Heavy hitters in business development arriving

Headlining the 2012 AusBiotech Business Development Workshop and Forum (BD Forum) is international “guerrilla entrepreneur,” Jason Avery, owner of Rockpool Enterprises (Cambridge), an investment house he founded.

Jason is arriving from the UK to share his views and predictions on the fast-growing and topical arena of global antibody deal-making, including the changing face and trends in deal architecture, based on his eight years experience as Chief Business Officer at Cambridge Antibody Technology, which led the international trend in therapeutic antibody deal structures.

Jason is a highly experienced general manager & business development executive specialising in the biotechnology sector. His projects are mainly in the UK, Europe and the USA, but he operates globally. He is an expert negotiator, with sharp intelligence, valued as a strategic thinker, has creativity, energy and an entrepreneurial flair.

Jason has extensive experience of working inside complex organisations, having been with Ernst & Young for 11 years as Director Corporate Finance & Management Consultancy.

The BD Forum will be held on 15 – 16 March at the Radisson Resort Gold Coast, Queensland and feature the who’s who of business development.

Ms Kathy Connell, Business Development Manager at Janssen-Cilag Pty Ltd, will present on successful pharma-academia partnerships, drawing from the experience of the Janssen-Cilag & Dendright, which is wholly-owned by UniQuest, the University of Queensland’s research commercialisation company. The agreement is to develop a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and possible applications for other autoimmune diseases, including type-1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

Dr Fred Davis, Vice President of Business Development, Universal Biosensors Inc will give his insights into creating and managing global partnerships. The medical diagnostics company’s first product is a blood glucose monitoring device that is being commercialised globally by a Johnson & Johnson Company.

The 2012 national event is proudly supported by IMBCom and UniQuest and will offer high-quality plenary sessions. It will address the specific demands of business development, marketing, negotiating and commercialisation in the context of significant industry changes globally.

Early bird closes 23 February. For more information visit: www.ausbiotechbd.com.au