Gregg Blake Offers Insight During Capital Forum with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Melville, NY – June 20, 2013 – The Long Island Capital Alliance (“LICA”), the leading non-profit capital formation and business development organization serving regional companies, today announced the successful completion of its Biotech Technology Transfer Capital Forum held on June 14, 2013. The capital forum, held in collaboration with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (“CSHL”), showcased four scientific discoveries which can form the basis for new businesses which are based on technologies developed by CSHL scientists.
A panel of technology investors also participated in the event. The panel provided insights on the presenting scientists’ business plans and their investment potential, as well as a review of the current investment climate for technology transfer within the biotechnology sector.
Neil Kaufman, chairman of LICA, stated that, “We are extremely excited to have showcased some of the most advanced biotechnology discoveries made at CSHL which are ready for transfer to the commercial marketplace. A large number of investors and local business leaders turned out to hear about these insightful technology transfer concepts from CSHL, including the treatment of diabetes, obesity and cancer, enhanced drug development and research tools and healthcare products. CSHL is clearly shaping contemporary biomedical research and we are pleased to have been able to collaborate in bringing their technologies toward monetization in a way that is intended to create locally-based companies.”
“The LI Capital Forum meeting was well attended by a cross section of experienced, knowledgeable and interested professionals. The Q&A panel was particularly experienced and helpful to all involved,” said John Maroney, Vice President, In-House Counsel at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL). “As a global leader in biomedical research, CSHL is interested in pursuing technology transfer opportunities that will bring our scientific expertise into commercial application and our scientist entrepreneurs who participated benefitted from the interaction.”
“The forum presented a unique opportunity to connect with the investment community and we found there to be a lot of interest as we implement our strategy for commercialization as a profitable business from our present status as an advanced stage not-for-profit entity,” said Professor Lloyd Trotman, a CSHL presenter.
Professor Nicholas Tonks of CSHL commented, “I found the forum to be very helpful – it provided important insights into how best to communicate scientific breakthroughs to the business community. The feedback from the panel regarding what they viewed as important attributes of early stage companies was valuable. The opportunity to present our work and to meet members of the business community also helped to make potentially productive connections.”
“I was fascinated by all three presenters and I’m looking forward to following up to determine our role in funding their commercialization,” said Scott Livingston, President of Livingston Securities, a leading investment bank focusing on disruptive technologies and their impact on healthcare, energy, infrastructure and other leading sectors of the American and global economy.
Biotech Technology Transfer Capital Forum
Presenting Companies and Technologies
The following presentations were given at the Capital Forum:
A Novel Treatment for Diabetes, Obesity and Cancer: exploiting an oral dosage of a key regulator of insulin, leptin and HER2 oncogene function. (Professor Nicholas Tonks, FRS)
RapidCaP: the next generation platform to cure metastatic prostate cancer. (Professor Lloyd Trotman)
Velocin-N™: a new enzyme that enables faster, more sensitive and more selective detection of proteins (the miniature machines and structures of life) in mass spectrometers. (Dr. John Wilson)
Wilson Advanced Research: develops products with novel health, social and commercial benefit, spanning a wide range from consumer products to environmental clean-up, including a simple solution to eliminate the largest reservoir of bacteria–including MURSA and E. coli 0157– from homes. (Dr. John Wilson)
Biotech Technology Transfer Capital Forum
Industry Experts
The following industry investors participated in the panel discussion at the Capital Forum:
•Gregg Blake, Founder of Brocair Partners, which provides financial and strategic advisory services to healthcare companies.
•Larry Chaityn, Managing Director and Head of Global Health Care Banking at Kaminski Partners, a global investment bank.
•Scott Livingston, President of Livingston Securities, an investment bank specializing in the nanotechnology and biosciences industries.
•Steve Winick, Principal of Topspin Partners, one of Long Island’s leading venture capital firms.
About the Long Island Capital Alliance:
Since 1984, the Long Island Capital Alliance (www.licapital.org), formerly known as Long Island Venture Group, has been promoting business growth on Long Island. LICA seeks to create a productive and business-friendly environment that will afford area businesses access to the resources necessary to compete successfully in today’s markets. LICA serves as a focal point for the exchange of ideas among new and existing business enterprises, successful entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers. Through quarterly capital forums and special meetings, LICA brings together members of the region’s business community, and has been recognized as the place to turn to when small businesses need equity, debt, or other financing, or for investors to find an attractive investment opportunity.
LICA’s mission is to encourage economic development on Long Island by facilitating capital formation for a broad range of companies in various industries, from early stage to mature middle market closely held and publicly-traded businesses. LICA accomplishes this primarily through education, networking, quarterly capital forums, periodic special educational meetings, and alliances with other regional organizations. LICA brings together members of the region’s business community and serves as the finance arm for significant local business and organizations.
About Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Founded in 1890, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has shaped contemporary biomedical research and education with programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology and quantitative biology. CSHL is ranked number one in the world by Thomson Reuters for impact of its research in molecular biology and genetics. The Laboratory has been home to eight Nobel Prize winners. Today, CSHL’s multidisciplinary scientific community is more than 600 researchers and technicians strong and its Meetings & Courses program hosts more than 12,000 scientists from around the world each year to its Long Island campus and its China center. Tens of thousands more benefit from the research, reviews, and ideas published in journals and books distributed internationally by CSHL Press. The Laboratory’s education arm also includes a graduate school and programs for undergraduates as well as middle and high school students and teachers. CSHL is a private, not-for-profit institution on the north shore of Long Island. For more information, visit www.cshl.edu.