Speaker Q&A

Q: Why do you attend BioNetwork East?
A: “BioNetwork East attracts high-level decision makers to a relaxed and effective setting for partnering discussions. It features useful presentations on timely issues. While not the largest of meetings on the partnering circuit, it is one of the best, and attending the conference is money well spent.” – David Wurtman, Vice President, Business Development, NexBio

Q: Where do you place your business development priorities?

A: “We spend a high percentage of our business development meeting budget on partnering events. The reason I am attending BioNetwork East has mainly to do with accessing new partner prospects and maintaining potential partner relationships. In addition, I always learn something new in regard to best practice. Finally, you continue to build your partnership network by seeking new partnership sources. Big meetings are good, right sized meetings like BioNetwork offer great opportunities to spend time with potential partners you may miss at the large meetings.”

– Mike Leonetti, Head, Healthcare Partnerships, Boehringer-Ingelheim

Q: Where do you place your business development priorities?

A: “We try to balance our BD spending between the strategic and the opportunistic (remembering that the unexpected opportunities still have to fit strategically), and between shorter- and longer-term needs (remembering that even a short-term concept still has to support our long-term goals).

I like the chance to meet potential partners in a setting made for networking, and also to learn from the creativity of the industry. We take a broad approach because you never know where the next partnership may come from; networking conferences are an important part of that approach.”

– Catherine Sazdanoff, Vice President, Global Licensing, Takeda Pharmaceuticals North