2008 Conference and Awards Celebration

The first of its kind in the Philadelphia region, bench2BUSINESS 2008 succeeded in being informative, inspiring and informational.  Highlights of the day-long conference included the following:

  • Ted Love, M.D., a pioneering biotech entrepreneur and Chairman and CEO of Nuvelo, Inc., inspired everyone with the story of his path to the executive suite, focusing on the challenges and rewards.
  • Yvonne Greenstreet, M.D., Senior V-P of GlaxoSmithKline, gave an insider’s view of the changes within the pharmaceutical industry and what these changes mean for biotech ventures.
  • Dr. Stephen S. Tang, President & CEO of the Science Center, lead a discussion with scientists who became entrepreneurs.  The scientists addressed some of the myths about entrepreneurship and each told the audience about their personal reasons for starting or joining a bioscience venture.
  • Conference participants were engrossed in a challenging case study lead by Dr. Christopher Damm from BioAdvance.  The case focused on a university-based scientist who makes an important discovery.  Should he publish it or patent it?  Can a scientist be an academic and a CEO? Technology transfer executives, intellectual property lawyers, angel investors and venture capitalists provided their perspectives, as did participants.

On the Sunday evening following the conference, conference attendees and others were invited to a special awards celebration, where two scientists of color, who exemplify the path from bench to business, were honored.  Bruce K. Redding, Jr., President & CEO of Encapsulation Systems, Inc., received the 2008 bench2BUSINESS BioInnovation award for his work in non-invasive drug delivery technology.  Clarence L. Young, M.D., Vice-President, Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer of Protez Pharmaceuticals, received the 2008 bench2BUSINESS Leadership award for his role in leading product development activities for a novel antibiotic for the treatment of infections due to multi-resistant organisms in hospitalized patients. 

Reminding everyone why science is so critical to humanity, Dr. Bradley Sheares concluded bench2BUSINESS with the story of how researchers discovered the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and how they brought the first HIV drugs to market.

To learn more about the conference and awards ceremony, click on the following links, which will take you back to the 2008 website.