A LOOK BACK AT LAST YEAR'S CONFERENCE // 10 Nov 2016
2016 Keynote Address
The 2016 conference opened with a keynote panel featuring top biotech CEOs, Katrine Bosley of Editas Medicine and Anna Protopapas of Mersana Therapeutics. Bosley and Protopapas provided their perspectives on the life sciences landscape in Boston and the challenges and opportunities for the industry.
KATRINE BOSLEY
Editas Medicine
Katrine joined Editas Medicine as President and CEO in June 2014. Before Editas, Katrine was the CEO of Avila Therapeutics (acquired by Celgene), a biopharmaceutical company that pioneered a class of medicines known as targeted covalent drugs, from May 2009 to March 2012. After the acquisition of Avila by Celgene, Katrine served as President, Celgene Avilomics Research at Celgene from March to May of 2012. She was also recently the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at The Broad Institute, a biomedical and genomic research center, from September 2013 to May 2014. Earlier, she was VP, Business Development at Adnexus Therapeutics and then VP, Strategic Operations after its acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Prior to that, at Biogen Idec, Katrine held roles in business development, commercial operations and portfolio strategy in the U.S. and Europe and led numerous transactions there, including the alliance for Tysabri® (natalizumab), a treatment for multiple sclerosis. Katrine was also part of the healthcare team at the venture firm Highland Capital Partners and was an early employee of Alkermes. Katrine is a graduate of Cornell University.
ANNA PROTOPAPAS
Mersana Therapeutics
Ms. Protopapas joined Mersana in March 2015, bringing a substantial track record of executive leadership and business experience in the biotech industry. Prior to Mersana, Ms. Protopapas was President of Millennium, where she led Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.’s $1.3 billion oncology business. Ms. Protopapas also served as the Executive Vice President of Global Business Development for Takeda Pharmaceuticals where she was responsible for global acquisitions, partnering, licensing and venture investing. In this role, she led Takeda’s $12 billion acquisition of Nycomed, a critical step in the company’s globalization. Ms. Protopapas was a member of Takeda’s executive committee and was elected a corporate officer in 2011. Earlier, Ms. Protopapas was an executive officer at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and served in various senior leadership positions, playing an integral role in the company’s transformation from a genomics start-up to a fully integrated oncology leader. She was instrumental in the sale of Millennium to Takeda for $8.8 billion.
2016 Conference Agenda
CORPORATE TRACK
Licensing Trends: What’s New/What’s Hot?
Learn about current trends and licensing topics from business development and in-house counsel at Boston-based biotech companies.
Speakers
Hemmie Chang
Partner
Foley Hoag LLP
Marcia Anderegg
Research & Business Development Counsel
Biogen Idec
Jigar Raythatha
Chief Business Officer
Jounce Therapeutics
Christine Bellon
Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs
Relay Therapeutics
REGULATORY TRACK
Pharma & MedTech Due Diligence and Product Development Investments
Why it’s critical to understand the clinical and economic evidence needs in the decision-making process.
Speakers
Thomas Goss, PharmD
Senior Vice President
Boston Healthcare Associates
Joy Liu
VP, Commercial & Regulatory Legal
Vertex
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TRACK
Patent Subject Matter Eligibility in Biotech—Perspectives from the Industry, USPTO and Private Practice
The Supreme Court’s recent decisions on patent subject matter eligibility has made a significant impact on the biotech industry. On the panel, we will hear from in-house and outside counsels about their experience and strategy handling the aftermath of Mayo, Myriad and Alice. We will also have a senior officer from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office knowledgeable in the creation and implementation of Office guidelines. Practical tips will be provided on how to improve strength of patents and avoid some of the pitfalls in patent subject matter eligibility.
Speakers
Fang Xie, Ph.D.
Of Counsel
Greenberg Traurig
Robert Bahr
Deputy Commissioner for
Patent Examination Policy
USPTO
Claire Laporte
Partner
Foley Hoag LLP
Jennifer Zarutskie Sieczkiewicz
Associate General Counsel, R&D Corporate
Biogen Idec
Joanna Wu
Chief Patent Counsel
ConforMIS, Inc.
CORPORATE TRACK
Capital Markets: The Financing Landscape for Life Science Companies
Uncertain capital market conditions require small and mid-cap companies in the life sciences industry to be creative in structuring transactions to successfully meet their financing objectives. This panel, which will include thought leaders from investment banking and accounting as well as legal practitioners that bring both the big firm and in-house perspective, will discuss some of the creative financing trends seen in life sciences deals, and the legal considerations that arise with these approaches. The panel will focus on transactions that are undertaken in lieu of traditional underwritten public offerings, including:
- at-the-market offerings
- registered direct offerings
- confidentially marketed public offerings
- “baby shelf” offerings
- PIPEs
- Form 10 offerings
- reverse mergers
Speakers
Cynthia Mazareas
Special Counsel
WilmerHale LLP
Jon Civitarese
Managing Director
Leerink Partners LLC
Deirdre Cunnane
Senior Vice President, General Counsel
Catabasis Pharmaceuticals
Michael Donovan
Office Managing Partner – Cambridge
Ernst & Young LLP
Jeffries L. Oliver-Li
Counsel
WilmerHale LLP
REGULATORY TRACK
Current Challenges in Pricing, Coverage and Reimbursement for Therapies and Diagnostics
The advent of cutting-edge diagnostics and therapies has been very much in the scientific and popular press. Some have called into question the cost of these treatments. The panel will discuss the legal and regulatory requirements surrounding pricing, coverage and reimbursement under Medicare and Medicaid for therapies and diagnostics. What are some of the strategies to pursue to ensure that coverage begins with FDA approval? What are some pitfalls that manufacturers need to be aware of? Are there regulatory requirements that manufacturers need to know in designing coverage and reimbursement strategies? The panel will conclude with a case study involving Medicaid coverage of the new therapies for Hepatitis C.
Speakers
Thomas Barker
Partner
Foley Hoag LLP
Melissa A. Wong
Holland & Knight LLP
Jonathan Anderman
Senior Corporate Counsel
Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc.
Maia Larsson
Associate
Foley Hoag LLP
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TRACK
The Impact of Brexit on the Life Sciences Industry
Speakers
Dr. Melissa Hunter-Ensor
Shareholder
Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Mark Day, Ph.D
Head of External Research & Scouting
Alexion Pharmaceuticals
Jonathan P. Gertler, MD
Managing Partner and CEO
Back Bay Life Science Advisors
Jennifer Grant Moitoso
VP, Intellectual Property
Shire Pharmaceuticals
CORPORATE TRACK
Current M&A Structuring in Life Sciences
Speakers
Steven A. Wilcox
Partner
Ropes & Gray
Kevin Bitterman
Partner
Polaris Partners
Mark Gaffney
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
REGULATORY TRACK
Digital Health: Balancing Risks and Benefits
Digital health is often described as the convergence of the digital and genomic revolutions with healthcare. Its tremendous potential to positively impact health and wellness is reflected in the $2 billion in venture funding nationwide in the first six months of this year, as well as in Massachusetts’s commitment to developing a local digital health hub. This panel will address some of the challenges to implementing digital health technologies—including regulatory compliance, privacy and cybersecurity concerns, interoperability, data analytics, and adequately protecting innovation in this space—as well as the benefits to consumers and the changing expectations of an increasingly connected population.
Speakers
Sharon Roberg-Perez
Principal
Robins Kaplan LLP
Anders Tveterras
Boston Children’s Hospital, Senior Director, Strategy and Digital Innovation
Rachel Kalmar
Fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society
Erin Wessling
Legal Counsel
Medtronic
Aaron Solomon
VP Global Sales for OneOme, which is a company focused on personalized pharmacogenomics
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TRACK
A Biosimilars Retrospective: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Speakers
Donald Ware
Partner
Foley Hoag LLP
Konstantinos Andrikoupoulos
IP Counsel
Biogen
David Bowen
Hill+Knowlton Strategies (formerly the Staff Director for Health for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee)
EXTENDED THANK TO OUR PARTNER LEADERS IN LIFE SCIENCES
EXTENDED THANK YOU TO THE 2016 CONFERENCE SPONSORS
