I first mentioned my upcoming life science business and marketing courses this spring back in November. Now it’s time to register for the first in the series starting Thursday evening, Feb. 16, 2012 entitled “Life Science Product Marketing: It’s All in the Plan.” This course occurs on Thursday evenings over a period of 7 weeks ending on March 29^th at UC Berkeley Extension’s new Belmont campus off highway 101.

See the full description and bios and topics of guest speakers pasted in below.

Date and Time: Feb. 16, 23, March 1, 8, 15 and 29, 2012; 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Location: New Belmont Center, UC Berkeley Extension, Room 3B, 1301 Shoreway Road, Suite 400, Belmont, CA 94002

Fee: $695

See more details and register at http://extension.berkeley.edu/catalog/course135.htm

 

Course Description

This science product marketing course introduces industry-relevant product planning knowledge and skills required for successfully marketing life science products and, specifically, explores the development of strategic and tactical marketing programs for their launch. Topics include learning about different market research approaches; information resources critical for developing a successful plan, product strategy and positioning with differentiated claims; and how to identify the most lucrative target audience. Course activities include a team-developed preliminary marketing plan.

The course is appropriate for professionals at all levels in life science marketing research, product planning and management, product sales, promotion, business development and licensing, public and corporate relations, as well as other company functions involved in the development and commercialization of a product and its labeling, including clinical and regulatory.

Course participants will learn about the development of a marketing strategy, product positioning, differentiated claim structure and selection of target audience as members of a class-based product team that replicates a company-based team. They will understand what goes into successful tactical marketing and promotional programs and gain insights into what it takes to gain management approval and resources for implementation.

Course Instructor

Audrey Erbes, Ph.D., Principal, Erbes & Associates and www.audreysnetwork.com, is a life-science business development and marketing consultant and developer of customized executive education. With more than 30 years of managerial experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, she was Executive Vice President and cofounder of Kowa Research Institute, a biopharmaceutical licensing and investment subsidiary of Kowa Company Ltd., Japan and before that held U.S. and global management positions at Syntex Corp. (acquired by Roche) in market research, product management, strategic marketing and planning, and business development.

Guest Speakers and Their Topics

Naina Shehzeen Ahmad, M.S., a Senior Consultant specializing in the Life Science division of Simon-Kucher & Partners in San Francisco, has professional focus which includes strategic development, value and market access planning, pricing and value positioning strategies, and reimbursement strategies, including innovative contracting, for pharmaceuticals, biotech and med tech products, and high-value molecular diagnostics. Since joining SKP, Ms. Ahmad has led pricing research in international and domestic markets, including the US, EU-5, Canada, Australia, Latin America and APAC countries, in a broad range of therapeutic areas. “Role of Pricing and Reimbursement in Product Management Strategic Planning”

Debbie Donovan, B.A., an expert in medical device marketing, is focused on developing digital marketing programs for medical technology companies—including the integration of social media channels. Currently, Debbie is the Director of Marketing at Avantis Medical Systems supporting market adoption of Third Eye® Retroscope. Previously, she was a Senior Manager at Intuitive Surgical and, addition, had experience serving Ob/Gyn, Orthopedics/Spine and ENT physicians at Conceptus, Kyphon and Somnus. Her expertise is in developing effective strategies and leading teams in marketing communications, public relations and event programs. Before heading to the client side, Debbie began her career at a medical advertising and public relations agency. “e-Marketing: Connecting with Providers and Patients”

Richard Clark, Sr. Director, Biopharma Strategy at Medtronic working to integrate Medtronic technology into drug development, has extensive cross-functional biotech experience in large and small companies with a focus on managing all aspects of commercial/ product development, including target product profile and value proposition development, forecasting, portfolio management, and clinical trial enrollment strategy. Richard was previously Senior Director, commercial at ARYx Therapeutics where he served on the joint steering committee with Proctor and Gamble developing a gastroenterology program. Richard worked for many years in commercial organization at Genentech. “Product Management 101- Developing/Executing The Tactical Plan.”

Charles S. Versaggi, Ph.D., is President, Versaggi Biocommunications®, a marketing consultancy specializing in corporate and marketing communications for the global life-science industry. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the firm serves clients in every stage of development — from seed funding through research and development, clinical trials, regulatory approval and worldwide product marketing. With nearly 30 years of strategic marketing and communications experience, Dr. Versaggi has directed marketing and communications initiatives for life science companies ranging from startups to Fortune—100 global leaders. These include the launch of the first genetically engineered vaccine and genomic disease management products, and the first applications of minimally invasive surgery. “Building Value through Strategic Marketing Planning and Communications.”

Steven Wong, B.A., is a Senior Consultant at Plan A, a strategic marketing consulting firm servicing biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. He specializes in developing patient-based forecast models and prioritizing marketing opportunities in therapeutic areas such as oncology and infectious diseases. At Plan A, he has directed numerous consulting engagements, including opportunity assessments, complex population modeling, and therapeutic area strategy. Additionally, Mr. Wong co-authored several editions of Plan A’s ONCOSight and Innovations in Anticancer Drugs multiclient report series. “Market Research Information Resources”

You can find full descriptions of the other two courses “Life Science Business and Marketing: Their Integral Role” (2-day intensive in April) and “Life Science Business Development” (2-day intensive in June) on the home page of my website www.AudreysNetwork.com. I’ve been teaching these courses for ten years at UC Berkeley and UCSC Extensions but this year will only be teaching them at UC Berkeley Extension in Belmont and at Downtown San Francisco campuses.

Audrey’s Picks

This coming week offers a full schedule of meetings once again. I’ll be at four of them and just wish there weren’t so many overlapping programs. Perhaps I’ll see you soon. I’ve listed the highlights for the coming week below you can download the full Audrey’s Picks for meetings through April 2012.

I’ve also attached a flyer for my upcoming course. I’d really appreciate your forwarding to colleagues who might benefit. These courses depend on word of mouth as there’s no advertising budget to compete with for profit courses.

• BioCentury TV Today, See the Webcast Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 www.biocenturytv.com, Continuously available starting at 9:00 a.m. EDT; Topic: “Curtain Raiser;” Speakers: Norm Coleman, former Republican Senator from Minnesota and Senior Governmental Advisor at the law firm Hogan Lovells; Byron Dorgan, former Democratic Senator from North Dakota and Senior Policy Advisor to the law firm Arent Fox; Dr. Judy Feder, Professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University and former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of HHS in the Clinton Administration; Gene Grabowski, EVP at Levick Strategic Communications
• Personalized Medicine World Conference 2012, (PMWC), Mon.-Tues., Jan. 23-24, 2012
• Bio2Device Group, Tuesday Morning, Jan. 24, 2012; Topic: “FDA’s 21 CFR 11 Inspection Assignments;” Speaker: Angela Bazigos, CEO, Touchstone Technologies
• QB3 Seminars, Wednesday Lunch Time, Jan. 25, 2012; Topic: Exploiting a More Polar Property Space in the Design of Brain Penetrant Molecules; Speaker: Anabella Villalobos, PhD, Vice-President, Neuroscience and Antibody Drug Conjugate Medicinal Chemistry, Pfizer
• Palo Alto AWIS, Wednesday Evening, Jan. 25, 2012; Topic: “Starting Your Own Company; Making a Difference: The Potential of Nanotechnology for Life Sciences and Biotechnology;” Speaker: Aihua Fu, Ph.D., CEO Nvigen
• BayBio Life Science Series, Thursday Morning, Jan. 26, 2012; Topic: “Fundraising in Troubled Times: Alternatives to the Traditional Forms of Funding;” Moderator: Michael Benjamin, Shareholder, Audit Burr Pilger Mayer, Inc.; Speakers: Kim Tsuchimoto, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary Raptor Pharmaceutical Corporation; Bruce W. Jenett, Partner and Co-Chair, Global Life Sciences Sector DLA Piper
• East Bay Association for Women In Science, Thursday Evening, Jan. 26, 2012; Event: “An Evening of Networking”
• VC Taskforce, Thursday Evening, Jan. 26, 2012; Topic: “Trends in Life Science Funding;” Moderator: Meredith L. Warshaw, PhD, CSO, Molecular Image and Chair, VC Taskforce Life Sciences: Life Sciences Money Tree Overview: Steve Bengston, Director, PwC (Pricewaterhouse Coopers); Panelists: Doug Foster, Longitude Capital; Mike Powell,PhD, Sofinova Ventures; Jonathan Norris, SVB (Silicon Valley Bank); Steve Bengston, PWC (Pricewaterhouse Coopers); Philip Ottinger, WSGR (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati); Roger Flugel PhD, Sanderling Ventures
• Health Technology Meetup, Thursday Evening, Jan. 26, 2012; Topic: “Health Research: Ripe for Disruption – Health Technology Meetup;” Speakers: Greg Biggers, Chief Instigator & CEO of Genomera; Kate Schafer, Senior Technology Executive and Independent Consultant

Also see attached “Jobs That Crossed My Desk” through today.

Audrey

St. Francis Hotel

I found this year’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco generally uninspiring with undercurrent of uncertainty at many levels. Missing were the start up companies and their passionate founders with reports of potential innovation that fired the imagination of attendees in the past. This circumstance has a lot to do with the departure of venture capital money for financing early stage start ups.

Big Pharma was focused on selling their stock so most of them sent their CFOs rather than CEOs to present their financials. The latters’ presentations lacked the sparkle of new marketing strategies and product launches. One felt the uncertainty in their strategic plans going forward as they scramble to change their business models to meet the challenges of losing blockbuster income and having lackluster pipelines.

I feel as if I am reliving history of the late 1990s when VC firms abandoned high risk biotech and biopharma and fled to investments in dot.coms.  Now they are fleeing to social media plays like Groupon. Perhaps this is good news in that more serious and experienced life science VCs who remain, as they did in late 1990s, will bring stability back to this sector. The profusion of new science and need for innovation just doesn’t support desertion of this sector.

See my guest blog including a detailed report and analysis of biopharma company presentations and meeting on the Pharmaceutical Executive blog . I suggest you also look at Windhover’s IN VIVO blog for additional insights. They promise to have more to say on the meeting soon. Right click on highlighted titles to link to websites mentioned.

There’s a settling down of events this coming week to the regularly scheduled ones with the following highlights:

• BioCentury TV Today, See the Webcast Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 www.biocenturytv.com, Continuously available starting at 9:00 a.m. EDT through the week; Topic: “Crying for Change;” Speaker: FDA’s Janet Woodcock
• Bio2Device Group, Tuesday Morning, Jan. 17, 2012; Topic: “NonClinical Safety Evaluation in Pharmaceutical Development;” Speaker: Michael Taylor, Ph.D., Principal, NonClinical Safety Assessment
• BioScience Forum, Wednesday Evening, January 18th, 2012; Title: “Discovery, Development, and Potential Therapeutic Applications of Direct Sarcomere Activators;” Speaker: Fady Malik, MD, Ph.D., FACC, Vice President Biology and Therapeutics, Cytokinetics, Inc.
• San Jose BioCenter, Tuesday Lunchtime, January 19, 2012; Topic: “All About Science-The Road to Biologic IND”
• NCC ACRP Annual Planning Meeting, Saturday Morning, Jan. 21, 2012

But don’t forget to check out  the upcoming Personalized Medicine World Conference 2012 scheduled for Monday-Tuesday, Jan. 23-24, 2012 in Mountain View. This event occurs annually. See the details for this and all of Audrey’s Picks  through March by right clicking on highlighted title.

Audrey

The upcoming week will be full of activity in San Francisco as over 8,000 registrants arrive for the JP Morgan 30^th Annual Healthcare Conference at the St. Francis. There will be over 395 public and private companies presenting this year—an increase over 2010’s conference. You’ll be able to tune into the webcast company presentations live or on demand after the presentation listed in the schedule (subject to company consent). Webcasts: Available live and on-demand at: https://events.jpmorgan.com/. You do not need a username and password but you will be prompted for your email address. Note: The Not-For-Profit Track and Private companies are not webcast.

See the details on all the upcoming events in Audrey’s Picks for events through March 2012.  The highlights for this coming week appear directly below:

• BioCentury TV Today, See the Webcast Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012 www.biocenturytv.com, Continuously available starting at 9:00 a.m. EDT; Topic: “Looking Back to See Ahead;” Speakers: Dennis Purcell, Senior Managing Partner, Aisling Capital; Michael King, Managing Director, Rodman & Renshaw and Edward Tenthoff, Managing Director, Piper Jaffray
• EPPIC 2012 Annual Conference, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012: Topic: “Leveraging Emerging Markets and Technologies in Life Sciences”
• BayHelix 9th Annual Conference, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012; Keynote Speech by Honorable California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom; Panel Discussion I: Legal and Ethical Concerns for Trans-Pacific Biotech Executives; BayHelix Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation–What Are Successful Biotech Entrepreneurs Made Of?; Kenneth Fong, PhD, Founder of CLONTECH Laboratories; Chairman of Kenson Ventures, LLC; Panel Discussion II: Global Strategies for Chinese and Multi-National Biopharma Companies (download Conference Program)
• 30th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Mon. – Thursday, January 9-12, 2012; five tracks of public and one for private companies each day with special tracks for Chinese and Asian companies on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
• The Biotech Showcase (www.ebdgroup.com/bts/index.php and agenda at http://www.ebdgroup.com/bts/presenters/prs_schedule.php with those companies offering webcasts listed as well), Jan. 9-11th, 2012
• 5th Annual OneMedForumSF 2012 January 9-12th, 2012 in San Francisco (www.onemedplace.com/forum
• Bio2Device Group, Tuesday Evening, Jan. 10, 2012; Topic: “Future of Regulation of Genetic Information, Especially Whole Genome Sequencing;” Speaker: Professor Hank Greely, Chair of California’s Human Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee, Stanford University
• San Francisco AWIS, Wednesday Evening, Jan. 11, 2012; Program: “sfAWIS Mentoring Program Kick-Off;” A San Francisco AWIS Event in conjunction with UCSF career center
• Golden Gate Polymer Forum, Friday Evening, Jan. 13, 2012; Topic: “Think Big Then Shrink: Micro & Nano Tools for Biomedical Applications;” Speaker: Prof. Michelle Khine, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engr., Mechanical Engr., Chemical Engr. & Materials Science, U.C. Irvine

I’ll be in San Francisco all week covering the JP Morgan conference once again. Perhaps I’ll run into you at the conference or in one the many venues running concurrently.

Audrey

This will be a short note to include the jobs listings I’ve received since my last posting in December. I’ll have more complete events listing and blog this weekend. At that time I can provide detailed information on JP Morgan meeting schedule so you know which and when companies are presenting and how to access the webcasts live or after they post their presentation.

On the note of industry employment, it’s not news that pharmaceutical sales forces are declining in size. This position used to be an entry point for those interested in careers in sales and marketing so this is not good news from that perspective. But despite the rapid decline in numbers resulting from the difficulty in obtaining face time with physicians and rise of new modalities to communicate with physicians, these functions won’t disappear, just the sheer number of “feet on the street”. Companies will use different channels than the high volume of traditional face-to-face sales presentations of the past. There were 120,000 sales reps in the last decade a number which is dropping rapidly. The goal is to return sales force sizes to those in the early 1990s—more like 60,000 or less.

Here’s a spoof on the old-fashioned sales approach in pharma and why some physicians will welcome the new approaches that the company Eyeforpharma.com that produced this video is promoting to help companies adapt their sales methods to the times. Eyeforpharma describes their youtube posting as “this shocking insight into old-school pharma reps caught in action”.

You can download the Jobs that Crossed My Desk through today by right clicking on the highlighted title.

Audrey

Happy New Year!

Although news summaries from 2011 weren’t inspiring in general, we also had more bad news from the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) reporting on medical sector venture capital investment trends in their report entitled Vital Signs: The Crisis in Investment in U.S. Medical Innovation and the Imperative of FDA Reform. There are no surprises in their 2011 survey results “that U.S. venture capitalists have been and will continue to:

• Decrease their investment in biotechnology and medical device start-ups
• Reduce their concentration in critical therapeutic areas, and
• Shift focus away from the United States towards Europe and Asia”

We shouldn’t be surprised as the investment action moves more heavily to foundations, government and corporate venture funding. This isn’t the first time that VC investments have made a major shift in their focus toward other sectors. This time it’s social media and related high tech companies in the limelight. In the late 1990s there was a movement away from biotech and medical innovation in big way as dot com plays became the darlings of investors. The dotcom crash of 2001 resulted in a return to the life sciences as a less risky focus. Funds have become too large and related factors have crowded out interest in smaller life science start ups. Although regulation is getting the highest level of blame for this withdrawal, there are a lot of other factors at work.

Looking into the lineup of conferences and meetings coming up in the new year, I see many addressing the issues confronting our industry and providing suggested solutions for making up the gaps. It shouldn’t be overlooked that investments are moving toward Europe and Asia but also toward the East Coast as European companies look to the Boston area for investments—it’s a lot closer to home and not as difficult a time shift as the West Coast. The Bay Area Cluster has real concerns about losing its preeminence but on positive side also has linkages to Asia that Boston doesn’t.

Companies continue to search for innovative products to commercialize and the need for such products isn’t going away, so I’m optimistic that Americans will figure outa soluntion to the financing dilemma. Also investment just isn’t growing at rate it did in the past but still remains at substantial levels.

Also the larger environment of uncertainty plays a major role in this and a lot of this angst may be resolved after the elections in 2012. The political arena is loaded with fear mongering and this often leads to paralysis and inaction rather than atmosphere appropriate for finding solutions. We figuratively all need to take a deep breath of fresh air and focus on path to solutions rather than doom.

I’m looking forward to period of renaissance in the marketing and sales arena as companies learn to sell what they have and enhance patient adherence—the most easily attained new and expanded sales. I’ll be focusing on this in my upcoming course at the University of California Berkeley Extension course “Life Science Product Marketing: It’s All in The Plan”. You can read more about it in the attached flyer and register at http://extension.berkeley.edu/catalog/course135.html

I suspect you’ll be getting your work schedule back to normal as you dig out from under the correspondence accumulated during the holiday period. The new year’s events really open with major activities starting Sunday Jan. 8^th but didn’t want to neglect two upcoming activities already available this week.

• BioCentury TV Today, See the Webcast Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012 www.biocenturytv.com, Continuously available starting at 9:00 a.m. ED; Topic: “Election Year: Day 1;” speakers: Debating the public health and social consequences:

•	Jeanne Monahan of the Family Research Council
•	Kirsten Moore of the Reproductive Health Technologies Project
•	Cynthia Pearson of the National Women’s Health Network

Analyzing the political calculus:

•	Mary Pendergast, former Deputy Commissioner and an architect of FDA’s call for emergency contraceptives during the Clinton administration
•	Peter Pitts of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, and former Associate Commissioner at FDA during the Plan B debate in the Bush administration

• Medtech Frontiers, Thursday Evening, Jan. 5, 2012; Topic: “Shrinky-Dink Microfluidics for Biomedical Applications;” Speaker: Michelle Khine is currently an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at UC Irvine and scientific founder of Shrink Nanotechnologies

I’ve attached the list of upcoming events through March 2012 for your information. Also be looking at my new website which I’m launching with ability for me to update regularly. I’ll be providing details for my new courses to be taught at UC Berkeley Extension in Belmont off 101 and the Bio Biz course in June at the downtown center in San Francisco.  See attached summary.

Audrey

Hope your holidays have been restful as well as enjoyable. A tip–sharing the cooking, decorating and cleanup makes the festive meals even more enjoyable. I’m all for teamwork in the kitchen!!

There’s not much happening in way of events this week due to holidays. See a change in the discount deadline for the EPPIC conference on Sunday, Jan. 8^th which was moved to tomorrow Dec. 27^th. BioCentury TV has a new program this week as well–Topic: “Ambition to Reality;” Speakers: Michael Milken, Chairman of FasterCures/The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions and Walter Capone, COO of The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.

See the detailed list of events as well as the agenda for the upcoming JP Morgan Global Healthcare Investment conference the week of the 9^th. Thought you’d like to have this to plan your appointments and when to tune into the webcast of sessions. I’ve provided the url for access to the audio webcasts.

Right click on highlighted document titles and download pdf files–Audrey’s Life Science Meeting Picks and J.P. Morgan 30th Annual Healthcare Conference

Audrey

There are two free events this coming week. I also call your attention to the Personalized Medicine World conference in January for which you can still get 25% discount with special code provided below if you register by Dec.24th. Free events include:

• BioCentury TV Today, See the Webcast Sunday, Dec.18, 2011 www.biocenturytv.com, Continuously available starting at 9:00 a.m. EDT; Topic: “Genentech in the Ivory Tower;” Editor Steve Usdin is joined by Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann, Chancellor of the University of California at San Francisco and Dr. Marc Tessler-Lavigne, President of Rockefeller University in New York City
• San Jose Biocenter, Monday, Dec. 19, 2011/ 10:30 p.m.: Event: Roundtable Discussion with U.S. Ambassador to Australia

Special Announcements for January Meetings that require consideration now:

• EPPIC 2012 Annual Conference, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012; Topic: “Leveraging Emerging Markets and Technologies in Life Sciences;” see program at http://www.eppicglobal.org/AnnualConference2012.asp
• 30th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Mon. – Thursday, January 9-12 plus other meetings, OneMedForumSF 2012, Jan. 9-12th and Biotech Showcase, 9-11th, all in San Francisco
• Personalized Medicine World Conference 2012, (PMWC), Mon.-Tues., Jan. 23-24, 2012; Date: January 23-24, 2012; Location: Computer History Museum, 1401 N Shoreline Blvd, Mountain View, CA 94043; Cost: 25% off by December 24 – enter discount code: “Audrey”; Register to attend at http://pmwc2012.eventbrite.com

You can download  Jobs that Crossed My Desk through Dec. 17th and detailed list of events, Audrey’s Picks by right clicking on highlighted titles.

I call to your attention the industry-related Holiday Greetings poem from Gail Maderis at BayBio  from which I close with this excerpt:

“To fuel, feed and heal

The world is our mission.

And we’ll persevere

In this noble ambition.

Changing the world isn’t easy,

There is no free pass.

But working together

We’ll make contributions that last.”

Happy Holidays!

Audrey

Hi,

Everyone is very busy this time of year with the impending holiday season and distractions of preparations for these celebrations.  But there’s at least one more week of serious business as demonstrated by the upcoming event calendar for this coming week.

The highlights for this coming week’s life science events are listed below. You can find the full details for these and events through end of Dec. in the highlighted title Audrey’s Life Science Picks.

• BioCentury TV Today, See the Webcast Sunday, Dec.11, 2011 www.biocenturytv.com, Continuously available starting at 9:00 a.m. EDT: Topic: “Genentech’s Elite Alumni;” Editor Steve Usdin is joined by Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann, Chancellor of the University of California at San Francisco and Dr. Marc Tessler-Lavigne, President of Rockefeller University in New York City
• FountainBlue’s Life Science Entrepreneurs’ Forum, Monday Evening, Dec. 12, 2011;Topic: “Robotics in MedTech;” Facilitator Jack Moorman, LeVaunt, LLC; Presenting Entrepreneur Robert Horst, Ph.D., Vice President of R&D & Cofounder, Tibion; Presenting Entrepreneur Mike Ouren, Clinical Development Manager, Restoration Robotics; Presenting Entrepreneur Bruce Richardson, CEO, Accel Biotech; Presenting Entrepreneur Dr. Ramesh C. Trivedi, President, Calbiomed International, Inc.
• Bio2Device Group, Tuesday Evening, Dec. 13, 2011; Topic: “Issues and Challenges Confronting Innovation;” Speaker: Gail Maderis, President and CEO of BayBio
• San Jose Biocenter, Tuesday Morning, Dec. 13, 2011; Topic: “Building a Financial Foundation –A Blueprint for Taking the Right First Steps;” Speakers: Jeff Burkland, CEO (Part-Time CFO for Start-Ups), Burkland Associates; Justin Roberts, Managing Director, BayPoint Benefits; Brian Hassan, Managing Director, BayPoint Benefits
• East Bay AWIS, Tuesday Evening, Dec. 13, 2011; Event: Please join us for the East Bay AWIS December Networking Social!
• Patheon Free Seminar in San Diego, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011; Topic: ”Moving from Molecule to Clinical Trial — Overcoming Challenges in the Early Development of Small Molecules”
• San Jose BioCenter, Meet With Abbott, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011; Event: Meet with Abbott; Speakers: Dr. Don Halbert, Division VP Abbott Bioresearch, Redwood City, Abbott; Dr. Neela Patel, Director ,External Research, West Coast, Abbott; Dr. Jeff Huff, Director, New Technology Assessment, Diagnostics, Abbott (tentative); Additional Abbott Attendees Include: Murali Gopalakrishnan, Head, Global External Research; Bill Kohlbrenner, Director, Global External Research; Chuck Kunsch, Director, Global External Research (Immunology, Biologics); Dieter Ziegler, Director, Global External Research (Neuroscience, Renal); Daryl Sauer, Snr Group Leader, Global External Research (Enabling Technologies); Nicole Walker, Abbott Bioventures
• KPMG/Stanford School of Medicine Career Center, Wednesday Noon, Dec. 14, 2011; Topic: “KPMG Presents China’s Pharmaceutical Industry – Poised for the Giant Leap;” Speakers: David Blumberg, Advisory Partner in Charge of Global Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences and Brian Wilson, Advisory Director, US-China Practice Leader for the Midwest
• BioScience Forum, Wednesday Night, Dec. 14, 2011; Topic: “Recent Trends in Mergers and Acquisitions in the Life Sciences Industry; Speaker: David Low, Managing Director and Co-Head of North American Life Sciences Lazard Capital Markets
• San Jose BioCenter, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011; Topic: “7th Annual Trends in Financing – The CEO Perspective;” Speakers: Peter Hirth, CEO – Plexxikon; Anand Mehra, Partner – Sofinnova Ventures; Peter Thompson, Co-Founder – Cleave BioSciences; Venture Partner, Orbimed Advisors; Guy Miller, CEO – Edison Pharmaceuticals; Jim Cornett, COO – Oxford BioTherapuetics – Invited; Scott Iyama, [Lead Facilitator] Partner – Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP
• PA AWIS, Thursday, December 15, 2011; Event: December Chapter Meeting: It’s All About Networking; Speakers: Alycia Shilton-Lloyd Ph.D., Jessica Bessler Ph.D., Cathleen Brdlik Ph.D.

Happy Holiday planning!

Audrey

A new study on the ranking of life science clusters by real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle listed the Bay Area as third after first-ranked Boston and second, New York/New Jersey. I was interested to see how this study’s methodology provided results that dropped the Bay Area cluster to a third ranking nationwide. We know that sometimes earlier reports commissioned by various BIO annual conference location sponsors accomplished goal of raising rank of their respective cluster by limiting the Bay Area to a narrow geographical area of San Francisco. Their research was suspect since they were hired to make the client’s geographical region rise in ranking versus earlier generally accepted studies.

This latest study includes number of different rankings to arrive that overall assessment of Boston as the number one cluster: high-tech research & hospital/medical employment; science & engineering graduate students; NIH funding; R&D spending as percent of GDP; and academic, venture capital funding and research institute facilities. Boston topped the Bay Area in all but one important area: VC funding. Earlier reports had noted that Boston lacked venture capital but a larger medical research institution concentration than the Bay Area. This factor certainly played big role in New York being ranked second. Note that Boston had $700 million less VC funding than the Bay Area in this latest study.

The presence of far larger number of hospital research workers and NIH funding of those institutions seems to be a major factor in lifting the ranking of the Boston hub. For sure the Boston cluster has been gaining on the Bay Area in achievements over the past ten years, first they surpassed the previously second-ranked San Diego County cluster but now the question is whether or not the number of students and R&D research workers is to be weighted equally with VC funding. If you expand the factors considered, you can change the results. I leave it to you to decide if Boston is now the number one cluster.

I’ve provided pdfs for both upcoming events and jobs that crossed my desk with full details for your convenience. Right click on highlighted titles Audrey’s Picks and Jobs That Crossed My Desk through Dec. 3 and open the lists in a new window.

Here are the highlights for this week’s meetings:

• BioCentury TV Today, See the Webcast Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011 www.biocenturytv.com, Continuously available starting at 9:00 a.m. EDT: Topic: “The Doctor in the House;” Editor Steve Usdin is joined by Michael Burgess, Republican Congressional Representative from Texas
• Bio2Device Group, Tuesday Morning, Dec. 6, 2011; Topic: Title: “What’s So Complicated About Medical Customer Support? – Views From Behind the Curtains;” Panelists: John Jensen, Ron Bucher, Stacy Williams
• RAPS, Tuesday Evening, Dec. 6, 2011; Topic: “Social Media: A Regulatory Perspective:” Speaker: Alan G. Minsk, JD, partner and practice leader, food and drug practice, Arnall Golden Gregory LLP
• Golden Gate Polymer Forum, Tuesday Evening, December 6, 2011; Topic: How to “Star” in Functional Self-Assembled Polymeric Materials;
  Speaker: Joseph Sly, IBM Almaden Research Center
• BIOMEDevice Conference, Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 6-7, 2011; Event: Medtech Conference and Exhibit Hall
• BioE2E, Wednesday Evening, Dec. 7, 2011; Topic: “Effective Communications for Emerging Enterprises;” WAS CANCELLED

Audrey

Greetings From Arroyo Grande

Hope your holidays last week provided some rest and relaxation and some time away from the Internet and its pervasive impact on our lives. I took a two-day holiday without connection during which I celebrated all the things for which I was thankful with family and friends—enjoyed the outdoors with hikes and walks on the beach and shared a yummy turkey and all the accompanying side dishes.

Now I’m refreshed and ready to take on new challenges. I’ll be revising my website and soon will be posting full details for content and registration for my upcoming classes at new locations with the University of California Berkeley Extension.

In the upcoming spring term starting Thursday, Feb. 16th I’ll be teaching the 6-evening Life Science Product Marketing: It’s All in The Plan course over 7 weeks where you will be able to develop a team-based preliminary marketing plan and then on Thursday and Friday, April 19-20, the intensive two-day course Life Science Business and Marketing: Their Integral Role, with business investment project researched and prepared during balance of term. Both of the spring courses will take place at UCB Extension’s new Belmont campus with easy access off highway 101.

Early in the summer term on June 21-22, the popular business development course Life Science Business Development course, with revisions to now cover all industry sectors, returns to the San Francisco downtown campus on Market where I first taught it in early 2003. I’ve attached an overview of the three courses along with the details for industry events in the Bay Area through end of December for your information.

Here are the highlights for upcoming meetings today and next week:

• BioCentury TV Today, See the Webcast Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011 www.biocenturytv.com, Continuously available starting at 9:00 a.m. EDT; Topic: “Value for Money;” Speaker: Washington Editor Steve Usdin is joined by Sir Michael Rawlins, Chairman of NICE
• Bio2Device Group, Tuesday Morning, Nov. 29, 2011; Topic: “Stanford’s BioDesign Program;” Speaker: Jessica Hudak, President, BioDesign Alumni Group, Stanford University”
• NNC ACRP Annual Holiday Event, Wednesday Evening, Nov. 30, 2011; Topic: “The Clinical Research Landscape and Careers – 2011 Recap, 2012 Look Ahead;” Speaker: Toby Beth Friedman, PhD, Founder/President of Synapsis Search
• GABA, Thursday Evening, Dec. 1, 2011: Topic: “2012 Global Projections;” Speakers: Cynthia Ringo, Managing Partner, DBL Investors; Steve Bengston, Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers; David Weekly, Founder (PBworks, Hacker Dojo, Mexican.VC)
• Medtech Frontiers, Thursday Evening, December 1, 2011; Title: Biomaterials, Tissue Integration, Biomimetic & Drug Delivery Implants; Speaker: Cheng Li, Technology & Business Consultant – Program Manager & Product Developer

You can also download the pdf versions of the overview of courses and details for meetings through December by right clicking on Audrey’s Picks for Events and Overview of Courses.

I look forward to seeing you in person soon at an event this coming month.

Audrey