The 2006 BIO InvestorForum will be held on October 18-19, 2006 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, CA. The event will feature select company presentations, dynamic panel discussions and keynote talks on clinical strategy and product development along with insights on exciting new therapies and investment opportunities on the horizon. The general registration cost for BIO members is $1095 before 10/4/2006 and $1395 after 10/4/2006, and the cost for non-BIO members is $1595 before 10/4/2006 and $1895 after 10/4/2006.

The workshop QPCR Hands-on Training Program will take place from October 18-20, 2006 at 552 Del Rey Avenue, in Sunnyvale, CA. The qPCR technique is widely used for gene expression analysis in biomedical research and pharmaceutical development helping the detection of nucleic acids with precision. Genome sequencing offers new possibilities to diagnose diseases and detect pathogens in biological samples such that the molecular diagnostics field is growing fast.

The event Strategies for Rapid Development of Pharmaceutical Formulations will take place on October 18, 2006 at 6 p.m. at The Clarion Hotel, 401 East Millbrae Ave, Millbrae, CA. The discussion involves recent approaches for streamlining formulation development for Phase I FDA submission of small molecule drug candidates. Using case studies, formulation strategies for several therapeutic areas, including rheumatoid arthritis, obesity, and cancer will be described. The speaker is Jeffrey Bibbs, CEO, CSO and Co-Founder, Pharmatek.

The event Managing Growth while Maintaining Quality, sponsored by the San Diego MIT Enterprise Forum, will take place on October 18, 2006 from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the Salk Institute in San Diego, CA. The CEO of eStudySite will discuss how the software-based protocol to qualify emergency room patients for clinical studies, shortens the time required to enroll patients into a clinical study and can optimize the time it takes to complete studies.

The event the Third Biennial UCSD Innovators’ Showcase will take place on October 17, 2006 from 6 P.M. to 9 P.M. at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps, 2300 Expedition Way, in La Jolla, CA. The showcase features exhibits of licensed UCSD technologies, industry licensees, and exhibits from the Division of Arts & Humanities. For more information, call 858-822-1053.

The breakfast discussion Talent Retention Strategies That Work: Industry Success Stories will take place October 17, 2006 from 7:00 a.m. -9:00 a.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, 6450 Carlsbad Blvd. in Carlsbad, CA. San Diego Life Science executives discuss the importance of finding and keeping good talent while establishing a corporate culture that can lead to the growth of an industry.

The BIOCOM breakfast event, Talent Retention Strategies That Work: Industry Success Stories, will take place on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 7:00 AM – 9:00 AM in a location to be determined in San Diego (North County). The speakers will include Greg Lucier, President & CEO, Invitrogen Corporation; David Broad, VP and GM, Oceanside Product Operations, Genentech; and Rich Ranieri, Sr. VP Human Resources, Neurocrine Biosciences.

BayBio’s Meet Your Candidate will be held on October 16th from 12:00-1:00 p.m. at FivePrime Therapeutics, 1650 Owens Street Suite 200, in San Francisco, CA. This program will provide an opportunity to meet with a Bay Area freshman candidate for the California State Assembly, Fiona Ma, and to discuss important policy issues that will have a tremendous impact on life sciences companies as they work to navigate a difficult regulatory environment, secure capital, and struggle to find qualified employees for a rapidly growing workforce. To participate the meeting, RSVP to cdraper@baybio.org at least 24hrs before each event.

The event CBA Annual Conference: Future of Biotechnology: Convergence of Biology and Engineering will take place on Saturday, October 14th from 1 to 6 p.m. at Stanford University, Clark Center Auditorium. The event is free for Chinese Bioscience Association and Chinese Institute of Engineers members, and general registration is $20.00. The speakers will include: Nancy Chang, PhD Chairman of Board, Tanox; Patrick Y. Yang, PhD Executive Vice President, Genentech; Jinlong Chen, PhD Vice President of Biology, Amgen; Ken Fong, PhD VC, founder of Clontech; and Andrea Chow, PhD Vice President, R&D Microfluidics, Caliper Life Sciences.

The event the SABPA Orange County/Los Angeles Life Sciences Conference will take place on October 14, 2006 from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology Building (“CalIT2”) at UC Irvine, in Irvine, CA. This premiere annual event is for entrepreneurs, scientists, industry executives, investors and policy makers in the biomedical industry in Southern California and Pacific Asia. However, all interested individuals are invited. For more information, contact Michael.Reed@bipc.com or 858 509 7318.