Dr. David Scholl, a southeastern Ohio entrepreneur familiar with the challenges and opportunities associated with biotech development in Appalachia, will share his experiences gleaned over 27+ years of both growing and successfully exiting a life science firm in the region and serving as a partner in the Athens-Ohio based venture capital firm, Athenian Venture Partners, whose AVP Ohio Fund was recently ranked by Preqin as the #1 venture capital fund in the country for the 2003 vintage.
Dr. Scholl will tell the story of building Diagnostic Hybrids from a four-person startup in the early 1980’s, to becoming a member of the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing, privately-held companies in the nation, and a world leader in cell-based and Monoclonal Antibody-based diagnostics. Scholl will highlight the challenges the company faced as it rose through the various stages of development – from incubation, technology development, commercialization, fundraising and marketing – through exit.
Dr. Scholl will focus on state assistance and programming – like the Ohio Third Frontier – that have been established to nurture the development of such strategic industry sectors in Ohio as the life science industry. The Ohio Third Frontier is a $2.3 billion initiative that provides funding and substantial leverage to Ohio technology-based companies, universities, nonprofit research institutions, and other organizations to create new technology-based products, companies, industries, and jobs. In addition to grants directly to companies, this program includes effective pre-seed and seed capital formation strategies to further develop the ecosystem of support throughout all phases of life science development.
Dr. Scholl’s presentation will provide lessons learned and development strategies for life science companies in West Virginia and focus a lens on the actions industry stakeholders – researchers, universities, bioscience firms, economic developers and policy makers – can take to grow the bioscience industry from within.
Registration Is Now Open
Registration for the 2013 West Virginia Biosciences Summit is now open! Visit www.biowv.org and click on the “events” page to register for what promises to be an exciting look at West Virginia’s life science industries, strategies for growing university research and company development, and the benefits the industries provide to our state.
Event Overview
With sponsorship from BIO, PhRMA, Mylan, Pfizer, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, Amgen, Fisher Scientific and TechConnect West Virginia, the Bioscience Association of West Virginia (BioWV) will hold the 3rd Annual West Virginia Biosciences Summit on Thursday, February 28, 2013 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the Marriott Hotel in Charleston, West Virginia.
A reception will be held the evening of Wednesday, February 27 to provide members of the life science industries an opportunity to network with West Virginia policy makers. The reception will begin at 6:00 p.m.
This event will highlight the role and impact of the bioscience industry in West Virginia and the region, showcase research and commercialization efforts taking place at West Virginia universities and private companies, and discuss policies and programs to help nurture the industry.
Key topics to be covered during the conference include: policies and programs to grow the industry, university research ready for commercialization, WV bioscience company highlights, a look at how other states incentivize industry growth, among others.
This event will bring together West Virginia’s bioscience community – private companies, university researchers, suppliers and funders – as well as policy and opinion leaders, economic developers and others to learn more about how we successfully grow and nurture this important industry in West Virginia.
Sponsorships & Exhibiting
Sponsorship opportunities are available, as is exhibit space. For additional information, contact Bryan Brown at (304) 546-5500 or via email at bryan.brown@biowv.org.
Cost & Registration
The cost to attend the event – which includes the reception on Feb. 27 and lunch on Feb. 28 – is $25 for members, $50 for nonmembers and free to students.
Registration for the conference is available at www.biowv.org. We look forward to seeing you in Charleston on February 27-28, 2013 for the 3rd Annual West Virginia Bioscience Summit!
