San Diego Women of Bioscience October Meeting, October 2nd 5:30-8:00 p.m., El Torito at 8910 Villa La Jolla, La Jolla, CA 92037

The San Diego Tech Coast Angels 2nd annual Quick Pitch competition, October 2, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. at the Qualcomm Q-Auditorium (6455 Lusk Blvd., San Diego, CA 92121).

GTCbio’s 4th Modern Drug Discovery & Development Summit, October 15-17, San Diego, CA (Torrey Pines Hilton)

The San Diego Biotechnology Network (SDBN), a new professional organization, announced its inaugural networking event will feature a meet-and-greet with Sapphire Energy, a San Diego-based green crude production company.

SDBN was formed by two local marketing professionals, Mary Canady of Comprendia, LLC and Todd Backus of Blue Horse & Trumpet to meet the need for more face–to-face networking among Biotechnology professionals in the San Diego area, via casual, bi-monthly after-work events. SDBN events will feature a local company that represents the excitement and innovation of the San Diego biotechnology industry, and will provide a venue for their team to connect with the community in a casual atmosphere. SDBN’s choice of Sapphire Energy reflects the overwhelming interest that the biotechnology community has for the company and its technology.

Sapphire Energy was founded to address the overwhelming inadequacies of current biofuel approaches. The company has built a revolutionary platform using sunlight, CO2 and microorganisms such as algae to produce renewable fuel products – gasoline, jet fuel and diesel – that meet ASTM standards. The final product is not ethanol or biodiesel. Sapphire is led by a team of entrepreneurs and experts in cell biology, plant genomics and algal production, as well as investors with long histories of taking innovative technology to market, including co-founder ARCH Venture Partners, along with the Wellcome Trust, Cascade Investment and Venrock. Sapphire’s scientific supporters include The Scripps Research Institute; University of California, San Diego; the University of Tulsa, and the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Project. The company is located in San Diego. For more information, visit http://www.sapphireenergy.com and http://www.greencrudeproduction.com.

Contact for Sapphire Energy: Sarah Shahrabani, sarah.shahrabani@edelman.com, ph. 206.268.2228.

Event Details (RSVP Required)
Who: Sapphire Energy, Inc., and biotechnology professionals in the greater San Diego area
What: San Diego Biotechnology Network November Happy Hour
When: Tuesday, November 11th, 5:30-8:00
Where: Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery, La Jolla, 8980 Villa La Jolla Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037
Cost: $10
For more information about the event: http://sdbn.org, registration and confirmation required. Contact: Mary Canady, mcanady@comprendia.com, ph. 858.922.6640.

AWIS (Association of Women in Science) Open House, 5:30-7:30 p.m. October 16th, Biogen Idec

IBC’s Discovery 2 Diagnostics (D2D) Conference, October 20-22, San Diego, California

CHI’s Sixth Annual Discovery on Target, October 20-23, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

OK, maybe we’re getting a little too excited about this, but we’ve just ordered our first promotional item, USB drives branded with our logo (we’re excited because it’s kind of like the first dollar we made, or at least we’re telling ourselves that’s why we’re excited). We plan to load them with a presentation from our Marketing 101 series, and give them out at our San Diego Biotechnology Network Event Nov. 11th. Show up and you’ll get one!

p.s. if you REALLY like our logo, you can order merchandise (at cost–we don’t make any money off them) at Cafe Press: http://cafepress.com/comprendia

Biocom Investor Conference, September 26-28, San Diego (Hyatt Regency La Jolla)

Biocom/Biotechnology Institute: Building Biotech Bridges Conference Wednesday, October 29, 2008 8:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Omni Hotel 675 L Street San Diego, California 92101