By Tony Jones, CEO, One Nucleus
Building on the development of the Bridge to Boston activities commenced at the One Nucleus Breakfast at BIO 2023 hosted by McDermott Will & Emery, followed by the Boston Bootcamp in April this year and the Breakfast at BIO 2024 with Mintz; One Nucleus continues to explore the opportunities to support the international investment, collaboration, and outsourcing deal flow needs of our members. Of course, the starting point for such support is the day-to-day support we offer our members locally in order to facilitate them being the best versions of themselves when preparing to do business elsewhere.
It was extremely pleasing to listen to the Boston Bootcamp Winners Panel at the recent ON Helix conference, where the delegation set out the key insights gained, and advice they would give to their peers in the UK when considering expanding their business activity to Massachusetts. Whilst much was gleaned from learning drivers of the bootcamp, it is always the intention to build on that to enable more deal flow for our members, and this continues with, as yet, a US-centric focus, including the activities shared here.
One Nucleus Engagement in Biotech Week Boston (BWB) (23-26 September):
BWB is a week each September when a variety of life science events take place in the Boston/Cambridge MA cluster, motivating large numbers of scientists, entrepreneurs, investors, life science company execs, professional services and policymakers to be in town. Anchored by major events such as BioProcess International (incl. Cell & Gene Therapy International), RESI and World Medical Innovation Forum, numerous ecosystem events in the margins, including the 500+ attendee Venture Cafe on Thursday evening, create a busy calendar of educational, networking and tour opportunities.
Attracting over $4Bn in venture financing and $2Bn+ in NIH funding each year the benefits, if not imperatives, for some UK companies to access deal flow from the Greater Boston ecosystem is widely accepted. The access may take the shape of access to investors, R&D partnerships, recruitment, service provision clients or sharing of knowledge less formally to inform development plans. Whilst public sector funding from national or regional government schemes can provide support to explore the Massachusetts opportunities, the engagement expected exceeds such schemes for companies seeking deals. For this reason, One Nucleus, along with UK and MA-based collaborators, is creating a less structured opportunity to showcase UK excellence for ambitious companies to self-fund their trip to BWB, tailoring their plans to suit their key foci.
A key element of the week will be a UK Pitching Day on Tuesday 24 September. One Nucleus is working with key MA-based stakeholders, including the British American Business Council of New England (BABCNE), Boston Biotech Brits and the UK Department of Business & Trade in Boston who are all keen to represent the vibrant Life Sciences community and strengthen ties with UK companies.
To support the BABCNE mission, they have established a life sciences steering committee composed of experienced biotech executives with strong connections to the UK, who are also helping to assemble the best mix of investors and Biopharma dealmakers to attend the UK Pitching Day; likely at the Moderna HQ on Kendall Square. That group consists of the following notable leaders:
Melanie Ivarsson OBE, Chief Development Officer, Moderna;
Avi Spier, Executive Director Business Development and Licensing, Novartis; Alice Lin Pomponio, Managing Director, Bright Edge/American Cancer Society;
Matthew Clark, Senior Trade & Investment Officer (Life Sciences & Healthcare Lead), British Consulate-General, Boston; Mike Fisher PhD, VP & Head of Business Development, Oncimmune & VP, BABCNE.
Check out the full details of One Nucleus at Biotech Week Boston, which is open to all UK companies to engage with, as set out on the website.
Accessing the Global Early-Stage Investment Scene
The growth in confidence gained in online collaboration during the pandemic perhaps underlies the feeling that physical geographic clustering is now of less importance when connecting and working with the best partners. Absolutely, innovation is a contact sport and it would be very hard to convince anyone that the renowned cluster theory of Michael Porter no longer applies. Perhaps though, the rise in confidence of collaborating and dealmaking online provides an opportunity for emerging companies to access capital globally, even at the early stages.
This is where Life Science Nation’s Redefining Early-Stage Investment (RESI) conferences adds significant value. Assembling early-stage companies with investors and corporate dealmakers in a hybrid, one day in-person, two day online format opens the possibility for those investors to make investments and/or syndicate with like-minded peers beyond borders. The One Nucleus engagement in Biotech Week Boston includes discounts for members to attend one of their flagship editions as a follow-on to our engagement at RESI Europe in Barcelona in June 2024 and as a prelude to some very exciting developments around Genesis 2024 in London described below.
There is much more on offer than the events, however, from Life Science Nation in the shape of their Global Roadshow Preparation course. This online engagement consists of a combination of lectures, exercises, a shark-tank session and access to their global investor database and tools, as well as tickets to the RESI conference.
MODULE 1: Branding & Messaging Your Startup (virtual 90 minutes)
MODULE 2: Branding and Messaging part 2 (virtual 90 minutes)
MODULE 3: Successful Partnering for a Partnering Event (virtual 90 minutes)
MODULE 5: Tactical To-do List for the Entrepreneur (Virtual 90 minutes)
Genesis and RESI Converge in London in 2024
Addressing the need for life science companies to be optimally prepared for success through peer-to-peer debate and updates, as well as their need to explore all avenues of fund-raising and corporate deals, One Nucleus is delighted to be collaborating with LSN to bring their respective conferences, Genesis and RESI London into partnership on 4 December this year.
Delivered in neighbouring buildings in London’s renowned West End, delegates can choose between either conference or secure a reciprocal discount to attend both.
Key highlights of the co-located conferences include:
- A diverse mix of high-content keynote presentations and expert panels addressing cutting-edge industry topics.
- A dedicated RESI interactive partnering, offering both in-person and virtual days that match startups based on the stage of development and product with investors and licensing partners that are the right fit.
- A dedicated Genesis 2024 Conference App where information is shared, connections are made and is the route to access 1-2-1 Genesis partnering, programme, sponsor, and exhibitor details.
- Extensive networking opportunities with over 500 industry delegates expected to attend these events, making this one of Europe's largest life science investor meetings in 2024.
- Genesis Fringe events offer deeper technical and business insights and enhanced in-person networking.
An Exhibition providing a dynamic forum for dialogue and visibility among partners and customers.
20 Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) slots available. The IPC allows early-stage life science and healthcare companies to engage more with conference attendees and pitch directly to a panel of active investors and industry experts. Applications to apply are open until Friday 25 October.
Beyond Boston:
Watch this space for One Nucleus updates and engagement with significant clusters beyond Boston. Recent meetings have included:
Lunch Roundtable with Secretary of Commerce for North Carolina, July 2024, Cambridge
It was a pleasure to host the lunch discussion with Machelle Baker-Sanders and their team to explore the complementarity, opportunities, and support available to our members for working with, or even in, North Carolina. On the heels of the recent webinar entitled ‘USA Bio Invest’, which saw experts introduce the Life Science clusters of North Carolina and Minnesota, it was an engaging discussion with member companies on topics ranging from Advanced Therapy R&D, hospital access for data and those developing novel diagnostics, employment and skills, venture capital investment, and the ease of doing business. Plenty for our leaders to compare and contrast with, eg. Boston as they seek to develop overseas growth plans.
Breakfast Seminar at BIO Convention: Scaling Growth in the US – A Primer for non-US-based Life Sciences Companies – June 2024, San Diego
Hosted by Mintz and Mills & Reeve the panellists at the session debated at some length the current trends around the capital markets and the pros and cons of going for an IPO or reverse merger, along with a plethora of tips for those companies seeking to access later-stage investment deals, perhaps with aspirations to float on Nasdaq in the future.
Whilst detailed above are some next steps for our Boston bridge-building, we are conscious that the Life Sciences industry is global. Moreover, if bio-innovation is to fulfil its potential to address unmet medical need across the world, then dealmaking beyond borders that enables collaboration, investment flows and patient access is an essential component. Whilst One Nucleus does not strive to become an international organisation itself, it will continue to identify and work with our peer organisations based elsewhere to highlight global opportunities to our members. Focussing on what we do locally to the best of our ability affords us to maximise the support we can bring to members such that they can be the best versions of themselves and succeed in their global plans.