The room was packed with “rock stars,” though few outside their industries would know them. But to Stephen Lane, CEO and co-founder of Providence-based Ximedica, the speakers’ prominence in the life sciences was a sign of things to come in the city’s developing Knowledge District.
Lane, whose company is a contract developer and manufacturer of medical devices, said the panelists gathered Oct. 12 for the Life Sciences Technology Showcase were, “real investors, real technology scouts – corporate and private – I think there was a concentrated quality in that room that was palpable and exciting,” he said.
“People were networking and understanding more about what’s happening here in Providence [and] that’s the ultimate value – we’ve started a conversation that’s repeatable … sustainable. That’s the most important thing to developing this community in the Knowledge District,” he said.
The one-day event, hosted by the R.I. Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Brown University’s Technology Ventures Office and the Warren Alpert Medical School, began with an “open studio walkabout” of four early-stage companies in the Knowledge District: NABsys, Epivax, Shape Up and Isis Biopolymer.
“What we wanted to do is say: Hey, there’s activity [in Providence] already and here are four companies that are growing, are looking for more resources in terms of money and people,” said Brendan McNally, director of RI-CIE. Basically – don’t fly by on the Acela. Make a stop in Providence.
“We don’t have as developed an ecosystem of researchers and financiers and entrepreneurs as exist in the Boston market, so therein lies the opportunity: we are more formative; we are potentially more creative and more flexible in our collaborations,” said Lane.
“I think we are more opportunistic and eager to establishing relationships and [that] is a very good thing when you come from a more mature market,” he added.
Chris Hobson, recently appointed president and CEO of Isis Biopolymer, said he had 15 to 20 people stop by during the walkabout. His company’s technology combined miniaturization and microcomputing with advanced life-science knowledge to produce a noninvasive treatment for facial wrinkles.
Following the walkabout were panel discussions on medical-device innovation and on the role of partnerships in pharmaceutical innovation.
Panelists ranged from Dr. Joseph F. Amaral, vice president of surgical technologies at Johnson & Johnson Corp. to Michelle Browner, CEO of Enlight Biosciences, a Boston-based company aiming to develop innovations that alter drug discovery and development.
“One of the key things that we were [trying] to show [was] there is a critical mass of opportunities, particularly in the Knowledge District,” said McNally.
“We did that in spades by getting panelists [who are] thought leaders in the medical-device development [and] pharmaceutical industry. This was a very, very impressive group of people,” McNally said.
“We have this incredibly underrepresented pool of talent that isn’t even getting formal exposure locally. We’re creating a forum,” Lane said. “We’ve showcased it in a really concentrated and convenient way. Let’s not undervalue the very act of just doing that.”
In order to get the “investment-opportunity” lights to go on, RI-CIE also selected 13 companies in the fields of health care, drug development and medical devices, to give 5-minute, startup pitches. They asked either for funding or for partners.
McNally said the timing of the event “is [reflective of] the maturation of RI-ICE. We’re able to be a physical space and [also] able to get people together to say: ‘If we pool our resources, we can do a lot more [and] and lot better’ ” than if Brown or Women & Infants did it on their own, McNally said.
“I hear a lot about the land issues and I think that is a fabulous opportunity but we’ve had land available here in Providence, and Rhode Island, for a long time. What’s really important is – is there good science and innovation coming? The answer is ‘yes.’ ”
All participants agree that this year’s event was a success and there will be another one in the near future.
But what is the next step for Providence beyond the showcase?
“There is no question that the appetite for collaboration in private industry and in the universities is the future,” said Lane. “[In Providence] we are at the beginning of the process of bringing those two together; it is up to the general community to get engaged and help in that process.”
“That could simply mean a series of follow-on meetings for [either] independent opportunities or opportunities for a larger scale – major corporations setting up partnership opportunities near universities,” he said.
McNally said RI-CIE, which is funded both privately and publicly mainly through Brown University and the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, hopes to help further that growing ecosystem through the Life Sciences Innovation Hub, a website which would, ultimately, handle inquiries from businesses about relocating to Providence, providing them with research, setting up contacts, etc.
“The Providence difference is the concentration of four diverse universities and great hospitals, he said. “It’s the intersection … that gives us something that is very valuable and it’s our chance and it’s our desire to begin to communicate that specialty to the outside world.” •
