Today the 20th BIO CEO & Investor Conference opens in New York City amid a decidedly upbeat investment climate for the biotechnology sector. Last year we saw a 54% increase in investment for clinical-stage biotechs, a 24% increase for market-stage biotechs and an 11% increase for pharmaceuticals trading on the S&P. BIO welcomes the dealmakers who are creating this environment and who may usher in the next generation of life-saving treatments.
New medical discoveries, innovative pipelines and FDA approvals have made biotechnology an attractive investment over the last several years with interest in the sector intensifying as breakthrough therapies stemming from immuno-oncology, CAR-T cell therapy and CRISPR continue to make progress.
It is not surprising that nearly 600 high-level investors are joining us today for one of the largest investor conferences for emerging publicly-traded biotech companies. Investment leaders like Morgan Stanley, SVB Financial, Abbvie Ventures and The Carlyle Group, among others, are looking for partnerships that eventually will bring new medicines to the market. Helping facilitate these meetings is BIO’s proprietary scheduling software—BIO One-on-One Partnering™—an immensely valuable tool to search for and identify potential partners and request meetings.
In addition to the 160 hand-selected companies presenting this year, we anticipate more than 250 biotech companies from 28 countries, with active clinical development pipelines and more than 20 global biopharma BD teams seeking licensing partners.
Besides deal making, conference attendees can look forward to an impressive program that explores the most pressing and trending topics in the industry. High profile thought leaders will be interviewed during six Fireside Chats interspersed throughout the two-days of therapeutic and business panels. These names represent some of the most prominent figures in the biotech IPO and M&A arenas:
- Deborah Dunsire, MD, President and CEO, XTuit Pharmaceuticals
- Lan Huang, PhD, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, BeyondSpring Pharmaceuticals
- Jeffrey D. Marrazzo, Co-Founder and CEO, Spark Therapeutics
- Vivek Ramaswamy, Founder and CEO, Roivant Sciences
- Vicki Sato, PhD, Chariman, Denali Therapeutics; Chairman, VIR Biotechnology
- Rachel Sherman, MD, MPH, Principal Deputy Commissioner, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The rich session topics will cover everything from new approaches to addiction, to business strategies, and public policy.
The BIO Buzz Center, located on the fifth floor, will host industry and thought leaders sharing their perspectives on important trends during short video interviews.
Monday, February 12
Tuesday, February 13
Located in the heart of Times Square, #BIOCEO18 offers access to institutional investors, industry analysts and senior biotechnology executives who will shape the future investment landscape of the industry.
To all our attendees, welcome to BIO CEO & Investor Conference 2018!