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LSTCON is Two Weeks Away
LSTCON is a powerful gathering for life science industry leaders to share the latest innovations moving the industry forward. With just over two weeks left to register, here is a rundown of what's on stage this year:
- 15+ top speakers, including Harrow Health CEO Mark Baum, director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute Lisa Monteggia, and city and state economic development leaders
- 12+ keynotes, panels, and breakout sessions on everything from IP and grant-writing to agtech and biopharma
- 4 life science startups competing in the Venture Forum, sponsored by Waller
- 3 Scipreneur/Tech Venture Challenge student team winners
- 1 closing reception—plus plenty of other time to network throughout the day
So what are you waiting for? Register today.
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Traveling from out of town?
We’re offering a discounted room rate at our conference venue, the 21c Museum Hotel. Simply call the hotel at (615) 610-6400 to make your reservation and reference LSTCON to access the room block for Wednesday night, Nov. 13.
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Thank you to our LSTCON sponsors
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BIO Action Needed: Drug Pricing Bill
A few weeks ago, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) released her drug pricing package, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3).
H.R. 3 would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to directly negotiate annually the price of up to 250 brand-name drugs that lack a generic or biosimilar competitor and have the greatest cost to the U.S. health care system. The legislation would establish an upper limit for the price reached in any negotiation as no more than 120 percent of the volume-weighted average of the price of six countries (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom)—referred to as the Average International Market (AIM) price. The goal is for HHS to negotiate a price that is below the AIM, which price would apply to all purchases within the entire Medicare program. If that is not bad enough, the bill would require this “negotiated” price to be offered to the commercial market as well. If a manufacturer does not agree with the maximum price set by HHS, they will be assessed a tax penalty starting at 65% of the annual gross sales for that drug, increasing 10% a quarter to a maximum of 95%.
While H.R. 3 does create a $2,000 out-of-pocket limit on Medicare Part D beneficiary prescription drug costs—a positive development—the bill also imposes a very significant new financial burden on drug companies to cover the costs of providing drugs to Part D beneficiaries—with mandatory discounts of 10% up to the catastrophic OOP limit, and the 30% discounts thereafter. This new obligation is far in excess of company contributions in the Medicare Part D “donut hole” today.
The three committees with jurisdiction over H.R.3 are moving forward quickly, all having held markups. Democratic leaders are setting an aggressive timeline for action with the hope of having the legislation potentially pass the House floor by the end of October. Currently, all of the Committee Chairs and Democratic leadership are in full support of this proposal and process. At this point, House Republicans are united in their strong opposition to H.R.3., calling it socialist, partisan, and government-run health care.
BIO’s advocacy team has been engaging Democrats and Republicans in Congress aggressively, but WE NEED YOUR HELP!
- Please reach out directly to your Members of Congress to urge them to OPPOSE H.R. 3 by going to: www.savecures.org.
- If you are the CEO/President of a small biotech, please agree to sign the below Letter from Small Companies opposing HR 3.
- If you agree to sign the letter, please send your electronic signature, including your name, title, and company, to Ben Collins at bcollins@bio.org.
- Send the below Investor Letter to your contacts in the Venture Capital community.
- If they agree to support the letter, they can send their electronic signature, including name, title, and company, to Ben Collins at bcollins@bio.org.
Talking Points and Information:
We need to work together to find solutions to ensure patients have affordable access to drugs, but importing foreign price controls is not the answer. This is a challenging time, but together we can defeat bad policy and preserve the carefully constructed policy ecosystem that makes your life-saving work possible.
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Scipreneur Final Pitch
Knoxville's inaugural Scipreneur Challenge will come to a close with the final pitch on Nov. 7. At this event the participating teams, comprising of research scientists, business students, clinicians, and mentors, will present a business plan and compete to win prizes, judged by the Knoxville business community. RSVP for the final pitch!
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Save the Date: Holiday Receptions
In December, Life Science Tennessee will host holiday receptions in lieu of Beer & Biotech events in cities across the state. We’ll network and make merry talking about all that we have accomplished together over the last year and look ahead to opportunities in 2020. Save the date for the reception in a city near year (registration opens soon!):
- December 5 - Memphis
- December 10 - Knoxville
- December 12 - Nashville
- December 17 - Chattanooga
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LST Member Opportunities
Apply
- *LAST CALL* ISCTM New Investigator Award: The International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology has created a program to recognize promising new investigators across the broad range of methodological, regulatory and substantive programmatic interests of the society. Applicants can submit a poster abstract based on original research in the field of CNS Trial Methodology for which the applicant will serve as presenting author; a one page statement of research and career interests; a complete CV; and one letter of reference. Applications are due on or before Nov 1. Learn more and apply here.
- Patents2Products Fellowship Program: The University of Memphis and Epicenter have partnered to create a new program designed to hire post-doc fellows to start businesses, using patented intellectual property developed both in Memphis and across the United States. Starting this fall, Patents2Products Post-Doc program creates a two-year funded position for research entrepreneurs and provides them with the necessary tools for a launching a successful startup. For more information or to apply, click here.
- BIO 2020: Planning is underway for next year's BIO International Convention in San Diego, June 8-11. There are two opportunities of note. Company Presentations are 13-minute showcases of your research and development activities, licensing opportunities, and investment goals in front of a global biotech audience. Apply today! And the Start-Up Stadium provides an exciting and interactive experience where investors provide live feedback and judge six-minute pitches by startup biotech companies. Check back to apply.
Attend
- *LAST CALL* SEBIO Forum: The Southeast BIO (SEBIO) Investor & Partnering Forum will be held Nov. 6-7 at The Biltmore in Miami-Coral Gables, FL. The conference provides an unparalleled opportunity to meet key decisionmakers in the regional and national life science and medical technology communities. Register today.
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LST News AdvaMed is now appealing to the U.S. president for his support in repealing the 2.3% device excise tax, which is scheduled to go into effect on 1 January 2020 after being suspended between 2016 and 2019. In a letter sent to President Trump on 17 October, AdvaMed president and CEO Scott Whitaker noted that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is considering a second tax package for 2020—to build upon strong economic growth seen as a result of the 2017 tax reform package—and wants the Trump administration to make device tax repeal part of that 2020 reform deal. The device tax was enacted in 2010 as part of the Affordable Care Act to help provide financial support so more low-income U.S. citizens could be covered under the act’s provisions.
The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation has released a new analysis showing that the United States is continuing to fall behind other developed countries in funding for university research. That has occurred despite the U.S. boasting world-leading research universities that have played a crucial role in driving American technological supremacy since World War II. The analysis found that the U.S. only came 28th worldwide for university research funding as a share of GDP in 2017 with the 12 leading governments investing nearly double the U.S. amount. Back in 2013, the U.S. was ranked 24th.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Task Force on Drug Shortages supports the idea of creating a new rating system to help drug purchasers, including consumers, better understand the quality management of drug manufacturing facilities. The idea of a drug manufacturing ratings program follows the revelation that many drug shortages occur in the U.S. because of quality issues. A team of FDA economists examined a sample of 163 drugs that first went into shortage between 2013 and 2017 and found that 62% were associated with manufacturing or product quality problems. FDA also previously highlighted a relative surge in drug shortages in 2018.
Our world has never witnessed a time of greater promise for improving human health. Many of today’s health advances have stemmed from a long arc of discovery that begins with strong, steady support for basic science. In large part because of fundamental research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which traces its roots to 1887, Americans are living longer, healthier lives. Life expectancy for a baby born in the U.S. has risen from 47 years in 1900 to more than 78 years today. Among the advances that have helped to make this possible are a 70% decline in the U.S. death rate from cardiovascular disease over the past 50 years, and a drop of more than 1% annually in the cancer death rate over the past couple of decades. As one more dramatic example, thanks to remarkable advances in antiretroviral drugs, most Americans with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can now look forward to an almost normal life span.
The use of e-cigarettes in Tennessee and across the nation has exploded over the last ten years, especially among young Americans. Strategic marketing and advertising by companies that sell e-cigarettes have resulted in adolescents being disproportionately affected by the vaping epidemic. As new data emerge regarding the addictive nature and dangerous side effects of e-cigarettes, it is clear that the rapid increased use of e-cigarettes among our youths is a public health crisis. In Tennessee, there have been more than 30 reported cases of lung injury associated with e-cigarette use. This represents a seven-fold increase in the month of September. Many of these patients may become dependent on medication for life.
It was a big celebration Thursday night as Chattanooga recognized the accomplishments of a number of start-ups and those who support them. The event at Waterhouse Pavilion came of the next to last day of “Startup Week Chattanooga.” The seven-day celebration ended with the after party of Friday.The two big winners were: Workhound, a company that we spotlighted recently in this biz article, was named “2019 Start-up of the Year”; and Ken Hays, the recently departed President of The Enterprise Center, who captured the “Charlie Brock Ecosystem Builder of the Year” award.
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