Weekly Wrap Up: Linkedin & the Hungry Internet users of China

On Tuesday, Linkedin launched a simplified Chinese language version of its website and is in the process of getting a license to operate the Chinese language site. If successful, it will mean that Linkedin will be the only global social media website to have official permission to operate in China, whilst most social media sites have been blocked by the Chinese government.

But does this mean that Linkedin will have exclusive access to professional circles in China? This will hardly be the case. Strict censorship rules in the country have not ruled out internet users’ appetite for social networking sites. Instead, the people of China have created their own networks similar to their Western peers, but with more users. Linkedin will be facing strong local competition from similar networking sites such as Ruolin and Dajie. Similarly, the Chinese versions of Facebook and Twitter, Ren Ren and Weibo have had incredible success and have widely penetrated the internet market in the past few years. Internet users in China have become increasingly sophisticated. Like everywhere else in the world, social media is an important platform in forming public opinion in China. At the end of 2012, China had 564 million internet users, representing nearly 40% of the Chinese population.

Internet users in China use "wall-climbing"
software to climb over the Internet fire wall
Image Isawnyu

Despite the fact that popular international social media sites are officially banned by the PRC government, it would be naïve (and possibly even wrong?) to assume that Chinese internet users don't use with them. By spending ten minutes to download what Chinese called the “wall-climbing” software (i.e. climbing over the fire wall), internet users in China will be able to access Facebook as smoothly as their Western counterparts. Whilst Linkedin’s expansion into China may be viewed as a new portal for PR’s to promote in China, it should by no means be viewed as the only site to watch.




This week Abchaps attended some great events, including the CFA UK Research Challenge at Locke Lord’s offices. At this, the investment Olympics for young professionals, the future potential of the City really shone through. Ever keen to learn more about our counterparts in the media, we enjoyed drinks at Bloomberg’s offices and have taken their preferred methods of working on board!

In terms of hosting, the Abchurch fridge has never been so full of healthy food and bubbles. We welcomed a large team from Cenkos Securities, where we discussed not only the fast-growing space of Life Sciences but also the increasingly efficient space of Clean technology. As more and more Companies now seek good team “chemistry” from their advisers, it was a good chance for the teams to mix and swap ideas.

Abchaps also hosted two market lunches, including one with a social media themed and one with an impact investment focuse. It seems that impact investment is rapidly maturing, with investors able to reap more gains from their socially/environmentally responsible investment than ever before.

We also flew over to Boston to join the IPREX GLC conference for the weekend. As an active member of this global network, we look forward to hearing about how our global partners are fairing in what seems to be a much more positive economy.




Private equity firm NVM has recruited Karl Cockwill as a portfolio manager in its investment team. He joins from 3i, where he was a portfolio manager.

Steven Skinner has been appointed head of West End investment at BNP Paribas Real Estate. He joined its central London investment team in January from Savills.




"LION" - A LinkedIn Open Networker - A LinkedIn member with more than 500 connections. These members accept any offer, good or bad and weak or strong; some question the value of this LION status when considering the quality and the quantity of contacts.

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More data storage than you could ever need?

Adam Michael

When I first built a PC, just over a decade ago, I installed a 180GB hard drive. “That’s more data storage than you’ll ever need,” the PC components specialist informed me.

And that’s precisely what I thought when reading about data storage in DNA; research from Nick Goldman and his team at the European Bioinformatics Institute published in today’s Nature. The approach would enable storing the data from a million hard drives, in just a few grams of DNA. Surely this is more storage than you’ll ever need?

But, rather than rely on gut instinct, I decided a quick recap on the capacity of data storage devices over the years would be a more rigorous approach to forming an opinion.

So, here’s a quick flashback through time, looking at data storage devices accessible to average consumers. At the start of the 1970s the first floppy disk (from IBM) stored 79 kilobytes (79kB) – admittedly this is a little shaky as a starting point, as no-one had computers at this point in time, but I needed to start somewhere.

By the end of the 1970s and early 1980s, we had progressed to the compact cassette, widely used for all home computers, with a 90 minute tape storing 660kB. Then through the 1980s the floppy disk became ubiquitous, and in its various forms progressed to 1.44 Megabytes (MB). We then moved to the compact disc, which again evolved over time, and in 1997 the first CD-RW (the read-write version) came into play, which could store 860MB. The CD rapidly became the DVD, the read-write version holding 1.5 Gigabytes (GB) and read-only version storing 4.7GB

Thus, in 2001 I when installed my 180GB hard drive, I could have stored my entire library of films and music in one small partition of the drive. Surely I was never going to fill this!

But, as we moved further into the new millennium solid state memory started to take hold, starting small with just 4GB, but very quickly progressing to 64GB; this memory is at the core of every smartphone, tablet, digital camera, and top end laptop. So now, just a few uploads from a camera with a full memory, a sync with my laptop, and a file exchange with the tablet and the 180GB hard drive is bursting at the seams.   

The pace didn’t stop there though, in 2009 Sony and SanDisk launched a 2 Terabyte (TB) solid state memory stick; and today, for less than £100 you can buy a 3TB hard drive for a PC.

Nick Goldman and his team estimate that a gram of their DNA storage system could hold around 2 PetaBytes (PB) which is 2000TB. Wow! But, history tells us, very clearly, that we need a 1000-fold increase in data storage every decade.

So, is DNA data storage more than you could ever need? Apparently not, indeed, it appears to have arrived just in time.

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Life sciences: The UK needs to connect the dots

The recent Genesis conference in London, hosted a weighty debate around whether the UK ecosystem is conducive to a strong life sciences sector. It scoped out the science, industry, political environment and public policy, human talent, access to capital, and nurturing entrepreneurship.

A panel of life science industrialists and practitioners presented one case, a panel of politicos and infrastructural enablers presented another. And through the wizardry of wireless voting buttons, the audience could express an electronic show of hands – instantaneously projected to the screens.

So, is the UK ecosystem conducive to life sciences? Well, the audience was split down the middle, 50:50 (50.9:49.1 to be precise).

Hurdles to market entry

Kicking off the discussion and pointing to strengths in the UK, Shaun Grady – VP Strategic Partnering and Business Development at AstraZeneca (AZN) – highlighted government initiatives that have provided financial support for life sciences. These included Regional Growth Funds, patent and R&D tax incentives, and funding of research councils.

However, Shaun also noted that AZN (which invests £1.6bn in R&D in the UK) is looking globally for a competitive environment in which to operate. His particular concern with the UK is the reimbursement of new drugs, both on price and uptake. 

“When boards are making decisions about where to put their next research dollars, the general commercial climate, and how they feel that innovation is welcomed in a particular territory is key,” he said; adding that in the UK, having achieved regulatory approval and NICE recommendation, there is still no guarantee that a drug will be taken up in the NHS. 

Following on from this, Greer Deal, Global Regulatory Services (a consultancy specialising in product regulatory approval) pointed to the time taken for product approvals in the UK as another issue. “When you submit a dossier for approval, the MHRA [the UK drug approval body] must turn around their assessment in 210 days. However, if there is a question – the clock stops – so this takes regulatory approval in to years.” Speed is important and to be globally competitive, Greer believes this needs to be brought down to 12 – 18 months.

Healthy new shoots and strong roots

Despite these factors, Glen Crocker CEO of UK bioincubator network BioCity, believes the sector is growing fast. He notes that where Pharma has left the UK, the sites are rapidly filling with new, high-growth companies. Glen believes these small companies will be the future engines of the sector, with the role of big Pharma increasingly moving to late stage clinical trials, regulatory approval, and sales & marketing.

With Pharma companies needing to in-license products and technologies to fill their pipelines Lubor Gaal, Head of Europe Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb, said that it is excellent research that attracts the Pharma industry to a country. “At BMS, we are agnostic about country – we go wherever there is good medical research.” He noted that this year China has, for the first time, published the most peer-reviewed research in life sciences.

On the basis of research, the UK is exceptionally well-poised, as agreed by all parties; it is recognised globally as centre of research excellence. However, Lubor noted that he was not convinced that the UK systematically tracked all its research, and as such it is hard to know exactly what commercial potential is out there.

And this sentiment was re-enforced by David Phillips, a Partner at SROne, GlaxoSmithKline’s venture capital wing. “We have a whole team searching for disruptive technologies from the UK, but it’s a case man-power to track these down.” This means that exciting and commercially valuable technologies could easily be missed if small companies are not ensuring they are visible.

Building on the facets of UK expertise, Prof Sir Robert Lechler, Executive Director of King’s Health Partners, pitched that the UK is a very attractive place to conduct experimental medicine and early stage trials. Sir Robert also pointed out that alongside the world-beating clinical investigators, the NHS is an immense resource for identifying relevant patients for clinical trials. “We have great science and punch way above our weight in terms of biomedical research – we now also have fantastic experimental facilities in the UK.”

Such infrastructural faculties have not come about by chance. Indeed, Mark Treherne, from the Life Science Investment Organisation – part of the UKTI – said that the government has put forward £992m over recent years to support the infrastructure for clinical trials and experimental medicine.

Gone too far, or the wrong direction?

While acknowledging the success of government initiatives to create research excellence, the serial biotech entrepreneur Ken Powell noted there’s almost an excess of talented researchers.

“The government has invested vast sums in life sciences to create this research talent – but the bulk of the profits are going abroad,” he said. Ken then cited the example of Cambridge Antibody Technology, whose technology identified a candidate that went on to become the world’s biggest selling drug. Humira, which treats a wide variety of disorders related to the immune system, sold circa $4bn in the US over the last four quarters, but the profits went to Abbott Laboratories in the US.

Following on from this, Ken asked the question: “Where is the management?” In doing so he pointed to the fact that there are surprisingly few serial entrepreneurs that stay in the UK, thus there is a lack of commercial nous to establish the next waves of biotech companies.

Taking this thread further, Mike Ward, Editor-in-Chief of leading industry publication SCRIP Intelligence, noted that continental Europe and West Coast US is populated with serial entrepreneurs from the UK suggesting that these people clearly think the UK is hostile – or at least not the most favourable.

The potential fix

Andrew Pulkrabek of UK/US venture capital firm LifeScience Ventures asked the cutting question: “Is the UK operating in silos?”

Describing the ecosystem in such US life science hotspots as Boston, San Francisco, Research Triangle Park, Andrew noted that there is a highly connected ecosystem, from leading edge research and technology development with angel investors, seed stage and later stage investors. Additionally, there is infrastructure, management, and mentors who have been through the process before.

He concluded: “I don’t get the impression that all the elements don’t exist here, it’s just that they are not necessarily connected.”

And here I believe our US cousin has struck the nail on the head. There can be no doubt about the UK having the essential elements to make life sciences flourish in the UK – world-class research, a supportive government, premier capital markets, and the deep-rooted pharmaceutical industry. However, individual regions within the UK have forever battled to be the best in the country – North vs. South, Scotland vs. England, or the age old varsity match between Oxford and Cambridge – rather than present a single, unified face.

If you take Route 101, the scenic coast road, from San Francisco to San Diego, you’ll cover around 550 miles. That stretch of California is the world’s biggest biotech hub. The run from the UK’s most northern university in Aberdeen, down to the most southerly, Plymouth, is just shy of 600 miles – so, on a global scale, the UK is a single place that would benefit from a little more cohesion.

You can watch the plenary debate in full here.  

Adam

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The inside track: How can biotechs get investment?

This week Jamie and I swapped the grey streets of the City for the grey skies of Zurich, where we attended the Sachs Associates 12th Annual Biotech in Europe Investor Forum. Overall the tone was surprisingly upbeat – but perhaps inevitable, given the audience. It is some time since I have heard the biotech sector described as ‘thriving’. But, the discussions on investment, from the panellists in both VC and corporate venture funds, raised some interesting points.

 

Overall there is a trend towards M&A and collaborations in the sector; and while VC investments are on the decline, corporate investment is supporting financings in the sector to a degree. Additionally, the IPO market was described as ‘thawing’: over the past 12 months eight out of the 26 IPOs in the sector globally were on European markets.

 

One of the most promising projections was that by 2016, 70% of products on the market will have originated from biotech companies, so biotechs are clearly developing good products and Pharma can see the value.

 

While Pharma R&D budgets are slashed, biotech is finding its influence growing and is actually starting to drive the industry. But to drive the industry, there must be investment, and investors are understandably cautious.

 

So what should a biotech do to increase its chances of investment and, therefore, success?

 

To ensure commercial viability of a product, first and foremost: “There must be significant patient benefit, even if this increases the level of risk,” said Anja König of Novartis Venture Funds, adding that “good management absolutely makes the difference between success and failure.”

 

This sentiment was echoed by her fellow panellists, along with the need for innovation and capital efficiency. Carole Nuechterlein of Roche Venture Fund and Debbie Harland of SR One both stressed the importance of the investor syndicate for several reasons. Investor interests must be aligned so it is preferable to get in together early and be able to take the Company through any further fundraisings to an exit. In addition to the mechanics of the deal, the personalities are extremely important and team work is essential.

 

“Companies and their investors will go through tough times and biotech is a small industry built on relationships and trust, in terms of both individuals and funds,” said Anja. This all plays into ensuring that everyone has the same objective – some of the panellists said at this point, that there were some funds with which they would not co-invest.

 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly for successful drug discovery companies, “do the killer study!” said Debbie. “Show if the product is a no-go, and stop it if it is not panning out.”

 

Simone Elviss


 
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Abchurch Life Sciences Party 2012

Date:

12th June 2012

Location:

The Abchurch Offices; 125 Old Broad Street

Attended by:
A selection of Abchurch’s Life Sciences clients, key journalists, influencers, investors and analysts in the sector

The Event:

With the Life Sciences sector buzzing with activity and the Abchurch team continuously growing, we enthusiastically flung open our doors for the second annual Life Science themed party. It presented an opportunity to bring the industry sector professionals together to mix, mingle and network with like-minded individuals.

With kick-off at 6pm, guests were greeted by the Abchurch team with a glass of sparkling (alcoholic or otherwise!) by a waiter donning Abchurch-branded purple scrubs. Guests migrated into the amazing open office space where the entertainment commenced. Once all had arrived and enjoyed an initial tipple, and a catch-up with the life science fraternity, attention moved to our two guest speakers.  

First on the agenda was Dr Gabrielle Silver; Global Head of Strategic Marketing, Neurology/ General Medicine at GE Healthcare. She gave a very insightful overview of the global burden of neurodegenerative diseases. Specifically, Gaby noted current attitudes towards dementia – which she believes are often driven by fear, especially with patients – as there is currently no known treatment. Fear and denial lead to poor knowledge levels, and specifically that late diagnosis of disease is, at this time, too late to prevent damage and progression. As such, Gaby concluded her talk by looking to the technology horizon, and highlighted the essential requirement for better diagnostics that can pick up the signs of disease as early as possible. Indeed, diagnostics of the future will detect patients vulnerable to dementia before symptoms have even been seen. Such diagnostics will give patients the greatest chance of protection, either through a change in life-style or the new therapeutics coming to fruition.  Indeed, Gaby noted that the next 6-12 months will be very exciting as results from several Phase III studies on drugs for Alzheimer’s will be published – the first drugs to treat the disease, rather than the symptoms.

Second to take to the mic was John Hodgson; Managing Editor of ScripIntelligence. John posed the question: “What lessons could Life Sciences learn from Facebook?” Regardless of Facebook’s valuation at IPO, and lacklustre performance in the aftermarket, John’s point was that there is clearly immense value held in data on people – so what would be the value of patient data and medical records?

He described the current status quo where medical records are held as highly confidential, and only very few physicians may gain access to them. In the Facebook model, it is the owner of the profile that can divulge as much, or as little, as they choose about themselves, to post on the social media site. In healthcare however, patients do not have access to their own data, and are therefore not empowered to disseminate it as they see fit.

What is required, according to John, is a major change in mindset – not easy, he hastened to add. However, if patients owned their medical records, they could choose to make it available for anyone to use, to specific groups only, or completely secret; whatever works for them. But, like Facebook, you can be sure that significant volumes of data would move into the public domain. John noted that the value of this data is impossible to calculate, but it wouldn’t be used to steer advertising campaigns, but drive the development of the multi-billion dollar drug industry.   

Throughout this exclusive evening, the guest’s taste buds were tickled by a selection of, what I would class as, Michelin star quality canapés. For the main course we were treated to seared chilli beef and nasu dengaku served in kidney dishes; duck, watermelon & cashew salad, tiger prawns with mango in a rice paper roll arranged around forceps, salmon tartar (my personal favourite) served around syringes, and betal leaf with pomelo & pomegranate for the veggies, scattered amongst Abchurch purple stethoscopes. Then, if this wasn’t enough to satisfy cravings or fill the stomach void, we had an equally impressive spread of delicious deserts. Keeping of course to the Life Science theme, the chocolate mousse with roasted hazelnuts and lychee jelly with mango DNA-style pearls served in petri dishes. To which I must add, the lychee jelly did look uncannily like an agar gel harbouring bacteria…but this realistic interpretation still failed to put me off eating more than my fair share! More mingling and medical deserts of a strawberry & coconut ‘syrup’ served on silver ‘dosing’ spoons, white chocolate ‘tablets’, and vanilla & strawberry ‘dentures’ scattered amongst dental tools, and the party started to draw to a close.

Once again Abchurch’s organisational and hosting skills could not be faulted. The evening was a sterling success; with guests remaining extremely animated as they discussed the ins, outs and issues of the sector. Thank you to all who attended and contributed to the event and hopefully see you for the same again next year!

Harriet

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Sachs Forum European Life Science CEO Forum for Partnering & Investing

March 2012 - Zurich
Adam Michael and Jamie Hooper represented the Abchurch Life Sciences practice by attending the first Sachs Biotech Investment Forum of the New Year in Zurich. As always the event was excellently attended with both private and listed biotech companies, a broad spectrum of the finance community, representatives from the medical profession and the occasional PR practitioner.

The format of the Sachs Forum gives attendees the best possible chance to maximise their time in Zurich with an efficient one-to-one meeting system, themed panel discussions, and networking facilities throughout the day. With over 200 companies attending, and a strong contingent of European life science investors, delegates at Sachs were kept very busy.

The panel sessions stimulated quality debate for both the day and evening networking (over a glass wine and canapés), covering such topics as; the resurgence of platforms technologies over products; the latest interactions between big pharma and biotech; and the current popularity of the French biotech industry with investors.

The one-to-one meeting system enables delegates to pre-arrange meetings with potential collaborators and investors, or to just help increase someone’s knowledge on a particular technology. Frequently compared to speed dating the platform gives attendees a fast, sharp opportunity to interact with numerous delegates in a more structured setting than the networking hall. The half hour sessions keep meetings to the point.

While times are still tough in life sciences, with capital hard to raise, and public markets shying away from life sciences, events like the Sachs CEO Forum give companies in the sector a real opportunity to present their case to investors and partners and maintain momentum across the industry.

One thing is for certain: the Swiss venue for the conference continues to garner strong support from both the vibrant and sophisticated finance community, and the local, world-leading, pharmaceutical industry.

Jamie Hooper

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