After four years of attending Phacilitate Leaders World, I have noticed a few things: the organizers like to hang on to what is popular (like the networking yacht party and afternoon tea – head office is in London, England, after all), but they’re equally keen to innovate (they expanded the program and audience by partnering with the World Stem Cell Summit in 2018 and this year introduced Phacilitate:MATCH, which I’ll write more about later). The organizers have their fingers on the pulse of what’s happening in the industry, as is reflected in their programming, they are conscious about being inclusive in their invited speakers and panelists, and they look for opportunities to offer leadership within the community (more on this below). If only they could manage the weather as effectively.
One of the sessions that appears every year is the “top 10” recap of the year before – a personal favourite. For the second year in a row it was presented by Susan Nichols, CEO of Falcon Therapeutics. Last year, Ms. Nichols stated that reimbursement conversations were a dominant theme in 2018 (her #1 pick). For 2019, Ms. Nichols said patient access topped the list of noteworthy events. This topic is very close to reimbursement where the end goal is ensuring that approved therapies reach the patients who need them.
As an example of patient access, Ms. Nichols referred to the approval of Zolgensma (for spinal muscular atrophy) and the fact it has the largest price tag seen to-date at $2.1 million. She pointed out that Zolgensma’s lottery is a sign that Novartis is being innovative in its access model and, related, she mentioned that patient advocates are supporting all disease indications figuring that access today means drugs tomorrow.
It being a, mostly, industry conference, her other top 10 points included pharma companies and biotechs locking up internal manufacturing capacity in anticipation of future needs, clinical progress, significant mergers and acquisitions, and big licensing deals.
If you look at the “#1” events from the last several years, they paint a picture of an industry gaining momentum.
With the last decade now behind us, it’s evident that there has been significant growth and progress in a number of key areas, and the next decade is looking even more promising. (Read more about this in an article that looks back on the past ten years and makes some assumptions about the future.) Sure, big challenges remain, but the talks and conversations happening at leading conferences, like Phacilitate Leaders World, inspire hope that smart people are coming together as a community to solve them.
This year’s agenda featured lots of great talks and panels slotted under the themes of: Biotech Bootcamp, Manufacturing and Future Trends (at Phacilitate); and, Delivery, Stem Cell Discovery and Translation, and Regenerative Medicine in the Clinic (at World Stem Cell Summit). You can see the program here.
While there were lots of great presentations on manufacturing, regulatory considerations and the health of the sector (more investment and clinical trials), “becoming a true leader in a thriving company” stood out as something new. Good leadership is always crucial. In a thriving industry where talent is a growing concern, presentations on leadership and strategies for managing people are welcome.
Another innovation this year was Phacilitate:MATCH, a concierge service to connect early stage biotech companies with potential partners and investors. As the inaugural sponsor, CCRM was invited to nominate companies to participate. Canadian companies Morphocell Technologies, Notch Therapeutics and Northern Therapeutics took part, along with Aspen Neuroscience, Locate Bio and Mana Therapeutics. From what I heard, the new service was a hit and will be back next year.
With such a packed schedule, there is lots more I could choose to discuss, but I’ll close with the final activity on the final day: a lunch and learn event for members of Women Offering Mentoring Education & Networking in Advanced Therapies (aka W.O.M.E.N.). Launched in 2017, W.O.M.E.N is an initiative developed by Phacilitate to help address the talent gap by supporting women in the field so they can move into the careers they want and so the industry can have more gender balance at senior levels.
The group does this through one-on-one mentoring, as well as educational and networking events that take place at Phacilitate meetings, but can also happen anywhere that the community is meeting. It is free and open to women at any stage of their career. The lunch, talks and networking games that followed were fun, inspiring and instructive. If you’d like to join, contact Michael Adeniya at Phacilitate.
Now you have my take. Here are two other blogs commenting on the conference and one Twitter thread on new technology and gadgets spotted at Phacilitate Leaders World.
- Astarte Biologics: https://astartebio.com/blog/phacilitate-2020-a-focus-on-patient-voices/
- Oxgene: https://www.oxgene.com/News-and-Events/Articles/2020/01/Price-value-challenge-and-opportunity
- Alexey Bersenev’s tech thread on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cells_nnm/status/1220813250591436802
See you next year in Miami?
Stacey Johnson
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