CEO Letters

August 2021

Members and Friends,

With fall just around the corner, summer vacation season coming to an end and schools resuming, Virginia Bio is likewise returning to the “daily grind!” (we’ve never stopped working for you…).  We are excited to resume several of our regular events, including our September 9th Commercialization & Leadership Luncheon Series which will focus on how to expand your products and services into the international market, and our September 30th hybrid Women Building Bio Conference.  We hope you have enjoyed your summer and are recharged for an exciting fall.  Now, let’s get back to it!

Register NOW for Women Building Bio 2021!

YOU can be a segment of our conference! Throughout the event we will highlight various work from our attendees. Register to attend the half day hybrid event, then submit a completed 1-minute video about your organization no later than Friday, September 3rd. Don’t miss your chance to share a pitch or update about your organization and/or research with all of the Women Building Bio attendees. Click here for details on submitting your video through our event planning company, All About Presentation.

It’s Not Too Late to Join: Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center Game Changer Week, August 23-27.  A gathering of the life science and other tech communities including webinars, happy hours, startup mentoring, special guests open houses, Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council’s Tech Nite, and more.  In person and virtual events abound, showcasing southwest Virginia’s dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem.  Click here to register and join today!

Join Virginia Bio at the Southeast Life Sciences AdvanSE Annual Meeting, PitchRounds and SE Surge Reverse Pitch Event, Wild Dunes Resort, Charleston, SC, October 27-29!   This is the southeast’s main event for the biopharma, medtech, diagnostic and digital health industries wishing to do business in the region. It will include PitchRounds, Southeast Life Sciences’ annual invitation-only small company pitch presentation.  Virginia Bio and several of our members serve on the Southeast Life Sciences Board, and we encourage you to attend.  To register for the AdvanSE conference and apply to PitchRounds, click here.

Virginia Medtech and Pharmaceutical Companies Sought for SE Surge “Reverse Pitch!”  One of the main programs at the conference will be SE Surge, an invitation-only “reverse pitch” event for research universities and institutions in the southeast and large medtech & biopharma companies. The event provides a platform to highlight the research strengths in the region, foster high-level dialogue, and facilitate engagement and partnerships.  From the flyer: “Companies are given 30 minutes to present a ‘reverse pitch’ highlighting research needs and business goals, including time for questions and discussion. Subsequently, university attendees will have 5 to 10 minutes to describe their world-class research capabilities – their niche in the industry. Companies will provide their presentations prior to the event, allowing the universities to tailor their messages to the specific industry needs in advance. Meeting rooms are available for one-on-one discussion during the event.”  This will be the fourth year of Surge and the first to include pharmaceutical companies as well as medtech, and we need Virginia representation! If you are a medical technology or pharmaceutical company that would like to participate, please contact Jason Rupp.

Get $$$ to Help Market Your Biotechnology Products in International Markets!  September 9 *Virtual* Commercialization & Leadership Luncheon with U.S. Trade Administration and Virginia Economic Development Partnership International Trade.  Are you preparing to market your technology abroad? Are you searching for ways to join Commonwealth or Federal Government overseas trade missions to help you land international opportunities? Are you an early-stage company who needs an early education on the resources, grants and support that are hiding in plain sight? Come join Olga Molnar, U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Trade Administration and Stephanie Agee of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership to learn about resources available to help your company become an international success, including market research, trade missions and matchmaking with international customers, international marketing guidance, and grant programs.  Register here.

Attention Early Stage Companies: Apply for GMU’s Accelerate 2022 Pitch Competition!   Accelerate 2022 is a brand new investor and startup event this October 19-20 on the George Mason University campus in ArlingtonAccelerate 2022 will showcase a curated group of the DMV’s top early-stage companies to angel and venture investors from across North America – and features local luminaries Paul Misener, the Vice President, Global Innovation Policy and Communications at Amazon and Bobby Franklin, CEO of the National Venture Capital Association, among others. Any early-stage business in Virginia, Maryland, or DC that have a strong technology and growth potential (the ability to achieve $50+ million in annual revenue in the next five years) is eligible. The companies need to be at a commercial stage, innovative, and past proof of concept.  Applications are open through the September 1 deadline. Please apply to showcase your company!

Upcoming Events:

Please click here to see the most current information and registration links for all of Virginia Bio’s and our industry’s events.  Here is a summary of upcoming events, as of this writing:

  • September 9, 2021: *Virtual* Commercialization & Leadership Luncheon: International Trade with U.S. Trade Administration and Virginia Economic Development Partnership.  Register here.
  • September 13-14, 2021: *Virtual* BioHealth Capital Region Virtual Forum. For the 7th straight year Virginia Bio is co-hosting this regional event. More importantly, Virginia is taking a leading role in forming and placing Virginia companies on several panels under the theme “Big Bio…Big Data…Converging.”  Last year’s event saw over 1000 registered.
  • September 30, 2021: *Hybrid* Women Building Bio 2021! Register here.
  • October 14, 2021: *Virtual* Commercialization & Leadership Luncheon: Executive Recruiting for Life Science Companies with Slone Partners.
  • October 19-21, 2021: George Mason University’s Accelerate 2022 Pitch Competition. From the website: “The competition fuels innovation-based business growth by showcasing the best and brightest new business concepts to potential investors to foster their development within Metro DC. The competition targets entrepreneurs with early- to mid-seed-stage businesses”. Learn more here.
  • October 27-29, 2021: Southeast Life Sciences AdvanSE Annual Conference, PitchRounds and SE Surge, October 27-29, Wild Dunes Resort Charleston, SC. Register here.
  • November 18, 2021: Commercialization & Leadership Luncheon: Business Valuation for Life Science Companies with Cherry Bekaert.

Your Ideas.  Virginia Bio wants to hear from you!  Contact us at questions@vabio.org with your ideas, comments, suggestions and advice regarding how Virginia Bio can best support you and our biotechnology ecosystem.

Please stay safe and let us know how we can help you.  Thank you for all that you do to make Virginia’s life science ecosystem stronger!

John

 

 

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03/21/2024

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07/26/2023

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