Category: Person Career
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California Life Science Firms to Learn "Insider" Strategies for Government Funding at 11th SoCalBio Investor & Partnership Conference
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Newly funded companies will create jobs, offer medical advancements, and more
PHILADELPHIA, PA (www.sep.benfranklin.org) – Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP) recently approved investments totaling $800,000 for five early-stage Pennsylvania companies with promising technology innovations.
“We are encouraged to see the steady flow of early-stage companies during these difficult economic times. We are proud of these five companies for developing innovative technology and creating jobs throughout our region,” said RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President & CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

The Center’s Flagship Investment Program provides working capital to early-stage companies
For Immediate Release: Date: February 24, 2010
Contact: Angus G. McQuilken, MLSC VP for Communications
Phone: (617) 921-7749 Email: amcquilken@masslifesciences.com
Waltham, MA – The Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center today approved the launch of the 2010 Accelerator Loan Program, the second year of the Center’s flagship investment program that provides working capital to early-stage life sciences companies. The Center will begin accepting online applications on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 with an application deadline of Wednesday, March 24, 2010. A subsequent round will be conducted in the fall, with application dates to be announced. Applications will be accepted via the Center’s web site at www.masslifescience.com.
The Program has been capitalized with $5.5 million for 2010. This year’s program will offer loans of up to $750,000 per company, an increase from the 2009 maximum loan amount of $500,000. The Program seeks to “de-risk” start-up companies that are in need of financing to serve as flexible working capital or for the purchase of capital assets to help selected companies achieve product development milestones and obtain private investment. In addition, the loan terms will now include a warrant which will give the Center the right to purchase equity in the company at a specific price within a certain time frame.
For Immediate Release: Date: 02/24/10
Contacts:
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
Angus G. McQuilken, Vice President for Communications
Phone: 617-921-7749 Email: amcquilken@masslifesciences.com
WPI/Gateway Park
Michael Cohen
Phone: 508-868-4778 Email: mcohen@wpi.edu
Grant leverages $25 million private investment for development of a new facility that will create jobs, house young companies and provide training programs in the life sciences
Waltham, MA— The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Board of Directors today awarded a $6.6 million grant to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) to support the next phase of life sciences related development at Gateway Park in Worcester. The grant leverages $25 million in private investment for the development of a new 80,000-square-foot life sciences facility anticipated to create 120 construction jobs and 142 new permanent jobs at completion.
The grant supports the development of WPI’s Biomanufacturing Education and Training Center (BETC); a new incubator for Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (MBI); and expanded academic and research space, including new facilities for the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science. The BETC is planning a 10,000-square-foot facility that will provide hands-on biomanufacturing training to support industry workforce development. MBI is planning to expand its incubator resources by developing a new wet-lab core facility to help more companies launch, grow and provide jobs. MBI currently operates three life sciences incubators in Central Massachusetts (one of which is located in the first Gateway Park building) and has graduated 30 companies, creating 265 new jobs since 2000.
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...But what do I know? Lessons learned from living through a couple of spin-out companies
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qed@qb3 UCSF Thursday, March 4, 2010 12:00 to 1:00 pm Byers Hall Room 212
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There are many lessons to be learned in the formation of spinouts. Tom will walk through his experiences going from an academic setting to a spinout company and what he has learned from this and a couple of other companies that he has been close to (Avantome, TrueMaterials, Boreal Genomics)
Tom Willis is the CEO of MLC Dx Inc. a VC backed company dedicated to the commercialization of molecular diagnostic tests. Prior to founding MLC, Tom has been an entrepreneur in the biotech industry for the past decade. After receiving his Ph.D. in physics from Stanford University, he joined the Stanford Genome Technology Center (SGTC) to work on DNA sequence analysis technologies. He held several positions at the SGTC including Associate Director in charge of technology development. While at SGTC, he co-invented the Molecular Inversion Probe technology for high throughput genotyping. In 2001, he co-founded ParAllele BioScience to develop and commercialize this technology. As its founding CEO, he led ParAllele through two rounds of VC financing a grew the company to over 80 employees. In 2005 ParAllele was acquired by Affymetrix at which time Tom served in several management positions at Affymetrix. He left in 2007 to pursue new startup opportunities. In addition to his role at MLC, Tom serves on the boards of SpinX Technologies and Boreal Genomics
Lunch provided, but space is limited so please reserve a seat at http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID=198455
http://qb3.org/services/qed-qb3/?searchterm=qed

For Immediate Release: Date: February 11, 2010
Contacts:
Dr. Andrew Fox Angus McQuilken
President & Founder Vice President for Communications
Wadsworth Medical Technologies Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
Cell: 508-789-6531 Cell: 617-921-7749
CEO says he’s “paying it forward” for Life Sciences companies in the state
Westborough, MA – Wadsworth Medical Technologies today announced it has replaced its two out-of-state manufacturers and suppliers with companies based in Massachusetts. The Westborough-based medical device company has hired Baril Corporation of Haverhill and G&F Industries of Sturbridge to produce and distribute DermaLOC, its non-invasive, needleless wound closure system. Wadsworth hopes that its decision will help create jobs in Massachusetts and increase the tax base in these communities.
“The decision to relocate our manufacturing and distribution operations to Massachusetts was a no-brainer,” said Dr. Andrew Fox, President & CEO of Wadsworth Medical Technologies. “There are so many networks within the Commonwealth to support the growth and development of small life sciences companies like Wadsworth that it didn’t make sense to deal out-of-state.”
Last year, Wadsworth Medical Technologies received an Accelerator loan from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, a quasi-public agency tasked with stimulating the life sciences sector in Massachusetts. Fox says he sees this decision to support Massachusetts manufacturing and supply companies as a way to “pay it forward.”
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Risk Management and Insurance Primer for Life Science Companies
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qed@qb3 - Special Event Tuesday, February 23, 2010 12:00 to 1:00 pm Byers Hall Room 212
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In this discussion we will touch on the various aspects and stages of Risk Management and Insurance for Life Science Companies from start-up, through clinical trials to product commercialization. The primer will touch on all aspects of insurance from workers' compensation, property and general liability, to clinical trials, international, directors and officers and more.
Kevin Mirsky is a Principal of Saylor & Hill Co. and has been with the firm since 1991. Kevin leads Saylor & Hill Co.'s Technology and Life Science Practice in the Bay Area, providing Risk Assessment and Insurance Brokerage services to mid- and large-size clients. He has expertise in multi-national clinical trials, medical device and pharmaceutical products as well as software, hardware and web-based businesses. Kevin is active in the community, and is a member of BayBio.
Lunch provided, but space is limited so please reserve a seat at http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID=198053

Date: March 2, 2010
Time: 12:00PM-2:00PM
Venue: San Jose BioCenter, 5941 Optical Court, San Jose CA 95138
Registration Cost: from $0 to $40
The achievement of a cleared Investigational New Drug application (IND) is a critical milestone for most small to mid-sized companies. Senior Management teams face many challenges when working on these applications. These are not easy applications to create, and there are many potential pitfalls. During this presentation the pitfalls that CEOs and senior management teams need to be aware of will be identified. A panel session will follow the main presentation at which time the audience will be able to address questions to members of the panel. Webinar link-up is available for those who are not able to participate on-site. Please indicate if you would like to join by webinar when signing up. The details for the webinar will be sent to participants before the event. | Registration fee: from $0 to $40 | 12:00-2:00 | @ the San Jose BioCenter, 5941 Optical Court, San Jose CA 95138
Speakers: Debra Gosling, Account Executive, Regulatory & Clinical Services, Liquent Inc. | Tom Delisi, Senior Consultant, Regulatory Services, Liquent Inc. | Kathryn Plank, Senior Regulatory Consultant, Liquent Inc. | Jim Hilferty, Operations Manager, Regulatory & Clinical Services, Liquent Inc.

For Immediate Release
February 3, 2010
Media inquiries
(Tucson, Arizona) Today, the Vail School District broke ground on the Vail Academy & High School, the district’s first K-12 school and the nation’s first K-12 school located at a university research park.
Vail High School began offering classes at the Tech Park in July 1997. Vail Academy (K-8) will join the already established Vail High School at a new site in the Tech Park. The 34,000 square foot facility is scheduled to open in July 2010.
The K-12 school will house 225 K-8 students and 225 high school students. Each grade level will accommodate approximately 25 students. The small class size provides an interactive environment where students receive personal attention. The K-12 model allows the curriculum to build on the previous grades' teaching, which provides a consistent educational foundation and the development of vast knowledge around important concepts.
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Building, Compensating & Motivating
a Leadership Team
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qed@qb3 - UCSF Thursday, February 4, 2010 12:00 to 1:00 pm Byers Hall Room 212
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One of the most critical factors for a company's success is building an excellent team, but finding, recruiting, compensating, and ultimately motivating the best people is extremely challenging. Chris McKinley and Michael Ballenger bring decades of HR and executive recruitment experience to this subject and will share their insights and advice in this seminar.
Christine McKinley has 30 years experience working in entrepreneurial, high growth biotech and medical companies. Prior to founding Round One Resources, she was Sr.VP of Human Resources at Cell Genesys, responsible for strategic and operational HR initiatives, involving extensive staffing of a manufacturing facility, expansion of process development, manufacturing and clinical operations, merger, acquisition and restructuring activities. She began as one of the earlier employees of Genentech.
Michael Ballenger specializes in Board of Director, CEO searches as well as officer-level assignments in research, product development and all business functions. He has 23 years of experience in executive search in all segments of the life science/healthcare product industry and has focused his last 10 years on work with start-up and development stage companies. He was previously the Managing Partner of Highland Partner's San Francisco office where he built the company's first Life Science/Healthcare Products Practice and was also Sr. Director of Human Resources for Genentech.
Lunch provided, but space is limited so please reserve a seat at http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID=197756