Keynote Speaker Announced for 'Take this Pill and Tweet Me in the Morning'

CHI is pleased to announce our keynote speaker, Dr. Eric Topol, for "Take This Pill and Tweet me in the Morning: How Advances in Social Media and Mobile Health are Creating Consumer-centric Healthcare." The event, to be held Aug. 4 in San Diego, will bring together hundreds of leaders from California's biotechnology industry and academic research community, along with entrepreneurs, investors, healthcare providers, policy experts and patient advocates. Advances in social media and mobile health technologies are giving consumers more control than ever over their health and healthcare. The pharmaceutical and life sciences industries have taken note, working to understand how consumer-centric healthcare will affect their markets, and exploring how they can effectively use social media and "mHealth" tools and services. But there are significant policy and economic questions associated with consumer-centric healthcare. These include:

• Regulatory oversight: How should mHealth tools and social media be regulated and who should regulate them?
• Commercial viability: How can providers be reimbursed for use of mHealth tools?
• Patient privacy and data security: Who owns the data generated by mHealth tools and how can privacy and security be ensured?

Confirmed speakers include:

• David Gollaher, Ph.D., President and CEO, CHI

• NEW! Eric Topol, M.D., Director, Scripps Translational Science Institute; Chief Academic Officer, Scripps Health; Vice Chairman, West Wireless Health Institute

• Matthew Holt, Co-founder, Health 2.0

• Douglas Trauner, CEO, TheCarrot.com

• Ryan Sysko, CEO, WellDoc

• Derek Newell, former CEO of Health Hero Network, a unit of Bosch and maker of Health Buddy

• Jon Linkous, CEO, American Telemedicine Association

• Eve Kurtin, Senior Advisor, Vantage Point Capital Partners

• Deven McGraw, Director of the Health Privacy Project, Center for Democracy and Technology

• NEW! Benjamin Lei, Associate Director, iM eMarketing, Genentech

• NEW! Mark Carlson, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, Research and Clinical Afairs, St. Jude Medical

CHI is encouraging Twitter users to follow us and retweet our event information, with the bonus of receiving $25 off the event registration. The hashtag for the event is #takethispill. Click here for more information.

To reserve a hotel room at the negotiated rate of $219 at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa, contact the hotel directly at (877) 437-8262 by Tuesday, July 5, and provide the CHI group name. For sponsorship opportunities please contact Molly Ingraham, vice president of business development (Ingraham@chi.org or 858-456-8884).

CHI at Annual Biotechnology Industry Organization Meeting
Look for CHI staff at this year's Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) meeting, June 27-30, in Washington, D.C. Molly Ingraham, CHI's vice president of business development, will be video blogging during the event, so if you are interested in being included in CHI's coverage, please contact her at (858) 395-7569 or email Ingraham@chi.org. This year's event includes more than 125 sessions, with more than 1,000 speakers and keynotes by Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister, BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood, former Sen. Tom Daschle and Republican political strategist Karl Rove on the agenda.

CHI CEO Participates in Wilson Sonsini Medical Device Conference 2011
CHI President and CEO David L. Gollaher, Ph.D., spoke at a recent medical device meeting in San Francisco on the importance of clear and consistent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policies that serve as guiding principles in bringing important new medical technologies to the market. The panel, Are FDA Policies Affecting U.S. Competitiveness?, was moderated by Medical Device Manufacturers Association President and CEO Mark Leahey, and also included The Foundry's Chief Technology Officer Mark Deem and Josh Makower, CEO and founder of ExploraMed Development LLC. This year's Medical Device Conference, hosted by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, focused on understanding the challenges facing medical technology start-ups today, and the strategies that are emerging to respond to these challenges. In a series of topical panels presented over the course of a day, participants heard from industry CEOs, venture capitalists, industry strategists, investment bankers and market analysts.

CHI Hosts Biomedical Roundtable with Rep. Kevin McCarthy

Biomedical innovators met recently with Congressman Kevin McCarthy at a roundtable in Foster City, Calif. to discuss the regulatory environment and new advances in treatment and medical technologies. They shared news of breakthrough HIV research, the development of embedded computers and sensors inside proven drugs and devices to monitor real-time patient compliance and response and less invasive heart valve replacement surgeries. The event, hosted by CHI and Gilead Sciences, gave biomedical innovators a chance to talk candidly with the congressman and House Majority Whip.

Read more at the CHI Blog.

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).

Researchers are hot on the trail of new medications that fight cancer by spurring the body's own immune defense, such as CHI member Dendreon Corp.'s recently approved prostate cancer drug Provenge. Unlike most traditional therapies that attack a cancer directly, immunotherapy uses the body's own internal defenses to ward off the disease, with the ultimate hope of building up a long-term resistance to the cancer.

U.S. regulators have approved a genetic test made by a unit of CHI member Roche that more easily identifies candidates for its breast cancer therapy Herceptin. The test, developed by Ventana Medical Systems, identifies certain proteins produced by breast-cancer tumors that are more responsive to treatment with Herceptin.

Recent findings by CHI member The Salk Institute for Biological Studies demonstrate how stem cells found in the smell-sensing region of the human nose appear to help heal brain damage in mice. The cells, called human olfactory ecto-mesenchymal stem cells, could have potential in treating brain disorders in which nerve cells are lost or irreparably damaged.

Scientists with CHI member The Scripps Research Institute have discovered new insights into the blood clot-formation process, which could lead to better drugs for preventing heart attacks and other clot-related conditions. Scripps Research Professor Dr. Wolfram Ruf led the study, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association.

Scientists with CHI member UCSD say they have discovered the genetic mechanism responsible for controlling the production of blood-producing stem cells, also known as hematopoietic stem cells. The findings could lead to the development of stem cell-based therapies for diseases like leukemia and congenital blood disorders.

CHI EVENTS

HILL BRIEFING: CHI to Host Alzheimer's Disease Briefing on Capitol Hill, July 14

CHI and the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ) will host an informational briefing on therapeutic advancements and innovations in Alzheimer's disease. The briefing will take place from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Capitol Visitor's Center, Congressional Meeting Room South. Reps. Linda Sanchez (D-Lakewood) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) will provide welcome remarks. Additional speakers include:

• David L. Gollaher, Ph.D., President & CEO, CHI
• Dean J. Paranicas, President & CEO, HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ)
• Joseph Hammang, Ph.D., Senior Director, Worldwide Science Policy, Pfizer
• Stuart Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Del E. Webb Neuroscience, Aging and Stem Cell Research Center, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute
• Bob Nelson, Ph.D., Research Fellow, Lundbeck Research USA
• Wayne Poon, Ph.D., Director, UCI MIND Brain Bank and Tissue Repository
• Ryan Watts, Ph.D., Associate Director, Neuroscience, Genentech Inc.

According to a 2011 report released by the Alzheimer's Association, an estimated 5.4 million people are living with Alzheimer's disease, and someone develops the disease every 69 seconds. The United States, like many other countries, has an aging population with nearly one in five residents reaching the age of 65 or older by 2030. Additionally, in 2010, 14.9 million family members and friends provided 17 billion hours of unpaid care to those living with Alzheimer's and other dementias — care valued at approximately $202 billion. With the steady increase in dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease and other conditions — and without a cure — the development of new innovations and treatments remains all the more critical. This program will include an overview of advances stemming from California and New Jersey's life science sectors, with a panel discussing current research and drug development, as well as future discoveries. Information on additional speakers will be provided at a later date. For more information on CHI's advocacy efforts, contact Caitlin Doyle, CHI's associate director of federal government relations and programs (Doyle@chi.org or 202-974-6323).

SPONSORSHIPS AVAILABLE: 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 Shifting Sands: Forces Reshaping the Biomedical Innovation Business Model, scheduled for Nov. 3 in San Francisco's Julia Morgan Ballroom. The event will bring together hundreds of the leading executives from biotechnology, medical device and pharmaceutical companies as well as leaders from the state's academic research community with policy makers to discuss critical issues and opportunities facing the biomedical community. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Molly Ingraham, vice president of business development (Ingraham@chi.org or 858-456-8884).

SAVE THE DATE: CHI's Annual End-of-Session Reception, Dec. 8

Join CHI-California Healthcare Institute, legislators, staff and biomedical industry leaders for the annual end-of-year reception at Sonoma Restaurant in Washington D.C. on Thursday, December 8. Sonoma Restaurant will be the venue for cocktails and conversation between public policy makers and California's biomedical opinion leaders. Come help us kick off the holiday season and celebrate 2011! For more information on CHI's Annual End-of-Year Reception, contact Caitlin Doyle (Doyle@chi.org or 202-974-6323) or Molly Ingraham (Ingraham@chi.org or 858-456-8884). Sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, contact Molly Ingraham (Ingraham@chi.org or 858-456-8884).

INDUSTRY EVENTS:

SAVE THE DATE: AdvaMed 2011 - The Med Tech Conference, Sept. 26-28

AdvaMed 2011 brings together policymakers, experts and insiders for critical dialogues on subjects ranging from regulatory affairs and reimbursement to IP and business development. The event takes place Sept. 26 to 28 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place NW, in Washington, D.C. For more information, call 202-434-7213 or visit www.advamed2011.com.

SAVE THE DATE: 2011 Innovation Night at La Jolla Playhouse, Dec. 7

Innovation meets here. Now in its fourth, record-breaking year, Innovation Night at La Jolla Playhouse brings together leaders in the fields of life sciences, technology and communication and their associated service industries for the premier networking event of its kind. As a participant, your organization will have the opportunity to connect with over 400 key decision makers in these pioneering industries.

Click here for more information.

To submit your company's news or story ideas, please contact Heather Chambers at Chambers@chi.org.

CHI represents more than 250 leading academic research, biotechnology, medical device and pharmaceutical organizations in California. CHI's mission is to advance responsible public policies that foster medical innovation and promote scientific discovery. Become a fan of CHI on Facebook, join our LinkedIn group, follow us on Twitter and become a follower of CHI's Blog.