Euro Biotechnology

Francois Lebel, chief medical officer of Ziopharm Oncology (NASDAQ: ZIOP), plans to step down from his position effective Oct. 26. The Boston cancer drug developer gave no reason for Lebel’s decision to leave the company. In a securities filing, Ziopharm said Lebel gave his notice on Oct. 10. Lebel has been Ziopharm’s chief medical officer since 2015, according to Bloomberg executive profile. In other moves, Ziopharm appointed CEO Laurence Cooper to its board of directors. Ziopharm develops cell and gene therapies to treat cancer.

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[Source: Research & Innovation] The human brain is such a complex system that it can only be understood by combining knowledge and practices from multiple scientific fields.
The 3rd HBP Student Conference provides an open forum for the exchange of new ideas among young researchers working across various aspects of science relevant to the Human Brain Project (HBP).
The conference offers a space for extensive scientific dialogue, both intra- and interdisciplinary, among peers and faculty through a variety of discussion sessions, lectures and social events.

Today marks the 17^th opening of the BIO Investor Forum-a place where emerging biotech companies, researchers and investors mull over opportunities to advance innovations in medicines and treatments with their sights trained on bringing products to the market. The conference has attracted over 300 qualified private equity and public investors from around the world, particularly Asia. Their presence here reflects the enthusiasm around the rapidly evolving areas of scientific and medical discoveries like gene therapy, cell therapy and genome editing.

“As a life-science venture capitalist, I am looking to discover the most novel therapies and the companies that are developing them” noted Vinay Bhaskar, Principal at MPM Capital and a member of the BIO Investor Forum Advisory Committee. “To do this, I have to stay ahead of pack in both my scientific and industry knowledge. The BIO Investor Forum lets me do both. It features cutting-edge speakers and panels and provides me with the tools to quickly connect with the types of companies I’m looking to invest in.”

During this year’s conference BIO’s President and CEO, Jim Greenwood, will deliver an address during the lunch session on Oct 17^th the that will recognize BIO’s 25^th anniversary and reflect with pride on the role the organization has played in shaping policy to save lives and promote the planet’s health. He will point to current trends in biotechnology and what attendees can expect at the conference.

With thought leaders and investment powerhouses scheduled to speak on panels and in Fireside Chats, the discussions will be robust, informative and stimulating.

On day one, Ed Hurwitz, an accomplished biotech executive, investor and Managing Director at MPM Capital, will take questions from the moderator and the audience in a noon-time Fireside Chat.

Day two’s Fireside Chat will host Rowan Chapman of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, CA. As the head of this division, Rowan manages a co-investments spanning all three sectors of Johnson & Johnson

The program will cover everything from artificial intelligence applications in biopharma drug development to the growth of Chinese investment in biotechnology to the implications of regulatory policy on the industry to new therapeutics in the pipeline.  It will close with a session on the market outlook.

Partnering at #BIF18

The popularity of BIO One-on-One Partnering™ can be seen in the surge in participation which is up 27 percent over last year with more than 3000 one-on-one meetings expected. New this year:

• Meeting requests can be made from the One-on-One mobile app
• Companies can be filtered by their in-licensing and out-licensing goals
• Resources like pitch decks and one-pagers can be linked to specific meeting requests with companies to better showcase an offering.

Warm-up for JPM Week!

BIO Investor Forum attendees can get a jump-start on using BIO’s One-on-one Partnering™ during 2019 JPM week, January 6 – 10, 2019 in San Francisco. Come to the Yorkshire Room on Wednesday (10/18) at 2:30 to learn how to use this versatile system to request meetings with thousands of biopharmas, investors, in-licensors, academics, research institutes and patient groups at no cost. Those who join this session will receive expedited registration for JPM week.

Check out the BIO Buzz Center

The BIO Buzz Center hosts industry leaders and invites them to share their perspectives on key industry trends during two to three-minute video interviews. Which will be conducted in the “California West” room. Here is the schedule of interviews for this year’s Buzz Center:

To all our attendees, welcome to the BIO Investor Forum!

If you had more than $300 million to try and fix the healthcare industry, how would you do it?

For a startup called Devoted Health, the answer involves a combination of providing more home healthcare and support to the seniors it serves, as well as incorporating telemedicine and other technologies as part of a business model that uses more experimentation. We’ll soon see whether the approach has merit.

On Tuesday, the Waltham, MA-based company announced it raked in $300 million in a Series B funding round to implement that new approach. The round was led by well-known Silicon Valley venture firm… Read more »

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Technology and life sciences leaders say they’ll remember Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder, philanthropist, and investor who passed away Monday at age 65, as an “inspiration” whose work will impact the fields he worked in for years to come.

Allen died from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to a statement from Vulcan, the Seattle-based philanthropy and investment firm he led. Allen was in Seattle at the time of his passing, Vulcan said.

Allen and Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) in 1975. Allen spent eight years at the company, helping to lay the groundwork for Microsoft’s eventual emergence as one… Read more »

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[Source: http://ec.europa.eu/health/ageing/innovation/index_en.htm] Identifier: REC-AG-2017Pillar: REC Programme 2014-2020Opening Date: Deadline: Tue, 7 Nov 2017 17:00:00 (Brussels local time)Modification Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2018Latest information: Document with abstracts of selected proposals has been added under Topic conditions and documents, additional documents.

Every October 16th the world celebrates World Food Day, honoring the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Established in 1945, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization is focused on leading international efforts to defeat hunger. And in today’s world, hunger is an increasingly critical issue that the UN is closely watching.

In fact, the UN has been sounding the alarm that we must double food production to feed the world’s growing population – a population that will swell to 9 billion people by 2050. Compounding this, the UN recently issued a sobering report on the progress to curb climate change, noting more work needs to be done. Because of Earth’s rising temperatures and its exponentially increasing population, the mission of UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization is more important than ever.

So, in honor of #WorldFoodDay, let’s explore how biotechnology can help the UN in its mission to feed a growing, warmer world.

Ag Microbials

As we covered in September’s 25^th Anniversary blog, ag microbials are products that can be applied directly to a seed to enhance the natural microbes found in soil – that is the tiny organisms like bacteria and fungi that provide plants the nutrients they need. Ag microbials can be applied to seeds to make plants grow more efficiently, such as making them drought tolerant (requiring less water), able to absorb nitrogen from the atmosphere (reducing the need for nitrogen fertilizers) or able to protect themselves from pests and diseases (reducing the need for pesticides).

By applying certain ag microbials to crops, farmers can increase yields without using resources that exacerbate the world’s food security issue by being harmful to the environment.

Precision Agriculture

In the UN report on climate change, the intergovernmental organization alluded to the need for new technologies to meet the goals in the Paris Agreement. Precision agriculture is the overarching term for a plethora of new farming technologies that have enhanced farming practices in the computer age. Many of these technologies allow farmers to grow food more efficiently, reducing resources and preventing harm to the environment. Two technologies advancing precision agriculture include:

• Variable rate technology, or VRT, allows farmers to control the amount of inputs they apply to a specific crop. Instead of spraying an entire field from a crop duster plan, VRT allows farmers to apply precise doses of treatments at the base of the plant, cutting down on resource waste. These deliberate inputs can also lead to higher yields as individual crops will get treatments specific to their needs as opposed to relying on an overhead, inaccurate crop dust.
• Remote sensing technology allows farmers to monitor various components of cropland, from the soil’s moisture content to factors that could be stressing the plant. Think of remote sensing technology like an MRI scan for humans. From this, farmers can make more calculated decisions to manage crop health and growth, thus reducing resource waste. Additionally, remote sensing technology allows farmers to be better stewards of cropland, allowing them to monitor and make changes to guarantee the land’s health into the future.

Gene Editing

Perhaps the most-exciting, or most newsworthy, technology that can help feed the growing, warmer world is gene editing. Unlike GMOs, gene editing allows us to make edits to a plant’s DNA without using a vehicle like bacteria to transfer genes from one plant to another. Like GMOs, however, gene editing can lead to countless traits that will help farmers grow food in various challenging conditions. From crops that are drought tolerant, enabling them to grow in arid climates, to high oleic soybeans, which will increase supply of heart-healthy fats in certain malnourished regions, gene editing technologies like CRISPR hold tremendous promise to feed a growing and warmer world.

See what others are talking about for #WorldFoodDay by following the conversation on Twitter here.

Here’s a statistic you might not have known: an estimated 700,000 people die each year due to the growing number of infections resistant to treatment. Known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), this “silent killer” and looming public health threat has severe social and economic consequences that could have a lasting impact on families, individuals and communities across the globe.

How best to tackle that problem will be the subject of the World Antimicrobial Resistance Congress later this month. Now in its fourth year, the Congress will take place October 25-26, 2018 here in Washington, DC, where over 400 stakeholders from around the world will discuss strategies and commercial approaches to combat AMR.

This year’s event will consist of three streams on Antibiotic R&D, Diagnostics, and Antimicrobial Stewardship, as well as a fourth stream called Innovation Showcase where antibiotic biotech companies and diagnostics innovators will be pitching to investors.

One of the highlights of this year’s show will be the keynote panel entitled Coordinated Pull, where our panelists will discuss how to make tangible “pull” incentives a reality. Dr. Gregory Frank, BIO’s director of infectious diseases policy, will be moderating the panel. He will be joined by:

• Mark Jones, Head of Clinical Development and Preclinical Development, Basilea Pharmaceutica
• Jeremy Knox, Policy and Advocacy Lead, Drug-Resistant Infections Programme, Wellcome Trust
• Amanda Jezek, Senior Vice President, Public Policy and Government Relations, Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)
• Silas Holland, Director of Infectious Diseases Policy, Merck
• Christine Årdal, Senior Advisor, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and Co-Lead, DRIVE-A

These leaders will analyze different commercial models, mainly market entry rewards, transferable vouchers, and FDA proposed licensing model, from a multi stakeholder approach.

Since 2015, the World Antimicrobial Resistance Congress has been the go-to global meeting for AMR stakeholders, and this year’s event is supposed to be the best yet! More information and registration details may be found here.

Ansun BioPharma has appointed Stanley Lewis to serve as its chief medical officer. Lewis comes to Ansun from TaiMed Biologics, where as CMO he oversaw the development of a treatment for multi-drug resistant HIV through to FDA approval. San Diego-based Ansun said Lewis will oversee the late-stage development of its lead candidate, DAS181, a treatment for parainfluenza, which is poised to enter a Phase 3 program. Ansun also said it appointed Connie Lu to serve as its vice president of quality. Lu was previously at Genentech.

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[Source: Research & Innovation] This event takes place during the 14th Conference of the Parties on the Convention on Biodiversity and it is organised by the European Commission, the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), and the Secretariat of the CBD.

The objective of this Science-Policy dialogue would be to bring together and engage scientists and policy makers in a transparent dialogue, to recommend how to bring the post-2020 process forward. It can open new pathways to accelerate implementation of nature-based solutions for nature, people and the economy across different sectors, and on engaging wider parts of the society.

Link for registration: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/ScienceForum