The French-American Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco
 cordially invites you to join them to a:

Life Science Breakfast
“Corporate Venture Financing: a creative alternative to traditional Venture Capital”

Thursday, January 11th 2007
 7:30 am - 9:30 am at Swissnex

730 Montgomery Street
San Francisco

Breakfast will be served

Swissnex connects the dots in science, education, art and innovation,
between Switzerland and Western North America
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In order to fuel continued discoveries in biotech, an increasing number of pharmaceutical and biotech companies have created their own corporate venture fund.  For large firms, investments in early-stage start-up gives them an opportunity to facilitate licensing or acquisition deals once the company is mature enough. For emerging biotech companies, this new source of funding is critically important to help them travel through the financing ‘valley of death’.

The French-American Chamber of Commerce has put together a panel of seasoned corporate fund professionals and industry executives to discuss this hot topic for the biotech industry.  They will explain how corporate funds can help a parent company meet its strategic imperatives, and will discuss the stakes at hand for biotech companies working with corporate venture funds.

SPEAKERS

Jeremy Skillington, Ph.D.– Senior Manager, Business Development, Genentech, Inc.

Dr Skillington is a senior manager in the Business Development group at Genentech, having joining the group in late 2002.  His responsibilities include sourcing, assessing and, subsequently, in-licensing therapeutic candidates and platform technologies of potential interest to Genentech’s research and development efforts.  Genentech is currently focused on oncology, immune mediated diseases and tissue growth and repair, including angiogeneic disorders, and is actively seeking in-licensing opportunities in these areas.  In addition, through its GenenFUND, the business development group proactively identifies and invests in early-stage companies with compelling technologies or products that are of potential strategic interest to Genentech. Dr Skillington received his B.Sc. (Hons) and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the National University of Ireland, Galway and completed post-doctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco in the lab of Prof. Rik Derynck.  His post-doctoral research focused on mesenchymal cell differentiation and received funding awards from both the National Institutes of Health and the Arthritis Foundation.  The potential therapeutic application of his research and the entrepreneurial spirit that permeates UCSF led to an interest in the biotechnology industry and the resultant transition to Genentech’s Business Development group.

Peter Van Vlasselaer, Ph.D. Chief Executive Officer, Avidia, Inc.

Before joining Avidia, Peter served as Senior Vice President of Technical Operations at InterMune, Inc.(NASDAQ: ITMN), a company focused on developing medicines for hepatic and pulmonary indications. At InterMune, Peter managed the Pre-Clinical and Process Development, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management, Quality Systems and Project Management departments. Prior to this, Peter served as Vice President of Product Development at Dendreon, Inc.(NASDAQ: DNDN), a company involved in developing cell-based cancer vaccines. Prior to his tenure at Dendreon, Peter was Staff Scientist at the Center for Nuclear Research in Mol, Belgium where he managed research in Hematology, Immunology and Bone Biology. Before that Peter was at DNAX Research Institute (Schering-Plough) where he conducted research in human B cell biology. Peter holds a B.S. in Zoology and a Ph.D. In Cellular Immunology from the University of Leuven, Belgium and was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Immunology and Rheumatology Department at the Stanford University Medical School. Peter is inventor on 25 patents and authored over 40 publications in different fields and was awarded the King Boudewijn Award for young entrepreneurs in Belgium.

                                                             MODERATOR

Anton Gueth, Managing Director at Burrill and Company

REGISTRATION

Registration price valid until 5-days Prior to the event date
Cancellations must be made 5-days prior to the event date
Any cancellation within a 5-day period of the scheduled date will not be refunded
Name of guest will be kept at the door

                   $ 30 at the door

Or please mail or fax the reservation Card below

Reservation Card - Life Science Breakfast

Please reserve ___ seat (s) at $20 per person (for Members).
Please reserve ___ seat (s) at $25 per person (for Non Members).
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Please make checks payable to FACCSF
Please, fax this coupon to

French-American Chamber of Commerce
703 Market Street, Suite 450, San Francisco, CA 94103
Tel: 415 442 4717 / Fax 415 442 4621|