The ChinaBio® Leadership Retreat – Taicang completed a successful two-day conclave October 10-11, 2011. The first-ever meeting of its kind to be held in China, the Leadership Retreat brought together over 180 senior executives drawn from global pharma, prominent China biopharmas and venture capitalists with an interest in China. The Retreat, an invitation-only event, offered attendees an open forum to discuss and plan the future of China’s biopharma industry.

ChinaBio served as organizer of the Leadership Retreat, which was hosted by the Taicang government in collaboration with BayHelix. BayHelix is a San Francisco-based organization of leaders in the global life sciences and healthcare community who share a China heritage.

The focus of the Leadership Retreat was the rapid growth of China’s pharmaceutical sector. Panelists and attendees alike discussed how to leverage that explosive growth as China biopharma becomes a significant contributor to global life science.

“The Leadership Retreat was a remarkably successful event,” said Greg Scott, CEO of ChinaBio® LLC. “Participants freely offered their opinions and shared their experience on the significant issues that currently face our industry. Their solutions and ideas were often innovative. Many of the attendees told me they found the sessions very valuable, and I agree – the discussions were highly substantive, incisive and relevant. We intend to make the Leadership Retreat a ‘must attend’ annual event,” Scott continued.

Industry consultants and thought leaders led interactive workshops, and attendees discussed ways to leverage the opportunities and – just as importantly – strategies to overcome the obstacles. From these responses, discussion leaders developed a list of 14“action items” to help shape the future of China life science. Three to four of these items will be selected for implementation, and they will be reviewed at next year’s event.

BayHelix will be in charge of implementing the action items with other stakeholders over the next year. Tony Zhang, PhD, Managing Director of BayHelix, and VP, Global External R&D, Asia, Eli Lilly and Company, was very visible at the Retreat, welcoming the attendees and facilitating one of the event’s Working Sessions.

David Flores, MBA, Co-Founder, President and CEO of BioCentury Publications, gave one of the Keynote Addresses. With his 20-year history of tracking the life science industry, he described the current biopharma landscape as reshaping to include a widening web of players – research institutions, governments, patients and payers, as well as biopharma companies and investors. He also identified how new forms of collaboration will be needed to create value, and suggested how China might play an influential role in this transformation.

The Taicang New Development Zone is home to more than 2,200 foreign companies. The park, which has shown its commitment to life sciences by instituting several major incentive and funding programs, has attracted over 60 life science companies.

To underscore Taicang’s interest in life science, Liusheng Lu, Secretary of the Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, offered welcoming remarks to the attendees. Jianfeng Wang, Mayor, The People's Government of Taicang City, also addressed the Retreat, emphasizing Taicang’s pledge to support life science.

The Leadership Retreat – Taicang was held at the impressive five-star Sheraton Four Points Hotel in Taicang, a location that highlighted the Taicang New Development Zone.

The forum included many opportunities for networking, including an afternoon playing golf at Taicang’s East Sea Golf & Country Club, designed by Colin Montgomerie, a world-famous golfer. East Sea is a challenging 18-hole course that is described as one of the best golf sites in China.

About ChinaBio LLC

Since its founding in January, 2007, ChinaBio® LLC has rapidly created a broad platform of capabilities connecting China life science with the world. ChinaBio has helped global life science companies identify over 400 licensing and acquisition opportunities in China and China companies raise nearly $400 million.

• Conferences: ChinaBio organizes the premier life science investment and partnering conferences in China, having attracted over 4,000 attendees.
• Consulting: ChinaBio works with global life science companies and China entrepreneurs to define and execute a successful global strategy.
• Capital: ChinaBio Capital Partners helps companies secure partnerships and acquisitions and access private and government funding in China.
• Publishing: ChinaBio® Today is the most widely read online and email newsletter on China’s life science industry, with over 18,000 readers.

More information is available at www.ChinaBioLLC.com.