Are you feeling that there has been a series of earthquakes impacting your sector of the life science industry…that there have been major changes vs. that with which you were comfortable  in the recent past? Has the rapid shifting of the industry paradigm left you feeling you need to get your bearings, catch up and better understand what’s happening?

You might consider taking my upcoming course Bioscience Business and Marketing Essentials, Thursday and Friday, April 15-16, 2010 at the University of California Santa Cruz extension in Santa Clara. This course was designed to help working professionals in all life science sectors, in all functions and at all levels learn how to better research, analyze and make business recommendations and decisions for this rapidly changing industry.

This course offers two days of intensive classroom work learning from industry experts and then six weeks of project work developing a document that will allow you to internalize the learnings as part of your personal repertoire and capability.  The document can be an important addition to your career portfolio for promotion in your current workplace or  job interviews.

You will receive access to critical resources, guidance and mentoring as you develop the assignment. There’s no textbook to buy but a current reader including lecture slides and additional  information to accelerate your learning of necessary and valuable skills to be successful in your chosen field. Remember this course is not academic in its objective but rather focuses on applicable knowledge and skills to apply on the job. Many of us don’t need another degree but rather an accelerated learning experience to  “sharpen” our existing skills and perspective.

I’ve included an overview below and downloadable flyer here BBMESpring10 (click to open this Word document in new window). Please feel free to share this information with colleagues and acquaintances who might find this course useful for their career development. We depend on word-of-mouth promotion from former students to be able to continue to offer this course. Note the attractive discount for those registering prior to April 1st.

Bioscience Business and Marketing Essentials, Thursday and Friday, April 15-16, 2010

2-Day Intensive Course: Bioscience Business and Marketing Essentials, Thursday and Friday, April 15-16, 2010 with 2 months to complete project

Lead Instructor: Audrey S. Erbes, Ph.D., Principal, Erbes & Associates and www.audreysnetwork.com

Expert Guest Speakers:

• Donald Holsten, Pharm. D., Regulatory Consultant and Educator
• Bev Hudson, MBA, General Manager, Clinical Research Services, MedPoint Communications, Inc
• Julie Tompkins, MBA, Sr. Vice President, Timely Data Resources (TDR)

Please see www.ucsc-extension.edu/biobusiness for complete biographies

Date & Time: April 15-16, 2010, Thursday and Friday, 8:30am-5pm

Location: UCSC Extension in Silicon Valley, 2505 Augustine Drive, Santa Clara, CA 95053

Fee: $750; $675 through April 1

Topic Description

The bioscience industry is like no other. Lengthy timelines and unique financial, legal, regulatory, social and political challenges impose constraints that impact every aspect of the business. This course helps participants gain: a practical understanding of the bioscience industry landscape, key business drivers and challenges; insight into the critical roles that business and marketing disciplines play at all stages of a bioscience company’s development; and hands-on experience implementing important bioscience business processes that are essential to success within the industry. Two days of intensive classroom are followed by 2 months to complete individual project with guidance of instruction and access to research resources.  For more information: See course listed under certificate program at www.ucsc-extension.edu/biobusiness.

Instructor Bio

Audrey Erbes, Ph.D., Principal of Erbes & Associates and www.audreysnetwork.com, is a consultant with more than 30 years of managerial experience in marketing and business development in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. 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 management positions at Syntex Corp. in market research, product management, strategic marketing and planning, and business development in the U.S. and abroad.

Audrey

I’ve posted jobs through March 6, 2010 here for downloading Jobs That Crossed My Desk Through March 6_2010. Right click to open in another window.

Don’t forget to check out the Biotech Bay Career Fair on March 9th. See details in previous meeting list.

Hope this listing is useful.

Audrey

Here’s this coming week’s schedule of picks:

• Biotech Bay Career Fair, Tuesday Afternoon, March 9, 2010, Event: Biotech Bay Career Fair
• BayBio Medical Device Breakfast Cancelled, Tuesday, March 9, 2010
• BayCHI, Tuesday Evening, March 9, 2010, “Reframing Health As More Than Health-care: Recognizing the importance of self-management and the role individuals have in designing their own well-being”
  Speaker: Rajiv Mehta, Zume Life, and Hugh Dubberly, Dubberly Design Office
• Free Recap Webinar, Tuesday Morning, March 9, 2010, Topic: “Value Creation and Sharing Among Universities, Biotechnology, and Commercialization Partners”
• Bio2Device Group, Tuesday Evening, March 9, 2010, Topic: “From Academia to Entrepreneurship to a Fortune 20 Company – One Person’s Journey”, Speaker: Dr. Mike Cunningham, Vice President & General Manager, GPO & Information Services, McKesson
• MIT CNC Life Sciences Forum, Wednesday Night, March 10, 2010, Topic “Transparency in An Era of Health Reform”, Speaker: Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital
• CACO Workshop, Wednesday Afternoon, March 10, 2010, Topic: “ADME Sciences as Applied to Assessing Safety Testing (MIST)”
  Speaker: Scott Obach (Pfizer)
• BayBio NEST Venture Spotlight Series, Thursday Morning, March 11, 2010, Topic: Heart Matters, Moderator: Jerry Iwata, Senior Vice President, Technology and Life Sciences Division, Comerica Bank, Panel Speakers: John Cornwell, Life Science Angels, Amr Schahieh, CEO, Apama Medical, Ray Tabibiazar, Bay City Capital, Leslie Bottotoff, Onset Ventures
• TAITA Seminar, Thursday Evening, March 11, 2010, Panel Topic: Finding multiple faces of biomedical business and niche market with a perspective view from antibodies and peptides; Moderator: Robert (Rong Ming) Lyu, Ph. D. Panelists : John C. Lin, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Director, Rinat, Pfizer Inc.; Anita Hong, Ph. D, President/CEO of AnaSpec and RonHwa Lin, Dr. rer. nat, President/CEO of AbGenomics International, Inc.

I look forward to seeing you at one of these events. I’ll be at the B2DG meeting and BayBio Nest.

I’ve attached the Word list of March meetings here for downloading MeetinglistMarch 9, 2010 (right click to open in another window). List is updated as of  March 9, 2010.

Audrey

I’ll be out of town for a few days so wanted to get updated list of meetings, conferences, workshops, career fairs, etc. off to you today. I’ve listed events for upcoming week below and attached complete list with details. The latter Word document can also be downloaded here MeetingListMarchFeb26_10

• Bio2Device Group, Tuesday Morning, March 2, 2010, Topic: Life Sciences Product Development – Weaving People, Processes, and Procedures Together for Success, Speaker: Larry Wray, Principal, Wray Consulting
• San Jose BioCenter, Tuesday Midday, March 2, 2010, Topic: “The Ten Mistakes That Senior Management Teams Make with Investigational New Drug Applications”, Speakers: Panel Chair: Debra Gosling, Account Executive, Liquent Regulatory & Clinical Services,  Lorna Speid, M.R.Pharm.S., Ph.D., RAC., President, Speid & Associates, Inc.,  Tom Delisi, Senior Consultant, Liquent Regulatory Services, Thomson Reuters, Kathryn Plank, Senior Regulatory Consultant, Liquent Direct, Thomson Reuters, Jim Hilferty, Operations Manager, Regulatory & Clinical Services, Liquent Inc.
• French Bio Bay, Tuesday Evening, March 2, 2010, Event: Networking Dinner with EPPIC Global and an Indian Flair
• South San Francisco Life Science Career Fair, Tuesday, March 3, 2010
• BioE2E, Wednesday Evening, March 3, 2010, Topic: “Does Your Business Plan Have a Fatal Flaw?”, Speakers: Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., President and CEO of Intellikine, Linda Rubinstein, Principal, RDJ Advisors
• Triple Ring Technologies, Thursday Evening, March 4, 2010, Topic: “Minimally Invasive Image-Guided Therapy: Cardiovascular Applications” , Speaker: Dr. Kendall Waters, research scientist at Silicon Valley Medical Instruments
• FountainBlue’s Funding Road Trip, Friday, March 5, 2010, Topic: “Your Company’s Value Proposition”, Speaker: Bill Joos, Principal, “Go To Market Consulting”
• NCC – AWIS Workshop, Saturday, March 6, 2010, Workshop: “Develop Your Skills in Speaking with Confidence”! , Speakers:  Linda Bickham, Toolbox Learning Solutions; Eric Nitzberg, Nitzberg Consulting; Deb Kaufman, Deb Kaufman & Associates, Inc and Amy S. Gonzales, WOMEN Unlimited.

Stay dry and take care of yourself so you’ll be able to fully enjoy the spring that’s bound to come one of these weeks!

Audrey

You can download the most recent listing of life science jobs in this downloadable file Jobs That Crossed My Desk Through Feb.21_2010 (right click to open in new window.)

For those who are turning to starting up their own company as well as established entrepreneurs to get back to work, there’s an opportunity to get all the latest information regarding how to access the expanded funding for research grants on Feb. 24th. This funding can be a nice alternative to currently unavailable VC funding for early stage exploration of a concept.

Topic: SBIR-STTR Grant Writing Workshop

Speakers: Amy F. Boggs, Ph.D., Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Consulting and Shauna Farr-Jones, Ph.D., Bioscience Consulting

Time and Date: Wednesday February 24, 2010, 9:00 – 11:00 am

Location: Latham & Watkins, 140 Scott Dr., Menlo Park, CA 94025

Cost: BayBio Member Price: $20; Non Member Price: $30; Register at http://www.baybio.org/wt/page/Grant_writing_workshop

Topic Description

You may have been a master of grant writing, but things are about to change! The NIH is unrolling a shortened and restructured format for grants starting in 2010. The research plan is fully restructured and reflects new evaluation criteria. Even people who have written grants in the past are going to need to “relearn” the process.

Join us for an interactive workshop on grant writing basics and pitfalls. This event will cover general submissions and writing strategies, with a special focus on NIH SBIRs new submission format

Speaker Bios

Shauna Farr-Jones, Ph.D., has a record of writing successful government grant and contract proposals on diverse life science topics, providing strategic input on both research and business plans. She has helped companies secure over $125 million in grant and contract funding from government and philanthropic agencies. For ten years, she has consulted for life science companies and universities preparing research plans, marketing plans, technical reports IND’s, NDA’s, white papers and proposals. Previously, she was at BioCentury Publications, where she analyzed the biotechnology industry. She was a post-doctoral fellow at UCSF in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Tufts University.
Dr. Boggs is an independent consultant with more than eight years experience in grant-writing. In addition to grant-writing, she provides companies with help in the preparation of technical reports, INDs and NDAs, technology assessment, strategic research planning, and competitive landscaping. Prior to her work as a consultant, Dr. Boggs worked at Microcide and at IntraBiotics, where she managed an interdisciplinary technology in-licensing team that resulted in three screening technology partnerships and two product in-licenses. Dr. Boggs is an inventor on three issued patents and has worked on investigational new drug (IND)-enabling projects. Dr. Boggs received her Bachelor’s degree with high honors in Biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. She completed her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California at San Francisco under Dr. David Agard, with a dissertation on protein structure-function, folding, and extracellular secretion.

Audrey

Does the weather have you down? A couple of sunny days would sure make us smile again. But the weather report for the Bay Area shows rain for the next 10 days. Looking on the bright side, the drought is over. If only the reservoirs was strong enough to be filled to capacity, that would be one local problem solved.

The economic front in general appears positive for this past week. Vanguard reports “This week’s economic reports were mostly positive. Consumer confidence continued to rebound, industrial production remained strong, new home construction rose, and inflation increased modestly. The good news, coupled with the Federal Reserve’s decision on Thursday to raise the interest rate it charges on banks for emergency loans, suggests that the current economic recovery is strengthening (Feb. 19, 2010).”  That report made me feel better with regard to the general economy.

The forecast for increased funding for startups continues to be flat with no expectations of improvement on the horizon according to local industry speakers I’ve heard recently.  But they do claim that there will be openings for funding as large companies that have cut back on R&D will soon need those new products to fill gaps in their pipelines for breakthroughs. Many local events in the past two weeks have focused on insufficient Venture Capital to fuel the startups that await that infusion of cash to gain momentum while optimism for IPOs is shaky. The Obama administration’s increased funding of research offers one outlet as entrepreneurs await a return of optimism on part of investors.

As I watched the Olympics this past week, I’m reminded that no one ever said it would be easy to achieve the objectives of our industry against great risks, but I know we can do it! It takes perseverence, discipline and sharpenedand honed skills so take advantage of the great opportunities to continue growth as a professional of which we are fortunate to have a great abundance in the Bay Area.

This coming week offers a chance to fortify yourself with new information and insights and stimulate you to handle the rough spots that still face us. Don’t forget to look at challenges as opportunities to overcome and you’ll feel a lot better. Please send positive  messages to your subconscious so you’ll have resiliency to respond to the bumps that we’ll all face before the window of opportunity opens wide once again.

• CACO Workshop, Monday Afternoon, Feb. 22, 2010, Topic: “Preclinical Toxicology and drug safety: large molecules, “Speakers: Ben Marafino, Kathleen Meyer
• FountainBlue’s Life Science Entrepreneurs’ Forum, Monday Evening, Feb. 22, 2010, Topic: “Life Science Angel Investor’s Panel: Trends for 2010: Show Me the Money: Resourceful Ways to Secure Funding for YOUR Life Science Company in THIS Economy”, This month’s panel will feature: Facilitator Maria Walker, Senior Director, KPMG; Panelist Zachary Antovich, President and CEO, Linkage Biosciences Inc; Panelist Oostur Raza, President and CEO, OmegaGenesis; Panelist Howard Edelman, President and CEO, VitalWear
• Bio2Device Group, Tuesday Morning, Feb. 23, 2010, Topic: “Stem Cell Biology: Progress, hopes, hypes and hurdles”, Speaker: Monica Ranes-Goldberg, Ph.D., BiotechTraining Consulting
• RAPS, San Francisco, Tuesday Evening, Feb. 23, 2010, Topic: “Biosimilar Protein Products: – Opportunities, Options and Outcomes”, Speaker sponsored by Biologics Consulting Group (BCG)
• BioScience Forum USPTO Symposium, Wednesday All Day, Feb. 24, 2010, Topic:” US Patent and Trademark Office Technology Center 1600, West Coast Road Show 2010”, Speakers: Irem (Remy) Yucel and Jean Witz, Technology Center (TC) 1600, USPTO
• Northern California Chapter, ACRP, Wednesday Evening, Feb. 24, 2010,Topic: “FDA Clinical Investigator Inspections Update and FDAs New Expectations for Investigators: 2010 Update”,Speaker: Liz Wool, CCRA, CMT, President and CEO of QD-Quality and Training Solutions, Inc,, Board of Trustees, ACRP – 2010, President, Northern California Chapter
• BayBio Therapeutic Breakfast, Thursday Morning, February 25, 2010, Topic: “Clinical trials Abroad: Options for smaller Companies with Limited Funds”, Moderator:Desiree Lau ,Associate Practice Executive,Campbell Alliance; Panel Speakers:Boris Iossel, RN, MS, CCRA, President,OSMOS Clinical Research, Inc.; Jorge Fiuza, MD,Senior Director Latin America Operations, Pharm-Olam International; Jacquie Mardell, Former Sr Director of Clinical Operations, Metabolex, Inc.
• Conference, Tuesday February 23, 2010 to Friday February 26, 2010, Topic: “Bridging the gap between theory and experiment: which theoretical approaches are best suited to solve real problems in nanotechnology and biology?”

See the full list with details for balance of February through March here MeetingListFeb20_10 in a downloadable Word document. Right click to open in a new window.

Audrey

Here’s this week’s meeting lineup:

• Bio2Device Group, Tuesday Morning, Feb. 16, 2010, Topic: “Would You Hire You?”, Speaker: Denise Pringle, Global HR Executive
• American Council of Medical Innovation, Tuesday, Feb.16, 2010, Topic: “Best and Brightest Forum on Medical Innovation”
• GGPF Dinner Lecture, Tuesday Evening, Feb. 16, 2010, Topic: “Nanoscale Thermal Analysis of Micron and Sub-Micron Scale Devices”, Speakers: Kevin Kjoller, Anasys Instruments Corp., Santa Barbara and John Rose, Rose Consulting, Half Moon Bay
• Chinese Bioscience Association, Tuesday Evening, Feb. 16, 2010, Topic: “Microneedles: A New Skin-based Therapeutic Platform”, Speaker: Tycho Speaker, Ph.D., Senior Researcher, TransDerm Inc.
• BioScience Forum, Wednesday Evening, Feb. 17, 2009, Topic: “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Venture Capital But Were Afraid to Ask”, Speaker: Maria Walker, Senior Director, Venture Capital Practice, KPMG
• EMBS, Wednesday Evening, Feb. 17, 2010, Topic: “Optical Coherence Tomography – From Bench to Bedside”, Speaker: Tony Ko, PhD, Optovue, Inc.

Full details for meetings for the week and month are in the downloadable Word document MeetingListFeb17_10 (right click and open in other window).

Jobs that Crossed My Desk This Week through  Jobs That Crossed My Desk Through Feb.14_2010 (right click to open). See listing of San Francisco Job Fair and Biotech Bay Career Fair in early March.

Audrey

This week’s list is not as long as that posted last week..I didn’t want to hold many of the jobs I got after I posted initially on the 30th so that list was huge.

Feel free to send to you friends who might want this type of information if its content isn’t of special interest to you.

Note that the downloadable list includes 3 weeks of posted jobs with contact names and some helps for those looking to change positions. Jobs That Crossed My Desk Through Feb.7_2010FIN

Happy hunting!

Audrey

Money is on everyone’s mind–the government, nonprofits, for-profit companies and professionals in the life science industry, especially, entrepreneurs looking for Round A funding. I suggest you keep your eyes open for the many meetings focusing on raising investment funds and/or reporting on potential IPOs. There are several general as opposed to bioscience events on raising money which I haven’t listed this week as I’ve found that the panel typically speaks to the high tech industry events and experiences. Even when the topic is the “Moneytree” and life sciences are the #1 sector in venture capita fundingl in the report, a panel recruited from high tech VCs and/or companies don’t speak about  much of interest to us in life science companies.  I attended such a meeting last week and came away with some limited data  of interest from the PriceWaterhouse Cooper’s speaker’s short presentation.

Biotechnology(#1)  in VC funding received $3,543.3 million in 406 deals while Medical Devices and Equipment (#3 sector) received $2,502.3 million in 309 deals in 2009. The funds raised were down by 18.57% and 26.55% , respectively, versus 2008. Health care services received $102.4 million with 33 deals and declined 43.94% versus 2008. You can read press release on the 4th Quarter Moneytree report at https://www.pwcmoneytree.com/MTPublic/ns/moneytree/filesource/exhibits/09Q4MTRelease_FINAL.pdf.

For what’s happening in our California industry, I suggest you read the latest California’s Biomedical Report 2010 by PWC and California Health Institute found at http://www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/pharma-life-sciences/forms/chireport2010.jhtml. It’s Executive Summary is available at  http://www.chi.org/uploadedFiles/Executive_Summary_2010_California_Biomedical_Industry_Report_FINAL.PDF. This report is totally focused on the life science industry in California.

This week’s meetings include two with a financial/fundraising focus.  See list of selected events below and details in the downloadable Word document MeetingListFeb6_10 Events through March are included.

• Bay Bio Medical Device Breakfast, Tuesday Morning, Feb. 9, 2010, Topic: “Company Valuation for M&A,” Moderator: Mark Weeks, Partner, Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, Panel Speakers: Jason Yip, Principal, Montgomery & Co., LLC and Jeffrey Gold, Venture Partner, Longitude Capital, Former CEO, CryoVascular Systems

• Bio2Device Group, Tuesday Evening, Feb. 9, 2010, Topic: “A molecular diagnostic company’s journey from science to product – Providing the answer to the fundamental question -What type of cancer is it?” Speaker: Deb Neff, President and CEO, Pathwork Diagnostics

• BayBioNEST Venture Spotlight, Thursday Morning, Feb. 11, 2010, Topic:”A Sweet Deal: How to Attract Investors”

• San Jose BioCenter All About Science Series, Thursday Afternoon, Feb. 11, 2010, Topic: “Effective outsourcing: Navigating hurdles and avoiding pitfalls in virtual drug development” The panel will include: Kate Hanham, Ph.D., President & Founder, Mentara, Inc., a consulting consortium of highly qualified drug/device discovery and development professionals; Richard Lin, President, Explora Biolabs, Inc., which provides vivarium and pre-clinical in vivo contract research services; and Fred Aslan, M.D., Vice President, Venrock: an investor experienced in starting and running virtual companies.
  

• UCSC Ext. Bioscience Product Marketing, Thursday Evenings, Feb. 11 – March 25, 2010, Lead Instructor: Audrey Erbes, Ph.D., Principal, Erbes & Associates;  Guest Speakers: Chris Mahoney, MPA, WebMD; Alan Hirshman, Senior Principal, Commercial Effectiveness, IMS Health; Stanley Skrzypczak, M.B.A., Director, Managed Care Marketing, Genomic Health; Charles Versaggi, Ph.D.,President of Versaggi Biocommunications®; Steven Wong, B.A.,  Senior Consultant at Plan A. Additional Guest Speakers with Short Presentations: Tais Schmitt, Ph.D.; Debbie Donovan, Consultant at eGold Solutions; Erik Haghjoo, Ph.D., Consultant in the Life Sciences division of Simon-Kucher & Partners

• Palo Alto AWIS, Thursday Evening, Feb. 11, 2010, Topic: “Real-Life CSI,” Speaker: Cordelia Willis, Criminalist, Santa Clara County Crime Laboratory

Audrey

The number of jobs has picked up in tune with comments I’ve heard from recruiters in recent weeks. I’ve attached my most recent list of jobs for the past week plus those from two weeks earlier for total of  three weeks.

I’ve  provided the list as a downloadable Word document Jobs That Crossed My Desk Through Jan31_2010REV (right click and open in new window)

Don’t forget to review jobs on the Bio2Device Group website and other job sites listed at end of my weekly report.

Audrey