben Cons - Vice President, NovaQuest
Christian Béchon - Chairman and CEO, LFB
John Wick Johnson - Worldwide Business Development, Senior Director, Pfizer
Tobias Kiechle - Global Head Alliance Management and Pharma Partnering, Roche Pharmaceuticals





 

Workshops
 

Wednesday, March 12 - 10.30am  IPO for biotech companies
Everything you have to be aware of before while preparing your IPO
Is IPO the appropriate strategy? When is the right moment?
What are the constraints, the budget?  How to choose your partners?
On which stock exchange should you be listed on?

Jürg Zürcher - Biotech Industry Leader for Central Europe, Ernst&Young Switzerland
Stéphane Boissel - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Innate Pharma
Dominique Constantini - Co-Founder, President and CEO, BioAlliance Pharma
Michel Finance - Chief Financial Officer, Flamel Technologies
Stephane Weber - Chief Financial Officer, Newron Pharmaceuticals



Wednesday, March 12 - 10.30am  State aids
European state aid rules operate to prevent government intervention in the form of State Aid from distorting competition. There are, however, a number of cases in which State Aid could be considered acceptable; to date, the Commission has adopted eight block exemptions to the State Aid ban - a number of which are directly applicable to SMEs. As of 1 January 2007, the EU rules, which are not sector specific, have opened the path to benefit research, development and innovation across Europe. Attend this presentation and panel discussion to find out how the new exemptions to State Aid rules can help your company innovate and grow.
What is European State Aid and how can it help your company innovate and grow?
Case Studies: representatives from overseas countries will examine the successes, failures and lessons learned from the way State Aid operate in their countries.

Thibaut Kleiner - DG competition, European Commission
Peter Schintlmeister - In charge of the are of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Federal Ministry for Economics and Labour, Austria
Johan Vanhemelrijck - Secretary General, EuropaBio

 

Wednesday, March 12 - 10.30am  BioMarkers: Financing of the BioMarkers branch
The Future of biotech industry will not exist without personalized treatments.
It means always more accurate diagnostics – but how to develop them when diagnostic companies fail in financing themselves?
What will be the winning business-model for diagnostic companies?  

Philippe Cleuziat - Merieux Alliance
Christoph Hüls - CEO, Protagen
Eric de la Fortelle - Global Head External Research and Technologies, Pharma partnering, Roche Pharmaceuticals
Nicolas Pasqual - CEO, ImmunID



Thursday, March 13 - 9.00am  Biorefineries: how biotechnology can help breaking ground in the use of biofuels and bio-based materials.

The biorefinery has the potential to revolutionize rural economies and expand the production of bio-based fuels, chemicals and materials. The biorefinery can bring large economic and environmental advantages to a range of industries and to consumers. In this panel, we have invited speakers of various companies that have shown a serious interest to play a leading role in the development of the biorefinery. This panel will include the following:

- An update on the latest discoveries leading to the development of biorefinery technologies
- Examples of implementation of these technologies in real world practices
- Evaluation of biorefinery markets and opportunities 
- Discuss ways to overcome barriers to deployment of biorefinery technologies
- Discuss the need of partnerships for the development of deployment of biorefineries

Volkert Claassen - Vice President White Biotechnology, DSM
Bill Baum - Executive Vice President of Business Develpment and General Manager of the Speciality Enzymes Business Unit, Verenium Corporation
Wim de Laat - Principal Scientist Bioprocessing , DSM-Gist
Christian Koolloos - Operational Manager C5 Technologies, Nedalco
Christophe Rupp Dahlem - Director Vegetal based chemistry Program, Roquette Frères

 

    

Thursday, March 13 - 10.30am  ICT, Life Sciences & Biotechnology 
Performance of SystemsX.ch
- The Swiss Initiative for Systems Biology – In a nutshell (Partners, funding amount, main goals, Systems Biology)
- Computational methods in drug development – developments and perspectives for biotech companies
- Innovative medicines by mechanism-based methods

Adrian Honegger - Director Center for Information Sciences and Databases (CISD), SystemsX.ch
Wilhelm Krek - Professor Cell Biology, ETH Zürich
Dani Vonder Mühll - Managing Director SystemsX.ch, SystemsX.ch

Life sciences solutions to help meet the challenges the industry faces
Lionel Binns - Innovation Centre Manager World Wide Health and Life Sciences, HP


 



Thursday, March 13 - 2.00pm   Stock Exchanges Overview

- What would be the most pertinent prospective, concentration of the stock exchanges markets, or the development of local market places?
- How the markets target and support global biotechnology companies?
- In any case, what would be the impact for biotech companies that are willing to go public? Benefits of listing, Access to broader capital pools for growth, Expand and diversify investor base, Fair market valuation, Succession planning and exit strategy, Public profile and visibility?

Anya Ramalho
Xavier Bommart - Director, NYSE Euronext
Yvonne Gunsch-Wegmann - Vice President, SWX Swiss Exchange              
David Pitman -Director Marketing Department, London Stock Exchange

 




Thursday, March 13 - 4.00pm   NanoBiotechnology developments and economical perspectives
The "NanoBiotechnology developments and economical perspectives" workshop will provide investors and industrial players with an overview of how nanotechnology is and will impact the field of life sciences. The event will start with an opening talk reviewing the latest developments in key areas. Companies will then present their concrete applications and market strategies. The financial outlook of this field will be addressed through a panel discussion of seasoned venture capitalists and industry leaders.

Aymeric Sallin - Founder and Managing Director, NanoDimension
Bill Athenson - Vice President of International Sales and Marketing, Nanosphere
Glenn Batchelder - President and CEO, BIND Biosciences
Carlo Centonze - CEO and Founder, HEIQ Materials
Carl Pabo - Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board, Sangamo



 Friday, March 14 - 9.00am  “How to capture new opportunities for healthy nutrition provided by recent developments in life sciences and biotechnology”
In the past years we have seen an enormous increase in the understanding of the function of nutrition and micronutrients. There is a consensus that a balanced nutrition provides opportunities for a healthy life, well-being and healthy aging. The workshop aims to:
•Update on consumer interests/concerns, consumer trends and opportunities for ingredient and consumer companies 
•Review new technologies/findings in science which describe the role of diets for a healthy life
•Give examples for innovative concepts/solutions with health beneficial ingredients which are already on the market or in development
•Describe approaches and opportunities by consumer companies for healthy and tasty nutrition
•Discuss the need for partnerships between academia, consumer organisations, ingredient and consumer good companies

Hans K. Biesalki - Uni Hohenheim
Manfred Eggersdorfer - Senior Vice President DSM Nutritional Products, Head of Research and Development, DSM
Krijn Rietveld - Senior Vice President DSM Nutritional Products, Head of New Business Development, DSM
GertW. Meijer - Vice President Nutrition and Health at Unilever Research and Development, Unilever
Stephan Tanda - Member of the DSM Board
Peter Wennström - HealthFocus Europe



Friday, March 14 - 10.45am   Jetro & JBA Bio Business Seminar: What’s new in Japan Biotech Industry?  
- Biotech in Japan: an emerging sector in a not-so-emerging country
The number of Japanese biotech companies has been increasing rapidly. One of the strengths of ’s biotech lies in their unique technologies based on world class science, offering a lot of opportunities to leverage those unexploited technologies.
- Case study: some recent successful examples
This talk will highlight some recent cases of Japanese biotech companies making a successful deal with BigPharma and making a technological breakthrough.

Yoichi Togo - Director General, JETRO Geneva
Tsutomu Higuchi - Director General, JETRO Paris
Seiji Hirasaki - General Manager, AnGes Euro
Chizuko Koseki - Director, transB Ltd
Kunio Mimura - Director, Partnership and international Exchange Bio Industry, Development Department, JBA
Hans-Peter Wessels - CEO, BaselArea

  
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