{"id":14510,"date":"2019-07-03T17:56:55","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T15:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hollandbio.nl\/?p=14510"},"modified":"2019-07-04T16:04:22","modified_gmt":"2019-07-04T14:04:22","slug":"dutch-biotech-event-2019-celebrates-the-beauty-of-biotech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hollandbio.nl\/en\/nieuws\/dutch-biotech-event-2019-celebrates-the-beauty-of-biotech\/","title":{"rendered":"Dutch Biotech Event 2019 celebrates the beauty of biotech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Dutch\nBiotech Event 2019 had it all: a great line-up, over 250 eager biotech\nprofessionals, a lovely venue and perfect weather. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her\nopening speech, Annemiek Verkamman brought the festive news that HollandBIO\nwelcomed its 200th member! Our growing member base strengthens us in our mission\nto maximize the contribution of biotech products to our society\u2019s health and\nsustainability. And it shows that HollandBIO\u2019s impact is bigger than ever. Of\ncourse, HollandBIO will continue what we do best: paving the way for biotech\u2019s frontrunners\nby challenging the status quo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A three decade journey in cell therapy – Arie\nBelldegrun<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arie\nBelldegrun, our first keynote speaker, took us on a dazzling, three-decade\njourney in cell therapy. Arie played an instrumental role in several of today\u2019s\nfrontrunners in biotech, such as Kite Pharma, bringing ground-breaking science\nfrom bench to bedside. And, as he is convinced that science drives innovation, Arie\nis always looking for the next revolution. Today, he serves as Executive\nChairman & Co-Founder of Allogene Therapeutics. The company\u2019s Allogenic\nCAR-T therapy may be the next big breakthrough, since more patients can be\ntreated with engineered T-cells after a single manufacturing run. Although no\none can predict the future, Arie firmly believes cell therapy holds great\npromise for cancer therapy. What is it that keeps him going after so many\nsuccesses? It is the great fun along the way. No better way to conclude a\nfantastic story of a true biotech pioneer!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AmbAgon wins Venture Challenge Spring 2019 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chr\u00e9tien Herben, Director at LifeSciences@Work, announced AmbAgon as the winner of the Venture Challenge Spring 2019 edition. The Venture Challenge is a 10-week programme to develop an initial idea \u2013 a breakthrough research result \u2013 into a solid business case. This edition\u2019s winners AmbAgon<\/strong><\/a> aims to develop small-molecule therapeutics for breast cancer by augmenting the tumor-suppressing functions of the 14-3-3 protein. The prize includes a cheque worth \u20ac25.000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personal perspectives on a career in biotech – Tim\nKnotnerus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not\nabout where you work, nor what you do, it\u2019s who you work with.\u201d And Tim\nKnotnerus, our second keynote speaker, worked with the best. After graduation,\nTim joined Aescap, a VC fund established by Dinko Valerio. The experience to\nwork with one of the pioneers of the Dutch biotech sector, sparked Tim\u2019s\nambition to pursue an entrepreneurial biotech career of his own. He continued\nhis career at AM-Pharma. Together with CEO Erik van den Berg, he secured\nmultiple funding rounds. An option to acquire deal with Pfizer was the cherry\non the cake. The deal also paved the way for Tim\u2019s next big leap in biotech:\nbecoming CEO of AgomAb, a Belgium biotech start-up holding an exclusive license\nagreement from argenx. With \u20ac 21 million secured in a series A earlier this\nyear, exciting times lie ahead for this \u2018fourth-generation\u2019 biotech star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lessons in leadership – John Haurum<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biotech owes its success to innovation. But how to create and sustain an innovative corporate culture? John Haurum\u2019s keynote focused on the strong leadership it takes to pull that off. John\u2019s former roles as CSO of Symphogen and CEO of F-Star not only made him an expert in the field of therapeutic antibodies, but also gave him hands-on experience in corporate cultures. As board member of a growing number of biotech companies, his knowledge is of great value to a new biotech generation. Guided by a Harvard Business Review article<\/strong><\/a>, John shared his vision on building an innovative biotech culture, stressing the apparent paradoxes involved: tolerance for failure but  intolerance for incompetence, willingness to experiment combined with rigorous discipline and collaboration that involves individual accountability. All in all, John\u2019s presentation provided plenty of food for thought for both established as well as up-and-coming biotech leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Break-out session – Critical communication<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As our\nbeautiful biotech sector is under bigger scrutiny than ever before, simply\nbeing good is no longer good enough. The need to be good and tell it, to speak\nup, to explain what you do and why you do it, is bigger than ever before. But\nin a seemingly post-fact era, and a debate driven by emotion, that might be easier\nsaid than done. Hugo van Rooijen (Janssen Pharmaceuticals) and Guus Scheefhals\n(DegenRx) shared their communicative views, ideas and experiences. From\nfact-checking as pharmacovigilance for politicians, to setting the right frame\nfor a constructive discussion, and managing expectations among patients and\nother stakeholders. The session delivered a number of best practices to move\nforward. HollandBIO hopes the attendees will also practice what these biotech\nfrontrunners preached!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Break-out session – Cell land gene therapy in\nthe spotlight<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kite Pharma\nis one of the frontrunners in cell therapy, with the approval of Yescarta for treatment\nof certain types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. At the same time, gene therapy is also\nbooming! Guided by Kite\u2019s Markwin Velders, two pioneering companies shared\ntheir experiences in the gene therapy world. Rudolf van Olden (Avexis) highlighted\nthe development of Avexis\u2019 Zolgensma, which got just approved by the FDA to\ntreat children with SMA. The results of the initial clinical trials were\nspectacular, resulting in an ultra-short time to market. Thanks to the rapidly\nbuilt production site, patients in the US are already being treated. Tjarda\nKasteel from bluebird bio shared the fascinating story of Zynteglo, a one-time gene therapy for patients with \u00df-Thalassemia.\nBased on the exceptional clinical outcomes, Zynteglo saw a ultra-fast approval by the EMA. Because both Zynteglo and Zolgensma are \u2018one time\u2019 treatments challenging the status quo,\nboth companies introduced correspondingly novel payment strategies. The impressive\nresults so far make it more than justified that cell and gene therapy are in\nthe spotlight right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Break-out session \u2013 Think different<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the\nworkshop Think Different, biotech entrepreneurs Wim de Laat (BioscienZ) and Jos\nSeegers (MyMicroZoo) gave us a sneak peek of tomorrow\u2019s food and how insights\nin your microbiome can help you make better lifestyle choices. Wim aims to\nserve a Christmas dinner with egg ingredients produced by fermentation of a\nfungus, which converts sugar from sugar beet, cane or grain into ovalbumin. If\nyou are curious about the effect of a (G)Meal, or any other lifestyle\nintervention, on your microbiome, the MyMicroZoo poo-it-yourself-test from Jos\nwill provide you with answers based on the most advanced DNA sequencing\ntechniques. HollandBIO is already looking forward to our next teambuilding\nactivity!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Break-out session – How to fund a biotech<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A no now,\ndoesn\u2019t mean a no later. That was one of the lesson\u2019s learned by Synaffix\u2019 CEO\nPeter van de Sande. To secure funding to commercialize antibody-drug conjugates\nand build a technology platform company, Peter had to knock on many doors. You\ndefinitely need to be persistent, Xenikos CEO Ypke van Oosterhout added. Ypke\u2019s\ndedication did pay-off: Xenikos closed a \u20ac30 million series B financing round last\nyear. Edward van Weezel agreed as well. As a managing partner of venture fund BGV,\nhe sees hundreds of projects every year. The overall success rate for companies\nis very low, only a few get an investment. It is worrisome that the Netherlands\nis losing its strong start-up position to other countries around the globe.\nEspecially in the United States, huge amounts of risk capital is invested in\nvery young start-ups, paving the way for growth. To stay on track, the\nNetherlands should invest more in innovative start-ups. Government and private\ninvestors have to work together, to bridge the gaps in the funding landscape.\nUntil then, you had better take into account the panelists\u2019 lessons learned: stay\nflexible and creative along the way, and always keep looking for solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fueled by the\nfascinating biotech stories and new insights, it was time to network while\nenjoying a refreshing drink and tasty BBQ. A great day to celebrate what\nbiotech is all about: building a better world by combining top-notch science,\ntrue entrepreneurship and a lot of fun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be sure to mark the last Friday of June next year in your agenda. See you next year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos by \u00a9 Nils van Houts – 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n