Invest in Cures | A Disease Discovery Forum

LaunchBio and NCBiotech welcome researchers, advocates and investment professionals from leading disease foundations that have successfully partnered with local startups focused on oncology and rare disease. The program will feature discussions of innovative approaches to advancing treatments for rare disease through drug repurposing and alternative pricing strategies.

The full-day forum combines main stage sessions and panel discussions with intimate gatherings and high-level networking.

• Crohn's & Colitis
• BrightEdge Ventures (American Cancer Society)
• Dementia Discovery Fund
• Foundation Fighting Blindnes
• JDRF TD1 Fun
• March of Dimes Innovation Fund

9am – Welcome and introductions

• Becky Beattie, LaunchBio
• Mary Beth Thomas, PhD, NC Biotechnology Center

9:05-10am: Advancing Patient Outcomes Through Partnerships

• Jimmy Rosen, Artizan Biosciences, moderator
• Gerard Honig, PhD - Dir. of Research Innovation, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation
• Mark Spizer - Co-founder and COO of Gusto Global
• Rusty Kelley, PhD, MBA, SVP Investments, Foundation Fighting Blindness
• Ashwath (Ash) Jayagopal, PhD, MBA, Chief Scientific Officer, Opus Genetics

Nonprofit disease foundations for many years have provided grants for basic science and fellowships to promising researchers. Foundations, through their venture arms, have begun making direct investments in startups to validate proof of concept, spur commercialization and connect founders with a unique network of researchers, patients and advocates. We will hear from 2 investors from disease foundations on how they made a connection to North Carolina-based companies. And we will learn about the companies experience partnering with the foundation to advance their path to the marketplace.

10:05-10:40am: Innovation in Rare Disease

• Christy Shaffer, General Partner, Hatteras Venture Partners - moderator
• Niraj Vasisht, PhD, President and CEO at Avior Bio
• John Taylor, Chief Executive Officer at Aceragen, Inc
• Anil Goyal, PhD, CEO & Board chair at IMMvention Therapeutix, Inc.
• Haiyan Fu, PhD, NeuroGT

Meet 4 North Carolina-based company founders who are working in the rare disease space to learn about their science, milestones and path to commercialization

10:45-11:15am: Networking break

11:15am - 12:10pm: Impact Investing to Address Health Disparities

• Kirsten Axelsen - Senior Policy Advisor, DLA Piper
• Alice Pomponio - Managing Director, American Cancer Society BrightEdge
• March of Dimes Innovation Fund

Patients impacted by rare diseases, cancer and poor maternal and child health outcomes also are likely to be low-income and have other unrelated health problems. Foundations and startups developing novel therapies need to take these factors into account as they bring products to market. Regulatory policies, the ability to recruit diverse populations into clinical trials, and drug pricing also can impact innovation in ways that transcend basic science. In this session, we’ll examine the larger context of improving patient outcomes while addressing health disparities.

12:10-1 pm: The Way Forward

• Michael Hostetler, PhD, Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati- moderator
• Dirk Landgraf, PhD - Vice President Dementia Discovery Fund
• Yury Kukushkin, PhD, Investment Director at JDRF T1D Fund

LaunchBio held its first Invest in Cures program in 2018 when disease foundation venture funds and social impact investing to improve patient outcomes were relatively new concepts. Much has changed in 5 years as the field has matured. In this concluding segment, we invite foundations and social venture funds that participated in our first program to discuss their progress, what they’ve learned, and what lies ahead for their work.

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Due to ongoing concerns related to COVID-19, capacity for this in-person event is limited. Guests must pre-register. Tickets are available on a first come first served basis. Those without a ticket will not be permitted to enter. Should the event be postponed due to COVID-19, guests will be issued a full refund to the original form of payment and notified when the date has been rescheduled.

Attendees are required to follow all local COVID-19 public health guidelines throughout the event.

Host or Publisher LaunchBio