Bionow's BioFocus 2024 showcases innovation, investment and growth
Published on 20/06/2024
A busy and buoyant BioFocus once again saw a fantastic turnout with 140 delegates, speakers and panellists plus 21 exhibitors coming together to share the latest technologies, innovations, key sector initiatives and funding opportunities.
After the success of last year, visitors were also encouraged to network at a special and very well-attended conference edition of Biotech & Beers the night before, which provided a valuable opportunity for out of town conference attendees to meet with colleagues from Newcastle and the wider Northeast to ease into BioFocus in an informal setting.
The agenda provided some great topics for discussion, centring around accelerating the growth of the life sciences sector in the region, the latest developments in diagnostics, an industrial showcase with industry representatives and the future of therapies.
Three keynote speakers shared their thoughts on the day: Senior Investment Manager at Maven Capital Partners, David Nixon; Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA)’s Deputy Chief Executive, Hannah Davies; and Dr Clare Wareing, the Founder and CEO of Cumulus Oncology.
David Nixon kicked off proceedings with a presentation from an investor’s perspective, talking about how the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II can support ambitious SMEs in the Northeast life sciences sector to support growth including research, recruitment, sales and marketing, and working capital. Other key points looked at the need for different kinds of funding at different stages of the business life cycle, from angel investors and grants through to venture capital and regional funds, and what a firm looks for when deciding to invest, such as a clear value proposition, strong company culture, track record and the ability to grow equity value.
The keynote concluded with a note of cautious optimism in the investment outlook following a turbulent time for the UK economy, with continued growth in the life sciences sector, tax and regulatory landscape driving investor certainty, and increased demand from corporate investors to drive activity being predicted, with investors particularly interested in the focus on innovation and new technologies, university spinouts and enhanced product due diligence.
The next keynote, presented by Hannah Davies, examined the north/south divide in research funding (£69 per head in the south vs just £26 per head in the north), as well as in life expectancy and COVID-19 mortality rates during the height of the pandemic. It was then explained how Health Equity North focuses on place-based solutions to public health problems and health inequalities by producing reports on key issues resulting in regional and national news coverage, running an all parliamentary group, influencing political decision-making and sparking Westminster debates, and giving evidence to the COVID-19 Inquiry.
The final keynote speaker of the day, Dr Clare Wareing, focused on 30 years of experience in oncology drug development have revealed about the biopharmaceutical sector, with key takeaways including the market being cyclical and trend-following, improvements in late-stage clinical trial success rates have not been significant, unmet medical need in oncology remains huge, and phase I clinical trials that have a selected patient population from the beginning fail less often in later stage trials.
Some key issues facing the sector were identified, including people living longer, the increasing importance of managing chronic illnesses, the rising cost of treatment, and declining productivity in the pharmaceutical sector. To counter this, opportunities such as new platform technologies (reinforcing David Nixon’s point about what investors are looking for), the ‘untangling’ of biology leading to deeper insights, and the constant emergence of different methodologies can allow for a meaningful improvement in outcomes for patients with a range of conditions.
The presentation also looked at how the previously mentioned productivity issues within the sector could be resolved, with biopharma companies needing to pursue a fundamental shift in their R&D model through advanced analytics and technologies, and new operating models such as AI-driven drug discovery, digital data flow, rapid design and startup, and drug repurposing.
Elsewhere on the day, the State of the Possible panel session highlighted where the regional sector goes from here, having grown so much in recent years that more space and investment in companies to scale up is urgently needed.
There was a real energy throughout the conference as many examples were given of the sector continuing to power forward, with the event attracting speakers and delegates from across the UK to share their experience, research and technologies.
Bionow Membership Manager, Dave Holmes, commented: “BioFocus continues to grow, as does the sector in the Northeast. This event is a great place for companies and academics to share their developments and also forge connections with colleagues from this region, up the east coast into Scotland, and from across the wider north and whole UK too. Year on year we have more people travelling from further afield to meet here in Newcastle and there is definitely a buzz at this conference that will spur all of us on both in business and research.”
BioFocus 2024 is supported by gold sponsors Invest North East England and Fisher Scientific.
After the success of last year, visitors were also encouraged to network at a special and very well-attended conference edition of Biotech & Beers the night before, which provided a valuable opportunity for out of town conference attendees to meet with colleagues from Newcastle and the wider Northeast to ease into BioFocus in an informal setting.
The agenda provided some great topics for discussion, centring around accelerating the growth of the life sciences sector in the region, the latest developments in diagnostics, an industrial showcase with industry representatives and the future of therapies.
Three keynote speakers shared their thoughts on the day: Senior Investment Manager at Maven Capital Partners, David Nixon; Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA)’s Deputy Chief Executive, Hannah Davies; and Dr Clare Wareing, the Founder and CEO of Cumulus Oncology.
David Nixon kicked off proceedings with a presentation from an investor’s perspective, talking about how the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II can support ambitious SMEs in the Northeast life sciences sector to support growth including research, recruitment, sales and marketing, and working capital. Other key points looked at the need for different kinds of funding at different stages of the business life cycle, from angel investors and grants through to venture capital and regional funds, and what a firm looks for when deciding to invest, such as a clear value proposition, strong company culture, track record and the ability to grow equity value.
The keynote concluded with a note of cautious optimism in the investment outlook following a turbulent time for the UK economy, with continued growth in the life sciences sector, tax and regulatory landscape driving investor certainty, and increased demand from corporate investors to drive activity being predicted, with investors particularly interested in the focus on innovation and new technologies, university spinouts and enhanced product due diligence.
The next keynote, presented by Hannah Davies, examined the north/south divide in research funding (£69 per head in the south vs just £26 per head in the north), as well as in life expectancy and COVID-19 mortality rates during the height of the pandemic. It was then explained how Health Equity North focuses on place-based solutions to public health problems and health inequalities by producing reports on key issues resulting in regional and national news coverage, running an all parliamentary group, influencing political decision-making and sparking Westminster debates, and giving evidence to the COVID-19 Inquiry.
The final keynote speaker of the day, Dr Clare Wareing, focused on 30 years of experience in oncology drug development have revealed about the biopharmaceutical sector, with key takeaways including the market being cyclical and trend-following, improvements in late-stage clinical trial success rates have not been significant, unmet medical need in oncology remains huge, and phase I clinical trials that have a selected patient population from the beginning fail less often in later stage trials.
Some key issues facing the sector were identified, including people living longer, the increasing importance of managing chronic illnesses, the rising cost of treatment, and declining productivity in the pharmaceutical sector. To counter this, opportunities such as new platform technologies (reinforcing David Nixon’s point about what investors are looking for), the ‘untangling’ of biology leading to deeper insights, and the constant emergence of different methodologies can allow for a meaningful improvement in outcomes for patients with a range of conditions.
The presentation also looked at how the previously mentioned productivity issues within the sector could be resolved, with biopharma companies needing to pursue a fundamental shift in their R&D model through advanced analytics and technologies, and new operating models such as AI-driven drug discovery, digital data flow, rapid design and startup, and drug repurposing.
Elsewhere on the day, the State of the Possible panel session highlighted where the regional sector goes from here, having grown so much in recent years that more space and investment in companies to scale up is urgently needed.
There was a real energy throughout the conference as many examples were given of the sector continuing to power forward, with the event attracting speakers and delegates from across the UK to share their experience, research and technologies.
Bionow Membership Manager, Dave Holmes, commented: “BioFocus continues to grow, as does the sector in the Northeast. This event is a great place for companies and academics to share their developments and also forge connections with colleagues from this region, up the east coast into Scotland, and from across the wider north and whole UK too. Year on year we have more people travelling from further afield to meet here in Newcastle and there is definitely a buzz at this conference that will spur all of us on both in business and research.”
BioFocus 2024 is supported by gold sponsors Invest North East England and Fisher Scientific.
