Life Science Leader Magazine

APR 2014

The vision of Life Science Leader is to be an essential business tool for life science executives. Our content is designed to not only inform readers of best practices, but motivate them to implement those best practices in their own businesses.

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LIFESCIENCELEADER.COM APRIL 2014 37 www.burkert.com n trollers | MicroFluidics | Mass Flow Controllers | Solenoid Control Valve s Ready. Set. Go. With our new Robolux valve block you are always one step ahead. By combining our established Robolux series with our robust ELEMENT stainless steel actuators, we have created a real winner with prime qualities: internal volume, dead volume and dead legs have been reduced to a minimum, making for easy cleaning and enhancing your plant's productivity. The compact design and small footprint save space, and the high degree of automation will allow you to clear any hurdle in your process. Take your marks! We make ideas flow. make sure the company is doing all of the qualitative things, meeting its milestones, executing well in all phases of the program. KOBERSTEIN: So the seed money comes in when the new company might have a scientific premise but before proof-of-concept? VINCENT: It could be pre-proof-of- concept because oftentimes the VCs won't come in until there's some sort of proof-of- concept, whether it be in the right species or in man. It certainly challenges the niche area strategy among start-ups in today's environment. You often hear that start- ups are the backbone of the country, but it's very difficult for them to raise money — much more difficult than people realize. PURCELL: Private companies are much more efficient than public companies. Is Intercept worth $6 billion more today than it was on Friday? I don't know. If you were a big shareholder in Intercept and it was a private company, you probably would have held it at cost or marked it up a little bit, but as a public company, it is now worth $7 billion. JACOB GUZMAN: I see a lot of companies, and I'm a finance man, not a scientist, so I look at a lot of fundamental issues of value outside of science. In some ways, the science part is irrelevant to me. Building a company, developing a management team are important fundamentals — Dennis made a very good point. I always look at interesting facts about a company, something that others may overlook, for example, why a certain person is on the board of a small, little company in West Philadelphia. What does this successful former large pharma CEO see in this specific company? There must be something there; this intrigues me. We also seek out the best CEOs, in whom we look for a mix of businessman and scientist — the businessman to go out and raise the money; the scientist to explain what they are trying to sell. We meet a lot of people who are too much of one, and we can't understand what they are trying to sell. And we also meet a lot of people who are too much the other, and we can't understand what they're trying to sell. In the end, the most successful companies we've dealt with have had an interesting team, successful science, and have been able to effectively explain things to us. This makes me interested in learning more and developing a strong relationship. SCIENCE, BUSINESS, & ART The conversation takes a turn toward the qualitative assets needed in a young com- pany to maximize its value during the for- mative fundraising stages. B i o _ I n v e s t o r _ F o r u m . i n d d 4 Bio_Investor_Forum.indd 4 3 / 2 1 / 2 0 1 4 1 1 : 1 1 : 5 8 A M 3/21/2014 11:11:58 AM

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