North Carolina biotech companies, meet the investors. Investors, welcome to North Carolina’s Research Triangle, a bastion of basketball, barbecue and biotech.
Entrepreneurial group CED, formerly known as the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, is hosting its annual biotechnology conference in Raleigh on Feb. 21 and 22. The event is now in its 20th year but this year, the Biotech/Life Science Conference will take on a different feel with more panels and events focused on investments, deals and exits as well as partnerships between small drug development companies and large pharmaceutical firms.
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Last year’s Biotech Conference drew an estimated 1,200 attendees. Organizers expect attendance this year to be the same or higher. So far, 65 venture capital funds have confirmed they will attend the conference, many of them from outside the region.
The conference’s new emphasis on investing, partnering and exits comes as the market for dealmaking improves, said Dhruv Patel, CED’s senior program manager for life sciences. For example, CED has brought back a panel focusing on exit opportunities where CEOs, investors and small companies can give their perspectives on the deals they’ve reached. The last time the conference had a panel discussing exits was in 2006, when conditions were better for dealmaking.
“Now that the market seems to be improving, the IPO window is open and pharmas seem to be interested in acquiring,” Patel said. “The timing seems to be right.”
Attorney Jason Wood of Wyrick Robbins in Raleigh focuses on licensing and corporate partnerships, particularly in the life science space. Wood, who is moderating a panel on negotiating and managing strategic alliances, said that dealmaking has always been a component of the conference. But he said that there is more interest now because big pharmaceutical companies have a growing appetite for new products. Those products can come from the earlier stage companies. But just because the opportunities are there doesn’t mean the dealmaking is any easier for small companies. He describes today’s environment as a “buyer’s market.”
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“There’s more appetitite, there’s more deals,” he said. “The terms, however, have gotten tougher.”
The event, which for years was called the Biotech Conference, is changing in other ways. The conference this year is called the Biotech/Life Science Conference. Next year it will just be called the Life Science Conference. Patel said the name change better reflects the broad spectrum of drug development and medical technology companies representing North Carolina, particularly around Research Triangle Park.
With the added emphasis on investor participation in the Biotech/Life Science Conference, CED is also making changes to its annual Venture Conference, traditionally held in the spring. From this year on, the Venture Conference will focus specifically on technology companies, such as those working in software or semiconductors. The Life Science Conference will remain focused on pharmaceuticals and medical technology while also taking on the investor component that the Venture Conference offered. Patel said having an investment component at each event improves the opportunities for North Carolina companies to get in front of investors interested in their industry. If 50 out-of-state funds visit North Carolina for the Life Science Conference, it’s less likely they’ll return in two months for the separate Venture Conference, Patel said.
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