BioBusiness School

IP manager, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), Gent, Belgium.

Carla Snoeck works as IP manager in the Technology Transfer department of VIB, since 2008, . She's been actively involved in scouting for novel inventions amongst the different research departments, and co-responsible for filing and prosecution of patent applications. She's also providing support for all IP-related aspects of VIB's business development activities and particularly for its future start-ups. Before that, Carla worked for almost 3 years in the patent department of Innogenetics (now Fujirebio), an international in vitro diagnostics company.

Carla holds a master in bioscience engineering and industrial engineering and obtained her PhD in applied biological sciences at the Catholic University Leuven.

Head of Entrepreneurship and Business Growth, Biocat, BioRegion of Catalonia.

Carlos Lurigados, holds a Veterinary Bachelor and a Post Graduate Degree in Pharmaceutical Industry Medicine by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, a Project Management Master by La Salle - Universitat Ramon Llull, and the Project Management Professional Certificate (PMP) by the Project Management Institute PMI. From December 2012 he is Head of Entrepreneurship and Business Growth at the Business Development Area of Biocat where he is responsible of fostering and managing projects and strategical programs related to promote biotech companies creation and growth. Since 2010 up to December 2012 he was Project Director at the Innovation Area at Biocat, where he was responsible for identifying, stimulating and managing strategic projects that favour growth and consolidation of the biotechnology, biomedicine, and medical technology sectors in Catalonia. With around twenty years in Pharmaceutical and Biotech companies as a Clinical Project Manager, R&D Project Manager, and Project Office Manager, before Biocat he was linked to Hospital Clinic of Barcelona where he held several responsibilities such as Clinical Trial Unit Director and responsible for Innovative Biomedical Platforms for the development, valorisation and transfer projects based on Advanced Therapies, Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. He collaborates as speaker in Conferences and Masters related to Project Management, Clinical Development, Technology Transfer and Innovation in the Biomedical sector. He has also collaborated as advisor of Biotech Companies for Innovation and Project Management.

European Patent Attorney, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), Gent, Belgium.

Jan Demolder obtained his PhD in molecular biotechnology at the University of Gent. After his PhD he enjoyed an EMBO long time fellowship at the University of Seville and later also an EMBO short time fellowship at VTT, Espo (Finland). Then he started in the technology transfer department of the Flanders Institute for biotechnology (VIB) in Belgium as an IP manager. After qualifying as a European Patent Attorney in 2007 he decided to work in the IP team of Bayer CropScience for almost three years. After this experience he decided to return to VIB where is now involved in invention harvesting, business development and in all aspects of the protection of intellectual property assets in the institute. Jan is also a part time professor at the University of Gent.

Senior business development manager, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), Gent, Belgium.

Karine Clauwaert is Pharmacist with a PhD in analytical toxicology. She works since 2003 in the technology transfer group at VIB as business development manager. At tech transfer she is responsible, together with six colleagues, for the contacts and contracts between the VIB researchers and companies active in the various domains of life sciences, in medicine, agbio and industrial biotechnology. Her job consits of building a network of long-lasting relationships with researchers as well as business partners and colleagues in order to both understand the research and to look for matches with industrial partners. She also evaluates the market opportunity for potential patents and/or know-how. Actively seeking out potential licensees or research collaboration partners for specific projects (prospection via internet and databases but also via partnering during Biopartnering meetings) is an important aspect of her job. She also negotiates and drafts contracts and manages post deal activities.

Scientific coordinator Technische Universität Dresden.

Nadine is a technology transfer expert trained in biotechnology and economics. She works as a scientific manager at the Technische Universität Dresden and coordinates several national and international research projects in the area of life sciences and technology transfer. She advises researchers who wish to commercialize their technologies and is currently setting up an own high-tech startup company. In addition, she trains life science students in technology transfer, business economics and entrepreneurship.

ICREA Research Professor AND Founder and acting CSO Inbiomotion S.L.

Roger is a group leader of the Oncology Program at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Barcelona. Roger developed his professional career primarily in the field of breast cancer metastasis. He holds Bachelor degrees in Biochemistry and in Business. Roger received his Ph.D. degree in biochemistry from the University of Barcelona in 2002, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Prof. Joan Massagué's laboratory. Roger is also non-executive director and founder of Inbiomotion, a Barcelona-based personalized medicine company incorporated in 2010 with the goal of developing biomarkers that predict bone metastasis to improve the quality of life of cancer patients. The company is a spin out of the IRB Barcelona and ICREA research institutions.

Caixa Capital Risk

Jose Antonio Mesa joined Caixa Capital Risc VC in 2006 where he is working on new innovative start-up companies within the life science field. He is responsible for evaluation, negotiation and investments in biotechnology, healthcare and medical devices and currently manages a portfolio of 2 companies and serves in the Board of Directors of companies like STAT-Diagnostica, Laboratorios Sanifit, Medlumics or nLife Therapeutics. Caixa Capital Risc VC is focused on financing Seed and Start-up companies in the internet, IT and life sciences sectors.

Prior to his work for "la Caixa", Jose Antonio worked for Genoma España as a Technology and Business Analyst having direct contact with new biotechnologies and spin-offs generated in the Universities and Research Centres. He also worked as business development analyst for Genzyme in Madrid.

Jose Antonio holds a master's degree in Biology, specializing in Genetics from the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, a Master in Corporate Finance from Universidad Complutense, an MBA and a PDD from IESE Business School.

Harvard Univeristy, Chief Scientific Officer, Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator (Cambridge Office)

Curtis joined OTD in 2008. Prior to joining Harvard, Curtis worked at CombinatoRx, Inc., a pioneering company in the emerging field of synergistic combination pharmaceuticals, where he served as co-founder and Senior Vice President, Research. At CombinatoRx, Curtis directed research programs in multiple therapeutic areas, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, osteoarthritis, oncology, metabolic, neurodegenerative and infectious disease, and helped the company to advance a pipeline of several clinical and preclinical drug candidates. Curtis holds an MA in chemistry and a PhD in chemistry and chemical biology from Harvard University.

Ysios Capital

Laia is Investment Manager in Ysios Capital Partners, a venture capital firm specialized in human health.

Prior to joining Ysios she assessed commercial and scientific licensing-in opportunities as part of the European New Business Development team of Janssen-Cilag, a pharmaceutical company of the Johnson & Johnson group. Laia developed her professional career primarily in the biotechnology cluster of Cambridge, UK, in companies such as Spirogen, Medivir and UCB-Celltech. Her activities ranged from setting up a combinatorial chemistry platform and designing and preparing enzyme inhibitors to planning and budgeting large scale processes at the laboratory level as well as outsourcing newly developed technology to contract research organizations. Laia obtained a first degree in Chemistry at the University of Barcelona, where she also completed a Master in Science and a PhD working on the synthesis and biophysical characterization of peptides for drug delivery applications. Laia holds an MBA from Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, where she focused on biotechnology, healthcare and finance.

Fundación Botín

Michael Tadros has a vested interest and track record in technology transfer, development, and commercialization of public based research in the biotech arena.

Since 2008 Michael is Senior Manager for the Science & Innovation arm of the Botin Foundation, auspice of the Bank of Santander and Spain's largest private foundation. The Foundation supports strategic areas through its programs - education, science, arts, and rural development. The Botin Foundation has been working with Spain's top research organizations in an ambitious effort to translate scientific discoveries into viable innovations that benefit society. Michael holds a Ph.D. degree in Molecular Biology from the National Biotechnology Centre (Ministry of Science and Technology, Spain), a B.Sc. degree and Specialization in Cellular and Molecular Biology, and an Economic and Business Clusters from Concordia University (Montreal, Canada), in addition to diplomas from the Lycee Francais Jean-Renoir (Munich) and JFK Institute (Berlin). Michael serves as a member in Expert Panels, General Council, and Advisory Committees within national and international research organizations and innovation platforms.

Michael is a Canadian National.

• Intellectual Property (IP) protection
• Workshop on "How to use patent databases?" based on project developed on day 1

Lecturers: Agustín alconada, Carla Snoeck & Jan Demolder  

This module will give an overview of the world of intellectual property (IP) rights, mostly focusing on the ones more relevant for the Life Sciences sector, namely patents. Speakers will address the different aspects of IP rights and respond to questions about: What are they? Why are they there? How can you obtain them? And most importantly, why should you care, and how can they be used and enforced? In terms of tools, the second module briefly familiarizes the participants with the use of patent databases to perform initiating white space and freedom-to-operate analyses. To date, researchers rarely use this huge source of knowledge, which often results in inefficient "double inventions".

• The decision making step
• Workshop on "How to apply the decision making step" using examples developed on day 1+2

Lecturers: Curtis H. Keith, Karine Clauwaert  

There are two ways on how to exploit a patent: either it will be licensed and/or sold to external partners, or the patent becomes part of a spin-off. Experts will impart knowledge on how to strategically decide for the right option: does a patent have the potential to become the basis for a spin-off or shall it rather be licensed and/or sold to external partners? Afterwards, experts will provide a closer look on their licensing activities and share their experiences in the life science field. This third module aims at sensitizing researchers not only to identify a potential invention, but also to make them aware of the different routes their invention can take towards the market, and to show researchers their potential roles in this process.

• How to start up - Entrepreneurship in Life Sciences
• Workshop on business model generation
• Funding opportunities

Lecturers: Curtis H. Keith, Els Beirnaert

Coming from the decision-making step, the fourth module introduces the spin-off pathway. Lecturers will give a brief introduction on the business model concept and on how to write a business plan. The workshop allows the participants to create a business model out of their own invention, and to develop a draft of their potential business plan. In addition, this module will also give a comprehensive overview on potential state and private (industry, venture capital) funding sources that allow for the commercialization of an invention. Furthermore, we will introduce the concept of life science incubators that combine venture capital funding with lab and space provision as well as different types of entrepreneurial support and consulting.

• Presentation of workshop results – Facing reality

Panel and round table discussion with: Michael Tadros, Roger Gomís, Curtis H. Keith, José Antonio Mesa, Laia Crespo The results of all workshops will be summarized and presented on the last day in front of a selection of experts from local and international venture capital, and technology transfer offices that will provide feed-back and select the best business project. A prize will be given. Projects will be followed by the CRG Technology Transfer Office, in order to consider the relevant ones for potential valorization funds or other actions.

Organized on the first (or eventually second) day, the small networking event will give the participants the opportunity to socialize and tighten links amongst the recently established team members, as well as with the course lecturers and organizers. By creating a relaxed and productive working atmosphere, the event aims at promoting the intercultural as well as scientific and business exchange amongst attendants.