Feld Thoughts: Entrepreneurs Unplugged – Steve Halstedt and Nir Barkat

"The 11/4 Entrepreneurs Unplugged is with Nir Barkat, the Mayor of Jerusalem. This is a special Entrepreneurs Unplugged event Silicon Flatirons is co-hosting with Governor Ritter, the Colorado BioScience Association, CSIA, and the Mizel Family Foundation. I’ll be in Seattle at the TechStars 2009 Demo Day in Seattle so Brad Bernthal will be interviewing Mayor Barkat. In addition to being the Mayor of Jerusalem, Barkat is a successful entrepreneur and VC having started BRM Partners and subsequently Backweb Technologies. While I’ve never met Barkat, I remember Backweb well as SOFTBANK was an investor in the company when I was a SOFTBANK Affiliate – shortly before a group of us created Softbank Technology Ventures. This promises to be a special event held at the beautiful Denver Art Museum from 2pm to 4pm on Wednesday 11/4. Registration is now open."

Link to the online posting

Expo at BioWest 2009 Showcases New Technology, Products and Services for the Region’s Robust Bioscience Industry

More than 40 exhibitors will be showcasing new technology, products and services for 700+ attendees at the 2009 BioWest Conference and Expo. The announcement is made by John Collar, President and CEO of the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA), who says the event is November 10 at the Grand Hyatt Denver, 1750 Welton.

“The companies participating in the exhibit area are each playing an important role in helping advance the bioscience industry within the region,” Collar said, “We’re very pleased to welcome them to our seventh annual BioWest event and are looking forward to yet another exciting and successful conference.”

BioWest is the Rocky Mountain region’s preferred venue for visiting and learning about the bioscience industry. Exhibitors confirmed to date include:

Biologics Consulting Group, Inc., http://www.biologicsconsulting.com
Canadian Consulate, http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/denver/index.aspx
CARE Research, Inc., http://www.care-research.net
CaridianBCT, http://www.caridianbct.com
CGL - Concert Group Logistics, http://www.cglship.com
Colorado Science + Technology Park at Fitzsimons, http://www.fitzscience.com
Compliant Logistics, http://www.compliantlogistics.com
Concrete Floor Systems, http://www.concretefloorsystems.com
Colorado Prevention Center, http://www.cpcmed.org
CRB Engineers & Builders, http://www.crbusa.com
Colorado State University Research Foundation, http://www.csurf.org/researcher.html
Diablo Sales and Marketing, http://www.diablosales.com
Evergreen Research, Inc., http://www.evergreenresearch.com
Extronex Inc., http://www.extronex.com
GEL Analytics, LLC, http://www.gel.com
HemoGenix, Inc., http://www.hemogenix.com
Howe Creative, http://www.howecreative.com
ISEC, Inc., http://www.isecinc.com
Jefferson Economic Council, http://www.jeffco.org
Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology, http://www.keystonesymposia.org
LABS Inc., http://www.labs-inc.org
Leeds Precision Instruments, http://www.leedsmicro.com
Leo A Daly, http://www.leoadaly.com
OEDIT, http://www.colorado.gov
Quest Product Development, http://www.quest-corp.com
Reglera, LLC, http://www.reglera.com
Sheridan Ross P.C., http://www.sheridanross.com
TDC Medical, Inc., http://www.tdcmedical.com
Technology Driven Products, http://www.tdpcorp.com
The Jackson Laboratory, http://www.jax.org
The Neenan Company, http://www.neenan.com
Ubiquity Group, http://www.ubiquity-design.com
University of Colorado Tech Transfer Office, http://www.cu.edu/techtransfer
We Work for Health, http://www.weworkforhealth.org
YSI, Inc., http://www.ysilifesciences.com

There is still exhibit space available for the Expo on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact Leah Kientz at 303-592-4088 if you are interested in being part of the 2009 Expo. Conference registration is required in order to view the Exhibitor Hall area. Complete registration details for the BioWest Conference and Expo are available at http://www.biowestconference.com.

BioWest 2009 Registration Opens, Rolling Out A Stellar Lineup of National Speakers

Peter Sims, co-author of best selling business book “True North” and the forthcoming book “Little Bets” will provide the keynote for the 2009 BioWest Conference and Expo. In addition to Sims, nationally acclaimed speakers Ginger Graham, former CEO of Amylin Pharmaceuticals, and Eric Alexander - skier, climber, and mountaineer - will address the BioWest audience during the November 10th event at the Grand Hyatt Denver.

Organizers expect more than 700 industry leaders November 10th for the seventh annual BioWest event, held again at the Grand Hyatt Denver, 1750 Welton.

Link to the BioWest website

Louisville's GlobeImmune making strides with therapies for cancers, infectious diseases

Boulder Daily Camera profiles GlobeImmune: "GlobeImmune -- which locally manufactures immunotherapies to treat some infectious diseases and cancers -- has two products in later-stage clinical trials for hepatitis C and pancreatic cancer, and has another product for lung cancer in an early trial. The privately held 14-year-old company also has the backing of some of the biggest names in the bioscience industry."

Remarks included from CBSA President & CEO John Collar:

"Overall, companies in Colorado's bioscience industry have fared well amid a weakened economy, said John Collar, executive director of the Colorado Bioscience Association. The bioscience industry includes firms in sectors such as clean energy, medical device and biotechnology. Companies within the industry are seeing about 7.5 percent growth in employment per year, Collar said, adding that within the past five years, Colorado has leapfrogged to be one of the top 10 states in the country for the bioscience industry. Collar attributed some of that growth, to a strong focus on innovation and technology transferring out of the universities and into the private sector. 'That's definitely a real strong point in Colorado and an area that we're getting better at,' he said."

Link to the article

Denver Business Journal: CBSA pushes education initiatives to help attract future workers

"Biology teacher Tammy Hearty enjoyed going 'back to school' this past summer.

Better yet, she’s happy she didn’t blow up anything during her stint in the laboratory at OSI Pharmaceuticals in Boulder.

Hearty, who teaches honors biology at Fairview High School in Boulder, was part of a Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) program that connects teachers with local businesses to help them learn about their subject matter from the inside."

Link to the article about CBSA's 2009 education initiatives and related interviews, including CBSA's John Collar and Kevin Smith

Baucus’ tax idea worrying makers of medical devices

Federal excise taxes on medical device sales have been proposed to help fund health care reform, prompting industry worries the $4 billion in annual fees will stifle innovation and eliminate jobs.
It’s a chief concern among Colorado manufacturers — who employ nearly 11,000 people in the state — though they support reform.

John Collar, CEO and president of the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) trade group, flew to Washington, D.C., at the end of September to tell Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet that the industry sees the fees proposed in Sen. Max Baucus’ leading bill as a potential disaster.

Link to the article including interviews with CaridianBCT's David Perez and Baxa Corporation's Marian Robinson

Delegation Touts Colorado's Med Device & Diagnostics Strengths at AdvaMed in D.C.

For three days, representatives from the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA), Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation and the Greater Colorado Springs Economic Development Corporation will be showcasing Colorado’s medical device and diagnostics sectors during the annual AdvaMed: The MedTech Conference. The announcement is made by John Collar, CBSA Executive Director, who says more than 1,400 industry leaders – including 500+ CEOs, Presidents and C-level executives will be attending the AdvaMed: The MedTech Conference, October 12-14.

Link to the Business Wire release

Inviragen Merges with SingVax and Completes $15 million Series A Financing

Inviragen and SingVax have merged their complementary vaccine pipelines and their international product development capabilities to create a company that is developing a wide range of vaccines for infectious diseases prevalent in emerging economies. Concurrently with the merger, the combined company raised $15 million in a Series A equity investment from a syndicate of international venture capital investors, including Charter Life Sciences (Palo Alto, CA), Venture Investors (Madison, WI), Bio*One Capital (Singapore) and Phillip Private Equity (Singapore).

The combined company will retain the Inviragen name and will have research and corporate operations in Fort Collins, Colorado, vaccine development operations in Singapore and vaccine testing capabilities in Madison, Wisconsin. “Post-merger, Inviragen has three vaccines poised to begin human clinical trials,” noted Dr. Dan Stinchcomb, Inviragen Chief Executive Officer. “During the next 18 months, these clinical studies will test vaccine safety and measure the immune responses induced by these three vaccines to establish 'proof-of-concept' of their efficacy.”

Link to the Business Wire release

Recaps from the Rocky Mountain Life Science Investor Conference | Part 4

Final report from Adam Rubenstein: "The Rocky Mountain Life Science Investor Conference yielded a sense of sophistication and intensity catalyzed by the aggregation of high-quality presenting companies and top-tier venture and corporate investors. I was hardly surprised that then rumor, hearsay and innuendo combined to yield quite a bit of buzz throughout the oak paneled hallways of the Ritz Carlton about “interest”, “follow-on meetings”, and yes even “term sheets” and “syndicated deals”. Perhaps the most important take-away for this author is the continued realization that location in the obvious clusters is not a prerequisite for funding, rather great science and IP, great management and great market opportunity are the combined elements that often create opportunity for an entity when it goes shopping for an institutional round of financing."

Link to the Recap