One of the tenets of new media and marketing is a strategy called ‘Launch & Learn.’ It refers to executing marketing campaigns, launching products or websites quickly, setting up metrics to determine their success, and redefining as necessary. The benefit? Begin building brand loyalty and communicating with your customers early, rather than delaying launch, or waiting until your website or product has achieved perfection. The new paradigm has been driven by the growth of tools to create ‘web 2.0‘ websites, where users can interact and give feedback. This has accelerated the pace of business and the feedback loop cycle, and companies have quickly learned the benefit of launching campaigns and products sooner rather than later.

What about Biotech products? We all know that there are many factors that come into product development and doing business in Biotech. Our products are not T-shirts which we can design one day and toss out the next. So, the products we launch are unlikely to hit the market any more quickly. However, engaging customers through web 2.0 tools, and testing ideas or campaigns can surely benefit any product or company. In biotechnology, especially, where so many directions for products can be taken, from tools for studying drug targets to the latest in instrumentation, it seems imperative to get as much feedback as possible, especially since products often take a long time to be developed. If you work in a highly regulated area of Biotech, such as diagnostics, turn ‘launch and learn’ around and determine what things you can launch quickly to learn more about customer needs. Biotech can learn a lot from newcomers such as 23andMe, who have created blogs and communities, likely towards this goal.

Changing to a ‘launch and learn’ strategy involves a change in attitude towards a more facile development of applications, sometimes relying on open source software and outsourcing projects to smaller, specialized groups. I see many in Biotechnology and science being reluctant to embrace these new ideas, partially because of the age demographic (no offense–I’m describing myself too). We learned that big agencies do Ads and PR, professional website design is expensive and lengthy, and that large companies are the only ones that can ‘reach the masses.’ Additionally, Biotech has been a very slow adopter of social media, which bucks all of these trends.

Traditional marketing, as well, with ideas that brands should remain consistent, also stands in the way and leads to more ’staid’-fastness. I would argue that reaching your customers earlier by launching a website that may not yet have the perfect ‘look and feel’ you want, is more favorable than waiting and missing the opportunity to connect earlier and with more people. While new media moves quickly, building relationships with customers takes time, why miss out? Your Search Engine Optimization will thank you for launching early as well, because rankings improve the longer a website has been published. Launching early is exceedingly more important if your website embodies a new idea or product. According to Ries and Trout’s classic book The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, the first law states that ‘it’s better to be first than it is to be better,’ so it’s clear that launching and learning aligns with traditional marketing. This philosophy should be pervasive in your strategy and tactics–plan to use media which is amenable to determining your metrics and ROI quickly, and to revise your plans according to what you find.

Do I suggest that you put up a sloppy website rather than having none at all? Launch a product, either physical or virtual, before it’s ready? Not at all! Be proactive, and hire a team of professionals who adopt the ‘launch and learn’ philosophy. Be wary of those who present long time lines or large price tags. Don’t rush decisions, but don’t belabor them either. Want to learn more about it? I highly suggest reading Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae and Jeff Jarvis’ What Would Google Do. Also, of course, Comprendia can help you to implement ‘launch and learn’ strategies and tactics to help you become more market driven, contact us.

The San Diego Biotechnology Network is pleased to feature Fate Therapeutics and Stemgent at our July 21st networking event. These two companies represent exciting, interdisciplinary biotechnology research being done in San Diego that holds direct promise for making a difference in our quality of life. The event will feature a short talk followed by networking with the speakers and scientists from the two companies. As usual, we hope that the casual atmosphere at our venue, Tango del Rey, will stimulate discussions and meaningful interactions for all in attendance. We also encourage you to utilize the online tools available to communicate before, during, and after the event.

CATALYST: Providing Exclusive Access to the Most Advanced iPSC Technology for a New Paradigm in Drug Discovery & Development

Ken Batchelor, Ph.D., CSO (Fate), Stephen Chang, Ph.D., CSO (Stemgent) will present a short talk describing CATALYST:

About Fate Therapeutics, Inc.

Fate Therapeutics is interrogating adult stem cell biology and applying induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to develop Stem Cell Modulators (SCMs), small molecule or biologic compounds that guide cell fate for therapeutic purposes. Fate’s approach has broad therapeutic potential in areas such as regenerative medicine, hematological diseases, metastatic cancer, traumatic injury and degenerative diseases. In addition, Fate Therapeutics and Stemgent have formed an alliance – Catalyst – a collaborative program to provide Catalyst Members with first access to the most advanced iPSC technologies for drug discovery and development. Fate Therapeutics is headquartered in La Jolla, CA. For more information, please visit http://www.fatetherapeutics.com.

About Stemgent

Stemgent helps our customers advance stem cell science by providing proprietary reagents and technologies developed by some of the world’s leading stem cell scientists. Stemgent’s product offering includes virus-delivered reprogramming factors for iPS cell generation, cytokines and matrices for healthy stem cell growth, primary and reporter cell lines, stem cell characterization tools, polymers for transfection, and small molecules for reprogramming, self-renewal and differentiation. This unique product mix is designed to serve researchers who study stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, and those who use cells derived from stem cells to advance their understanding of major diseases. For more information visit us at www.stemgent.com.

Event Details

Who: Biotechnology professionals in the greater San Diego area
What: San Diego Biotechnology Network’s July Networking Event Featuring Fate Therapeutics and Stemgent
When: Tuesday, July 21st, 5:30-9:00 p.m.
Where: Tango Del Rey, 3567 Del Rey Street, San Diego 92109 (Directions below)
Cost: $20, including appetizers ($15 for Academics) +$5 at door
Contact: http://sdbn.org/contact
For more information about the event: http://sdbn.org/july

Directions: From the North: South on Interstate 5, Exit Balboa Ave, Straight to 4th Traffic Light then left on Bunker Hill St. Building directly ahead 3 blks. From the South: North on Interstate 5, Exit Grand/ Garnet Ave, Straight to 3rd Traffic Light then right on Bunker Hill St. Building directly ahead 3 blks.

Wednesday I attended the ‘Where to Find the Drugs: The Ubiquitin Component Systems, Are They the Next Generation Kinases?’ Breakout Session (see Tuesday’s post for more details), and learned about the extraordinary opportunities and challenges for drug discovery in this area. Velcade is the first drug targeting the Ubiquitin Proteaseome System (UPS), introduced by Millennium in 2007 for multiple myeloma and generating $1B revenue in 2008. While success of a drug targeting a class of molecules is often ‘paves the way’ for future drugs, it was clear from the session that a lot research is still needed to explore the mechanisms that can be exploited for therapeutics.
The UPS is a complex network of enzymes and protein components designed to break down proteins, part of the the important ‘ecosystem’ necessary to maintain the proper functioning of the cell and prevent malignancy (2006 review). The borders between the UPS and kinase signaling systems are essentially non-existent, and there are many parallels. The E3 protein components represent the largest family, with 600 members, similar to kinases. There are a wide variety of enzyme functions found in the UPS, which makes it distinct from the kinases, which mostly catalyze one type of reaction. Dr. Mark Manfredi, Director of Cancer Pharmacology, Takeda/Millenium, talked about two other drugs targeting the UPS in their pipeline. MLN 9708 is in clinical trials and has a similar MOA to Velcade, which targets the proteasome, but has a much faster off-rate, meaning it will have greater bioavailability and greater efficacy towards solid tumors. Another Millenium compound in clinical trials is MLN 4924, targeting Nedd8 Activating Enzyme (NAE) of the UPS. NAE is a validated target distinct from the proteasome, and Manfredi commented that there are many unique MOAs to be exploited with the UPS, which is exciting, but this means that more time must be spent with pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) studies in these discovery programs.
I had the good fortune to speak with Sir Philip Cohen personally after the session. Sir Cohen, as the ‘father’ of kinase biology, and currently spearheading UPS initiatives, has a unique perspective on the path forward for this area. Sir Cohen was the driving force behind the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit, which was founded in 1990 towards the goal of understanding the role of protein phosphorylation and cell regulation in disease. The Unit has always interacted closely with academia and industry, perhaps making it one of the original ‘translational research’ institutions, even before this term existed. Sir Cohen’s latest endeavor is the SCottish Institute for ceLL Signalling (SCILLS), where he is building the Protein Ubiquitination Unit first, cherry picking the best and brightest researchers from the UPS field. When I asked him the single most important lesson that he learned in his kinase work, which has helped with understanding the UPS, his answer was more in the organizational aspects than in the science. Sir Cohen said that “Having a critical mass of leading players is important. Often, in academia, investigators work in silos, which does not advance the field. With the MRC Unit, we pooled grant money and set up teams to do tasks such as DNA cloning and mass spectrometry, allowing the scientists to concentrate on their research.” Sir Cohen is clearly very passionate about SCILLS and it will undoubtedly have a big impact on UPS research and the resulting therapeutics.
The UPS story will surely have many parallels to that of kinases because the similarities in their science and its ability to provide a cohesive platform amenable to sharing reagents and ideas both within and between organizations. The UPS’ increased complexity gives researchers a choice of which component interactions or enzymes to target for drug discovery, which can be seen as both an advantage or disadvantage. When I asked Sir Cohen about the most promising targets for the UPS, he said that small molecule inhibitors of E2/E3 enzyme complexes are likely to be the best. He indicated that similar to the protein kinases, there are other therapeutic areas such as inflammation which will be an exciting area to watch. Development in the two areas will likely be synergistic and bode well for important new therapeutics in both.

Tuesday at the BIO convention, I attended a session titled ‘Spreading the Word: New Technologies Mean Everyone is a Journalist,’ which covered how new media such as blogs and twitter are being used and are shaping communication in the biotechnology industry. The panelists were Brian Reid, Media Director, Weisscomm Partners, Ed Silverman, Bureau Editor, Elsevier Business Intelligence, Jen S. McCabe, Chief Patient Advocate at Organized Wisdom, Shwen Gwee, Lead Business Analyst, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and Jerry Johnson, Executive Vice President, Brodeur Partners. Ed Silverman was the only ‘classical’ journalist in the panel (by training) and commented early in the session that although the canons of traditional media have legitimate reservations about this new class of ‘reporters,’ that they can be seen as ‘insects’ that are quicker and will likely take over when the ‘dinosaurs’ of old media crumble. Ed has watched the dynamics and power of new media as Pharmalot, the blog-style Pharma news website that he pioneered, rose to meteoric fame. Jen McCabe, who gave her presentation in clear ‘web 2.0′ style, walking through the audience, clarified that she sees herself as a ‘recorder, not a reporter.’ She proved this by twittering from her pink Mac throughout the event.
This meeting of old vs. new media is a familiar one in biotechnology, and was even evident in what I think was a poor name for the session, which Brian Reid indicated was due to the fact that he had to choose it almost a year ago–new media moves much more quickly than this. Shwen Gwee gave an excellent presentation on the foundations and benefits of social media (video excerpt), emphasizing that social media is more of a ‘pull’ than a ‘push’ of information, when done correctly. Shwen is a ‘rock star’ in the so-called ‘Med 2.0′ movement, a driving force between the Social Pharmer ‘unconference’ in April of this year. Jerry Johnson did a great job explaining that a corporate SM strategy needs to be more than just a vague idea that ‘our company needs a blog,’ and emphasized the power of face to face interactions and ’self-organization’ in the growth of social networks. Jerry is passionate about using social media to involve and inform the community and scientists about biotechnology through IamBiotech, which you can learn more about at the BIO exhibit (#2200). Jen McCabe gave a dynamic, fact-filled presentation about the success in building communities and tracking metrics at Organized Wisdom. Jen has done the seemingly impossible and has come up with formulas for calculating ROI and predicting growth for SM initiatives. Throughout the event, Brian Reid gave his insights from his unique experience both using Social Media professionally for his clients at Weisscomm Partners, and personally, being interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek as the foremost stay-at-home dad. The panel members promised to upload their presentations to Slideshare tagged with ‘bio09′.
While most of the conversation centered around implementing social media at the corporate level, I was curious about the panel members’ thoughts on engaging scientists with social media, and how to encourage participation. This was definitely a topic they had considered, and indicated that as with corporate SM implementations, the value needs to be demonstrated up front. In other words, clearly answer the scientists’ innate questions ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘how will my career suffer if I don’t participate.’ From my own experience with the San Diego Biotechnology Network and with social media, I agree with this generality, and plan to motivate scientists during a ‘Social Media for Scientists‘ presentation I am giving with colleague William Gunn on May 28th. I plan to encourage scientists to ‘Just Do It’ and get involved with SM sooner rather than later, because it is highly experiential and the benefits are highly specific to the user. William Gunn will talk about the extraordinary advances that will result when scientists start sharing and discussing data in real time. This panel at BIO 2009, and the efforts of BIO in engaging SM (including this blog post) are truly exciting initiatives that deserve attention and support from the biotechnology community.

Sir Elton John gave an inspiring and eye-opening keynote speech yesterday about the success and shortcomings of HIV/AIDS research, and I know many of us are still thinking about how we can further the science and make the necessary improvements in education to make a difference. Today, BIO is featuring Sir Philip Cohen, another Knight of the British Empire, often seen as the ‘father’ of kinase biology/phosphorylation research, and one of the most cited scientists in Europe. Sir Cohen, Director of the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit, University of Dundee, and Director of the Scottish Institute for Cell Signaling, is speaking in a Breakout Session this morning titled ‘Where to Find the Drugs: The Ubiquitin Component Systems, Are They the Next Generation Kinases?’ He is cited as saying “I am very confident that the (Ubiquitin Proteasome System) market has the potential to become even bigger than Kinases.” The speaker lineup at this 10:00 a.m. session is impressive, including Dr. Frank Mercurio, CSO, BioTheryX, Dr. Mark Manfredi, Director of Cancer Pharmacology, Takeda/Millenium, Prof. Mike Tyers, CH Waddington Professor of Systems Biology at Univ. Edinburgh, Dr. Giovanni Ferrara, ITI Life Sciences Advisory Board, and Dr. Sheridan Snyder, Founder, BioCatalyst International.
This session was organized by the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit, the Scottish Institute for Cell Signalling (SCILLS) and ITI Life Sciences, and is supported by Scottish Development International. I sat down with Neil Wilkie, Programme Manager at ITI Life Sciences on Tuesday, to discuss their involvement in the session and UPS in general. Neil said that ITI is literally an “Intermediary Technology Initiative” in which the Scottish government has earmarked 150M £ over a period of 10 years to promote the growth of biotechnology in the region. He explained that ITI did an exhaustive and highly analytical search of the scientific and patent literature a few years ago to determine the ‘next big thing’ in drug discovery. They found a ’sweet spot’ with the UPS system, with mentions of it in the literature rapidly rising, but with room in the intellectual property space for them to start carving out a niche in the area, towards the goal of stimulating growth in Scotland Biotech. Perhaps coincidentally, Sir Cohen lives and works in Scotland and obviously thinks there is something behind their assessment. I think this session is a ‘must see’ and I will be there! It begins at 10:00 a.m. today in Room B304, and if you can’t be there you can look for live updates from me on Twitter at @comprendia.

I attended the ‘Mastering Your (Cell) Fate: Stem Cells, iPSCs and the Future of Medicine’ session at BIO yesterday, which featured a panel of specialists: G. Steven Burrill, CEO, Burrill & Company, Aaron Rowe, Reporter, Wired News, Paul Grayson, CEO, Fate Therapeutics, Ian Ratcliffe, CEO, Stemgent, and Richard Gregory, Senior VP Head of Research, Genzyme. Members of the audience included biotech professionals, media, and even some patients. iPSCs are ‘induced Pluripotent Stem Cells’ which are mature adult cells which have been ‘reprogrammed,’ in contrast to embryonic stem cells (for a full description see Stem Cells 101 on Fate Therapeutics’ website).
The panel discussed the fact that although stem cell research is gaining a lot of attention recently, therapies involving cell treatments have been around for years, bone marrow transplants as a prime example. Nevertheless, Burrill pointed out that venture capital is still mostly on the sidelines when it comes to stem cell funding. Reasons? Burrill said that a big issue is the perceived risk of getting stem cell therapies through the FDA. Someone in the audience commented that the challenges facing stem cell companies currently may be similar to those faced by other non-small molecule therapies such as Biologics, which didn’t ‘take off’ until a blockbuster drug hit the market. The panel consensus was most of the work is actually being done in Academia, with Stemgent’s Ratcliffe commenting that most of their customers come from this sector.
After the session, I spoke with Fate Therapeutics’ CEO Paul Grayson, and we discussed their unique strategies for overcoming these perceived challenges. Fate received generous VC funding early from ARCH, Polaris, and Venrock, likely due to the fact that their founders and management are a veritable ‘who’s who’ in stem cell research and technologies. In addition, they maintain close ties with academic institutions such as Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), and UCSD. Fate continues to ‘think outside of the box’ when it comes to creating a workable business model, and has recently partnered with Stemgent, also based in San Diego, to create an unprecedented interdisciplinary agreement called ‘Catalyst‘ which represents a new paradigm in which pharma, early stage biotech, and academia will work together to create the research tools which will be directly used to develop therapeutics. In exchange for annual funding from pharmaceutical companies (Grayson says they are targeting 5 companies for a total of $50M), Fate and Stemgent will create tools which will be accessible only to member companies. Dr. Shen Ding, founder of both Fate and Stemgent, is an Associate Professor at TSRI, bringing cutting edge research from academia to the collaboration.
Grayson says that the Catalyst collaboration has been helped by the translational medicine movement, in which academic scientists focus on the applicability of their research to public needs. In the BIO iPSC Panel, it was estimated that around 100 stem cell companies currently exist, and Grayson estimates that only 20 will be still standing after two years. With the looming uncertainties in risk and regulatory issues, it may be likely that such interdisciplinary collaborations will be needed to help stem cell companies and technologies to succeed.
On a regional note, I’m working on featuring Fate at one of our upcoming San Diego Biotechnology Network events, as they are exemplary of our vision to bring different sectors and disciplines together to stimulate growth in our region as well as in biotechnology in general.

I spent part of Monday morning in the Ireland Pavilion (#3303) talking with them about the biotechnology they’re highlighting at the BIO convention, as well as the region as well. I spoke with Jonathan O’Connell, Chief Financial Officer of Ireland’s Merrion Pharmaceuticals, about the announcement they made last week (PDF) regarding preliminary results on Orazol™, a tablet formulation of the Novartis drug Zometa®. The company acquired a unique drug delivery technology from Elan in 2004 which boosts absorption in the intestine. As a result, therapeutics that are normally given only by injection can be formulated as tablets, leading to many benefits, including safer treatment, less pain, and improved pharmaeconomics. At BIO 2009, Merrion is focused on partnering their Phase 2 compounds, and continues to develop and seek out therapeutics which are amenable to their technology, including, notably, insulin, which they are working on with Novo Nordisk. Personally, I found the technology to be very promising and I suggest that you seek them out in the Ireland Pavilion.

I also spoke with Sean Davis from Enterprise Ireland (EI), which ‘fosters’ companies like Merrion in their early development phase. Davis says that EI has been around for 35 years and currently takes on 70-80 companies per year. The EI does 5-6 months of due diligence for each company and covers R&D aspects, commercialization, and technology transfer. EI benefits from the Irish government’s commitment to promote biotechnology in the region, stemming back 20 years ago when they began to focus on education. Their goal at BIO 2009? Presenting six of their ’success stories’ from the region and partnering with US entities who realize the potential of companies who have been well-positioned for success by EI. I highly suggest visiting the Ireland Pavilion, #3303 in the exhibit hall.

You may know I’m a blogger at the Biotechnology Industry Organization convention in Atlanta. I’m here and adjusting to the time change. I’m eager to cover stories about San Diego Biotech–we’ve got a lot going on here! Today Paul Grayson, CEO of Fate Therapeutics, and Ian Ratcliffe, CEO of Stemgent, will be speaking in the ‘Mastering Your (Cell) Fate: Stem Cells, iPSCs and the Future of Medicine’ session.’ Check out the BIO blog for the latest. I hope to speak with them, stay tuned! It’s raining off and on here, but I always forget how nice it is to see lots of trees.

Want access to a network of tens of thousands of scientists who you can help you advance your career? Learn about your peers’ work in real time, and discuss it with them? We’ll spend an hour covering LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, FriendFeed, and examples specific to life science and biotechnology during this networking event. We’ll introduce you to new resources and ideas which are revolutionizing science communication. This event will be customized to your needs: we’ll ask you what you want to learn about before (and even during!) this very interactive event. You’ll have time to ask questions and network throughout the event, and go home with resources and a plan to get a jump start with these exciting new tools. Sign up now to reserve your spot, and we’ll see you May 28th!

About the Presenters

Mary Canady began 20 years ago as a bench scientist in biochemistry and moved to the business side of biotechnology 10 years later, working at life science companies including Invitrogen and Calbiochem. In 2008 she founded Comprendia, a company specializing in helping biotechnology and life science companies grow through strategic marketing and business development. She recently started the San Diego Biotechnology Network (SDBN) a ‘2.0’ generation networking group, facilitating interactions through monthly events combined with online media such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and blogs.

William Gunn did his doctoral studies at Tulane University on Bone Repair Using Human Multipotent Stromal Stem Cells. During his studies he explored social media and helped found the Friendfeed Life Scientists room, where over 700 scientists daily share information and solve problems. He moved to San Diego in 2008 to pursue science and social media, and works for Genalyte developing molecular diagnostics assays. He also works with Mendeley, an academic reference management service, where he helps researchers leverage social media tools for collaboration and discovery.

Sponsored by

About Proven

PROVEN is an employee owned Consulting, Staffing and Solutions firm based in San Diego, CA. Our customer centric approach focuses on the needs of our clients and candidates. We provide flexible consulting and contingent staffing solutions in the areas of Scientific, Clinical, Information Technology, Engineering and Finance & Accounting on a direct-hire, contract-to-hire, and contract basis.

May Event Flyer (PDF)

Event Details
Who: Biotechnology professionals in the greater San Diego area
What:Social Media for Scientists: San Diego Biotechnology Network’s May Networking Event
When: Thursday, May 28th, 5:30-9:00 p.m.
Where: Tango Del Rey, 3567 Del Rey Street, San Diego 92109 (Directions below)
Cost: $20, including appetizers ($15 for Academics) +$5 at door
Contact: http://sdbn.org/contact
For more information about the event: http://sdbn.org/may

Directions: From the North: South on Interstate 5, Exit Balboa Ave, Straight to 4th Traffic Light then left on Bunker Hill St. Building directly ahead 3 blks. From the South: North on Interstate 5, Exit Grand/ Garnet Ave, Straight to 3rd Traffic Light then right on Bunker Hill St. Building directly ahead 3 blks.

Looking forward to seeing everyone tonight. We’ll have onsite registration ($25, $20 for academics with ID), so feel free to stop by. You’ll be able to network with people from 50+ companies at the event, and we always do our best to ensure that you make as many contacts as possible. Also, Regulus Therapeutics will be giving a presentation on microRNA therapeutics, a very hot drug discovery topic. We’ll also be giving away some shwag from Labarmor, including a stylish black labcoat!

Event details: http://sdbn.org/april

See you there!

People from the following companies will be in attendance tonight:

Want more details about these companies? Many are listed on our San Diego Biotechnology Company Directory: http://sdbn.org/directory