Dutch Life Sciences & Health Conference

December 14, 2011

Life sciences sector has confidence in the future in spite of ups and downs

During the ‘Investors Forum’ this start-up company and nine other young preselected biotech companies presented themselves to a forum of investors. The theme of the conference, which was organised this year for the seventh time, was business development. The aim is to stimulate the development of the life sciences sector by bringing together businesses, investors and research institutes.

Ceronco focuses on increasing the effectiveness of cancer treatments such as chemotherapy. In order for these drugs to be successful, it is important for them to reach the nucleus of the tumour cell. However, this is often problematic due to the tough cell membrane of tumour cells, and the drugs currently on the market are insufficiently effective in this regard. Ceronco’s technique aims to modulate this membrane to increase permeability and thus improve the absorption of these drugs. As the prize for the best pitch, Jeroen Rovers from Ceronco has won an opportunity to give a presentation at the BIO-Europe Spring® in March 2012. This is one of the largest life sciences events in Europe, and is being held for the first time in Amsterdam next year.

Potential
A total of ten young biotech companies presented their business plan to a forum of investors. The standard of the presentations was exceptionally high this year. The jury chose Ceronco partly because of the potential of the platform technology for the development of other products. Rovers also managed to convince the jury with his clear, enthusiastic presentation and good scientific underpinning. The jury comprised well-established names from the sector, including two investors, a pharmacist and a lawyer.

About the Dutch Life Sciences & Health Conference
The seventh edition of this conference took place in Media Plaza in Utrecht. The Dutch Life Sciences & Health Conference offers businesses, research institutes, universities and investors a platform for exchanging knowledge, trends and developments within the sector and provides networking opportunities. The Investors Forum is part of the Dutch Life Sciences & Health Conference. During the day various experts from the scientific and business communities spoke about their experiences in the life sciences. In spite of the many ups and downs that characterise biotech enterprise, an optimistic vision of the future was the predominant tone. A total of 350 people from the sector attended the conference.

The Dutch Life Sciences & Health Conference was made possible partly by the national cluster organisation Life Sciences & Health (LSH), the Utrecht Science Park, the Netherlands Genomics Initiative, Niaba, Immuno Valley and PwC. The conference is an initiative of congress agency Iventus.

About LSH
Life Sciences Health (LSH) is the national cluster organisation of the Dutch life sciences & health sector. The ambition of LSH is to utilise the innovative potential of the sector to the full so that patients and society alike can reap maximum benefits from the excellent position of the Netherlands with regard to research and health care. LSH represents the life sciences sector on a national and international level, provides information by, for and about the sector, and facilitates networking and cooperation, the main focus in this respect being value for the business community. LSH works closely with other players in the field in order to realise its goals. For more information, see www.lifescienceshealth.com.