PROGRAMME

 

Tuesday 20 January 2004

 

 

 

7:30 – 8:45                      Registration

 

8:45 – 10:00                    Opening Plenary Session

 

Welcome Introduction

 

·         Hervé de Kergrohen, Chairman, BioData

 

                                      Official Opening Address

 

·         Anne Marie Comparini, President, Rhône-Alpes Region

·         Jacqueline Maurer-Mayor, Minister of Economy, State of Vaud

·         Carlo Lamprecht, Minister of Economy, State of Geneva

 

9:00 – 10:00                    Key Note Presentations

 

“A CFO’s view on the biotechnology industry”

 

·         Allan L. Shaw, Chief Financial Officer, Serono International

 

The top tier biotech companies are generally highly cash generative. Some of them have also decided to benefit from the current low interest rate environment to successfully issue convertible bonds. The current situation in the industry therefore is that there are a relatively small number of large players with lots of cash and a very much larger number of small players who are rapidly becoming cash depleted. What are the implications of this dichotomy to the industry going forward?

 

 

“The Genome in 100 Chemical steps”

 

·         Thane Kreiner, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Affymetrix

 

The public domain sequencing of the human and other genomes is opening new vistas for scientific advancement. For example, genomic information is revealing previously unknown classes of cancer and possibilities for dramatically improving patient outcome. Drug development companies have embraced genomic information to understand mechanisms of action, safety profiles, and increasingly, to conduct pre-clinical and clinical studies of new therapeutic candidates. Pharmacogenetics is emerging as an essential application in the pharmaceutical industry because of its potential to focus resources on the highest return compounds.

 

As these applications move towards the clinic, revolutionary tools are enabling the industrialization of genomics. Since the invention of microarrays in 1989 by Stephen P.A. Fodor and colleagues, Affymetrix has advanced its unique technology to package the entire coding portion of the human genome on a chip the size of a human thumbnail. Innovations such as these hold the promise of rationalizing the high stakes business of drug development and empowering new scientific advances that improve human health.

 

 

10:00 – 10:30                   Coffee Break

 

10:30 – 12:30                   Company Presentations

 

·         Group 1

·         Group 2

 

12:30 –13:45                    Lunch

 

14:00 – 15:25                   Plenary Session

 

14:00 – 14:40                   Key Note

 

“IMS presents its vision of worldwide Pharma/Biotech markets”

 

·         Carole A. Jones, Consultant and Practice Area Leader, IMS Global Consulting

 

It is estimated that over 10 billion USD in 2000 sales of biopharmaceuticals will come off patent over the next 5 years in the US alone. The availability of generics reduces drug prices and increases access to medicines. Some argue that it is also one of the most important elements in stimulating competition and innovation.

In Europe, efforts to strengthen intellectual property have not stimulated innovation over the past two decades when measured in terms of New Chemical Entities introduced.

 

In the United States, generic competition is fierce, investment in R&D is higher and the level of innovation is purportedly greater. Do these correlations extrapolate to the emerging biotechnology industry worldwide? Will the pace of technological breakthrough in the biotech sector be sufficient to offset increasing generic competition as biopharma increasingly makes the shift to protein-based drugs?

 


 

14:40 – 15:25                   Panel Discussion

 

“What is the development model of European biotech?”

 

The gap between European and US Biotech is widening. The amounts invested are far apart and deal sizes are ten times higher in the USA. Market exit is almost non existent in Europe, especially companies can’t reach critical mass. Actelion is the only success story for European VCs. European Big Pharma relocates R&D and Headquarters in America.

 

Moderator

·         Juerg Eckhardt, Senior Investment Manager, Global Life Sciences Ventures

 

Panellists

·         Jacques Essinger, Chief Executive Officer, IsoTis

·         Sam Fazeli, Senior Biotechnology Analyst, Nomura

·         Antoine Papiernik, Managing Partner, Sofinnova

·         Wolfgang Renner, Chief Executive Officer, Cytos Biotechnology

 

 

15:30 – 17:30                   Company Presentations

 

·         Group 3

·         Group 4

 

 

17:30 – 18:30                   NanoData Satellite Symposium

 

Moderator

·         Cedric Loiret-Bernal, President and Chief Executive Officer, NanoInk,

 

Panellists

·         Jerôme Chanton, Fund Manager, Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch Immunology Fund

·         Alexandre Gauthier-Jaques, Associate Director, UBS

·         Harry Heinzelmann, Scientific Advisor, NanoDimension

·         Aymeric Sallin, Founder & Managing Partner, NanoDimension

 

 


Wednesday 21 January

 

 

 

8:30 – 10:00                    Plenary Session

 

8:30 – 9:10                      Swiss Biotech Association Meeting

 

Introduction

·         Robert Kuster, Vice-President, Bioalps

 

“Swiss Biotech Association: making a difference?”

 

·         Domenico Alexakis, Executive Director, Swiss Biotech Association

 

The former VSBU/ASBC has revisited the association strategy early in 2003. Changes in the board of Directors and President have lead to a more active role of the newly occupied executive office. The name change of the association is a visible signal to reposition the association nationally but also internationally. Added value for membership is an important issue, as well as the creation of a network between the active partners of science, industry, politics and regulators.

 

 

“SARS: What next?”

 

·         Reinhard Glück, Chief Scientific Officer, Berna Biotech

 

On 5 July 2003, the World Health Organization declared that the worldwide SARS outbreak was contained. At that time, 8439 people had been affected, and 812 had died from the disease. Despite the effectiveness of public health interventions to control the spread of the virus, the race to find out more about the coronavirus causing SARS continues apace amidst fears that the disease may soon return. Scientific research continues to focus on developing rapid reliable diagnostic tests, introducing therapeutics and finding an effective vaccine against this chronic respiratory disease. This presentation will look at some of the latest scientific progress and the many challenges that remain.

 

 

9:10 – 10:00                          Panel Discussion

 

“After Amgen, Serono and Genentech, who are the most attractive biotech and pharma companies that investors should follow in 2004 and beyond?”

 

With a market capitalization of USD 80 billion, Amgen is getting close or even exceeds the market capitalization of some of the established pharmaceutical companies such as Lilly, Roche or Novartis. The recent raise of Biotech stocks confirms the attractiveness of this growing industry. Some predict that the great times of the year 2000 will automatically come back in the next 2 to 3 years. What will trigger this enthusiasm?

 

Which companies have the potential to become world leaders in their markets in 2004 and beyond?

 

Moderator

·         Hervé de Kergrohen, Chairman, BioData

 

Panellists

·         Anne-Sophie Borgeaud, VP, Fund Manager, Life Sciences, Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch

·         Sam Fazeli, Senior Biotechnology Analyst, Nomura

·         Irene Püttner, Fund Manager HealthSar, Bank Sarasin

 

10:00 – 10:30                   Coffee Break

 

10:30 - 12:30                   Company Presentations

·         Group 5

·         Group 6

·         Group 7

 

12:30 – 14:00                   Lunch

 

14:00 – 16:00                   Company Presentations

·         Group 8

·         Group 9

·         Group 10

 

16:00 – 16:30                   Coffee Break

 

16:35 – 18:00                   First Tuesday - Plenary Session

Introduction:

 

·         Geneviève Morand, Founder and CEO, Rezonance.ch

 

16:35 – 17:20                   Key Note Presentations

 

“Financial: the role of VCs in fostering innovation? Current trends and drivers”

 

·         Stéphane Boudon, Chairman, CDC Ixis Innovation

 

“How should investors and the biopharmaceutical industry assess the current regulatory environment in the US and in Europe? What are the likely changes?

 

·         Jean-Yves le Cotonnec, Chief Executive Officer, Triskel Integrated Services

 

What impact is the announced change in policy at the FDA going to have on product approval? What is the position of the European medicine evaluation agency (EMEA)? Will the industry witness increased harmonization among the two regulatory agencies? What regulatory processes will be applied in the future to Biogeneric drugs? To which extents will regulatory issues and quality control in manufacturing processes impact market capitalization?”


 

“Exit strategies: is the market ready for new IPO’s?”

 

·         Robert Wyss, Head of Market Development Division and Member of the Management Committee, SWX Swiss Exchange

 

Following an intensive period of IPOs around 2000, the window for public listings has closed. Will the recent increase in valuation for Biotech stocks, translate into a new round of IPO on the SWX Swiss market? Which companies are likely to take advantage of such an upturn? What has to be done in the meantime?

 

 

17:20 – 18:00                   Panel Discussion

 

“Biotech incubators in the Rhône-Alpes-Lemanic region: what is new for start ups?”

 

Most governments and other public-funded entities would embrace the concept that investment in health and medical research is an investment in the future well being of a nation. Accordingly, a number of initiatives have recently been announced in the Rhône-Alpes-Lemanic regions, which offer new perspectives for local start-ups. Though they share the same objective, they are shaped in very different models (i.e., CNRS tech transfer, Bioincubators and BioPôles).

 

Moderator

 

·         Hervé de Kergrohen, Member of the Board, Eclosion

 

Panellists

 

·         Jean-Yves Bonnefoy, Managing Director, Canceropôle Lyon Rhône-Alpes

·         Daniel Christiaen, Business Development Manager, Rhône-Alpes Genopole

·         Manuel Gea, Vice-President of the biotech committee of the French Pharma Industry Association, Leem (ex. SNIP)

·         Eric Halioua, Senior Manager, Arthur D. Little

·         Nadia Kamal, Deputy Manager, Crealys

·         Robin Offord, Professor, Faculty of Science & Medicine, University of Geneva; Chairman, Eclosion

·         Gilles Talbotier, General Manager, GRAIN

 

18:00 – 19:00                   Networking cocktail