The event Invitrogen Distinguished Lecture will be held at 6:30 p.m. on  April 11, 2007 at the San Diego Marriott – Del Mar.  The speaker will be Zhu Chen, Ph.D, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.  Dr. Chen has made important discoveries in the molecular foundations of several types of human leukemia and was recently named as one of the coordinators for the Human Genome Project in China. Dr. Chen will speak on “Opportunities and Challenges for Life Science and Biotechnology in China.”

The event IBF’s 18th  Annual Venture Capital Investing Conference will be held on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 through Friday, June 8, 2007 at the Four Seasons Hotel , 75 Market Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103. 

The event 2007 Dean’s Symposium: Exploring Proteins will be held on Friday, April 6, 2007 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at UCSD Mandel Weiss Theatre.  The event will cover the following topics: protein folding and function; protein assemblies and machines; and proteins within cells.

The event 11th Annual Life Science Live – At the Opera will be held Wednesday, April 4, 2007 at 6:15 p.m. at the San Diego Civic Theatre and Golden Hall.  The event will provide networking with members of the life sciences community and an evening of opera.

The event French-American Biotech Connection will be held Wednesday, April 4, 2007 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.  The event will compare two successful approaches to fostering innovation in the life sciences.  The speakers will include as follows:

• François Ferré Ph.D., CEO, Althea Technologies, Member, Tech Coast Angel
• Luc Rousseau, Vice-Minister of Industry, General Directorate for French Enterprises
• Professeur Fabien Calvo Ph.D., Chairman, Hospital Saint Louis, Medicen bio-cluster
• Antoine Cournot, President EUCROF (European CRO Federation) and CEO, Therapharm
• Dr Catherine Lassale, MD, Scientific, Pharmaceutical and Medical Affairs Director, Leem
• Patrick Seroin, Attorney at Law, Fidal
• Jacques Warcoin, European Patent Attorney; European Trademark and Design Attorney, Cabinet Regimbeau.

The event Licensing: When, What, Where & How will be held on April 3, 2007 from 7:30-11:30 a.m. at Theatre at Office Pavilion, 6920 Carrol Road, San Diego, CA 92121, and will address turning intellectual property assets into cash. 

The event Licensing: When, What, Where & How will be held on April 3, 2007 from 7:30-11:30 a.m. at Theatre at Office Pavilion, 6920 Carrol Road, San Diego, CA 92121, and will address turning intellectual property assets into cash. 

On April 3, 2007, BIOCOM will hold a legislative roundtable with Congressman Bob Filner.  To RSVP or for more information about this event, please contact Faith Picking at fpicking@biocom.org.

I had the opportunity last night to represent the California Biotech Law Blog at the Bay Area Blawgers Event, where I met many of the Bay Area’s most prominent blawgers.  Law Professor Eric Goldman at Santa Clara University organized the event, which was attended by more than forty-five blawgers and members of the media, including yours truly. 

It was a great privilege to be in the presence of so many Bay Area blawgers, and to have the opportunity to hear first-hand their thoughts on why they blog, how they dealt with the challenges they have encountered in blogging, and the role we are all playing in developing the law today.

The event was such a success that there are already plans in the works for a second Bay Area Blawgers Event later this year. 

While the focus of the California Biotech Law Blog has always been very targeted on the subject of California biotech law, this event gave me occasion to step back and look at this blog as part of a larger community of blawgs.  We have some very impressive company.

What thoughts did I take away from this event, which are relevant to you as readers of this Blog?

First, I was struck by the fact that the audience of this Blog is very different from the audience of many of my blawger colleagues.  The scope of this Blog crosses over a variety of professions and skillsets, all of which share an interest in the very specialized area of biotech law.  This was in sharp contrast with the audience of many of my colleagues’ blawgs.

Second, due to the nature of this Blog, we have not run into some of the challenges that many of my colleagues have encountered.  This is in large part because we’ve not yet created the same level of controversy with this Blog. is this good or bad?  I am not sure–perhaps it is the nature of our subject matter.  Or our audience.  Certainly, we in the industry have our opinions on the issues, but it may be that we just do not voice them as strongly in this Blog setting as others do. Perhaps this will change down the road.

Third, the tone this Blog has taken to date has been more educational in nature than pushing a particular perspective or agenda.  This was in contrast to some of the other blawgs represented at the event. 

My final thoughts on this issue: this Blog is still a young blawg and I know that this event and the greater awareness of the larger blawgging community will impact in some way its development.  I thank everyone who participated yesterday for giving me the opportunity to develop a better understanding or this Blog’s role in the greater Bay Area blawg community.  I am confident that this will work to the benefit of the California Biotech Law Blog, both in its short-term and long-term development.

Which five biotech companies should industry followers be watching today?

BusinessWeek.com ran a column today written by Eric Halperin, where he identified five of the most promising biotech companies to watch.

Which companies made his list?

1. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

2.  Affymax

3.  Jazz Pharmaceuticals

4.  Altus Pharmaceuticals

5.   Trubion Pharmaceuticals

How did Halperin decide on this list?

In the case of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Halperin wrote:

In October, pharma giant Merck agreed to buy Sirna for $1.1 billion, a staggering sum for a company very early in the drug development process. The reason? Sirna is one of only a few companies developing drugs based on RNA interference, a technology for which scientists won the Nobel Prize, that involves blocking gene expression.

Alnylam is another. The company has only initiated an early-stage safety trial for its lead product candidate, a treatment for respiratory syncytial virus, but RNAi could be the bigger asset. . . .

What about Affymax?  Halperin wrote:

The company priced above its range in December and has a market valuation of almost $500 million. So why does this loss-making company appeal so much to a few investors? Among other factors, the company received funding from big-name venture capitalists like MPM Capital and Bear Stearns Health Innoventures.

Another is potential sales. The company’s hopes rest on Hematide, an erythropoiesis stimulating agent designed to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease and for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Anemia-fighting drugs are blockbuster sellers—generally defined as more than $1 billion-plus in annual sales—for Johnson & Johnson and Amgen. And Affymax believes Hematide could be longer acting and cause fewer side effects than the existing products. The drug is in several mid-stage trials.

While Halperin is a little vague on his reasons for selecting Jazz Pharmaceuticals, he is a bit more definitive regarding Altus Pharmaceuticals, stating:

Cowen has an outperform rating on the stock. The firm likes Altus’ business model of modifying drugs to treat rare diseases . . . .

As for Trubrion Pharmaceuticals, Halperin stated:

Seattle-based Trubion develops drugs designed to bind to targets on cell surfaces. The lead product candidate, now in mid-stage trials, aims to treat rheumatoid arthritis, a market with blockbuster potential. The company believes it may also have use in treating lupus, though it has not yet begun clinical trials aimed at the disease.

Trubion carries all the usual biotech risks, but investors have warmed to the company anyway. The stock is up more than 50% since its October IPO. . . .

Even though as a lawyer, I focus less on which companies are likely to become the best investments than I do on whether or not the companies will prove to be good clients or how they are impacting the law, I think it is always useful to know what is being said in the investment world about a particular company.  It will be interesting to see how his picks do over the next few years. 

From my perspective, however, given all of the innovation coming out of the biotech industry and all of the emerging biotech start-up companies, I think that it is impossible to narrow down the list of young stars in the industry to five players.  I can only imagine that time will show that Mr. Halperin has omitted many of the biotech companies from his list who will ultimately prove to have been terrific investments.  Some of those could very well prove to be even better investments than the companies on his list.