You Are Invited to BioMed Innovation Night in Sacramento, Feb. 1
Registration is now open to attend the inaugural BioMed Innovation Night, Tuesday, Feb. 1, at the Library Galleria in Sacramento. We will unveil the CHI/BayBio/PricewaterhouseCoopers 2011 California Biomedical Industry Report, and guests will mingle with legislators, their staffs and industry executives. At the reception, industry and research and education partners will showcase interactive displays of their biomedical innovations. The reception will be followed by a dinner featuring keynote speaker, Dr. Francine Kaufman, author of "Diabesity: The Obesity-Diabetes Epidemic That Threatens America—And What We Must Do to Stop It." Our biomedical industry report presents an overview of employment trends, wages, product development pipeline, opportunities and risks for the industry in California, home to the largest concentration of biomedical companies in the world. To register for the event, click here. CHI gratefully acknowledges its platinum sponsors Allergan, Amgen, Bayer HealthCare, Boston Scientific, Genentech, Gen-Probe, Gilead, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer and the University of California; gold sponsors Baxter, BD, Edwards Lifesciences, MedImmune, Novo Nordisk and Thermo Fisher Scientific; non-profit research and educational sponsors Cedars-Sinai and the City of Hope; and our event partners BayBio and PricewaterhouseCoopers. For more information on the event, please contact Inga Intriago, CHI's marketing coordinator (Intriago@chi.org, 858-456-8890).

CHI Welcomes New Member: The Willis Group

The Willis Group is a leading global insurance broker. Through its subsidiaries, Willis develops and delivers professional insurance, reinsurance, risk management, financial and human resource consulting and actuarial services to corporations, public entities and institutions around the world. Willis has more than 400 offices in nearly 120 countries, with a global team of approximately 17,000 associates serving clients in virtually every part of the world.

The Willis Life Sciences Practice is a national resource that provides expert assistance with pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device business to Willis offices in North America and the Willis International network offices. Focused on the insurance and risk management needs that are unique to the industry, the LS Practice works with over 400 clients including:

• Fortune 500 pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers
• Biotechnology industry leaders
• Contract research and manufacturing firms
• Some of the premier research institutes in the United States

David Fuhrman

As managing partner of Willis Southern California, Fuhrman leads Willis operations in L.A., Orange and Riverside Counties. Fuhrman has spent most of his 25-year insurance career as a leader of Insurance Brokerage operations at Johnson & Higgins, Marsh and then Willis in 2005.

Jack Yelverton

Yelverton is the managing partner of Willis San Diego. Prior to joining Willis, Yelverton spent 12 years at Marsh leading the D&O, Client Management practice and Business Development practices, as well as the West Region Industry Practices group. His primary technical strengths are in the Directors and Officers liability, and complex Property & Casualty areas.Yelverton's industry expertise lies in the life sciences and technology industries.

David Shuey

Shuey serves as executive vice president and North America practice leader for Life Sciences. With 18 years of hands-on experience in all life science industry sub-sectors, his clients range from early stage R&D companies to large pharmaceutical firms. Shuey has expertise in therapeutics, medical device, generics, nutraceuticals, consumer products, contract research organizations, laboratories and contract manufacturing. His focus is on casualty lines, particularly product liability and international human clinical trials.

Innovation in Action
CHI has rounded up the latest news from our members. If your organization has news you want featured on our website and in our publications, contact our editor, Heather Chambers, (Chambers@chi.org or 858-456-8885).

Affymax Inc. has named John Orwin, the company's president, to succeed Arlene Morris as chief executive officer effective Feb. 1. Morris, who joined Affymax in June 2003, will remain a consultant to the drug developer until September.

CHI member Genomic Health said recently that it plans to launch an experimental prostate cancer test a year ahead of schedule. In light of positive data from a large gene identification study, the company now plans to introduce the test globally in 2013. Full results of the study, conducted with research partners from the Cleveland Clinic, are due out next month.

Bayer, which last year announced it was moving into San Francisco's Mission Bay district, struck a 10-year master research and development agreement with UC San Francisco. The move establishes basic terms for the German pharmaceutical company to collaborate with the university on research projects, outlining principles of who owns the intellectual property, and how discoveries can get published in scientific journals.

CHI member Eli Lilly and Co. said Feb. 10 that it struck a deal with German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim to develop diabetes treatments. Lilly will pay Boehringer Ingelheim $387.4 million as part of a joint bid to develop and sell up to five drugs. The companies will share equally in the revenues from any approved drugs.

CHI member Illumina this week announced the launch of a smaller, more affordable next-generation sequencing machine, pushing new boundaries for the future of personalized medicine. The MiSeq will cost $125,000 and will provide some competition for the newly released Personal Genome Machine from Ion Torrent. The so-called “gene machine” can sequence 250 million bases in eight hours.

CHI Blog Features Leland Wilson, Vivus CEO
The newest CHI Blog features Vivus CEO Leland Wilson, who shares an update on the company's FDA submission of weight loss drug Qnexa and its goals for the coming year. Vivus is among a small handful of companies vying for FDA approval of the first prescription weight loss drug in over a decade. Wilson says he's optimistic for approval, and looks forward to advancing the drug candidate for other indications such as sleep apnea.

Click here to read the CHI Blog interview.

What's Your New Year's Resolution?
It's a New Year, and while you may be mulling over your resolutions, here's one to consider: Becoming more active in CHI! Consider signing up for a committee, providing feedback on your membership experience, attending an upcoming event, joining the online community or encouraging a colleague to join. Become a fan of CHI on Facebook, join our LinkedIn group and become a follower of CHI's Blog. This is a great opportunity to network with colleagues and to stay up to date with issues and topics that impact the biomedical industry. If you have questions about getting more involved, please contact Molly Ingraham, CHI's vice president of business development, (Ingraham@chi.org or 858-456-8884) for more information.

SAVE THE DATE: CHI Annual Reception in Washington, D.C., April 6
Join us for cocktails and conversation among public policymakers and California's biomedical industry leaders as CHI hosts its annual reception in Washington, D.C. at the Library of Congress-James Madison Memorial Building. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Molly Ingraham, vice president of business development, (Ingraham@chi.org or 858-456-8884.)

SAVE THE DATE: CHI's Evening with Thought Leaders in San Diego, Aug. 4
Join CHI for its annual "An Evening with Thought Leaders" event Aug. 4 in San Diego, which brings together hundreds of leaders from California's biotechnology industry, academic research community, entrepreneurs, investors, healthcare providers, policy experts and patient advocates. Last year's event featured keynote speaker Dr. Arnold Milstein, director of Stanford's Clinical Excellence Research Center, who discussed the importance of biomedical innovation. Past speakers have included Dr. Charles Edwards, former director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, past president and CEO of Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, as well as the former president and CEO of Scripps Institutes of Medicine and Science; Brook Byers, a well-known venture capitalist; Dr. Richard Murphy of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Salk Institute; Former Secretary of State and Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, George P. Shultz; and Dr. Eric Topol of the West Wireless Institute. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Molly Ingraham, vice president of business development, (Ingraham@chi.org or 858-456-8884.)

SAVE THE DATE: California Healthcare Policy Forum in San Francisco, Nov. 3
Explore how our industry can refine its political agenda to work most effectively with government to sustain California's leadership in medical innovation at the California Healthcare Policy Forum. Keynote and panel presentations will seek to outline and explain the bioscience community's work and needs as they relate to current public policy proposals in Sacramento and Washington D.C. The event will be held in San Francisco at the Julia Morgan Ballroom at the Merchants Exchange. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Molly Ingraham, vice president of business development, (Ingraham@chi.org or 858-456-8884.)

Industry Events: 

Medical Technology Innovation 101 Briefing

Date: Feb. 9, 2011 
Location: 2103 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

Presented by the California Healthcare Institute and LifeScience Alley in collaboration with the House Medical Technology Caucus.

You are invited to learn about the importance of the innovative medical device industry to the United States—how it improves patient care, creates jobs and supports economic competitiveness—along with current challenges and opportunities to the sector's continued vibrancy. This program will include an overview of medical technology in California and Minnesota with a panel discussing medical technology innovation today. There will be time for Q&A before concluding. For more information, contact Caitlin Doyle (Doyle@chi.org) or Frank Jaskulke (Fjaskulke@lifesciencealley.org).

California Biotech CEO Conference
Date: March 30, 2011
Location: Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF 1675 Owens Street, Suite 251, San Francisco, Calif.
The California Biotech CEO Conference is a unique forum that brings together the past, present and future leaders in the California life sciences community to network, exchange ideas and share insights into the industry's challenges and opportunities. The California Biotech CEO Conference is a highly interactive and customized event intended to meet the needs of its audience for networking and deal making, offering access to some of the brightest minds in the industry. This will be a working 2/3 day meeting organized exclusively by CEOs and for CEOs. During this conference, we will share ideas and tackle the issues critical for thriving in today's tough economic and regulatory environment. We will focus on sharing success stories and helping each other overcome obstacles, whether they be local, state, federal or global. CHI CEO David Gollaher, Ph.D., will participate in a panel discussion about the state of California's biotech clusters. The conference concludes with a closed executive session where we can openly discuss these issues just among California biotech CEOs.

Registration for this event is open to CEOs of life sciences companies only.

To register, please send your request to registration@CalBiotechCEO.com.

Click here to download the registration form and for more detailed information on the California Biotech CEO Conference.