DECEMBER 2020
ON eNews Genesis Preview Edition
Welcome to this final edition of our monthly eNews for 2020. What a year it has been with so many developments nobody would have seen coming. As light starts to glimmer at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel with very promising developments across vaccines, testing and treatments, it seems everyone is increasingly feeling the need to take a deep breath, take stock of what has happened and assess what comes next. Genesis 2020 provides the ideal way to do just that next week and this issue provides a preview of what to expect.
Reflecting on 2020 Among the challenges of 2020, it has been remarkable to see how every part of the Life Sciences sector has responded. Particular highlights have included: • The rapid early support seeing companies of all sizes donating PPE and resources to their NHS and communities • The global collaboration at unprecedented levels to increase our understanding of the virus • The direct R&D undertaken to bring forward vaccine candidates, treatment options and increased testing at such speed • The on-going success of the sector in terms of investment raised, pipelines progressed and jobs created in numerous therapeutic areas, not just Covid-19 • The outstanding leadership shown across companies of all sizes, much of it unnoticed in the media but critical to keeping teams safe, engaged and motivated The move to being a fully digital conference is not what we had envisaged for the 20th anniversary of Genesis, but with the support of our members, sponsors, collaborators and the efforts of my One Nucleus colleagues, I am delighted to see Genesis 2020 will again provide that end of year opportunity to reflect on the year; debate the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead; share good practice in both the science & technology and business trends as well as connect with contacts known and new.
Who will inspire you? Below you will find more details about much of what to expect from the Genesis programme. Particular highlights I am looking forward to include: Setting the scene: The opening plenary session at Genesis is always a highlight as it takes the now expected look back at the Winners & Losers with Mike Ward (DRG). That stock-taking is complemented by having Bill Enright (Vaccitech) and Nerida Scott (Johnson & Johnson Innovation EMEA) discussing ‘The Role of Vaccines and Immunotherapy Beyond the Pandemic’ and ‘Building an Innovative Healthcare Ecosystem’, respectively. The session will set everyone on their way for some great debates with the BioNewsRound Award Final presentations which are detailed below; a great chance to vote for your favourite news from the six selected advances.
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What questions will the journalists have? We have always been blessed by having numerous industry commentators participate in Genesis. A number of them will have reported on the BioNewsRound Award stories I am sure, but ever wondered what big questions are on their to-do list when engaging with the industry? Leading commentators have such a potential impact on the perception of our industry among our stakeholders, I am delighted we have several award-winning commentators leading keynote sessions on this year’s programme. Their rise to the top has been built on their enquiring minds so their moderation of expert panels on the following key topics will be engaging for sure: • Mike Ward – ‘Winners & Losers 2020’, ‘Understanding the Deal’ and ‘BioFinance Briefing’ • Lisa Urquhart – ‘Towards 2040 – What Will Shape Our Industry in the Next 20 Years?’ • John Sterling – ‘Converging Science & Technology’ • Sabah Meddings – ‘Communicating the Value of Life Sciences to all Stakeholders’ • Lucy Ellis – “How are Pharma Deals Evolving?’ Can’t wait for December 10th, why should you? The move to online for this year has created a new opportunity to engage around the main event. Many have taken up the chance to deliver Innovation Workshops around the main the day. These one-hour sessions will commence from December 7th, scheduled not to clash with each other and open to all Genesis delegates, so even greater opportunity to engage with the thought-leading experts across the groups, detailed below. The Genesis Fringe offers further opportunities in the coming days. Around the World …. A great element of Genesis has always been the engagement from collaborators around the globe. Going digital does not stop that of course with the reduced requirement for travel to be able to engage. As well as within the Plenary & Keynote Sessions, it has been wonderful to consider some key industry topics from different geographies in many of the sessions within the Digital Programme, Innovation Workshops and the ‘Around the World in… ‘ on-demand series. It has been my personal pleasure to coordinate these latter recordings on topics including ‘Technology Transfer’; ‘Virtual Clinical Trials’; ‘Venture Capital’ and more with key players from countries including USA, Canada, Philippines, France, Germany, Spain and of course United Kingdom. Is it all about the people? It is extremely rare that major advances or change happen because of the actions of one individual. Absolutely, that one individual may be the start of a movement, the first to create a hypothesis or indeed the first investor in a key idea, but to see the impact realised will take many more hands. A conference such as Genesis, whether face-to-face or online, is a great opportunity for people to engage, share their insights and give gusto to a movement for change. Of course, Learning & Development doesn’t stop at the end of formal training, life continues to educate us and influence our judgements. Some sessions on the programme will directly look at how we nurture a great labour pool, build teams and address challenges such as attracting those talented in digital skills to the Life Sciences sector. That said, it is the one-to-one and one-to-many opportunities offered by engaging via the conference app and through the interactive sessions that can help every member of our community progress. In a recent Business Weekly article, I set out how I see Digital Conferences offering up something of a new dawn for everyone looking to learn about the Life Sciences sector. Employers and training providers such as universities could leverage the vast volume available to inform their staff and students, respectively. Individuals seeking to ensure their insight stays current can benefit from the wealth of information now accessible through much lower barriers to entry. I look forward to seeing many of you online during Genesis and the related sessions and wish you a very successful and productive engagement. Tony Jones, CEO
BioNewsRound Award 2020 Our six finalists have been announced! Be sure to have your say at Genesis and vote for your favourite! Each finalist’s pitch video is available to registered delegates via the conference app in the run-up to Genesis. Delegates can then vote via a poll on the app and the winner will be announced at the culmination of the conference on 10 December.
Read the press release about the finalist announcement here.
• Oxeia - Announces initiation of Phase 2 trial for OXE103
Our finalists: • Abcam - Announces Pricing of Offering on NASDAQ
• Salvia BioElectronics – Receives FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for Innovative Neurostimulation Solution
• Catalent - Completes Acquisition of MaSTherCell • Cellen - Online Clinic Launched for Patients Living with Persistent Pain
• Storm Therapeutics – Selects First-in-Class Clinical Candidate Targeting METTL3
Innovation Workshops
Innovation Workshops will be held on the dates around Genesis from 7th Dec to 15th Dec. They will be one hour webinars focusing on innovation insights from Bispecifc Discovery to Deal Management and showcasing some of our international partners innovation ecosystems. Click here to find out more about their sessions.
Just booked: Government of South Australia. Slots still available, pick a slot and book here.
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Conference App The Genesis Conference App is the cornerstone of the conference with exclusive content only available via the app to all registered delegates. You can connect with other delegates, arrange 1-2-1 virtual partnering meetings, profile yourself and company, and join Innovation Workshops, all prior to the event. Once the conference has started, programme content is only available via the app. As an added bonus, our Genesis app will remain live for 4 weeks after the event, allowing you to carry on the conversation post-event as well as having access to all of the conference content. New Functionality - Virtual Corridors Delegates are placed in a virtual corridor before the start of a session. Hover over delegates to see who’s who, say hello and schedule 1-2-1 virtual partnering meetings.
More information about the Conference App can be found here.
Be sure to register now to get the most out of pre-conference networking.
Leading Journalists
We’re delighted to have a number of leading journalists chairing panels at Genesis 2020! Find out more about the programme and speakers here.
Mike Ward DRG
Sabah Meddings Sunday Times
Lucie Ellis In Vivo
John Sterling Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News
Lisa Urquhart Vantage
Deal of the Year A returning feature at our Genesis Conference, the ‘deal case study’ will dedicate a one hour session to discuss a significant deal conducted in 2020. In March 2020, Lilly and Sitryx announced a Licensing and Research Collaboration to Discover and Develop New Immunometabolic Medicines. Under the terms of the agreement, Sitryx received an upfront payment of $50 million and Lilly will make a $10 million equity investment in Sitryx. Sitryx will be eligible to receive potential development milestones up to $820 million, as well as commercialisation milestones and royalty payments on potential sales in the mid- to high-single digit range. In return, Sitryx will grant Lilly an exclusive, worldwide license to develop and commercialize up to four novel immunometabolism targeted therapeutics, including Sitryx’s two lead projects. Lilly and Sitryx will establish a 5-year research collaboration to support the development of the therapeutics, with Sitryx responsible for drug discovery, while Lilly will fund and manage the clinical development and commercial phase of the collaboration. The Genesis session, Lilly - Sitryx, a Deal in Immuno Metabolic, chaired by Mike Ward, Global Head of Thought Leadership at DRG will discuss the two companies common interest and collaboration approach, providing insights into the wider context of immunometabolic as a therapeutic area.
Marketing Science Podcast featuring CEO, Tony Jones The Marketing Science Podcast is a series of podcasts for sales and marketing professionals working in Science, Engineering and Healthcare. On this episode, Tony Jones, joined AZoNetwork to share insights and experience from his time as CEO of One Nucleus.
For your upcoming event, Genesis, how much of your content will be live and interactive vs. on-demand? It’s about 60% live and interactive and 40% on-demand. We have also planned a week surrounding the event with scheduled ‘Innovation Workshops’, where exhibitors can run a 1-hour interactive workshop to enable that live interaction that is often missed in digital events. Through our last event, we found that running on-demand sessions parallel to the live and interactive sessions was useful for attendees. So, if there is a live session that someone isn’t interested in, they easily find an on-demand session on a topic they want to attend. The on-demand content can almost serve as background reading as well. We can encourage our attendees to make use of the on-demand content so that they get the best return on their investment of time during live sessions. People can often be more passive because they don’t feel that they are enough of an expert to participate or ask a question, but if they have used the on-demand content to develop their knowledge before a live panel session, they will be able to have a more informed discussion. Read the full transcript here.
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