9 Policy Wins For Biocom Member Services: Responding to 13 Your Needs LifeLines 18 STEM is the New Trend For the Southern California Life Science Community The Forces Shaping Our Future VOLUME 24, ISSUE 3 Fall 2015 ONE TEAM. ONE FOCUS. www.sdlifesciences.com LILLY DEXCOM, INC. ALTHEADX 300,000 SF Tenant Representation 218,000 SF Tenant Representation 70,000 SF Tenant Representation BRENT JACOBS [email protected] TENANT REP CA License No. 791657 GREG BISCONTI [email protected] FOR THE CA License No. 1167920 TED JACOBS LIFE SCIENCES [email protected] CA License No. 1855220 INDUSTRY. (858) 452-6500 ARCTURUS THERAPEUTICS SYNTHETIC GENOMICS BIOCOM 10,000 SF Tenant Representation 75,000 SF Tenant Representation 10,900 SF Tenant Representation CUBIST GENOMATICA VERENIUM / BASF 45,000 SF Sublease Disposition 70,000 SF Tenant Representation 60,000 SF Tenant Representation WELCOME IN THIS ISSUE By Joe Panetta, 2 Cover Story: Five Undeniable Forces Shaping Our President and CEO, Biocom Life Science Future 9 Public Policy : Policy Wins For Biocom 10 Guest : An Intern’s Lens into the FDA WELCOME TO LIFELINES 12 Events: Biocom Launches New Speaker Series Welcome to the fall 2015 edition of LifeLines and our continuing 20th anniversary 13 Membership: Member Services: Responding to celebration of Biocom, California’s longest established life science association. Your Needs With more than 700 members supporting the life science community, I am proud to 14 Guest: Evaluating our Health Insurance Trust report that we are providing unsurpassed programs: robust advocacy at every level of 17 Biocom Institute: Never Stop Learning government; tremendous member services, including the Biocom Purchasing Group; 18 Science Festival: STEM is the New Trend and outstanding partnering opportunities. In addition, through our relationships 20 Members in Action: Biocom Events with associations in Europe, Australia and Asia, we are raising capital for Southern 25 Purchasing Group: Member Driven Evolution California. 26 Premium Member Spotlights: As we have welcomed throngs of members to our new state-of-the art-facilities on BioMed Realty, Bridge Bank, Dowling & Yahnke, Torrey Pines Mesa, we appreciate the “Ecosystem of Innovation” that exemplifies this VWR, Biocom region. I wish to personally thank all of our members – companies, research institutes, 30 Biocom Board and Committees the service sector and academia – who have so warmly welcomed us to the Torrey Pines 31 Biocom Membership Mesa. We have spent much of this anniversary year reflecting on the past: celebrating the successes, large and small, that have helped grow the Southern California life science industry into the powerhouse it is today. But in this LifeLines we are taking a decidedly forward-looking approach, asking the question: What are the forces shaping our future? We know from experience that it’s impossible to predict specifics. For example, if EDITOR: Jennifer Landress you had asked me that question in 1995, I could never have forecast the immense role genomics would play throughout the life science industry. The first human genome COPY EDITOR: Josh Baxt sequence was still years from completion. DESIGN & LAYOUT: Arlene Arreola It’s also unlikely I could have foreseen the level of innovation this region would produce in two short decades. Some of San Diego’s most groundbreaking therapeutics VOLUME 24, ISSUE 3 such as Rituxan, Viracept and Byetta had not yet been commercialized. Influential San Diego companies, such as Illumina, Nuvasive and Dexcom, had not even been founded yet. Still, while it is difficult to guess what the next 20 years will bring, we can (and do) think hard about which factors will make us stronger and better-equipped to be the global life science leader. Biocom is addressing these forces on many fronts: from having a competitive talent pool to accessing capital. Through these measures, our prowess will continue to expand in genetic sequencing, big data, manufacturing, Biocom, a member driven telemedicine and other areas. This industry is changing our world dramatically. We’ve organization, is here to assist never been more excited to see what the future will bring. life science companies like Our advocacy initiatives continue to influence policy decisions on the local, state yours to fulfill your most and federal levels. Biocom’s board believes these efforts are best served through ambitious goals. We can regional association representation in partnership with our sister associations at the help your company with saving money, advocacy, regional and federal levels. In this issue, you will learn how we have been working hard increased visibility, networking to create more opportunity for life science investment through the State of California, opportunities, capital and continuing our efforts to partner with legislative leaders, such as Congressman development and workforce Continued Pg 8 development. WWW.BIOCOM.ORG Biocom LifeLines Fall 2015 1 COVER STORY By Kelly Quigley, Canale Communications Five Undeniable Forces Shaping Our Life Science Future From new venture funding strategies to the next generation of CEOs, here are some of the biggest factors shaping the regional life science industry in years ahead. As Biocom closes out its 20th year with a bang, many of us are parts of the life science sector today. left pondering: What will Southern California’s life science industry But that’s not to say the industry’s success is surprising. Going look like in another two decades? back to its earliest years, Biocom anticipated the key elements What regional life science company will be capturing national that would be needed to create an environment ripe for innovation. headlines with its breakthrough technology? What will be the next For example, a life science cluster of this size simply can’t thrive blockbuster drug or life-changing medical device to emerge from without healthy government support, a rich academic infrastructure our ranks? and a diverse ecosystem of service providers. Biocom has devoted Interesting thoughts, to be sure. But given that innovation is much of its energy to ensuring that these and other essential inherently unpredictable, is it even possible to foresee the twists pieces are firmly in place. and turns that will shape the industry in the years leading to 2035? As Biocom enters its third decade of growth, we take a look If the past is any indication, the answer is probably no. at the factors shaping the sector’s evolution in the years ahead. Since its modest beginnings in the late 1970s, the Southern Although these innovations might not yet be apparent, the forces California life science industry has grown in unexpected and that will lead to their creation are already here. remarkable ways—to the point where it’s now generating a hefty $76 billion in economic activity each year. ONE Even in 1995, when Biocom was founded, it’s highly unlikely Money, money, money that anyone could have predicted the explosive growth in genomics, Let’s face it. Innovation is expensive. Capital—and lots of it— mobile health and synthetic biology, which have become critical is needed to fund research, development and commercialization 2 Biocom LifeLines Fall 2015 COVER STORY for groundbreaking life science products. If companies can’t get handling information-intensive computing for the national research money, they can’t change the world. community, explains Wayne Pfeiffer, the center’s co-founder and “As an industry, we’ve come to better understand molecular bioinformatics lead. biology and genomics, which produces even better healthcare Among the center’s many ambitious projects is the Cancer innovations,” says Carol Gallagher, Pharm.D., partner at venture Cell Map Initiative, which seeks to determine how all cancer cell capital firm New Enterprise Associates. “But even as we gain components interact. The initiative will provide infrastructure for more knowledge, I don’t think the capital intensity is ever going to the alliance between UC San Diego Health Sciences and San decrease. That’s the challenge. To continue to create innovation, Diego-based Human Longevity, which plans to generate thousands we need capital from a variety of sources—a full ecosystem of of tumor genomes from UC San Diego cancer patients. public investors, grant money and venture capital.” While the demand for such data-based healthcare applications So what’s the secret to keeping this ecosystem going? Is there a seems limitless today, things were much different when the center magic business model that will grab investors’ attention in the years started in 1985. “Our work was mainly in the physical sciences— ahead? Gallagher thinks not: “It always goes back to better therapies. chemistry, physics, astronomy,” Pfeiffer says. “Biologists were Sometimes not dealing with data at this level. And certainly not healthcare companies get professionals.” “I DON’T THINK THE CAPITAL overly focused Today, genomic data is shaping nearly every facet of life INTENSITY IS EVER GOING on how cool the sciences, from the development of new diagnostics to personalized science is and medicines. “The larger and larger the databases become, the more TO DECREASE. THAT’S THE forget about what useful they are,” Pfeiffer says. With more data, it’s easier to spot CHALLENGE.” they’re doing for patterns and make connections between biomarkers and disease. the patient.” San Diego companies, including Illumina and Edico Genome, Equally as are spearheading efforts to standardize the way genomic data is important, life science companies must communicate how their recorded and shared to maximize clinical utility. products fit into the existing healthcare system. If you have to However, from a data perspective, storing every person’s change how the system works, it’s going to be a harder sell. complete genomic profile isn’t realistic, Pfeiffer notes. Once full- Looking ahead, Gallagher wonders whether the relatively recent genome sequencing goes mainstream, it’s likely that only variants “cross-over” investing craze will stick around for the long term.