Conference Reports
The 14th BioPartnering Europe Conference
London, UK, 8th-10th October 2006
Visible from the Houses of Parliament, the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre recently played host to over 1000 representatives of business development, alliance and acquisition management, and corporate licensing, at this year's BioPartnering conference, Europe's longest-running life science BioPartnering forum.
With good organisation key to the meeting, the pre-event website highlighted company profiles, pipelines and partnering opportunities and thus promoted the precision timekeeping required at such a fast-faced, business-driven event. Streamed video clips showcasing company objectives and opportunities, and the emphasis on photographic representation of attendees helped to personalise the conference and actively encourage networking. The busy schedule at the conference itself ensured a bright and bustling conference centre throughout the day. Rooms glowed with anticipation at the potential for business collaborations.
The parallel-running, emerging company presentations showcased some fascinating early-stage developments, such as that presented by Hemocorm, a company whose platform of carbon monoxide-releasing compounds has demonstrated a potential protective role in renal transplantation.
Also in the spotlight was GammaCan, whose lead product Vitigam, an immunoglobulin taken from vitiligo sufferers, is under development as a therapeutic agent for use in the notoriously difficult-to-treat stage III-IV melanoma. The relatively low occurence of unpleasant side-effects makes this an excellent prospect for patients.
A company taking a different approach to antibody therapeutics was Adnexus, which is developing adnexins, a novel proprietary class of potential therapeutics derived from fibronectin domains. These have similarities to antibody variable domains but by utilizing different amino acids, the manufacturing process is made easier.
A presentation of particular interest was Polymedix', whose anti-infective programme consists of an antibiotic that enters bacterial cell membranes without penetrating the cell. Preclinical studies have shed light on its ability to evade bacterial defence mechanisms while creating a destructive osmotic imbalance.
Also igniting interest, CrystalGenomics revealed new preclinical lead candidates in its pipeline, CG-0089 and CG-0086, while Algeta, which is developing an α particle-emitting thorium-227 compound, took advantage of the open-house booth presentations to seek out an antibody company for collaborative development.
BioPartnering Europe once again lived up to its reputation as being the top European biotechnology conference for sparking business exchanges and partnering deals, and future development looks to be ablaze with opportunities.
The 15th BioPartnering Europe will be held in London on 7th-9th October 2007.
Alix Biancardi
Pharmaprojects Analyst
