More than 100 biotechnology investors are expected to meet at the Johns
Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center Sept. 19 to hear Hopkins experts describe
advances in cancer biology and explore new technology licensing
opportunities. The conference, the first of its kind hosted by the
Cancer Center, is intended to heighten commercial investment interest in
its portfolio of emerging cancer treatments.
"Developing new diagnostics and treatments in the laboratory is one
thing and we do it in spades, but to get them to patients, science-based
institutions need the financial backing and expertise of biotech
industry affiliations," says Stephen Baylin, M.D., director of
research at Hopkins' Kimmel Cancer Center. The Center ranks third in
the nation in research grants from the National Cancer Institute,
earning $86.9 million in 2006.
Stem cell researcher Curt Civin, M.D., is co-chair of the conference,
called "Johns Hopkins Biotech 2007: Investing in Cancer Research."
Civin has firsthand experience in commercializing cancer-related
technology. His novel stem-cell sorting technology which purifies bone
marrow stem cells as transplants for cancer patients won him an Inventor
of the Year Award in 1999. Hopkins licensed the invention patents for
the technology to Maryland-based Becton Dickinson, which in turn has
sublicensed it to several other companies, including Baxter
International Inc., to pursue applications in the research, diagnosis,
and treatment of cancer and other diseases. The method is commercially
available and has been used in bone marrow transplants for thousands of
cancer patients and referenced in more than 15,000 scientific articles.
The Hopkins conference, says Civin, is an outgrowth of the momentum
created by the Bayh-Dole Act, which gives universities the opportunity
to explore commercial partnerships based on discoveries made with public
funds as a means to accelerate new treatments.
Although royalty income is one goal for academic medical centers that
pursue technology transfer arrangements, "seeing an invention actually
help people is far more gratifying," Civin says.
Neurosurgeon James Campbell, M.D., is co-chair of the conference, which
is to feature discussions of genetic medicine, stem cells, biomarkers,
and cancer immunology. The meeting includes keynote speeches from Ivor
Royston, M.D., managing founding partner of Forward Ventures, and
Stephen Friend, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice president and franchise head
of oncology at Merck Research Laboratories, plus a discussion of the
challenges of university technology transfer by Aris Melissaratos,
senior advisor to the president for enterprise development at The Johns
Hopkins University. It concludes with a panel of industry investor
experts discussing their experience in commercialization of laboratory
discoveries. Panelists include T. Rowe Price's Jay Markowitz, M.D,
Robert Glassman, M.D., of Merrill Lynch, Robert Mashal, M.D., from
Alinea Pharmaceuticals, Richard Sherman, J.D., from Hawaii Biotech Inc.,
and Karen Bernstein, Ph.D., of the Bernstein Report on BioBusiness.
Attendees will include venture capitalists and representatives from
biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies from all corners of the
United States.
Sponsors of the conference are the Forest City-Science and Technology
Park at Johns Hopkins, international law firm DLA Piper, MedImmune, the
Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, the Economic
Alliance of Greater Baltimore, and the Maryland Technology Development
Corporation.
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center