Press Release
Contact: Robert Caudle |
Phone: (919) 549-7500 ext. 107 |
CED Confirms Panel Lineup for Biotech 2007
40+ Life Science Experts Join 3 Keynote Speakers to Headline
16th Annual Conference May 14-15 in Durham, N.C.
May 3, 2007, Research Triangle Park, N.C. – The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) today confirmed the lineup for all eight panel sessions at Biotech 2007. Now in its 16th year, the annual Biotech conference, scheduled for May 14-15 at the Marriott at the Civic Center in Durham, N.C., will feature comments from more than 40 life sciences experts.
The conference’s plenary panel session, “Trends from Big Pharma: Looking Beyond the End of the Decade,” will discuss the rising urgency and competition in the pharmaceutical industry over partnering, in-licensing and mergers and acquisitions with biotech companies. The panel will also examine how the industry intends to fill its pipeline gap beyond 2010. Tranzyme Pharma president & CEO Vipin Garg, Ph.D., will moderate this featured panel with executives from Banc of America Securities, BioCentury Publications, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis Pharma AG and Shire Pharmaceuticals.
In addition, Biotech 2007 will also offer concurrent panel session on the following topics:
- Alternative Energy: From Sustainability to Profitability
- Biofuels: Powering Plants to Societal, Agricultural and Economic Gain
- Emerging Technologies in Stem Cells: the Science, the Ethics, and the Opportunities
- Managing Biotech Exits: The Importance of Optionality
- Natural Biotechnology: Old Plants and New Technologies Grow Well Together
- Strategies for Developing Preclinical Assets Through Alternative Funding Options
- Where Medical Devices and Biotechnology Meet: A Fireside Chat on Convergence in Health Care and the Evolving Relationship between Biotech, Devices, Diagnostics and Drugs
The confirmed list of panelists includes:
- Andrew Balber, Ph.D., Vice President, Preclinical Development, Aldagen
- George Briggs, Executive Director, North Carolina Arboretum
- Scott Burger, MD, Principal, Advanced Cell & Gene Therapy
- Steven Burke, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs, North Carolina Biotechnology Center
- Thomas Carter, Partner, Alston & Bird LLP
- Greg Cumberford, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, Gaia Herbs, Inc.
- Om P. Dhingra, Ph.D., Vice President & Head, Preclinical Drug Discovery, GlaxoSmithKline
- Amy Ehlers, Manager, Industry and Environmental Section, Biotechnology Industrial Organization
- Joel Eisner, Ph.D., Associate Principal, Cato BioVentures
- Lyle Estill, Vice President, Piedmont Biofuels
- Mark Furth, Ph.D., Technical Development Officer, Wake Forest University Institute for Regenerative Medicine
- Michael Gaito, Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investment Banking
- Vipin Garg, Ph.D., President & CEO, Tranzyme Pharma
- Pierre Gosselin Ph.D., Director Business Development, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
- Steve Kelley, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Wood and Paper Science, North Carolina State University
- Garheng Kong, M.D., Ph.D., Partner, Intersouth Partners
- Edward May, Associate, US Renewables Group
- Robert McMahan, Ph.D., Senior Advisor to the Governor for Science & Technology and Executive Director, NC Board of Science and Technology
- Cheryl McMurry, Director, Western Office, North Carolina Biotechnology Center
- George Montgomery, Managing Directory and Head of Healthcare Banking, Montgomery & Co., LLC
- Jonathan Moreno, Ph.D., Professor of Medical Ethics, University of Pennsylvania
- Thomas Nagy, President, Novozymes North America, Inc.
- Roger Nolan, Director, Project Operations, Calvert Research Institute
- Nick Oberlies, Ph.D., Director, Natural Products Laboratory, Research Triangle Insititute
- David Ohashi, Ph.D., Duplin Winery and Lead Resveratrol Developer
- Cedric Pearce, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Mycosynthetix, Inc.
- Daniel A. Pelak, President & Chief Executive Officer, InnerPulse, Inc.
- Maria Rapoza, Ph.D., Vice President of Science and Technology, North Carolina Biotechnology Center
- Michael Recny, Ph.D.
- Terry Ruse, Chief Operating Officer, Agri Ethanol Products LLC
- Jeffrey D. Schmitt, Ph.D., Acting Research Director, International Institute for Natural Biotechnology and Integrative Medicine
- Garrett Screws, Senior Manager of Governmental Relations, Novozymes
- Knut Sturmhoefel, Head Search & Evaluation Ophtha, Derm, GI/ U, Business Development & Licensing, Novartis Pharma AG
- The Honorable Norris Tolson, Secretary of Revenue, State of North Carolina
- Edward Torres, Managing Director, Lilly Ventures
- Steve Tregay, Ph.D., Managing Director, Novartis Option Fund
- Ivan Urlaub, Executive Director, North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association
- Simon Warner, Ph.D., Group Leader for Biomass Traits, Syngenta
- Mike Ward, Senior Editor, Europe, BioCentury Publications
- Andrew Weisenfeld, Managing Director, Healthcare Corporate Investment Banking, Banc of America Securities LLC
- Richard West, Chief Executive Officer, Advanced Liquid Logic, Inc.
- David Winwood, Ph.D., Associate Vice Chancellor, Technology Development and Innovation, North Carolina State University
Beyond the panel sessions, Biotech 2007 will also include keynote remarks from previously announced speakers Anthony Atala, M.D., senior researcher and director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine; Senator Thomas A. Daschle, former United States senator and special public policy advisor for Alston & Bird; and Tony Hickson, B.Sc., M.B.A., the head of biosciences at United Kingdom’s Imperial Innovations Ltd.
“Some of the top minds in the life science industry will be joining us at Biotech 2007,” said CED President Monica Doss. “I am confident that each of these experts will provide invaluable information on some of the most important topics in life science today.”
CED is presenting the 16th annual Biotech conference in partnership with the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and NCBIO. For more information on Biotech 2007, visit www.cednc.org/biotech.
About CED: The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) is a private, non-profit organization formed in 1984 to identify, enable and promote high growth, high impact entrepreneurial companies and to accelerate the entrepreneurial culture of the Research Triangle and North Carolina. Headquartered in the Research Triangle with a divisional office in Wilmington, CED is the largest and oldest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 4,000 members representing over 1,100 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms. CED provides education, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, seminars, workshops and programs on entrepreneurial management and finance. www.cednc.org
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