Life sciences forum provides opportunities for entrepreneurs

Companies and research institutions consistently facing challenges commercializing their bioscience inventions will find potential solutions at the Sixth Annual Commercializing Life Sciences Forum on March 25, 2010, at ASU SkySong.

The theme of this year’s forum, presented by ASU Technopolis and Jennings Strouss & Salmon, PLC, is “Accelerating a Concept into a Bioscience Company.”

The event’s panelists and speakers will lean on their many years of experience and success to offer specific advice and information to attendees, according to panelist Charlie Lewis, vice president of Venture Development for Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTE).

“Life science entrepreneurs face many obstacles in getting their discoveries to market,” says Lewis, who has helped launch and accelerate several companies. “A forum such as this provides relevant information, advice and strategies that can be put directly into action to help overcome these obstacles.”

The forum runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and includes three panel sessions as well as a luncheon featuring keynote speaker Patricia Beckmann, executive director of the Oregon Translational Research and Drug Development Institute. Dr. Beckmann is a research scientist who has also launched a bioscience company herself and worked to accelerate many others.

The panel discussions will cover a wide range of topics from structural challenges in the formative stages of a bioscience start-up, to legal issues to consider when creating a new company, to pursuing non-traditional capital sources.

The Commercializing Life Sciences Forum is also sponsored by the Arizona BioIndustry Association, Arizona Department of Commerce, AzTE, Enable Ventures, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale IDA, and numerous other Arizona life science and economic development organizations. Registration is $140, which includes lunch and all sessions, and is available here.