the one nucleus spring 2013 newsletter
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The One Nucleus Spring 2013 NewsletterTRANSCRIPT
Spring 2013
There are many things I love about
my job but there are few that get
me and the team more excited than
the compilation of our twice yearly
Newsletter. So a big warm welcome
to the Spring version, out on May
Day of course.
We obviously keep ourselves up to
date with what our members are
doing – the big „headline grabbing‟
pieces such as the Astra Zeneca
move to Cambridge and the (what
seem) daily deals being done by
those great folk at Horizon. But it is
only when we compile the
Newsletter that we really see our
membership in all their glory – the
fantastic collaborations,
technologies being developed and
the „wins‟ of our smaller members
who are equally important as the
big names – and their „wins‟ equally
as impactful on their commercial
development.
I was asked the other day what
makes One Nucleus unique and
what drives us. There are many
things that make us unique (I would
say that wouldn‟t I!) but the one
that I am most passionate about is
our genuine connectivity around the
world with relevant folk for tangible
member benefit.
I don‟t know of another membership
organisation that can claim to have
members and collaborators in all
four corners of the globe – from
Auckland to Massachusetts, from
Paris to Hong Kong. Nowhere was
this more in evidence than at BIO
2013 when we brought together
over 100 senior executives from 7
leading biotech clusters across the
US and Europe to our One Nucleus
Dinner in collaboration with BioCat,
and our BIO breakfast debate
reported in BioWorld and elsewhere
with BayBio, BIOCOM and
Stockholm Uppsala Life Sciences.
The guest list read like a „Who‟s
who‟ of the great and good, and a
sincere thank you to our members,
partners and supporters who took
part. A particular mention must go
to John Carroll of FierceBiotech who
chaired the breakfast and also took
part in our very first One Nucleus
„Audience with ....‟ event back in
January. Talking to a packed hall at
the Canadian High Commission with
standing room only at the back, he
enthralled the audience with his
insights and perceptive (razor like)
analysis. Do read his summary on
page 5.
The mood in the One Nucleus team
is especially buoyant at the
moment. For those of you who know
us well you will know there is rarely
a dull moment, but this first quarter
of the year has seen us and our
members taking the interest of
some very influential folk – all
interested in learning more about
our members, their business, their
research and their technologies.
Of particular note were Vince Cable,
who recently kicked off Cambridge
Business Week here at Granta Park,
home of One Nucleus
(www.cambridgebusiness.co.uk)
and Pascal Soriot, CEO of
AstraZeneca who very kindly
included me in a small lunch on the
day of the AstraZeneca
announcement on 18 March to tell
me about the upcoming news of the
relocation of the AZ HQ to
Cambridge and the creation of new
jobs here.
3 Sir William Castell
Sir William Castell looking forward to ON Helix
30 BIO 2013
One Nucleus at BIO 2013
5 John Carroll, FierceBiotech
Everybody wants to be a biotech, but the stakes are high
Continued overleaf
Welcome
Welcome Spring 2013 2
As you would expect, One Nucleus
has extended wholehearted support
to Pascal and the team during this
time, both to increase their
engagement locally and offer
support to employees affected at
Alderley Edge who will be relocating
or perhaps starting new ventures in
the North West.
The year so far has also seen some
good news from the Government.
The introduction of the Patent Box
in April, the positive changes to R &
D tax credits and the funding and
hopefully continuing work on the
Biomedical Catalyst Scheme (BMC).
Over a quarter of the successful
applicants to the BMC at the end of
last year are One Nucleus
members. I was delighted to work
with Steve Bates of the BIA on the
creation of a toolkit on the BMC,
which serves as a „how to‟ guide for
potential applicants and also as a
brochure he has put to Ministers to
influence their decision on the
future of the scheme. Click here for
more details. We are right behind
him and enjoy collaborating with
the BIA. I strongly believe in de-
duplication of effort for the member
and UK good. We intentionally
focus on practical and tangible
member benefit and do not attempt
an advocacy/lobbying role to HM
Government – preferring to get
right behind the BIA with their
endeavours on the latter, and that
relationship is working well. We ran
a joint event here in Cambridge on
China in March and have an event
on 2 May here at Granta Park.
As many of you will know, the
majority of our members are based
in London and Cambridge. I‟ve
spent a fair bit of time in recent
months sitting on two Advisory
Boards – one a Science and
Technology Working Group
attached to the Mayor of London‟s
office and the other a more
informal group which has created a
„posse‟ to influence the Cambridge
Local Enterprise Partnership from a
business perspective. It‟s clear to
me that there are opportunities for
engagement between the two and I
look forward to helping make that
happen in coming months. More
collaboration and de-duplication I
hope!
As BIO has just finished, our
thoughts now turn to the Summer.
Do read about our brand new
Cambridge based Conference (ON
Helix) on page 38. We are also
excited about our upcoming One
Nucleus Life Science Leadership
Series events in May and
September and of course Genesis
2013 (page 40). The September
Leadership Series event is another
great example of collaboration
where appropriate: working with
Babraham and Cambridge
Enterprise on a two day programme
of events on 25 and 26 September
which will see us debating
investment strategies, and
showcasing the very best
companies to some of the top
investors, with a fabulous
networking Dinner thrown in!
In summary, and to round things
out in an Eddie Izzard kind-of-a-
way, I should answer the question
about what drives us! It‟s an easy
one for the One Nucleus team to
answer:
Supporting our members in a
tangible way – recognising that
time is money and money is tight
eg: by offering the largest
Purchasing Consortium in the UK,
saving our members over £4 million
per annum.
Collaborating with others for
member benefit where appropriate
– eg: focused events at BIO and
CalBIO 2013 (and heavily
discounted costs to get and stay
there - see page 32).
Striving to always deliver the best
services possible, never resting on
our laurels – eg: launching ON
Helix and „Ask One Nucleus‟ as new
activities for 2013.
I hope you enjoy reading our
Spring Newsletter. It is in two parts
as always – firstly focusing on what
matters most – our members and
then moving into what the One
Nucleus team are doing. Do let me
have your thoughts and views on it
and as we head (hopefully) into a
warm Spring and Summer, the
team and I look forward to seeing
you at upcoming events, on-line, or
one to one.
CEO
One Nucleus
Member News Spring 2013 3
Sir William Castell Looking Forward
to ON Helix
Sir William Castell, Chairman of the Wellcome Trust, spoke with One Nucleus on
being a part of the upcoming ON Helix event, a brand new translational research
conference, where his keynote presentation will focus on investment in the UK
bioscience industry. Sir William will also chair an inspiring panel on ‘life-
changing technologies’, showcasing the best of the best...
„My entire working life has been
focused around creating the right
environment for innovation and
bringing in the skills to address
unmet clinical needs. My current
role as Chairman of the Wellcome
Trust is, for me, the most exciting
job I could have. The Trust
administers just under £700m per
year in grants, which go towards
supporting some of the best
scientific minds, principally in the
UK. We currently focus on a
number of research areas including
genetics and human genomics,
specifically through the Sanger
Centre, and neurological disease
where there is extraordinary unmet
clinical need but where, I believe,
we are on the cusp of seeing new
innovation as we learn much more
about the physiology of the brain.
„The UK led the industrial
revolution, but we seem to have
lost our direction economically.
Now is the time for us to take
advantage of our track record as a
world-class hub for biomedical
science and become a “knowledge
shop” for the world. Our great
strengths in this area are not being
fully realised today, either for
patient benefit or to the benefit of
the economy.
„There is no doubt that we face
great challenges in maintaining the
necessary levels of investment in
research and development, both by
Government and by pharmaceutical
companies, to take advantage of
the great potential generated by
our scientists. To sustain
investment, we must be able to
demonstrate that there is an
economic return.
„Creation of innovation is always
most successful when
interdisciplinary excellence is
brought together, and forums like
ON Helix are vital in facilitating this
meeting of minds. Most importantly
these conferences bring academia
and industry together to discuss
where the real opportunities lie,
both economically and in terms of
the unmet clinical need. There are
of course great challenges, but we
have some extraordinary centres of
excellence in the UK, and we must
harness our academic strength to
ensure that it is fully capitalised for
maximum economic benefit.
‘The UK led the industrial
revolution, but we seem to
have lost our direction economically.’ Sir William
Castell, Chairman, the
Wellcome Trust
Sir W
illiam
Caste
ll, Chairm
an, th
e W
ellc
om
e T
rust
© W
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om
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ibra
ry
Continued overleaf
Member News Spring 2013 4
„ON Helix also gives us the
opportunity to bring people
together who collectively have the
confidence to take a concept
through to registration. Seeing such
groups become excited by the fact
that in partnership they can move
to the next stage is one of the joys
of this meeting. Additionally, by
creating both a common sense of
urgency and the energy to succeed
we hope to shorten the journey of
innovation, working together to
remove emerging blockages in the
system and ultimately to bring
benefits to patients more rapidly.
„Over the last ten years the big
pharmaceutical companies have
focused on rational design,
acquisition, and high R&D spend. I
am encouraged to note that this
seems to be changing, with a shift
towards devolvement of power to
smaller groups, often biologically
led, to achieve innovation. I believe
that this has the potential to bring
more success. By singing more
about our achievements in the UK
academic and small biotech sectors,
we will attract the attention of the
venture capitalists, and the world of
open innovation, represented by
big pharma, will see more clearly
who to go to and how to engage
with the academic sector. We must
remember that we have a very
successful pharmaceutical sector in
the UK, with over 380 companies
employing over 70,000 people, and
with a combined annual turnover of
£30bn.
„I have every confidence that with
the continued support of the
Government and academic leaders,
we can make a great British
bioscience industry. We should not
overlook that the Government has
enacted the Patent Box, which
phases in a corporate tax rate of
10% on profits from patented
products developed in the UK and
represents an opportunity for
innovative qualifying companies to
enjoy considerable tax benefits.
This coupled with the research and
development tax credits makes the
UK a very interesting location
globally for companies to invest. In
addition, by better marketing our
strengths and our biology, we can
ensure that we have a dynamic
impact on the global knowledge-
based society.
„The way the industry works, and
the way in which the groups within
the industry work together, is
changing by necessity. I am really
excited to see that our approach to
developing new therapies and our
prescribing practise is also
changing as our knowledge
expands. The panel session I will be
chairing at ON Helix presents two
concepts that have shaken up the
industry in a major way: in silico
biology and stratified medicine.
„I used to be quite sceptical of
whether in silico biology would
work, but there are numerous
examples of success. Our ability to
characterise a protein to the same
level of definition as a small
molecule means that we can
change the method of licensing new
products, which in turn leads to
more dynamic competition within
the protein therapy area. With in
silico biology and x-ray
crystallography there is also an
opportunity to drive extraordinary
changes in immunology, with
potential implications for how we
are able to respond to viral
pandemics such as flu.
„Stratification of patient populations
according to their predicted
response to drugs is one benefit
brought about by the rapid
advancement in genomics within
the last decade. Furthermore, we
are now at a stage where we are
improving therapy of diseases such
as cancer by looking at which
specific genetic mutations are
involved, rather than treating
simply based on the location of the
disease, i.e. “breast cancer” or
“colon cancer”. This approach could
also contribute to a revolution in
clinical trial design – smaller, more
rational trials with lower failure
rates that target patients with a
specific genotype.
„I‟m very excited to see what ON
Helix will bring, and have no doubt
that it will be a great day.‟
‘Creation of innovation is always most successful when interdisciplinary
excellence is brought together, and forums like ON Helix are vital in
facilitating this meeting of minds.’ Sir William Castell, Chairman, the Wellcome
Trust
Member News Spring 2013 5
Everybody Wants to be a Biotech,
but the Stakes are High...
John Carroll, Editor of FierceBiotech, discusses the pitfalls of drug development
„UK readers make up the second
largest group of Fierce subscribers
after the U.S., and I wanted to take
some time to get to know the
country's life sciences industry to
better gauge what's going on as we
gear up more coverage of the
industry here. It was an eye-
opening week, with a chance to
meet a long line-up of biotech
executives. Clearly, there's a lot
happening, and I'm looking forward
to my return trip in May.
„Some of you may know we do an
annual list of the top private
biotech companies called the Fierce
15. About halfway through our
interviews for last year‟s Fierce 15,
it struck me just how much risk this
crop of top private biotech
companies is taking on. There‟s
pioneering work on early-stage
work on Alzheimer‟s, obesity drugs,
gene therapies and more.
„These are all areas which have
taken a heavy toll among
biopharma companies. You don‟t
have to work at a big pharma
company to know that your money
can go up in smoke when one of
your bright new prospects turns out
to potentially present toxicity
threats to patients.
„And you don‟t have to work at a
top R&D organisation to know that
of all the Alzheimer‟s programs to
come along over the years, only
three have made it to the market –
none very effective - more than
100 have failed.
„In part, I like to see the embrace
of risk as a reflection of the Fierce
15 approach to recognising the risk
takers. We like to highlight biotechs
which have boldly set out to blaze
new paths. And we recognize that
in an industry like drug
development, not all of these
pathfinders are going to make it all
the way through to the finish line.
The stats on development success
rates are staggeringly bad.
„But there‟s more here than a
willingness to accept risk. We‟re
seeing a new day in the biotech
industry, where you either get to
tackle something big, or you never
get the financing you‟d need to
advance a program. R&D risk is just
one element of the forces biotechs
face. Regulatory and payer risks
present their own daunting
prospects. And anyone who wants
to run the gamut of challenges has
to try something new and
inherently risky.
„If anything, the growing appetite
for risk raises the odds against
successful drug development, but
improves the odds of a genuine
breakthrough. And the numbers on
drug development have been pretty
awful for the past decade.
„David Thomas, an analyst at BIO,
crunched the numbers for the past
decade and found that the overall
success rate for drug development
was about 10%, so for every 10
new therapies entering clinical-
stage work, one would make it to
the finish line.
„Biologics had a 15% success rate.
New molecular entities only 7%.
Break it out by disease, and you‟d
see a success rate ranging from
6.7% for new cancer drugs to 17%
for infectious diseases. On an
individual company basis, the
numbers are often terrible.
„When Sanofi‟s Chris Viehbacher
tried to explain to his French
workforce last year why the
company had to restructure and
reinvigorate R&D, he made the
case that each new drug cost
Sanofi $7.8 billion to develop –
that‟s the cost of inertia. For his top
12 rivals, the figure was $5.6
billion. Run that math for a decade
and see where it gets you.
John C
arro
ll, Edito
r of F
ierc
eB
iote
ch
Continued overleaf
Member News Spring 2013 6
„Of course, the argument fell flat
with the unions and the
government in France, which is why
Sanofi is gradually and inevitably
moving more and more R&D
around its Genzyme division in the
U.S., which just landed an approval
for Aubagio as well as mipomersen,
and is likely to get an OK for
Lemtrada, another MS drug.
„I believe that these productivity
figures we‟ve been seeing are going
to change, improving dramatically
over the next decade. And the work
being done in the UK biotech hub
will help make the R&D revolution a
success globally.
„In part, that‟s because the
development technologies that
we‟re using now have gone through
a lengthy test of fire.
„True technological innovation takes
at least a decade to pull off. And
that‟s not new. Innovation
happens, but it takes time. And
that‟s certainly true for biotech.
Immunotherapies became hot a
few years ago, then faded after the
pioneers failed to live up to
expectations. Now practically every
major pharma company has to
have several in development.
„Antibody drug conjugate
technology goes back 20 years, or
more. In some cases, like gene
therapy, new technology and plenty
of additional clinical work has
helped eliminate some of the fears
that periodically placed the field on
the industry‟s back burner. In the
case of Alzheimer‟s, new
approaches have forced
investigators to define a new ideal
profile among early-stage patient
populations while the FDA has
begun to define a completely new
research pathway, dramatically
lowering the bar on efficacy
guidelines in order to encourage
developers.
„Also, the R&D track records for
biotech and pharma have been
quite different. Which is a good
thing.
„While biotech companies have
been using the lean and mean
approach to drug development,
where virtual is a virtue,
outsourcing is standard operating
procedure and IPOs – for years now
– have sadly been terribly out of
favor, pharma has been doing the
math on R&D productivity, and it
isn‟t pretty.
„The top 10 pharma companies in
the world spent about $71 billion on
research costs last year. Some –
like GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi and
Pfizer – decided several years ago
that their whole approach was
simply out of whack: Wildly
expensive, unproductive and
unlikely to change. So the
executives at the top decided to
force change in a big way.
„GSK turned to small DPU units.
Pfizer engineered huge cuts. Sanofi
began to reorganize around global
hubs, relying more on clinical
research organisations to do much
of the heavy lifting. Most others
made big strategic moves in
biotech. Roche bought out
Genentech, Sanofi acquired
Genzyme, AstraZeneca bought
MedImmune, while other giants
combined.
Everybody wants to be a biotech.
„All of this was driven as well by the
arrival of the patent cliff, which had
been discussed for so long I had
begun to think of it as a permanent
condition.
„Following those huge mergers and
the arrival of the patent cliff,
pharma went about the business of
downsizing and streamlining. There
was a shift from Europe and the
U.S. to China – an emerging
markets strategy that is still
underway – and they downsized.
„By 2008, layoffs in the U.S. were
around 45,000. In 2010, they
peaked at 53,000, and then started
to fall – dramatically.
„Much of the most recent cuts
continue to be focused on R&D.
Roche decided to shut down its 80-
year-old complex in New Jersey,
happy to focus most of its U.S.
efforts around Genentech. Sanofi is
rebalancing and shifting to its
biologics centers. Pfizer is following
the hub strategy, continuing to
refocus away from the old –
Sandwich in the UK, Connecticut in
the US - toward key research
centers.
„The focus now is on more complex
second generation drugs.
„The top drugs of 2010:
1) Liptor - $7.2 billion
2) Nexium - $6.3 billion
3) Plavix - $6.1 billion
4) Advair Diskus - $4.7 billion
5) Abilify - $4.6 billion
„Several of these blockbusters have
been picked apart by generic
competition, generally within weeks
of losing patent protection. They
represent about $20 billion in U.S.
sales, a market that was fractured
and reduced – eliminated - almost
overnight.
‘Everybody wants to be
a biotech’ John Carroll,
Editor, FierceBiotech
Continued overleaf
Member News Spring 2013 7
„Dr. Johnson once said that nothing
could concentrate someone‟s mind
so well as a hanging. I think the
patent cliff serves as a wonderful
variation on that theme.
„Now here‟s a picture of the top
drugs for 2012:
1) Humira - Est. $9.48 billion
2) Enbrul - Est. $8.37 billion
3) Advair/Seretide - Est. $8 billion
4) Remicade - Est. $7.67 billion
5) Rituxan - Est. $6.94 billion
„And here‟s a look at 5 top potential
blockbusters either in late-stage
development or recently approved:
T-DM1 - Peak sales potential $5
billion-plus
BG-12 - Peak sales potential $3
billion or so
Darapladib - Peak sales potential
Multibillion-dollar market
Gantenerumab - Peak sales
potential The sky's the limit
GS-7977 - Peak sales potential
Barclays analyst Tony Butler says
$3.8 billion
„A word of caution: don‟t bank on
all of these drugs making it to an
approval. You could call this a
random selection of potential
winners – aside from the top 2.
Nobody really knows exactly what
the next top drugs will be in three
or five years.
„But examine these experimental
drugs closely. Each has deep roots
in biotech companies. ImmunoGen
developed the linker technology for
T-DM1, Genentech licensed it, and
Roche snapped up Genentech. BG-
12 comes from Biogen Idec, GSK
got darapladib from Human
Genome Sciences, which it acquired
last year. Roche licensed in a
leading Alzheimer‟s drug from
Germany‟s Morphosys. And Gilead
got the hottest hepatitis C drug in
the pipeline by buying Pharmasset
for $11 billion.
„We are truly working in a global,
interconnected industry – an open
ecosystem in which true innovation
derives from inspired partnerships,
or inspire acquisitions.
„Going it alone, even with $8 billion
for an annual R&D budget, will no
longer cut it – if it ever did.
„So you can see that the patent cliff
and poor productivity inspired the
full scale R&D revolution we‟re
seeing today, in which embracing
risk and sharing it is essential to
success.
„But this isn‟t a blind gamble. Over
the past 10 years there‟s been an
explosion of genetics research that
has illuminated a vast variety of
biologic pathways for disease.
While many in the industry now
steer away from drug development
fields where the biology remains a
mystery and outcomes vary wildly
– like depression – there‟s also a
much better understanding of
cancer, which is driving interesting
new experiments in the clinic. So
risk can be better controlled – but
not eliminated.
„I understand that the industry has
taken a hard line with the FDA, an
agency now blamed for a less-than-
great rate of venture investing and
pushing long, long development
cycles in search of more and better
efficacy and safety data. There‟s
some truth behind the allegation,
but the new PDUFA legislation
specifically opens the door to a
much faster round of approvals, a
development that could make a
dramatic difference for some small
and medium-sized companies. If
it‟s conceivable to bid for an early
review and an approval contingent
on further clinical work, valuations
may well spike for those who clear
the bar.
„Also, I‟m not so likely to believe
that the FDA or the EMA is simply a
roadblock to badly needed
medicines. When you break
everything down to an NDA-basis,
there‟s either a pretty clear
argument for a drug, or one that‟s
against. And I‟ve seen a growing
acceptance among outside agency
experts to acknowledge that a
drug‟s risks can be reined in with
the right risk evaluation and
mitigation strategy.
„We‟ll need more flexible agencies,
because payer risk is steep, and
getting steeper by the day.
„That‟s here to stay, and as I
mentioned, this is an
interconnected, global industry.
Squeeze in one region and you‟ll
feel pain throughout the system. In
the U.S., of course, there‟s been a
greater reluctance to dictate drug
prices or ration products. Payers,
though, are becoming increasingly
aggressive, using formulary
strategies to encourage use of the
cheapest drugs, just as
manufacturers battle back with
support programs for patients who
can‟t afford their out of pocket
costs.
„What is absolutely certain is that
unless a new drug provides a real
added benefit over everything else
in the market, it will be hobbled by
hundreds of busy hands
increasingly making benefit-cost
calculations the way Memorial
Sloan Kettering did for Zaltrap.
‘In biotech you innovate or die.’
Member News Spring 2013 8
Clinical Trials from Across the Globe
One Nucleus talked with Russell Neal, MD of Clinical Network Services, on
one of his visits to Europe, where he was speaking at a BioWednesday and
catching up with his UK contacts
Clinical Network Services (CNS) is
an Australian and New Zealand
CRO offering integrated
development services to biotech
companies. According to Russell,
„Phase 1 and Phase 2 is our “sweet
spot”. Predominantly our focus is
on first-in-human trials and early
Phase 2. We do some
Phase 3 work, but this
tends to be when we
have grown with clients
through the earlier stage
trials, and have been
retained to further assist.‟
Originally from the UK,
Russell has been
consulting to both
pharma and small biotech
companies on clinical
development strategies
and regional trial
management for over 20
years. Initially working as
a CRA then Project
Manager in the UK,
Russell moved with a
large CRO to Sydney
before settling in
Singapore in 1999. In
2003, he returned to
Australia to join Professor
Tony Webber in
establishing CNS.
Russell‟s role at CNS has evolved
over the years as the company has
grown, and he recently took the
mantle of Managing Director.
„As MD I am much more desk
orientated than I was in my
previous role as COO – although
COO is something of a misnomer:
as a small company, we all wear
many different hats. Essentially my
role as COO was to travel through
the US and Europe introducing new
small biotech companies to what
new strategies Australia, and more
recently New Zealand, can offer
them. My role as MD was a natural
next step matching our growth,
stakeholder expansion and the
acquisition of certain assets from
our partner company, Beltas Ltd, at
the end of last year. This
represented a significant step in the
growth of CNS which is approaching
100% growth in the last twelve
months. Now, as MD, I am much
more strategic, although I do
continue to enjoy working with our
business development team and
catching up with contacts when I
travel.‟
Talking about the philosophy
behind the business, Russell offered
this insight: „We benefit from the
pragmatic regulatory systems that
are available to our clients in
Australia and New Zealand. The
Australian Clinical Trials Notification
(CTN) scheme means there is no
requirement for traditional
regulatory submission to a
Regulatory Authority, but rather
assessment forms part of an
Australian Human Research Ethics
Committee‟s (HRECs) expanded
role. This review is done within a
usual timeframe of four to six
weeks, meaning a much faster
timeline into the clinic. With the
recent Ethics Committee reform in
New Zealand, we are now seeing
three-four weeks review cycles.
‘As a regularly invited speaker at
BioWednesday events, we are
always delighted to be able to
introduce alternative R&D
strategies to members.’ Russell
Neal, Managing Director, Clinical
Network Services
Russell N
eal, M
anagin
g D
irecto
r, Clin
ical N
etw
ork
Serv
ices
Continued overleaf
Member News Spring 2013 9
Furthermore, when the more
traditional pathway is re-entered at
a later stage it is with human
rather than just pre-clinical data,
which opens the door to much
more fulfilling conversations with,
international regulators and other
stakeholders, for example, current
and future investors. This makes
our region an attractive place for
biotech companies to conduct initial
clinical trials and expedite their
product‟s development.
„From the CNS perspective, having
worked on some 200 projects we
have a lot of experience with
implementing such strategies for
our clients. Added to this, and
despite being on the other side of
the world, we have become very
attuned to what life is like in a
biotech company and the business
drivers in getting a product into the
clinic as early as possible with the
limited funding available to most.
We keep those milestones in sight
and work creatively and efficiently
to meet them.‟
International efforts to introduce
tax advantages is another area
where Russell sees Australia as
offering a strong benefit over many
other countries. „The system we
have is very successful in as much
as it provides a tax refund rather
than a credit to many of our
smaller clients: It can be seen as
akin to a cash-back incentive that
has the potential for real impact on
reducing the cost of a company‟s
R&D and from the Australian Tax
payers perspective, retains
development of exciting products in
Australia.‟
On CNS‟s relationship with One
Nucleus, Russell says, „It is a
relationship that we value hugely.
In particular it is fantastic having a
network organisation that is so
welcoming of us as an antipodean
company.
„As a regularly invited speaker at
BioWednesday events, we are
always delighted to be able to
introduce alternative R&D
strategies to members. I do feel
that by having One Nucleus
members from other countries just
telling their story is a great way of
raising awareness and highlighting
options that members might not be
aware are open to them. This is not
just limited to biotech itself but
provides members access to a
whole new world of ancillary and
support services.
Finally, with his eye on the globe,
Russell sees a healthy biotech
industry. „But,‟ he says, „it must
continue to become more aware
about where in the world it can
move product development forward
more time, thus cost, efficiently,
and as the regulators increasingly
embrace adaptive design, and big
pharma continue to embrace
biotech as pipeline opportunities, I
do believe that we will see the
biotech industry go from strength
to strength‟.
Discuva Pushes Forward with Antibiotic
Research With a sense of urgency, Discuva‟s
scientists in Cambridge have
continued to push forward their
antibiotic research activities. The
recent report from the UK‟s Chief
Medical Officer highlighted the
enormous threat from antibiotic
resistant bacteria stating that this
should be taken as seriously as
terrorism. Discuva has successfully
discovered new small molecule
chemotypes against the Gram-
negative bacteria highlighted as
major emerging threats in the
report. The first chemical series
have transitioned into further
chemical optimisation on the basis
of their molecular target, resistance
and toxicity profiles. The
Biomedical Catalyst grant of
£1.62M awarded to Discuva at the
end of 2012, matched by further
investment from existing funders,
is enabling multiple „shots-on-goal‟
to be pursued in parallel, increasing
the chance of generating
commercially viable products and
thereby delivering an arsenal of
much needed current and future
therapies.
Member News Spring 2013 10
With space to expand and an
ambitious masterplan, the 250-acre
Chesterford Research Park
continues to develop its offer to
world-leading R&D occupiers.
„Our tenants are largely fast-
growing bioscience and R&D
companies: their world is fast-
paced and demanding. Experience
has taught us that we need to
innovate to meet their ever-
changing needs. Property
development can never move at
the speed of scientific research, but
we develop close partnerships with
our occupiers, offering flexible
solutions wherever possible,
meeting both short-term and long-
term needs and improving the offer
in line with their feedback,‟ explains
Martin Sylvester, a Director of
Churchmanor Estates, joint
developer of the park with Aviva
Investors.
The brand new Science Village is
testament to that responsive
approach. Designed flexibly with
suite sizes to suit both new and
more mature ventures, the
stunning 28,000 sq ft building is
designed in sixteen suites from
1,515 sq ft, but these lab/office
units can be combined to meet any
requirements.
„Now that the Science Village has
become a reality, we‟re very proud
that the next level of
accommodation is available for
established and start-up R&D
companies. We want to provide
accommodation for R&D companies
across the size spectrum of
typically 650 sq ft to 6500 sq ft and
we believe the Science Village
building is a further addition that
now enables us to offer that range.
Space in the historic mansion on
site is available for the smallest
occupiers.
„It‟s recognised that co-locating
R&D companies has benefits for
innovation and the exchange of
ideas: this is what the Science
Village can offer, with its central
„atrium street‟ that will encourage
teams to come together, a tried
and tested formula seen to have
succeeded elsewhere in Cambridge
and the sub region,‟ explains
Martin.
The park‟s modern central facilities
building, The Nucleus, offers a
restaurant, café bar, meeting
rooms and air-conditioned fitness
centre. This means that The
Nucleus is also a great place to
meet neighbours from the park and
hold larger meetings or conferences
of up to 200 people without any
need to leave the site.
Stunning New Science Village is Latest
Development at Chesterford Research Park
Continued overleaf
The N
ucle
us a
t Cheste
rford
Researc
h P
ark
The S
cie
nce V
illage a
t Cheste
rford
Researc
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ark
Member News Spring 2013 11
The Science Village has been
constructed to an innovative,
energy efficient design that works
for both small, self-contained units
and larger spaces. The suites are
served by high speed data
connectivity of up to 1000 Mbps,
Category 6 cabling and power
supply supported by a back-up
generator. Each suite has
demountable benching, plus sinks
and fume hoods housed within their
own dedicated room.
„We look forward to welcoming the
first tenants to the Science Village
soon, as our agents Savills and
Dodson Jones are now in
negotiation with several potential
occupiers,”‟adds Martin.
Chesterford Research Park is at the
heart of the life sciences cluster
now well-developed south of
Cambridge. The Park‟s prestigious
environment and range of facilities
has attracted leading bioscience
names including Biofocus, Illumina
Inc. and Isogenica. The Park‟s
location close to both the A11 and
M11, plus with London accessible
by train from two nearby stations,
means occupiers have quick and
easy access to the local road and
rail infrastructure. Stansted Airport
is also just 20 minutes‟ drive away.
On site facilities are key to staff
well-being and, in addition to the
high quality services in The
Nucleus, Chesterford has a unique
offer – its very own 7-hole, par 3
golf course with fantastic views
across the Essex hills. Chesterford‟s
tranquil, parkland environment is in
fact a significant attraction for
occupiers and the developers value
the green spaces
and wildlife,
investing each
year in ecological
management to
enhance the flora
and fauna.
Security is, of course, high on the
agenda for the R&D sector. The
park boasts 24 hour, 7 day a week
security provided by a specialist
security manned guarding
company. To supplement this, a
CCTV system and perimeter
intruder detection system has been
installed to monitor and record
events on the park. At the manned
gatehouse a sophisticated vehicle
recognition system has also been
installed. This allows for quick and
easy entry for the registered
vehicles of occupiers.
For full details of Chesterford
Research Park and its offer, visit
www.chesterfordresearchpark.com
To find out more about the space
available at the Science Village, call
Rob Sadler at Savills on 01223
347000 or Michael Jones at Dodson
Jones on 01223 358114.
The S
cie
nce V
illage a
t Cheste
rford
Researc
h P
ark
The M
ansio
n H
ouse a
t Cheste
rford
Researc
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ark
Member News Spring 2013 12
Synapse, created by the leading
Life Sciences law firm Taylor
Wessing, was launched in January
this year. It is a microsite designed
to provide a free source of high
quality information on legal and
commercial developments affecting
life sciences companies and their
investors. The issues covered are
essential reading for drug discovery
and development, pharmaceutical,
medical device, diagnostic and
research tool companies.
Developed by the International Life
Sciences team across Taylor
Wessing‟s 22 offices worldwide,
including Malcolm Bates and Tim
Worden in the UK, Synapse is an
invaluable first resource of up to
date and detailed analysis of legal
and regulatory issues. The depth
and breadth of information on
Synapse is unique and according to
Malcolm Bates, „It has contributions
from across the range of Taylor
Wessing practice areas and
international offices, addressing
transactional, patent, financing and
regulatory issues, as well as
relevant areas of tax, employment
and competition law.‟
The Synapse microsite works on
essentially three levels. First of all,
it provides short news updates on
important commercial and legal
developments, as well as events
that readers may be interested in
attending. Secondly, the microsite
contains a topical issues section,
which contains overviews of
subjects that are of particular
importance to the industry and that
may be undergoing significant
change.
Finally, the „toolkit‟
provides short and
accessible summaries of
the key pieces of
legislation that underpin
the life sciences industry: „As its
name suggests, the toolkit provides
a wealth of “nuts and bolts” articles
on subjects such as marketing
authorisations, advertising rules,
commercial transactions, IP and
other life sciences regulatory
matters‟, comments Tim Worden.
„The idea is that professionals in
the life sciences sector can look
through the toolkit and find what
they need to start tackling a
process or problem.‟
As well as viewing Synapse online,
visitors to the site can sign up for
monthly updates. These will mail
out all the latest additions to
Synapse together with a lead
article, which focuses every month
on an area of law and practice of
particular practical importance to
life sciences.
Recent monthly updates have
addressed; Diligence obligations in
partnering agreements; Interim
injunctions against pharma patent
infringement; and The impact of
insolvency on licensors and
licensees in the life sciences sector.
Malcolm and Tim report that since
its launch less than two months
ago, the site has been very well
received, with well over a 1,000
visitors reading more than 2,000
pages of articles. But, as Malcolm
notes, „The success of Synapse
depends very much on providing
the information that those in the
life sciences want to see. We
therefore welcome as much
feedback on the site from visitors
as we can get.‟
Synapse - An Essential Resource for Life
Science Companies and their Investors
Member News Spring 2013 13
Sir Greg Winter says,
„Biotechnology is about doing things
in the real world, so many other
skills are needed in addition to
science and technology - including
politics, management and business.
It can take years to assemble these
skills in individuals or teams, and it
can take years for projects to come
to fruition. It takes sustained
energy to drive them. So I'm
delighted at the focus of the
conference on the young - they
have both the energy and the
time.‟
Global Biotech Revolution (GBR) is
a student-led not-for-profit
foundation that connects biotech
think tanks, industrial leaders and
research pioneers to young bio-
leaders of tomorrow. GBR‟s flagship
event is the Gap Summit 2014, the
world's first inter-generational inter
-cultural leadership summit in
biotechnology. The Gap Summit will
be held from 31 March to 2 April
2014 in one of the leading UK
biotech clusters in Cambridge, at
the University of Cambridge. 100
future young bio-leaders will be
selected from across the world from
the nine divisions of North America,
LATAM, UK and Europe, Africa,
Middle East, South Asia, East Asia,
South-East Asia and Australasia.
During the three-day summit the
young leaders will be discussing the
current global bio-economy, the
grand challenges biotech can solve
by 2050, as well as explore the
host country‟s bio-economy
through site visits and networking
events.
„We are delighted to see the
international collaboration kicking
off between organisations,
companies, universities and student
networks. A few of our supporting
organisations include The
Economist, Nature Publishing
Group, BIO, EFPIA and University of
Cambridge. The summit will have
talks and debates from world
leaders in the field, with confirmed
speakers including: Dr Mene
Pangalos, Executive VP,
Astrazeneca; Dr Neil Weir, Senior
VP, UCB; Harriet Fear, CEO, One
Nucleus; Dr Bahija Jallal, CEO,
MedImmune; Sir Greg Winter; Sir
Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-
Chancellor, University of
Cambridge; and Ellen Jorgensen,
TED speaker on DIY Biotech.‟
Ipshita Mandal, a PhD student at
University of Cambridge and
President of GBR says, „There is a
gap in connecting the aspirations of
young leaders to talent education,
management and recruitment
needs of the industry. The future
belongs to those who see
possibilities before they become
obvious.‟ The Gap Summit is still
reaching out for global players as
speakers, advisors and valued
partners.
To get involved, get in touch at
ipshita.mandal@globalbiotechrevolu
tion.com
For more information visit
www.globalbiotechrevolution.com
LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/
company/2710538?trk=tyah
Sir G
regory
Win
ter, C
BR C
hair, In
vento
r of H
um
ira
‘Not-to-be-Missed’ Global Summit
Bringing together young biotech talent from across the world to inspire businesses
Member News Spring 2013 14
MRC Technology is one of six of the
world‟s top translational health
research centres that have come
together to form a new Global
Alliance of Leading Drug Discovery
and Development Centres. The aim
of this alliance is to strengthen the
international network for academic
and/or not-for-profit drug
development and commercialisation
to ultimately improve the rate at
which academic research is
translated into new medicines.
The founding organisations are:
The Centre for Drug Research
and Development (CDRD),
Canada
Lead Discovery Centre (LDC),
Germany
The Scripps Research Institute,
Scripps Florida, United States
The Centre for Drug Design and
Discovery (CD3), KU Leuven
R&D, Belgium
Medical Research Council
Technology (MRC Technology),
United Kingdom
Cancer Research Technology
(CRT), United Kingdom
All member organisations are fully-
integrated translational centres that
together represent close to 400
experienced drug developers
collaborating with tens of
thousands of academic scientists
around the globe on over 165
highly innovative therapeutic
projects targeting significant unmet
medical needs. Through this
alliance, member organisations will
collaborate on mutually-beneficial
projects, share best practice,
expertise and resources, and
develop common standards and
performance measurements –
ultimately working together to
improve the conversion of global
early-stage technology into much
needed therapies.
Mike Johnson, MRC Technology‟s
Director of Corporate Partnerships
said, „The shared objectives
between MRC Technology and the
other members of the Alliance
make collaborating rather than
competing the obvious way
forward. I hope that by working
together we can move research
from the lab bench to the patient
faster and more effectively.‟
Agreement signing ceremony at the Canadian High Commission in London. Left to right the people are: Thomas Hegendörfer - Lead Discovery
GmbH; Mike Johnson – MRC Technology; Gregorio Aversa – CDRD; Patrick Chaltin – CD3; Caroline Martin – Canadian High Commission;
Stefaan Allemeersch – CD3; Karimah Es Sabar – CDRD; and Justin Bryans - MRC Technology
MRC Technology Forms Alliance with World-
Leading Translational Research Centres
Member News Spring 2013 15
In April, Cambridge based
translational genomics company
Horizon Discovery announced that
they had entered into an exclusive
collaboration agreement with
AstraZeneca to explore Horizon‟s
first-in-class kinase target
programme, HD-001, as a means
of developing novel therapies for
multiple cancer types. Under the
terms of the agreement, Horizon
will receive undisclosed upfront and
preclinical milestone payments, and
is eligible for clinical and approval
milestones totalling up to $75M, as
well as tiered royalties.
The target for the HD-001
programme has been shown to be
mutated in a range of cancer types,
including colon and lung.
Importantly, the target has also
been shown to play a key role in K-
Ras mutant tumors. As K-Ras is
mutated in up to 40% of all cancer
types, causing resistance to many
of the available targeted
therapeutics and so is associated
with poor patient outcomes, the
development of molecular targeted
therapies against the gene is a
significant unmet need.
„Targeting cancer cells harbouring
mutant K-Ras has been a perennial
issue for the drug discovery
community, with few canonical
pathway or “gene-addiction”
targets showing a clear benefit on
this important cancer gene,‟
commented Dr. Chris Torrance,
CSO and leader of the HD-001
program at Horizon. „We are
excited to partner with Astra
Zeneca on the development of HD-
001, as they have shown a firm
commitment to the identification of
novel K-Ras targets.‟
Earlier in the year Horizon received
a visit from HRH the Duke of Kent
in recognition of having been
granted the Queen‟s Award for
Enterprise in International Trade in
2012, for outstanding achievement
in export growth, having shown
overall growth exceeding 360%
over the three year period
assessed. During his visit, HRH the
Duke of Kent was taken on a tour
of Horizon‟s headquarters, and
unveiled a plaque to officially mark
the opening of the building.
Further acclaim was received in
February when Horizon was named
„Most Promising Company‟ at the
Personalized Medicine World
Conference. Horizon was chosen for
the award from 32 shortlisted
companies based on technology,
historical performance, and forward
business plans. Horizon‟s CEO, Dr
Darrin Disley, commented: „The
Most Promising Company award is
a testament to the strength of the
Horizon team, and comes in
recognition of what we have
already achieved and what we are
working towards - making a
difference in the lives of cancer
sufferers. The award also shows
how competitive a UK based
biotech company can be with its US
and global counterparts.‟
One of the keys to fulfilling its title
of most promising company in
personalised medicine is the
continued investment by Horizon in
advancing the field of gene editing
and its applications. The company
recently demonstrated the ability of
its newest iteration of its highly
precise and flexible rAAV-mediated
homologous recombination based
gene editing platform, GENESIS, to
achieve gene editing frequencies of
20-30%. This frequency is 10-fold
higher than traditionally associated
with rAAV gene editing, and has
been achieved by Horizon through
inclusion of a negative selection
technique. The technique is
discussed in more detail in a poster
recently presented at the Keystone
Conference „Precision Genome
Engineering and Synthetic Biology‟,
available to at
www.horizondiscovery.com/about-
us/publications
Horizon applies its GENESIS gene
editing technology to create a
range of high value tools
incorporating specific genetic
alterations, at defined frequencies,
for use throughout the drug
discovery and development
continuum. The latest addition is its
Quantitative Multiplex Genomic
Reference Standards, for use in
tumour profiling. The first of its
kind, the standard is intended for
researchers assessing multiple
biomarkers in a single assay, using
platforms such as next generation
sequencing (NGS), to increase the
precision and utility of these
molecular assays for cancer
genotype screening.
Darrin Disley, CEO of Horizon Discovery receiving the award for ‘Most Promising
Company’ at the Personalised Medicine World Conference in February
Progress and Awards for Horizon Discovery
Continued overleaf
Member News Spring 2013 16
The Quantitative Multiplex DNA
Reference Standard directly
addresses the need for reliable,
external reference standards for
multiplex assays and large tumour
profiling projects. It does so by
enabling researchers to quantify a
range of detection thresholds for 11
cancer relevant mutations across
complex samples in a single assay,
in the form of renewable material
originating from precisely
engineered cell lines.
Horizon also continues to forge
ahead on its drug discovery
services side through industry
collaborations with the likes of
Boehringer Ingelheim, with whom
they recently signed a five-year
agreement. Under the agreement,
Horizon will support Boehringer
Ingelheim‟s oncology programs by
using its Discovery Toolbox for
research projects and profiling of
compounds at the hit-to-lead, lead
optimisation and pre-clinical stages
to elucidate their anti-cancer
properties and help guide drug
discovery programs.
Finally, in the not-for-profit sector,
Horizon‟s Centres of Excellence
programme has seen several
additions in the first quarter of the
year, with three new centres being
established across Asia, and two
here in Cambridge, UK. The new
Centres in Cambridge are at the
Gurdon Institute, Cambridge
University with Prof. Steve Jackson
FRS, and the Cambridge Institute
for Medical Research with Prof.
David Rubinsztein. In Asia, Aichi
Cancer Center, Japan, Seoul
National University, South Korea,
and the National Cancer Centre
(NCC), Singapore, have joined the
Centres of Excellence programme.
The network also includes high
profile Institutions such UCL, Yale
University, the National Cancer
Institute, Washington University in
St Louis and the National Cancer
Centre, Japan.
The past six months has seen a
number of key developments at
Selcia, the international life
sciences contract research
organisation, including the launch
of a new platform to enable drug
discovery and development on the
target family of peptidyl-prolyl cis-
trans isomerases („PPIases‟). The
scope of the new service
encompasses drug screening and
functional assays, as well as
profiling of compounds and
determining specificity of inhibition
against a representative panel of
enzymes.
Whilst relatively neglected by
pharmaceutical companies in the
past, understanding of the
involvement of PPIases in many
diseases is currently emerging. All
PPIase inhibitors presently in
clinical use or in development are
natural products, natural product
derivatives or have structures
inspired by natural products. By
combining its in-house expertise in
screening services and medicinal
chemistry, Selcia has already
commenced delivery of clinical
PPIase inhibitors to pharma clients.
Simon Bury, Business Development
Director – Discovery, comments:
„PPIases are a large and
unexploited family of drugable
targets. This new PPIase screening
service is unique to Selcia and can
take a PPIase target from hit
finding to candidate stage.‟
A key development towards the end
of last year saw Selcia subsidiary
Mitopharm and Swedish drug
development company Neurovive
Pharmaceutical AB develop three
lead drug candidates capable of
increasing mitochondrial energy
production. The potential clinical
applications of these novel
compounds range over a variety of
pathological conditions
characterised by deficient cell
energy production. The
breakthrough is the culmination of
a twelve month programme
between the two companies which
has combined Selcia‟s expertise in
medicinal and analytical chemistry
and NeuroVive‟s advanced research
and development programmes in
mitochondrial energy production.
Meanwhile, Selcia‟s 14C
radiolabelling division received
Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) re-
certification for its analytical
laboratory following a successful
GLP inspection by the UK MHRA.
Sim
on B
ury
, Busin
ess D
evelo
pm
ent D
irecto
r, Selc
ia
Notable Developments at Selcia Including
Launch of New PPlase Service
Member News Spring 2013 17
Key Factors that Increase Development
Efficiency and Productivity Aptiv Solutions is a global
development services company
focused on enhancing clinical trial
decision-making, efficiency and
productivity in the pharmaceutical,
biotech and medical device
markets. They recently reported on
the key findings arising from an
executive roundtable to identify
how adaptive design can impact
modern day product development.
Attended by senior executives from
over 20 companies, including 11 of
the top 15 pharma, the roundtable
concluded that adaptive design has
a critical role to play in delivering
development efficiency and
productivity, and that
pharmaceutical company
executives need to unite to drive
wider adoption across the industry.
Key findings:
Adaptive design has a critical
role to play in modern protocol
planning
Simple adaptive designs save
upwards of $100 million per
annum when applied at the
portfolio level
Phase II adaptive dose-finding
trials should be implemented
widely to address late phase
attrition
Integrated technologies are
available to support adaptive
dose-finding trials but their
adoption needs the support of
pharmaceutical executives to
drive effective deployment.
Regulatory agencies are urging
pharmaceutical companies to
use these techniques more
widely
A full copy of the news release can
be found at
www.aptivsolutions.com
Drug discovery services company
Argenta, a division of Galapagos
NV, has signed a collaboration
agreement with Antabio, a France-
based start-up biopharmaceutical
company, to provide medicinal
chemistry, computer-aided drug
design and ADME/PK services,
together with its integrated drug
discovery expertise. The
collaboration is funded by a
Wellcome Trust Seeding Drug
Discovery award and will assist
Antabio in the identification of novel
anti-bacterial agents and discovery
of a development candidate that
can be progressed into clinical
trials.
Dr John Montana, Managing
Director of Argenta, commented,
„Argenta is proud to announce this
agreement with Antabio, which is
the second SDDI-funded
collaboration to be disclosed by
Argenta in recent months. There is
an urgent need for new anti-
bacterial drugs and we look forward
to working with Antabio to progress
their compounds rapidly towards
pre-clinical candidate nomination.‟
This news follows closely on the
heels of the announcement in
January of the acquisition of the
Canterbury-based gene-to-
structure biotech company,
Cangenix, to augment Argenta‟s
capabilities in drug design with
state-of-the-art structural biology,
biophysics and fragment based
drug discovery, and fill a growing
client need.
John M
onta
na, M
anagin
g D
irecto
r, Arg
enta
Argenta Teams up for Drug Design
Member News Spring 2013 18
Lord
Ala
n S
ugar w
ith R
icky M
artin
, Managin
g
Dire
cto
r at H
yper R
ecru
itment S
olu
tions
Recruitment Dedicated to the Science
and Technology Sectors
Hyper Recruitment Solutions (HRS),
founded and run by Ricky Martin
and in partnership with Lord Alan
Sugar, has a wealth of recruitment
expertise as well as compliance and
commercial awareness.
Over the past quarter HRS reached
out to more clients across the EU
and placed more highly qualified
scientific professionals into jobs
than ever before. According to
Ricky Martin, MD at HRS, „We have
felt the confidence in the science
community increase and with it our
already extensive network has
grown.
„With business activities
consistently increasing, HRS has
taken on three new employees.
With science degrees and having
previously worked in the industry,
the team is able to support with
more than just job introductions -
overlaying career advice from real
life experience. This is very much
aligned to the HRS promise and
ambition of being a “collaboration
of scientists supporting science”.‟
Outside of day-to-day recruitment,
Ricky Martin and Lord Alan Sugar
have also increasingly commented
on topical science via social media
channels, often in relation to key
client news and developments.
These are activities they feel will
inspire confidence and interest in
science from outside communities
and will continue to be a focus for
companies that HRS is actively
supporting. HRS is looking forward
to working closely with more of the
industry‟s top talent throughout
2013.
Ronghui G
ao, M
anagin
g D
irecto
r, G-M
ed C
onsultin
g
Providing Insight into China
Mr Ronghui Gao is a China-based
business consultant in the life
science industry. He is the
Managing Director of G-Med
Consulting, and is dedicated to
supporting the European SMEs,
developing their businesses in
China. With global reach and strong
local expertise and networks, he
provides tailored consultancy
services on commercialisation,
regulatory approval, fund raising
and market access.
As a China expert and ambassador
for BioXcluster, Mr Gao provides
industry insight on the Chinese
market and facilitates partnership
for BioXcluster member companies.
He is also an advisor for Shanghai
Zhangjiang Pharma Valley, the
largest biocluster in China.
Mr Gao is co-organising the Sino-
Euro BioPartnering conference, a
European company-focused
partnering event on 29 May 2013 in
Shanghai, which will create a
platform for European SMEs to seek
partnerships in China.
One Nucleus members are welcome
to participate and can enjoy 20%
discount on the registration fee.
Please contact Mr Gao at gaorh@g-
med.com.cn
Member News Spring 2013 19
Earlier this month One Nucleus
signed a partnership agreement
with two of the life science
industry‟s leading media specialists,
Richard Hayhurst Associates (RHA)
and Zyme Communications Ltd
(Zyme). With complementary skills
in global media relations and
marketing, both organisations will
provide communications services to
assist One Nucleus in realising its
mission to support One Nucleus
members to maximise their global
competitiveness.
Harriet Fear, CEO of One Nucleus
commented: „We are delighted to
be partnering with not one, but
two, media specialists in this
sector. RHA and Zyme have worked
with One Nucleus on a breadth of
projects to date. I have been
impressed with their
professionalism, approach, and
network of contacts. I look forward
to continuing and reinforcing our
collaboration.‟
Richard Hayhurst has been one of
the pioneers in the field of life
science communications. Having co
-founded HCC De Facto, he went on
to sell Hayhurst Media to Boston-
based Schwartz Communications,
now part of the MSL Group. He is
also an expert in profiling regions
having done so for Scotland,
Norway and Stockholm-Uppsala
amongst others. Richard was also
involved in setting up the original
London Biotech Network, Genesis
Conference and BioWednesdays.
„Combining my experience with
Zyme‟s fresh eyes and creativity, I
am sure we can help further
strengthen One Nucleus‟ reputation
as one of the world‟s leading life
science networks,‟ said Richard
Hayhurst.
Based in Cambridge and with a
network of partners in Europe and
the US, Zyme is focused on
providing PR and marketing support
that delivers real value for life
science companies. With a fresh
approach to providing high quality
communications services, Zyme will
specifically support One Nucleus in
the delivery of this, their bi-annual
newsletter and also media relations
around key events including
Genesis 2013 and ON Helix.
Lorna Cuddon, MD of Zyme
commented: „We are very pleased
to have been chosen by One
Nucleus as a Media Partner. We
work with a number of One Nucleus
member companies, based both
locally and internationally, and we
look forward to raising the profile of
the organisation and its members.‟
www.richardhayhurstassociates.com
www.zymecommunications.com
Harrie
t Fear, C
EO
One N
ucle
us (c
entre
) with
Ric
hard
Hayhurs
t and
Lorn
a C
uddon
Richard Hayhurst Associates and Zyme
Communications Selected as One
Nucleus’ Media Partners
Member News Spring 2013 20
News from Babraham Research Campus The Babraham Research Campus maintains its position as one of the UK‟s pre-eminent Bioincubator locations. Since the new year
they‟ve seen the arrival of five new companies to the Campus - three of whom are virtual tenants – taking the total number of companies to over 40.
The virtual tenancy service is
designed to assist small biotech businesses looking to establish a first commercial base but who are not quite ready to take full-time physical space. Depending on the level of service required, companies
can attend regular campus events and workshops, feature on the Babraham website, access meeting rooms, access Hot Desk facilities
and laboratory space and much more. The Campus took possession of
their latest building, The Jonas Webb Building, on 22 March and is looking forward to welcoming Cancer Research Technology who will occupy the entire first floor in April. The building is the second
phase of the capital development
project fund awarded to the Babraham Research Campus in 2011 by the Chancellor, and commences the development of the North site. Space is still available in the remainder of the building.
The Technology Development Laboratory, another distinct feature of the Campus, is available to
undertake biology and chemistry focussed fee-for-service work or to provide access to a wide range of science equipment.
Save the date! The annual Biotechnology Investment Forum will be held on 26 September 2013 and a call for companies will be announced shortly. As in previous
years, new and early stage
biomedical companies seeking investment will present to Europe‟s active Venture Capital and Business Angel groups in a one day showcase of new and pioneering technologies.
Visit www.babraham.com for more information.
Babraham scientists have been
sharing their passion for science
with local schools and families at
the Cambridge Science Festival
throughout National Science &
Engineering Week. The Institute
opened its laboratories to 120
GCSE and A-level students from 18
local schools for its 17th annual
Schools‟ Science Day. Pupils spent
the day immersed in experiments
alongside „real scientists‟, getting to
grips with state-of-the-art
equipment and cutting-edge
science.
The Science Festival‟s Biology Zone
last weekend attracted its largest
audience yet, with over 5,000
visitors hungry for the exciting
array of hands-on science provided
by teams from Babraham, the
Medical Research Council, The
Sanger Institute, The Society of
Biology, Papworth Hospital and
MedImmune to name but a few.
„The Biology Zone is a perfect place
for families to explore science
together and interact with
inspirational young scientists,‟ said
Dr Claire Cockcroft, Babraham‟s
Head of Public Engagement. „It‟s
wonderful to see so many children
totally absorbed in the exhibits,
whether it‟s dissecting owl pellets,
building an antibody, making DNA
models, learning what makes your
heart tick or seeing life in a new
light under the microscope for the
first time; there‟s something for all
ages.‟
The Medical Research Council‟s
Adrian Penrose said, „Medical
research changes lives. In this, our
Centenary Year, we wanted to bring
to the Festival the knowledge,
wonder and excitement that is
generated by world-class research
that is improving human health
across the globe.‟
The Babraham team explain how genes can be influenced by our environment and lifestyle – epigenetics – while another exhibit reveals that
calcium is vital inside our cells to regulate heart contractions, not just for healthy bones and teeth
A Heart to Heart with the Babraham
Scientists at the Cambridge Science Festival
Member News Spring 2013 21
As an enthusiastic supporter of
translational research, the drug
discovery company Domainex
launched its Discovery STAR Award
scheme targeted at academic
groups early this year. Its aim was
to award one successful applicant
with virtual hit screening services
using Domainex‟s
LeadBuilder platform and
to therefore bridge a
current academic „funding
gap‟. This would enable
the selected project to
progress to an inflection
point that is suitable for
larger external grant-
funding schemes such as
the TSB/MRC Biomedical
Catalyst Fund, The
Wellcome Trust‟s SDDI
scheme, European Union
FP7, and MRC DPFS.
Domainex has successfully
supported numerous
academic groups across Europe and
UK to apply for drug discovery
funding from a range of sources –
these include The Institute of
Cancer Research; St George‟s,
University of London; and the
University of Manchester. However,
small-molecule hits are typically
required before funding can be
secured, and the application
process can be challenging for
those without a commercial
background. Domainex‟s Discovery
STAR Award will enable this gap to
be filled for the selected recipient.
Domainex works with a growing
number of successful grant holders,
providing drug discovery expertise
and medicinal chemistry services to
complement the in-house
capabilities of world-renowned
academic researchers.
The closing date was on 15 March,
however this scheme is planned to
be repeated twice a year, so watch
out for future announcements.
Discovery STAR Award Scheme Supports
Translational Research
After years of collaborating with
academic and non-profit
institutions, BioFocus has launched
its Academic Engagement initiative
(AEi). The primary aim of the
initiative is to identify the best new
therapeutic strategy ideas from
academic groups, and to provide an
effective and user-friendly
mechanism to progress these ideas
towards high quality chemical
matter. As part of the company‟s
interaction model, BioFocus will
contribute to grant writing and will
provide ideas on funding
mechanisms, but will not seek to
retain any IP related to the
projects; this will remain with the
idea-originating institution.
To promote interaction between
BioFocus, Principal Investigators
(PIs) and technology development
offices, BioFocus is organising
workshops at a range of academic
institutions over the course of
2013. During these sessions they
will offer advice from a drug
discovery and translational funding
perspective, suggesting key
experiments that they believe will
enhance the projects under
discussion and markedly increase
chances of downstream funding.
Projects joining the initiative will
have on-going access to BioFocus‟
dedicated multi-disciplinary team of
drug discovery scientists who will
work with the PI from idea through
to funding and beyond.
„BioFocus has been assisting
researchers to translate their
projects to the point of funding for
many years and will continue to
enable such early-stage projects,‟
said Professor Julie Frearson,
BioFocus‟ Senior Director Scientific
Alliances and Translational
Programs. „The company is also
well positioned to take key projects
to preclinical proof of concept and
beyond towards candidate
nomination.‟
For further information on BioFocus‟
AEi, or to arrange a drug discovery
clinic, please contact BioFocus:
www.biofocus.com/contact
BioFocus Launches Academic Engagement
Initiative
Member News Spring 2013 22
After almost two years of review,
an updated GDP guideline for EU
distribution of medicinal products
for human use was published in the
Official Journal of the European
Union on March 7, 2013. This new
guideline replaces existing
directives (94/C 63/03) that have
been in effect since 1994.
Compliance with the 2013 EU
Guideline (2013/C 68/01) becomes
mandatory six months after date of
publication, or on September 7,
2013.
„This new guideline is long
overdue,‟ says Dr. Ruediger Lomb,
Global Director of Quality and
Technical Compliance for World
Courier Group. „The globalisation of
the industry over the past two
decades has increased risk
exponentially for pharmaceutical
companies, medical professionals
and patients. The tendency to
outsource production to locations
around the world has led to
quantum changes in storage and
transportation requirements, in the
number of parties now involved in
the supply chain, in the
competency and qualification of
these suppliers, and in the
oversight required. Factor into this
the stringent temperature
requirements of many of today‟s
biological products and the spike in
counterfeit drugs and we can
readily see the importance of
introducing regulatory change that
better reflects our current
distribution realities.‟
According to Dr. Lomb, the vague
generalities associated with the
earlier directive have been replaced
with concrete regulations in 2013.
„The prevalent themes of
responsibility, quality management
and process control will go a long
way towards actualizing the EU‟s
objective of improving product
quality and safety,‟ he says.
One Nucleus Preferred Supplier World Courier Offers Insightful Advice
Member News Spring 2013 23
Health Enterprise East Limited
(HEE) is the NHS Innovation Hub
for the East of England and
facilitates the development and
uptake of innovative MedTech
products and services that improve
the quality of healthcare delivery.
Since 2008 it has been running
nationwide competitions for the
Small Business Research Initiative
(SBRI), which is one of the
programmes that the NHS is
funding to support economic
growth and closer working with
industry.
To date the competitions have
provided financial investment of
over £12m which has supported 57
companies to develop their ideas
into innovative technology products
that matched the needs of the
health service. The programme has
funded the companies to test the
feasibility and then to develop their
products ready for market.
A handful of these are now selling
into global markets and bringing
innovation to the delivery of
healthcare.
The competitions have each
focused on an area of clinical need,
including long-term conditions,
dementia, stroke, and medicines
management. The medicines
management competition has
recently been awarded and includes
drug delivery devices as well as
medication compliance systems to
help bring efficiencies and better
healthcare outcomes.
The most recent competition, with
a clinical theme of improving
patient experience in mental health
and for those
at the end of
their life,
closed at the
end of
February.
New competitions are planned for
2013 and interested One Nucleus
members should keep an eye on
the SBRI‟s new website
(www.sbrihealthcare.co.uk) to find
out more. The site provides
information on past and future
SBRI competitions and the support
available to small businesses
working with the NHS to improve
the delivery of healthcare and
enhance the experience of patients.
Bringing New Technologies to the NHS
One Nucleus member and
Cambridge success story Abcam
was established in 1998 as a global
web-based antibody company
Providing high-quality reagents.
However as the company‟s latest
half-year report showed, Abcam
continues to evolve its product
offering and today provides far
more than „just antibodies‟.
Through the recent acquisitions of
MitoSciences (now Abcam Eugene),
Ascent Scientific (now Abcam
Bristol), and Epitomics (now Abcam
Burlingame), Abcam has extended
its operational excellence and
scientific expertise.
Abcam produces and distributes
more than 106,000 high-quality
protein research tools, including a
growing range of non-antibody
products such as proteins,
peptides, lysates, assays and other
kits and biochemicals, as well as
over 4,100 rabbit monoclonal
antibodies (RabMAbs). It is this
core strategy, of offering a broad
range of high-quality, well-
characterised products, coupled
with expert scientific support and
fast delivery, to the global research
community, to which Abcam
attributes its enduring success in a
tough economic climate.
Jonathan Milner, CEO at Abcam,
said: „Our focus is on continuing to
develop and invest in our products
and pipelines, and ensuring that we
have the appropriate capabilities in
place to play a major role in
enabling research scientists to
discover more.‟
Abcam‟s solid business model
and resulting good fortune is
also backed by a strong sense
of corporate responsibility. The
company regularly donates to a
range of national and international
causes through its Charity
Committee, which has been
administrating funding to charities
since 2004. Last month Abcam
announced donations totalling
£45,000 to three local Cambridge
charities: Red Balloon, a charity to
support the recovery of bullied
children; Winter Comfort, a social
initiative to help the homeless; and
Cambridge Community Foundation,
a local charity working to connect a
range of donors to local good
causes.
Abcam - ‘More Than Just Antibodies’
Member News Spring 2013 24
There are many reasons why a
company should start focusing on
Asia. Not least, it accounts for
about half of the world's population
(3.3 billion people) and, this year,
consumer expenditure on health
care services is expected to reach
US$188 billion.
In particular there are many
benefits in choosing to use
Singapore as a hub: It is
geographically well situated;
regionally neutral; politically stable;
practices under British law; has
excellent IP protection; is English
speaking, multinational and
multicultural. These, alongside
other factors, make it the perfect
location from which to expand into
the region.
Singapore plans to increase Gross
expenditure on science and
technology R&D from 1% GDP to
3.5% GDP by 2015 - that‟s SGT$16
billion: over £8 billion. The Country
therefore has a high level of
interest in attracting cutting edge
technologies, and as such has
created many grants for the right
technology.
The most attractive of these grants
is the Singapore Government
sponsoring the running of clinical
trials. This support is not
dependent on opening a company
in Singapore. Trials done in
Singapore will be recognised in
China, USA and Europe, as the
regulatory arm of Singapore‟s
Health Sciences Authority develops
a memorandum of understanding.
In addition the trials will be
recognised throughout the SE Asian
region. A further incentive to
carrying out trials in Singapore is
the Country‟s multi ethnicity – and
thus genetic diversity – including
Indian, Malay and Chinese.
Singapore also has financing
options for businesses at all stages
from research grants in the
Country‟s world class universities,
through early-stage funding from
state-backed-but-privately run
accelerators to venture funding
from either state or private entities,
or mega transactions by behemoth
sovereign wealth funds.
MDM Asia with its partners Helix to
Health and AIT Biotech are experts
in helping companies to access the
significant incentives available for
expansion into Asia. The only
barrier to entry is that a company
that is looking to expand into Asia
must be committed to the region
and allocate a suitable amount of
time and resources to the venture.
No government, anywhere in the
region, will take all the financial risk
or assist a company that brings
little value. However, a company
that has both the commitment and
the resources will find many
attractive incentives that will assist
them to access and commercialise
these high growth markets.
China is a very complex market and
one that we also work with in terms
of manufacturing, distribution to
State Funded Hospitals, and
tapping into the large and
expanding venture capital market.
The present market size for medical
devices in China is worth more than
£8 billion and is expected to grow
at 15-20% over the next five years.
Should you wish to discuss any of
the above please email
www.mdmasia.org
A Bridge to Asia
Anth
ony C
anto
r, Founder, M
DM
Asia
Member News Spring 2013 25
This one-day conference, founded
by the University of Cambridge‟s
Judge Business School‟s Centre for
Entrepreneurial Learning and
Miranda Weston-Smith, will bring
together an all-female speaker line-
up of biobusiness leaders and rising
stars to explore the strategies for
enterprise, funding and growth that
are proving most successful in
today‟s tough times.
It promises to be an invaluable and
inspirational event for any
bioentrepreneur – male or female –
seeking fresh ideas and impetus for
building and funding successful
ventures.
The programme will be packed with
fresh perspectives from top female
talent, and include sessions on:
Responding to global healthcare
challenges
Building companies in new
markets
Creating effective teams and
boards
Come and take part in the
discussions, meet people who are
shaping the future of biobusiness.
It‟s a not-to-miss event.
Women in BioBusiness
This autumn conference is part of
the new initiative, Women in
BioBusiness, being developed by
independent biobusiness consultant
Miranda Weston-Smith and the
team at the University of
Cambridge Judge Business School‟s
Centre for Entrepreneurial
Learning.
In a global biobusiness sector that
is undergoing rapid transformation,
there are growing opportunities to
tap into female talent and bring
more success for men and women
working together. Research
suggests that women adopt
different strategies for growth –
from novel ways of building
companies, working in teams and
communication to raising funds and
attitudes to risk. Understanding
these success factors paves the
way to new business models that
embrace diversity of talent, are
more inclusive and people-centric,
and so are more responsive to the
fast-changing needs of the bio
sector.
Commenting, Miranda said: „We‟ve
had a tremendous response so far,
not just from women who want to
grow the industry but also from
men who want to understand how
diversity can work better in
practice. This way, everyone wins.‟
One Nucleus:
Harriet Fear, Chief Executive of One
Nucleus, added: „We are delighted
to be partnering with Women in
BioBusiness to bring the conference
together, because its focus is about
getting the sector to think about
new, creative and improved ways
to maximise global competitiveness
– and this includes learning from
women who have been there and
who are doing it.‟
To find out more Contact Miranda
Weston-Smith at Miranda@mws-
consulting.co.uk or Orsolya Ihasz,
Programme Manager at the Centre
for Entrepreneurial Learning at
Take a look at the latest press
release at www.onenucleus.com/
news?id=2833
Mira
nda W
esto
n-S
mith
, MW
S C
onsultin
g
Beating the Odds: Growing BioBusiness Today
Women in BioBusiness Conference - 3 October 2013 Cambridge, UK
Member News Spring 2013 26
Major advances in healthcare will
be addressed by world-leading
academics and BiomedTech
companies in Cambridge this
summer.
Stem cell and regenerative
research, personalised medicines
and telehealth for an increased
ageing population – as well as
robotics for healthcare – occupy the
thoughts of global speakers and
panellists at Business Weekly‟s
inaugural Nerve disruptive
technology conference & expo at
Cambridge Corn Exchange from
June 25-27.
Keynotes include US academic and
entrepreneur Jim Heath, a genuine
pioneer of disruptive nanoscience in
the field of cancer treatment, and
listed as one of the seven top
innovators in the world by Forbes
magazine in 2009.
Jim Heath‟s novel technology for
evaluating a single cell presents its
results readout as a fluorescent
barcode – a highly miniaturized
version of the kind you see on
goods sold in the shops. The
innovation is being used to provide
a swift evaluation of whether or not
a prescribed cancer therapy is
working and to identify if it can be
leveraged to boost the
effectiveness of the relevant
therapies.
Devyn Smith of Pfizer is another
globally-respected keynote. He
joined Pfizer's Neusentis Research
Unit in the UK in 2011 as chief
operating officer responsible for
strategy and operations. Neusentis
is a biotech-like unit within Pfizer
R&D focused on pain & sensory
disorders, and regenerative
medicine. Prior to this role, Devyn
joined Pfizer's Strategic
Management Group in August 2009
supporting the head of
Pharmatherapeutics R&D in
developing and implementing
business strategies and operational
plans.
Sir Christopher Evans, founding
father of the Cambridge
biotechnology cluster, Dr Darrin
Disley – CEO of personalised
medicines pioneer and event co-
sponsor Horizon Discovery, One
Nucleus CEO Harriet Fear and
Cambridge Healthcare Ltd founder
and CEO, Dawson King, are also in
the speaker and panellists line-up.
One Nucleus members are being
offered a 20% discount on Nerve
quoted prices (including Early Bird
and Standard conference tickets).
To take advantage of the offer,
email Tony Quested:
You can check out the speakers,
panelists and conference themes at
www.itsnerve.com
Devyn S
mith
, CO
O, N
eusentis
, Pfiz
er
Healthcare Agenda Hits a Nerve
Jim H
eath
, US A
cadem
ic a
nd E
ntre
pre
neur
Member News Spring 2013 27
A company exists to make a profit,
be it to recompense venture
capitalists, shareholders or the
owner for financial or technical
input. We all specialise in particular
fields and often for new Life
Science companies, business
development through sales and
marketing is secondary to
innovation and product
development,
after all this is
why they exist.
But any
company must
produce sales
to achieve a
required level
of profit.
Mike Gilham
may be
familiar to
many One
Nucleus
members
representing
First Sight Media; however Gilham
and Partners is a consultancy that
has achieved impressive growth of
226% in B2B sales in just two
years. This has been achieved by
having a clear understanding of the
features and benefits of their
service offering, reviewing existing
sales and marketing systems,
identifying and targeting a potential
customer base, then putting
financial and organisational goals in
place and working as part of the
team to achieve the desired result.
Many established companies can
benefit from an overhaul of their
sales and marketing procedures,
and young companies gain the
benefit of an experienced business
development professional. Both will
find the approach taken by Gilham
and Partners refreshing-not least
because the increase in profit far
outweighs the cost.
Gilham and Partners are not hands-
off consultants, working merely
with theory, but put theories into
action and work closely with clients
in order to achieve their goals.
Please view our website
www.gilhamandpartners.com or
contact Mike for an informal
discussion at
michael.gilham@gilhamandpartners
.com or 07881 923242.
Impressive Sales Growth in 2 Years
Twelve months ago, Harriet Fear,
Chief Executive of One Nucleus
said: „First Sight Media are
providing a legacy of our key
events‟ and today this is true for
many other leading Life Science
and Pharmaceutical organisations,
who realise the importance of video
in their strategic digital marketing
plans. Three key areas are
prominent:
Live interactive and On Demand
webinars, used to transfer
knowledge within a client‟s
organisation or to their existing and
potential customers, often on a
monthly basis on the same day and
time each month, ideal for
promoting products and brands.
Video for inclusion in a website or a
social media site, promoting the
organisation or highlighting the
specific benefits of the company
training courses, research or
development, to a wider audience,
available anytime to view via the
web.
Capturing conference speakers, or
annual Congresses to make the
event accessible to a much larger
audience, with the benefit of
recording the event for future
viewing and so maintaining the
company profile after the event.
Tactical on line campaigns, as
seemingly favoured by life science
firms offer a „short-term fix‟,
whereas a strategic,
digital marketing
campaign delivers long-
term benefits combining
the company website,
video and social media to keep the
firm strategically placed in front of
its preferred audience and maintain
a constant presence.
First Sight Media has the expertise
to help life science firms develop a
strategic digital marketing plan
combining these three marketing
tools, to help companies get ahead
of their competitors and gain a
distinct advantage.
For more information please
contact Mike Gilham at First Sight
Media 0800 072 8753
Strategic Marketing - A Lot Can Happen
in 12 Months
Member News Spring 2013 28
Over 77,000 vulnerable children
across the UK are supported by
Home-Start UK www.home-
start.org.uk. The charity helps
families with children under five
cope with post-natal illness,
isolation, bereavement, disability,
domestic violence and much more.
HSRSC is one of two independently
registered Home-Start schemes
working in South Cambridgeshire.
They are managed by a board of
local voluntary Trustees, and
Walter Herriot, widely known for his
role in pioneering „The Cambridge
Phenomenon‟, joins them at a time
when fundraising has become a
necessity for survival, let alone
expansion.
South Cambridgeshire is one of the
Government‟s four identified
growth areas and the region is
expected to experience continued
expansion. Households are forecast
to increase by a further 35%
between 2009 and 2031 and
population growth is higher than
that experienced in the East of
England and England overall.
HSRSC is anticipating that the
number of families needing their
support will increase significantly
over the next few years.
The difficulties faced by Home-Start
families are often complex but
HSRSC family profiling tells us that
35% of parents and 35% of
children the charity supports are
experiencing physical health
difficulties and 47% of parents and
29% of children are having mental
health problems; 70% of families
are found to be isolated, and
stress, domestic abuse and being a
single parent are all significant
issues.
All the services provided by our
Home-Start volunteers are health
and wellbeing based. Home-Start
volunteers are often able to prevent
the need for involvement with the
authorities, by providing a family
home visiting service, a family
support group and by helping
families to link with other local
services and resources, and
through provision of specific help
such as: healthy eating
programmes and weaning and
eating problem advice; stop
smoking sessions; help in
managing or reducing drug and
alcohol problems with the support
of specialist services and health
visitors, and by providing practical
help whilst always thinking about
the safety and wellbeing of any
children in the family.
„What Home-Start gives to families
is time, professionals would like to
but they just can‟t. Home-Start is
very flexible, very versatile and
comes through quickly with the
right volunteer.‟ (Local authority
referrer).
„We were provided with help and
support during a challenging time
with our twins, one of whom is
deaf. An extra pair of hands was
invaluable and the support
priceless. We are very grateful to
Home-Start and that such a great
organisation exists – thank you.‟ (A
Home-Start family)
Walter Herriot will be speaking on
behalf of HSRSC at the One
Nucleus Summer Social at the
Doubletree Hilton in Cambridge on
12 June. With the great challenges
of expansion and increasing needs
ahead; the launch of a new
Corporate Sponsorship Scheme;
and a drive for funds, new
volunteers and trustees, HSRSC
would like to encourage businesses
and individuals alike to become
involved with their local Home-Start
scheme.
For further details about Home-
Start Royston & South
Cambridgeshire and information on
how to make a donation visit
www.hsrsc.co.uk, tel 01763 262262
or email [email protected]
Walte
r Herrio
t join
s H
om
e-S
tart R
oysto
n &
South
Familiar Faces in Different Places
Member News Spring 2013 29
According to Jenny Chapman,
Editor of Cambridge Business, it‟s
unlikely, „As you may know, this
glossy publication, the guidelines
for which are „quirky and
aspirational‟, was conceived in the
loo at Cambridge Newspapers, one
of those conversations over the
hand-washing.
„That was more than four years ago
and, as I have mentioned in the
past, there were those who came
along to our champagne launch
with mutterings of `it won‟t last
more than a couple of issues‟.
„This was surprising, and so very un
-Cambridge, the most „can-do‟ of
places, as evidenced by the stories
which have appeared over the past
four years or so.
„We have covered all the „ologies
and everything that surrounds
them; been given access to some
of the best brains in the world; and
been able to stretch the Cambridge
connection as far as Hong Kong in
our travels and reporting.
„Some of the articles have buffeted
close to barmy, but that‟s fine if the
writing is good, and we are jolly
lucky to have first rate contributors.
People want to write for the
magazine, people want to be in it.
They can find it when they go
shopping at Waitrose, and in many
offices and venues in and around
the city.
„With over 100 pages, it has the
space for in depth interviews and
profiles which reveal more than has
ever been known before about
some of our leading entrepreneurs
and companies. For instance, the
company whose work‟s outing this
year is to Chernobyl? And the world
-leading Knight who was turned
down by both Cambridge and
Oxford as a student and consoled
himself by building a harpsichord?
„What about the man who has
made a legal fortune from cannabis
and who I met in the heart of
London for a crack of dawn
rendezvous? And the world-leading
academic with a knighthood and
goodness knows what else, yet still
worrying about being accountable
for part of his week to an NGO,
when they must be beside
themselves with glee that he is still
on their payroll.
„There‟s posh property and the
people who live in it and the stuff
they like to surround themselves
with– and what they might like to
read and where they might care to
relax; but at the heart of it all is
the business, the brilliant ideas that
actually come to fruition in this city.
„And then there is John de Bruyne
……‟
www.cambridge-news.co.uk/
Cambridge Business Is there anywhere else in the world that could have a
magazine like this?
30 October 2011 One Nucleus News Spring 2013 30
Continued overleaf
What One Nucleus Does For You
One Nucleus at BIO 2013
Taking place in April rather than
June this year, BIO2103 seemed to
creep up on us by surprise in
Chicago, Illinois. With a reported
14,000 delegates, 30% of whom
were from outside the US, 2000+
exhibitors, 25,000 1-2-1 meetings
and 800+ speakers it was always
bound to be the usual full-on
assault to all senses.
We started planning our One
Nucleus activities some time ago –
which included working with our
Support Supplier, Flight Centre
Business Travel (FCBT), to enable
our members to get the best
possible deals on their flight and
hotel expenditure. Assisting a
dozen of our members, FCBT
estimate they saved them a
collective £7000, a great start to
our relationship with FCBT and a
tangible member benefit into the
bargain!
To support our members in making
the most of their trip to BIO, we
once again held an Executive
Dinner. Held on Sunday 21 April,
hosted by AstraZeneca and
sponsored by SCRIP Intelligence,
World Business Chicago, Niels
Clauson-Kaas A/S, Imanova,
Prosonix and our Catalan
counterparts, Biocat, the dinner
saw a 100% increase in size in
comparison to 2012 to a capacity of
100 guests. In partnership with
Biocat, BayBio, BIOCOM and the
BIA, we assembled a truly
international mix which led to much
lively debate and knowledge
sharing to kick start the BIO 2013
week. The only concrete agenda for
the Executive Dinner was to enable
senior executives from companies
from all these clusters to network
over dinner and learn peer-to-peer
about what is going on where and
with whom - a mechanism to
enable our members to use this
time to gain knowledge of other
geographic regions and companies
that they may have been unaware
of before heading to Chicago.
The following day‟s One Nucleus
Breakfast Debate agenda was more
formal with the panel getting their
teeth into „The role of open
innovation in successful global
partnerships‟. Working with our
collaborators Stockholm-Uppsala
Life Sciences, BayBio and BIOCOM,
we attracted a high quality mix of
biopharma executives, senior public
officials and trade media. The
panel, comprising of Steven Powell
(Virttu Biologics), Gail Maderis
(BayBio), Joseph Panetta (BIOCOM)
Steve Bates (BIA) and Eric
Forsberg (UppsalaBIO) was
expertly chaired by John Carroll,
Editor of FierceBiotech (see page 5
for our article with him) with the
panel. The debate took on a great
angle: defining what open
innovation is and debating what
sort of a difference it might make.
The „show and tell‟ style examples
from the panel highlighted the need
for clarification of what we all mean
by open innovation, what signs
there are that it is working and
what the future may hold. Several
key messages emerged including
the role of patient groups, lessons
from the past and what models are
being tested. Perhaps the apparent
lack of unanimous agreement in the
debate that open innovation is
here, thriving and the future of our
industry came as unwelcome news
to some present.
In reality, rather than being
negative about open innovation
having great potential, the debate
centred a lot on what the term
actually means, over and above
traditional „collaboration‟. An
agreed and clear definition could
start to establish an agreed
framework from which to share
good practice examples and further
develop the strategy rather than to
question its growing importance.
Member News Spring 2013 31
This latter point reflected by the
fact that the debate made front
page headlines on the following
days BioWorld publication!
BIO also presented the opportunity
to further develop the One Nucleus
out-reach to other global clusters -
enabling us to bring to our
members‟ attention timely
information about what is
happening in other territories and
make introductions to some key
personnel where a member wishes
to explore opportunities further.
We have developed an excellent
working relationship with a number
of overseas groups, creating a truly
global set of connections/spokes
through which our members can
engage in new markets with a
helping hand from us. At BIO this
included our attendance at a
breakfast hosted by Heidelberg
Technology Park for regional
contacts from around the globe (we
have sound contacts in all the
major European markets),
receptions with the State of
Massachusetts and Pennsylvania,
as well as taking the opportunity to
further demonstrate the growing
collaborative spirit between One
Nucleus and other membership and
trade support groups in the UK
including the BIA, Invest Northern
Ireland, SDI and MediWales.
Finally, it would be remiss not to
mention collaborating with UK
Trade & Investment (UKTI) and
opening the chance for our
members to feed suggestions
directly to their North American Life
Science Team on how they would
like to be assisted. We will be in
touch on this project in the near
future!
One Nucleus Executive Dinner. Thank you to Illingworth Research for taking the photo - www.illingworthresearch.com
This year, One Nucleus partnered
up with Publishing Events, a leading
specialist publisher of print and
digital directories for trade
associations, to produce our One
Nucleus
Members
Directory.
The annual
Directory is a
vital
reference
source for
members
and other
key
stakeholders
at national
and
international
level, helping
companies to
identify new potential partners,
customers and suppliers in the life
science and healthcare industries.
Also included in the directory is
essential information on One
Nucleus‟ services, collaborations,
conferences, networking exhibitions
and workshops.
The Directory received an updated
design this year, and using their
online data collation system,
Publishing Events gathered data
from over 470 companies both
efficiently and accurately. Members
can promote themselves in the
Directory through the inclusion of
case studies, brand advertising,
and enhancements to their profile.
Publishing Events will be working
together with One Nucleus again
next year to deliver the same high
level of quality, and design
innovation.
Publishing Events
The One Nucleus Directory: A Vital
Reference Source for Members
32 October 2011 One Nucleus News Spring 2013 32
CALBIO in June: Major Savings for our
Members on Flights and Accommodation
One Nucleus very much enjoys our
close relationship with Joe Panetta
of BIOCOM and Gail Maderis of
BayBIO. Together they are running
CalBIO in June in San Diego.
One Nucleus has a fantastic deal
with Flight Centre Business Travel
(FCBT) to travel to CALBIO and
accommodation.
For the first time, One Nucleus will
be attending CALBIO. If you are a
member of One Nucleus and
planning to take part, do let Harriet
in the team know as she can brief
you on the activities we will be
involved in there and discuss your
inclusion and our support for your
endeavours there.
CALBIO2013 is a state-wide
conference that has a global focus
on bringing together the life
sciences sector in California and
targeting delegates from around
the world - nearly 1,100 company
executives, innovators, government
representatives, medical research
and disease foundation
representatives, university transfer
officers, philanthropists and
investors will attend.
Attendees include:
Biotechnology and pharmaceutical
companies from California and
globally, interested in exchange of
best business and operational
practices as well as non-profit/for-
profit collaborations necessary for
the successful commercialisation
of new therapies
Investors from across the United
States and abroad seeking to
invest their funds in a targeted,
efficient, and effective manner
Medical research foundations and
institutes that are outcomes-
driven and strategic in their
allocation of resources
Thought leaders and innovators
with diverse experiences and
expertise all committed to
expediting the research and
development process
University transfer offices focused
on facilitating the transfer of
university-developed research
results to industry for commercial
development purposes
An improved feature this year is
Business Partnering:
There is no substitute for a face-to-
face meeting. Business Partnering
at CALBIO2013 will help attendees
to maximise their time and meeting
opportunities at the Conference.
Once registered for the conference,
attendees will be given access to an
online dating tool that will allow
you to perform quick and advanced
searches of companies, products
and individual conference attendees
to best identify potential business
partners.
Please click here to view the FCBT
offer.
Member News Spring 2013 33
One Nucleus Purchasing Scheme The Purchasing Consortium
achieved a 10% growth in sales
with Fisher Scientific in 2012
triggering a 2% growth rebate for
all purchasing consortium
members.
World Courier became our ninth
Preferred Supplier providing
specialist biopharma logistics
services. Please contact David
07818 422978 for further
information.
There are currently 47 Support
Supplier Agreements (SSAs) and
eleven of these have been signed
since October 2012. These can be
used by ALL our members. For the
full list please see the purchasing
pages on the One Nucleus website
or contact [email protected]
or 01223 896453.
Company SSA Contact Email Phone
The Baculovirus Facility
Baculovirus Protein Production Services
Irina Ogay [email protected] 01223 333744
Crawford Scientific Chromatography
Products Lorraine Adams [email protected] 07767 227486
Elemental Microanalysis
Elemental Microanalysis
Analytical Services Jon Davies [email protected] 01837 54446
GoIndustry DoveBid
Redundant Asset Management Services
Peter Cauldwell [email protected] 07774 417227
Hyper Recruitment
Solutions (HRS) Recruitment Services Ricky Martin [email protected] 02032 255120
Labstract Analytical Services and
Training Suki Klair [email protected] 08708 032491
Merck Millipore Lab Solutions Division
Laboratory Water Products and Services
Nicola Lyfield [email protected]
Realnet Ltd Website Services Dan Orme [email protected] 01223 261109
Sartorius Stedim Membrane
Chromatography Ben Royal [email protected] 07718 152064
Scientific
Laboratory
Supplies (SLS)
Servicing in a Box
Paul Wright
Sarah Thomas
07920 721657
07767 600091
Specialized Print Ltd
Corporate Printing Services
Ann Aken [email protected] 01440 708063
New Support Suppliers
Member News Spring 2013 34
One Nucleus Facilities Management Don‟t forget that One Nucleus
offers Facilities Management
consultancy to members at a
discounted rate.
Richard Dickinson, Director of
Specialist Services, has 15 years‟
experience as a Facilities Manager
and has worked for more than 20
years in the life science sector.
Richard provides project
management for office and
laboratory fit-outs and can advise
on equipment service contracts,
maintenance contracts, cleaning
contracts, utility bills, insurance,
purchasing and budgeting.
Currently consulting for Cantab
Biopharmaceuticals, Fahy Gurteen
Laboratories Pathology Diagnostics,
Richard has previously consulted
for a number of One Nucleus
members on various projects;
Astex Therapeutics Ltd, Babraham
Bioscience Technologies Ltd,
Zoragen Biotechnologies and
Spirogen Ltd.
Gold Members Silver Members Non Members
Consultancy Day Rate £500 £600 £750
One Nucleus Training
As part of its continuing
commitment to deliver an up to
date training portfolio to its
members, One Nucleus is working
with European partners at BioM,
bioPmed, RLN East, SSCI and LMU
to create a range of on-line cultural
awareness training tools. The name
of this project is eLSi (e-learning
for Life Sciences
internationalisation).
This sector is a global business,
with partners and target markets
distributed world-wide and with
strong international competition.
There is therefore a growing need
of European life science managers
to acquire the key competence of
specific intercultural skills in order
to export their company's
expertise, to collaborate with key
global players and to sell their
technologies into international
markets. Through the creation of
language and culture training
resources, the eLSi project wants to
contribute to a successful increase
in the global competitiveness of
European small and medium-sized
enterprises in the life science
sector, with a focus on non-
European target countries. The
training materials will be aimed at
SME managers who are involved in
the internationalisation process of
their company. eLSi will transfer
existing training tools from a
previous Leonardo da Vinci project,
combine them with new life science
focused materials and transport
them to the target groups using
electronic teaching tools. These
modern and flexible eLearning
modules will focus on eight target
countries/markets most relevant for
life science business outside
Europe. For more information on
this project, please visit
onenucleus.com/eu-projects
Hot off the press! One Nucleus is
pleased to announce a partnership
with Pharma Training International
(PTI). As our partner, they are
offering One Nucleus members a
25% discount on their first PTI
course and 10% off subsequent
courses booked via www.pti-
global.co.uk/onenucleus PTI is a
global training company with over
60 training courses aimed at the
Pharmaceutical Sector.
For further information contact
Member News Spring 2013 35
Life Science Leadership Series Review
January 2013 - Antibody-based
Therapeutics
The most popular event in the
Leadership Series to date saw over
150 delegates attend a snowy
Babraham Research Campus to
debate the current trends,
technologies and challenges in the
development of therapeutic
antibodies and related products.
The day commenced with Mike
Dalrymple (Director of Business
Development, MRC Technology)
presenting an overview of the
development of antibody
technologies and the role played by
the UK science base in progressing
the field. The journey presented
started from the structural
elucidation of antibodies by
Edelman and Porter to the
description of monoclonal
antibodies by Köhler and Milstein,
research for which the Nobel Prize
was awarded in 1972 and 1984,
respectively.
The presentation then went on to
detail the approved therapeutic
antibodies as of 2012, representing
global sales in excess of $48bn and
a further 130 products in
development at Phase 2 and later.
Fittingly in its centenary year, Dr
Dalrymple detailed the Medical
Research Council (MRC) role, and
also that of MRC Technology, the
now independent Technology
transfer company, in the
development and commercialisation
of these technologies, especially
with regard to commercialisation of
the IP generated by Sir Greg Winter
and colleagues. The strap line for
the MRC‟s centenary celebrations is
„100 years of life changing
discoveries‟ and it was clear that
the MRC‟s support of antibody
research, technology transfer and
business development has made a
difference on many fronts as
follows:
Patients – with nearly 100,000
patients having been treated
with the multiple sclerosis drug,
Tysarbi alone
Employment – >1000 jobs
having been created via 18 spin
out companies, including 3 of
the Uk‟s largest ever biotechs in
Celltech, CAT and Domantis
Economics – wealth creation
with over £600M pounds of
licensing income and the
establishment of Medical
Ventures Fund
That first plenary presentation was
complimented by David Lowe of
MedImmune who gave his
perspective on how within
MedImmune they instil a discipline
in their early stage research of
considering later stage
development challenges with the
intention of identifying barriers to
the developability of a new
molecule as early as possible. Dr
Lowe explained his view that on the
surface progressing from discovery
to development is easy, but it must
be underpinned by first choosing
the right candidate! Easy it may
sound, however experience
suggests it can be extremely
challenging. Selecting the right
starting point relies on being able
to pre-define what the key
attributes are that a successful
product requires. These include
stability, productivity and other key
factors such as potential for
aggregation, but experience and
deployment of the latest tools
available mean the odds of
selecting a promising lead
candidate can be shortened and
possible problems can be predicted,
mitigated and resolved.
The rigour required for
development of a biologic can be
considered extremely stressful for
the molecule itself, both chemically
and physically. Thus it is important
to undertake lead selection with
developablity in mind, utilising
technologies to assess the chemical
stability, physical stability,
predicted aggregation and solution
properties in combination.
Pro
fessor Y
aju
n G
uo o
f the C
hin
ese E
ngin
eerin
g R
esearc
h C
entre
for
Antib
ody M
edic
ine
Continued overleaf
Member News Spring 2013 36
Taking this a step further would be
to undertake lead selection with
developability and functionality
being assessed. This is challenging
and requires a collaborative
approach between „R‟ and „D‟ but
for MedImmune is considered as
critical for success. Detailing case
study programmes where such
developability screening was
undertaken as early as practicable
in programmes, Dr Lowe was able
to lead to conclusions as follows:
Selecting and screening for
desired biophysical
characteristics as early in the
discovery process as practicable
is desirable, to reduce costs and
prioritise resources
Implementing in silico screening
for aggregation propensity early
can help filter problematic
antibody variants
The presentations that followed saw
presentation of leading edge
technologies from Kymab, F-star,
Polytherics, Nordic Nanovector,
ADC Therapeutics, Crescendo
Biologics, Ablynx and Arecor across
the molecular classes of Monoclonal
Antibodies, Antibody Drug
Comnjugates and Antibody
Fragments. These were
complimented by experts from
Diamond Pharma Services, EIP,
ICON and Aptuit and ICON
Development Solutions presenting
on some of the regulatory,
intellectual property, bioanalytical
and immunogenicity issues,
respectively. Many of the
presentations are available to view
at www.onenucleus.com/antibody-
based-therapeutics-programme for
further details.
The programme was closed by a
plenary speech from Professor
Yajun Guo of the Chinese
Engineering Research Centre for
Antibody Medicine. Professor Guo is
the leading architect of the
explosively growing antibody
research and development capacity
in China through his research and
Governmental advisory roles.
Presenting a scale of
biomanufacturing facility creation
unsurpassed in the West, Professor
Guo highlighted the desire for
China to engage with Western
companies to collaborate on the
research, development,
manufacture and market access of
innovative antibody-based
medicines.
March 2013 - Oncology Seminar
Continuing the oncology series, a
seminar held at Charles Russell in
March 2013 saw speakers describe
a journey from great science to the
raising of investment via the
London Stock Exchange (LSE). The
impetus for the event programme
was a result of a growing interest
among the institutional investors in
the City for life science companies,
but highlighting that the primary
prerequisite for success sin raising
investment is to establish that your
company is embarking on a route
to value creation. With this latter
point in mind, Dr Robert Wilkinson,
Director of Oncology at
MedImmune explained that the
approach to treating cancer was
moving away direct attach of the
tumour cells, but rather to
manipulate the hosts immune
system to enable it to recognise the
tumour as foreign and therefore
destroy it. This is a shift reflected in
much of MedImmune‟s R&D
strategy, with the Cambridge site
being designated a centre of
excellence in cancer
immunotherapy. There is more to
life than biologics of course, so the
next stage on the value creation
journey was to hear Kay Tait of
AstraZeneca present their strategy
for business development and
partnering of small molecules in the
oncology field. The journey
continued through evidence
gathering for reimbursement
described by Mark Larkin of PRMA
Consulting and a description of how
to establish a corporate structure
and pathway to public markets by
Mark Howard of the hosts. Finally,
Mark Fahy described the LSE offer
to life science companies and the
agenda was completed by Satu
Vainikka of ValiRx providing a view
from a CEO who has recently raised
money via AiM. In a related
development since the last
newsletter, we have launched the
oncology thematic micro-site where
we will host previous event
presentations, thought leadership
articles and reports for this element
of our community. Our oncology
leadership sessions will next be
taken up at Genesis 2013 followed
by another dedicated Leadership
day on 11 February 2014.
Our next Leadership Events
23 May 2013: Personalised
Medicine will see speakers debate
the challenges in realising value
form personalised medicine
technologies, including the barriers
to uptake by end users in the
clinical biochemistry departments of
hospitals, intellectual property and
regulatory issues on biomarkers
and how investors view
personalised medicine technology
plays for their portfolio.
25 September 2013:
Investment Strategies for Life
Sciences will form the first third of
a trio of related events taking place
in the Cambridge region over two
days. This event will look at the
current investment strategies of a
range of funders such as corporate
VCs, business angels and NGOs and
what emerging business models
there may be for the sector. The
event will be followed that evening
by a Cambridge Enterprise Venture
Partners Dinner and the following
day will see the annual Babraham
Investor Forum where finance
seeking life science companies will
present to an audience of active
investors.
Member News Spring 2013 38
We are proud to announce the
launch of a brand new One Nucleus
conference to be held on 9 July
2013.
Translational research is the new
paradigm in most researchers‟
minds nowadays as it has never
been so crucial for R&D companies
and for the benefit of society to
shorten new drug and health
technologies time to market.
Based on this record and with the
help of an outstanding advisory
board particularly aware of
research‟s needs – Sir Bruce Ponder
CRUK, Dave Tapolczay MRC
Technology, Ruth McKernan
Neusentis, to name a few – One
Nucleus has developed an
exceptional programme for ON
Helix which will focus on bridging
the gap from basic research
through to marketable product by
identifying barriers on which to
concentrate, finding funding and
meeting the right networks.
Dave Tapolczay, CEO of MRC
Technology said: „Translational
research is the key to unlocking
value from the UK‟s investment in
basic research. For this reason I am
delighted to join the advisory board
for this new meeting.‟
This one day event will present the
UK landscape of the business
environment, funding, scientific and
clinical research excellence and will
combine keynote presentations
from high profile global leaders,
practical information, exceptional
world class case studies and plenty
of space for networking.
The main elements of the
conference will be:
Keynote Presentations
Delivered by inspiring speakers,
they will address the challenges,
give fresh perspectives on
translational research
developments and valuable insights
into how to strive for excellence.
Keynote speakers include Sir
William Castell, Chair of the
Wellcome Trust, Sir Mike Rawlins,
former Chair of NICE and current
President of the Royal Society of
Medicine, and Andy McMenemy who
took the British media by storm in
2011 when he ran 66 Ultra
Marathons in 66 consecutive days
in 66 cities of the UK. He will speak
on business as well as succeeding
against the odds! Sir William will
also chair an exceptional panel,
showcasing life changing, light-bulb
moment technologies – the best of
the best.
Game Changing Technologies
Panel
Including a review of the evolution
of fundamental technologies like
Genomics and Structural Biology
and their inputs to translational
research from speakers including
Prof. Mike Stratton, Director of the
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute,
and Prof. Laurence Pearl, Professor
of Structural Biology at the
University of Sussex.
Case Studies
Fantastic companies and
collaborative research centres will
share their experiences of
translational research projects:
A first stream „Meeting the
translational research challenges‟
will feature some of the great
science produced by companies
including F-Star, Discuva and
MedImmune followed by a panel
discussion of investors including
Index Ventures and SR One who
will address the drivers behind
investing in such projects in the
UK.
The second stream entitled „A
Collaborative approach to
supporting translational research‟
will include Cancer Research UK,
Imanova, and GSK who will
showcase great stories of result
oriented collaborations between
industry, academia and national
organisations.
The streams will be chaired by Allan
Marchington of Apposite Capital and
Prof. Scott Kahn of Columbia
University.
‘Enabling translational research
in the UK’
This panel will showcase the UK
translational research environment
and provide practical advice.
Chaired by Mark Treherne, CEO of
the UK Life Science Investment
Organisation – who has a hot line
to No 10 directly! The panel will
include profiling of the activities,
support offered by and interests of
the Biomedical Catalyst Fund,
NOCRI, AHSN, and HMRC.
The conference will attract over 300
delegates and 40 exhibitors and is
intended to be a unique knowledge-
sharing environment between
academia and business.
Sir Bruce Ponder, Director of
Cancer Research UK Cambridge
Institute commented „I think it is
very important that the academic
research community should join in
this important initiative.‟ For more
information visit www.onhelix.com
or contact [email protected]
Wellc
om
e T
rust S
anger In
stitu
te
ON Helix: Your New Translational
Research Conference
Member News Spring 2013 40
Genesis Conference Review,
London 12-13 December 2012
In collaboration with One Nucleus
Partner, SCRIP Intelligence,
Genesis 2012 took another
evolutionary step forward. It
brought more in depth industry
deal analysis, debate and
showcasing to the conference
agenda and included online
partnering and an international
exhibition which all enabled
delegates to go home with a true
return on their investment.
Highlights from Genesis 2012
included:
A full capacity at the pre-
conference seminar at Canada
House which included the 2012
Genesis BioNewsRound Award.
650+ delegates, 100 of whom
were from overseas
Over 1000 pre-scheduled 1-2-1
partnering meetings in the UK
Trade & Investment International
(UKTI) Zone.
More than 70 exhibitors
representing all parts of the life
science spectrum.
These elements and the location of
the conference at the heart of the
world-leading science, political and
financial centre that is London,
make Genesis a unique
international business hub for the
life science sector.
Canadian Life Sciences, patient-
centric development and a
strategy for London
The Pre-Conference seminar at
Canada House saw presentations
on current trends in the UK and
Canadian Life Sciences‟ sectors in
the context of effective product
development and logistics.
Raphael Hofstein of MaRS
Innovation set a very attractive
scene with an overview of the
Canadian strengths and initiatives
that are driving growth in their life
science industry. It set down a
credible gauntlet for Deputy Mayor
of London, Kit Malthouse to pick up
when setting out his vision for the
London Life Science industry. Great
successes like the MaRS Centre in
Toronto and the SROne venture
fund announced during 2012 for
investment in Canadian
opportunities, were balanced by the
current and proposed initiatives
taking place in London such as the
Francis Crick Institute, Biomedical
Catalyst funding initiative of the
Technology Strategy Board and the
potential for a life sciences
enterprise park as one element of
the 2012 Olympic legacy. Patrik
Frei of Venture Valuation brought
the data to back up, or dispute,
some of the claims made when he
presented the current financial and
product development statistics from
both Canada and the London-
Cambridge Cluster served by One
Nucleus.
The Venture Valuation report of the
London-Cambridge Cluster revealed
the following key data:
Whilst the cluster has 27% of the
total UK biotech companies, it has
40% of the companies developing
therapeutics.
The majority (72%) of the
companies are privately owned,
independent companies.
Since the economic crash of 2008,
the founding of therapeutic and
diagnostic companies developing
proprietary products has an equal
share with the founding of biotech
services companies.
35% of the products in
development have progressed
past Phase 1 with 13% in Phase
3, suggesting a maturing pipeline
overall. However there does
appear to be a gap in Phase 1
emerging.
2012 has been the best private
financing year since 2007 or
sooner, with the London-
Cambridge Cluster accounting for
34% of the total raised in the UK.
The afternoon presentations from
Alain Gouriou of Clariant and
Salvatore Febbraro of Altasciences
(Algorithme Pharma/Simbec
Research) highlighted the business
and healthcare benefits of
leveraging the latest product
development technologies and
patient centred clinical
development strategies to
maximise the success of innovative
medicine research.
Pre
-Confe
rence S
em
inar a
t Canada H
ouse
Genesis 2012 Review
Continued overleaf
Member News Spring 2013 41
The 2012 BioNewsRound Awards
competition had the innovative
approach of giving finalists just 4.5
minutes to present on why one of
their key press releases from the
year represented exciting and
significant news for them and the
sector.
The entrants included One Nucleus
members the Health Protection
Agency, Polytherics, Selcia, Lab21
and CMP Therapeutics amongst
others. The award was scooped by
Conformetrix, which saw CEO Sam
Williams propose how their
technology development and
validation provided the basis for
their significant collaboration with
AstraZeneca on a multi-target
programme.
Industry Challenges, Deal
Structures and New
Opportunities
The main Genesis Conference
started with a lively Plenary Session
where speakers Baroness Susan
Greenfield (University of Oxford),
Andrew Pulkrabek (Life Science
Ventures) and Mike Ward (SCRIP
Intelligence) set out the emerging
challenges of an ageing population,
raising investment and key trends
in the bio-pharma sector
respectively. Baroness Greenfield
provided plenty of food for thought
when she suggested that although
we are an ageing population, there
is no reason why in the future the
second half century of your life
should not be as fulfilling as the
first. Andrew Pulkrabek, in
highlighting the key factors
influencing whether an emerging
company is investible, covered the
need for young companies to be
clear in how they are reducing risk
in their programmes early and to
know their investor market and be
prepared before setting out. In
reviewing the „2012 Year in
Biotech‟, Mike Ward was more
upbeat and optimistic than usual!!
A consistent reporting of innovative
deals and financings, an
encouraging approval rate of NMEs
by the FDA and a growing interest
from venture capital in the sector
again clearly provided a high
degree of optimism.
The Plenary Session culminated in
the Rt Hon David Willetts speaking
about the pride he felt all
stakeholders in the UK life science
sector should take in delivering on
the „Strategy for UK Life Sciences‟.
The Minister‟s messaging was
positive with much to celebrate in
terms of progress, however there
was still work to do and questions
from the floor seemed to reveal
there were remain tensions
between the major stakeholders of
the Department of Health, NHS and
the University base in how they
should be engaging with patients
and industry to deliver high quality
medicines and healthcare. A theme
that was returned to during the
Plenary Debate later in the day.
The SCRIP – One Nucleus
Plenary Debate: „This House
believes the UK already has in
place the specific industrial, political
and capital infrastructure to support
a life science sector‟.
Genesis was a „content rich‟ day of
parallel conference tracks with
sessions included with a focus on
therapeutic antibodies,
international innovative PPP
initiatives, case study deal debates
and, natural product derived
medicines all running in parallel to
the energetic exhibition hall traffic
and 1-2-1 partnering. The closing
highlight of the conference was the
inaugural SCRIP - One Nucleus
Plenary Debate. The debate
featured speakers chosen for their
expertise and insight debating
controversial, thought leading
topics. There was great audience
participation in the form of
interactive voting. The he debate
comprised 90 minutes of some of
the liveliest, most stimulating
discussion the industry had seen in
2012.
The debate began with only 51% of
the voters in the audience agreeing
with the above motion, suggesting
that almost half of the audience felt
the UK‟s infrastructure was not as
yet up to the required standard.
Summarising the debate in his post
conference report (TJ: can we
insert a link to the full Scrip
report?), Mike Ward of SCRIP
Intelligence used the industry and
academic leaders on the panel to
illustrate the challenges faced by
the UK to be a competitive R&D
location whilst highlighting some of
the progress being made. Some of
the key messages were: „While the
UK is a good place for R&D, there
needs to be recognition that this is
a global game, we are a global
company and there are other
equally good places to be,‟ Shaun
Grady, Vice President of strategic
partnering and business
development at AstraZeneca.
Baro
ness S
usan G
reenfie
ld
Continued overleaf
Member News Spring 2013 42
„The UK is a good place,‟ said Lubor
Gaal, Head of Europe, Strategic
Transactions Group, BMS, „but
where it used to be a leading place
for pharma research, it has been
taken over by other countries,” and
BMS is “agnostic as to where the
science comes from‟.
Professor Sir Robert Lechler had a
contrary view. „The UK has fantastic
experimental research facilities,‟ he
stated. Although he did
acknowledged that the number of
Phase III studies has dropped
dramatically in recent years,
experimental medicine and early
Phase trials having become the
UK‟s „niche‟ and this is where it
should focus its efforts. „I don‟t
know if we will get our Phase III
research back‟, he admitted.
Andrew Pulkrabek of Life Science
Ventures saw things differently.
„The bigger issue is that the UK is
disconnected, though it has all the
right ingredients. Successful US
hotspots are successful because the
ecosystem is highly connected.”‟
Members from both sides of the
debate appeared to agree with Mr
Pulkrabek that UK government
policy is moving in the right
direction, noted Mr Grady „It is late
coming but very welcome.‟
Glenn Crocker, CEO of BioCity
Group believes big pharma is in
“death throes” however, with a
model that will not exist in 10
years. „We‟re busy filling up old
pharma sites with young vibrant
companies,‟ he said.
The audience view on key post
debate questions?
Vote 1 - „This House has
confidence that the key players are
aware of the challenges and issues
that need to be addressed to
underpin a successful UK life
sciences sector‟
Response 1 - 70% in agreement
versus 30% not.
Vote 2 - „This House believes the
political and business will exists to
enable the UK life sciences sector
to prosper‟.
Response 2 - 62% in agreement
versus 38% not
Vote 3 - „This House believes that
the UK life sciences sector has a
bright future‟.
Response 3 - 78% in agreement
vs 22% not (eliciting a round of
applause from the packed room).
Preparation for Genesis 2013
Plans are well advanced for Genesis
2013 and details are available at
www.genesisconference.com.
Taking on board the delegate
feedback on last year‟s event 11-12
December will see the following
planned highlights:
Plenary session with speakers
including Dame Sally Davies, Sir
Salvador Moncada, Roel Bulthuis
and Mike Ward.
The UKTI International Zone for 1
-2-1 partnering
An increase in the focussed
parallel sessions to 12, each of 60
minutes duration.
A pre-conference seminar,
BioNewsRound Award and
Welcome Reception with the
Canadian High Commission.
SCRIP – One Nucleus Plenary
Debate “The Industry in 2018:
Predictions, Hopes and Fears
70 international exhibitors.
44
One Nucleus Sponsors
Corporate Patron
Corporate Sponsors
October 2011
Partners
Media Partners
44 October 2011 One Nucleus News Spring 2013 44
Date Event Venue
23-May-13 Life Science Leadership Series - Personalised
Medicine
Chesterford Research Park,
Cambridge
05-Jun-13 BioWednesday Mayer Brown
International LLP, London
12-Jun-13 One Nucleus Summer Social The DoubleTree by Hilton, Cambridge
27-Jun-13 Leadership Seminar
Queen Mary
BioEnterprises, London
03-Jul-13 BioWednesday EIP, London
09-Jul-13 ON Helix Cambridge
04-Sep-13 BioWednesday Queen Mary
BioEnterprises, London
25-Sep-13 Life Science Leadership Series - Investment
Strategies for Life Sciences
Chesterford Research Park,
Cambridge
02-Oct-13 BioWednesday Bristows, London
16-Oct-13 Network Meeting Stevenage
14-Nov-13 Leadership Seminar Queen Mary
BioEnterprises, London
27-Nov-13 Network Meeting Deloitte, Cambridge
12-Dec-13 Genesis 2013 QEII Conference Centre, London
New Members
One Nucleus Events
Pharmonyze Limited
Abchurch Communications
Ltd
AcceleratorIndia
AMS Advanced Medical
Services
Applied Exomics Ltd
Arkivum
AXESS Ltd
Axol Bioscience Ltd
BioCity
Biosceptre UK Limited
CamNutra
Cantab Anti-Infectives Ltd
Consultant - Piers Mahon
Consultant - Steve Haws
Crawford Scientific
Dr Nicky Thelwell
Elemental Microanalysis
Energi Technical Ltd
EUCODIS Bioscience GmbH
Eurofins Panlabs
Eventum Partners
Exova
Glythera LTD
Horton Ruston Poole
Hyper Recruitment
Solutions (HRS)
Imperial Bio Incubator
IONTAS Ltd
J. P. Peel & Co Ltd
Life Biomedical Limited
LifeScience Ventures
MCAB Associates Limited
Mercury Bioscience
Consultants Ltd
NC3Rs
Oxford Labs
Photobiotics Ltd
Pinsent Masons LLP
Queen Mary University of
London Business Development
ReAgent Ltd
Realnet Ltd
Reciprocal Minds Limited
Scientific Laboratory
Supplies Ltd
SEEK
Sheffield Bioincubator
Shimadzu UK Ltd
Sivaden Limited
Specialized Print Ltd
SweetSpot Therapeutics
Ltd.
to-BBB technologies BV
University of Leicester -
Research & Development Office
UKTI - Trade Services
(London)
Urquart-Dykes & Lord LLP
Vectura Plc
Verdant Venture
Management
Veredus
Withers & Rogers LLP