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

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rust

© W

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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

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illage a

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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

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The M

ansio

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ouse a

t Cheste

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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

anthony.cantor@gmail.com

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

o.ihasz@jbs.cam.ac.uk

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:

tquested@businessweekly.co.uk

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

mike@firstsightmedia.co.uk

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 admin@hsrsc.co.uk

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!

tony@onenucleus.com

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.

harriet@onenucleus.com

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

dspillett@worldcourier.co.uk or

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 richard@onenucleus.com

or 01223 896453.

Company SSA Contact Email Phone

The Baculovirus Facility

Baculovirus Protein Production Services

Irina Ogay baculo@mole.bio.cam.ac.uk 01223 333744

Crawford Scientific Chromatography

Products Lorraine Adams Lorraine@crawfordscientific.com 07767 227486

Elemental Microanalysis

Elemental Microanalysis

Analytical Services Jon Davies jon.davies@microanalysis.co.uk 01837 54446

GoIndustry DoveBid

Redundant Asset Management Services

Peter Cauldwell peter.cauldwell@go-dove.com 07774 417227

Hyper Recruitment

Solutions (HRS) Recruitment Services Ricky Martin ricky.martin@hyperec.com 02032 255120

Labstract Analytical Services and

Training Suki Klair Suki.klair@labstract.co.uk 08708 032491

Merck Millipore Lab Solutions Division

Laboratory Water Products and Services

Nicola Lyfield Nicola.Lyfield@merckgroup.com

Realnet Ltd Website Services Dan Orme Dan.orme@realnet.co.uk 01223 261109

Sartorius Stedim Membrane

Chromatography Ben Royal Ben.Royal@sartorius-stedim.com 07718 152064

Scientific

Laboratory

Supplies (SLS)

Servicing in a Box

Paul Wright

Sarah Thomas

pwright@scientific-labs.com

Sthomas@scientific-labs.com

07920 721657

07767 600091

Specialized Print Ltd

Corporate Printing Services

Ann Aken ann@specialized-print.co.uk 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.

richard@onenucleus.com

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

philip@onenucleus.com

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.

tony@onenucleus.com

Member News Spring 2013 37

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 aline@onenucleus.com

Wellc

om

e T

rust S

anger In

stitu

te

ON Helix: Your New Translational

Research Conference

Member News Spring 2013 39

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.

tony@onenucleus.com

Member News Spring 2013 43

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