Life Science Tennessee and the Life Science Tennessee Foundation will head to Johnson City on October 13 for the latest Life Science Venture Program education session and Beer & Biotech networking event.

What makes an early-stage company stand out to investors, and what can stop a promising startup from being investment-ready? Join Cara Schoettes of Sims Venture Capital for an investor’s perspective on what matters when evaluating early-stage companies. This session will explore the key factors investors consider, common gaps and red flags they encounter, and how founders can better position their companies for investment. Attendees will leave with practical insights they can use to assess their own readiness and strengthen their approach to future investor conversations.

Join Life Science Tennessee in Johnson City at Yee-Haw Brewing Co. for a Beer & Biotech industry networking opportunity. Enjoy a complimentary drink and light bites while meeting researchers, postdocs, entrepreneurs, and representatives from East Tennessee’s growing biotech landscape. It’s a great opportunity to discover exciting local innovations, build meaningful relationships, and spark new business opportunities.

The Beer & Biotech will immediately follow the Life Science Venture Program's monthly educational session at LabConnect.

LSTCON is fast approaching! Join us as life science leaders gather on Thursday, November 5, at Revance Headquarters in downtown Nashville to collaborate, learn, and build meaningful connections that accelerate the industry. 

We're thrilled to announce that Rob Metcalf of Lyric will join us for a keynote.

This summer, Lyric acquired Nashville-based Concert, the company that grew out of Concert Genetics and has spent more than a decade making the complex world of genetic and diagnostic testing understandable to health plans. Lyric already supports claims decisions for more than 200 million lives and is used by nine of the top ten U.S. health plans. Adding Concert's machine-readable clinical policy will create one of the most comprehensive systems in the country for precision diagnostics and treatment.

Rob Metcalf, who led Concert through its growth and the acquisition, will talk about what this exit tells us about Tennessee: the state's strength where healthcare services meet life sciences, the talent and capital that make deals like this possible, and how local innovators can build companies that shape the national market.

The FDA has granted accelerated approval for Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc.'s GENGLYCOS™, also known as DTX401, for use in adults and children 8 and older with glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSDIa). It's the first approved therapy that directly targets the cause of the condition: a deficiency of the enzyme that's needed to release glucose from the liver to the bloodstream.

“The approval of GENGLYCOS fulfills our commitment to provide the first therapy that directly targets the root cause of GSDIa,” said Dr. Eric Crombez, chief medical officer at Ultragenyx. “As our first gene therapy approval, GENGLYCOS represents an important achievement for our company and the realization of the promise of a powerful new tool to deliver transformative medicines for people living with rare diseases.”

Zero to 510's latest cohort includes two Tennessee companies: Provision Surgical of Nashville and ConvertaTek of Memphis.

ZeroTo510 launched in 2012 under the Memphis Bioworks Foundation before moving under Epicenter’s umbrella. More than 50 companies have completed the program, and alumni including SweetBio, Hera Health and Corami have collectively raised more than $120 million.

Olaf Schulz, LST board member and director of ZeroTo510 at Epicenter, said the program aims to back founders working on healthcare’s biggest unmet needs.

"The medtech landscape is evolving faster than ever, and the companies that will define the next decade of healthcare are being built right now. These founders are attacking healthcare’s most pressing unmet needs, and we’re proud to put the full weight of our programming, network and resources behind them."

The MedTech Conference brings top industry executives and thousands of global innovators together in Boston. It's where innovators from every part of the medtech industry come together to break free from current limitations and showcase what they do best — put the future of health care in motion and keep patients moving.

 LSTCON, Life Science Tennessee’s annual event, is a powerful gathering for life science industry leaders to share the latest innovations moving the industry forward

Join us on November 5 at Revance Headquarters in Nashville to hear from state and national industry leaders and researchers about topics that affect life science companies daily. The day will conclude with the crowd favorite Venture Forum where life science startups will pitch their prospective companies to the full conference audience for a chance to win $10,000!

With tariffs on patented pharmaceuticals and input materials set to take effect for all companies in less than a week, experts at BIO says much federal guidance about rules and exemptions is still missing, complicating business decisions and creating uncertainty for potential investors.

Nathan Buttrey, Senior Advisor to the Commissioner in the year-old Office of Innovation within the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, explains why Governor Bill Lee and Deputy Governor/TNECD Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter prioritized development of the Office of Innovation.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced its selection of four senior leaders at the Food and Drug Administration, in areas related to technology and AI, drug evaluation and research, biologics evaluation and research, and tobacco products and policy.

Nashville's Metro Council approved development of Vanderbilt University's planned 40-acre Innovation Neighborhood, which will integrate office and lab facilities with housing, retail, restaurants and green spaces. 

A new report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce explores the economic benefits of intellectual property protections, finding that countries with robust IP protection show improvements in economic outcomes, including higher rates of innovation, growth, and high-tech economic activity.