Manu’s Minute
Rolling out the Red Carpet
When people think of Oklahoma, oil may come to mind. Or maybe the sweeping plains celebrated by our state’s namesake musical. But for the VCs and biotech executives who attended the 2017 OMRF BioVenture Forum, the Sooner State may now conjure images of biomedical research.
Last month, three dozen representatives from biopharmaceutical and venture capital organizations joined 95 of Oklahoma’s leading researchers and business people at OMRF’s Oklahoma City campus for a day of networking, panels and scientific discussion. The goal of the event was to explore the commercialization of technologies and encourage interaction between industry and scientists in Oklahoma, as well as increase the visibility of the quality research underway at OMRF.
Visitors included representatives from Merck, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, AbbVie, 5AM Ventures, Lilly Ventures and many others. Panel discussions covered a variety of topics, from current trends in industry and drug development and relationship dynamics in startups to diverse funding opportunities. Attendees heard about past OMRF success stories—including research that seeded Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly’s Xigris and Selexys Pharmaceuticals, which was recently acquired by Novartis. They also learned about new start-up ventures and got a glimpse into current research underway at OMRF. Joseph Miletich, M.D, Ph.D., senior vice president of Discovery Research, Preclinical Sciences & Early Development at Merck Research Laboratories, delivered the keynote speech.
“It’s important to spend time with people in different venues to understand what’s important in different parts of the country,” he said. “To come to Oklahoma and interact and hear about opportunities, I think it’s useful for the goal all of us have: trying to create medicines that extend people’s quality and length of life.” After panel discussions and networking, visitors toured OMRF’s labs, attended a reception with Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin at the governor’s pavilion, and then wrapped up the day at an historic Oklahoma City Thunder game, where Russell Westbrook tied a 55-year-old NBA record for “triple-doubles” in a season. (Westbrook subsequently broke that record.) The goal of this year’s event was to spark commercialization by bringing in folks who have varying interests. Already, our first BioVenture Forum, held in 2015, has led to five deals. I’m confident that by getting a broad spectrum of thought leaders together, this year’s forum will lead to similar successes, and partnerships will blossom as a result.
Manu Nair
Vice President, Technology Ventures
Watch a video of 2017 Forum highlights.
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