[blockquote style="blue"]Register Here[/blockquote]

Join us for Communitech’s first Life & Health Sciences conference. This is an opportunity for companies to learn from successful entrepreneurs, government, professional services and others who’ve “been there, done that” across North America.

Guest speakers will share their knowledge and experience on issues such as market development, reimbursement and regulatory issues. Learn about the State of the Life & Health Science Industry in 2011 from our industry expert. Last, but certainly not least, meet other people working in this industry during the networking reception.

Start Date: Tuesday, March 08 2011
Start Time: 8:30 AM
End Time: 5:00 PM
Location: The Tannery Event Centre
151 Charles Street West, Kitchener

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Arun Menawat, President and CEO, Novadaq Technologies Inc.

Dr. Menawat has been Novadaq’s President and CEO since April 2003. Previously, he held senior management positions at Cedara Software, Tenneco, Inc. and Hercules, Inc. His educational background includes a B.S. in Biology, University of District of Columbia, Washington, DC, Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, from the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, and a Fellowship in Biomedical Engineering from the National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD. He also earned an Executive MBA from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.

Gord Jans, Partner, Tax Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Gord is the leader of PwC Canada’s Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences practice and is a Tax Partner based in their Mississauga office. Gord has over 20 years of experience advising and assisting private and public companies with their major tax and business decisions. The range of services he has provided includes tax compliance, tax planning, merger and acquisitions advice, and R&D advice.

Gord has been part of the PwC team responsible for producing the Canadian Life Sciences Industry Forecast since it was first launched in 2006. Gord has also been actively involved with Life Science industry events and associations within Canada including BIO 2002, BioFinance, BioPartnering North America, BioContact, Ontario Bioscience Industry Organization (OBIO), and Life Sciences Ontario (LSO). Gord became a Chartered Accountant in 1989 and graduated from the University of Waterloo in 1988.

Market Development Discussion

The Market development discussion features Laurence Fourchet, Frost & Sullivan, Cameron Hay, Communitech, Carla Monicelli, Argenta Advisors and moderated by Rob Hall, HTX.

Panel members will discuss innovative approaches to market development in reimbursement and international markets.

Moderator: Rob Hall, Vice President, HTX

Rob Hall has worked in the Ontario biotechnology industry for more than twenty years. He began his career with Connaught Biosciences Inc. (now part of Sanofi) in 1989 and spent five years at the laboratory bench, then moved to research administration and contracts management. In 1999 he joined the Canadian venture capital industry where he has worked for two fund managers (BDC Venture Capital and GrowthWorks Capital Lts.) and has managed multi-million dollar investments into several Ontario biotechnology companies. Mr. Hall recently joined htx.ca – The Health Technology Exchange as Vice President, Finance.

Rob Hall earned a BSc (Biochemistry) at McMaster University, an MBA at York University, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder.

Panelists

[tabs] [tab name="Laurence"] Laurence Fourchet[/tab] [tab name="Cameron"]Cameron Hay[/tab] [tab name="Carla"]Carla Monicelli[/tab] [/tabs]

[tab_container] [tab_content name="Laurence"]

Laurence Fourchet
Consultant, Frost & Sullivan, North America

Functional Expertise
Over 10 years of experience in competitive intelligence with 7 years as a Consultant focusing on the healthcare and life sciences industry. Particular expertise in:Strategic market and competitive analysis
New business and product diversification strategy
Geographic expansion strategy

Industry Expertise
Experience base covering broad range of sectors, including but not limited to:Medical devices
Patient monitoring
Medical imaging

What I bring to the Team
Ability to develop effective working relationships with clients and understand their business, expectations, and challenges
Problem analysis and resolution (in the context of research planning and execution)
Ability to work effectively with all levels of personnel, including Senior Management
Experience in Project Management
Fluent in French

Career Highlights
Moderator in several focus groups
Before Frost & Sullivan, worked as a Senior Researcher in leading market research organizations
Member of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP)

Education
Masters Degree in Competitive Intelligence (Paris, France) with a specialization in Benchmarking
Honors degree in Research at the Institute for International Relations (Paris, France)
[/tab_content]

[tab_content name="Cameron"]

Cameron Hay
Executive-in-residence, Communitech

Cameron Hay has over 20 years of experience in various roles related to global high technology business. For the past 6 years he was President and CEO of Unitron Hearing Ltd., a Kitchener-based hearing technology company with sales in over 70 countries worldwide. From 2002 to 2004 he was COO and Vice President Operations at Unitron.

Cameron started his career with IBM and Celestica as a process engineer. After completing an MBA, Cameron worked as a management consultant at Ernst & Young, with a dual focus on entrepreneurial businesses and on international high technology firms. He has a passion for developing global growth strategies for technology businesses, and has done business in over 42 countries over the past 12 years. Cameron has a BSc in Industrial Engineering from the University of Manitoba and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario. [/tab_content]

[tab_content name="Carla"]

Carla Monicelli
Managing Partner, Argenta Advisors

Carla has worked in the field of reimbursement, healthcare policy, and government relations for over 20 years. In 2001, she co-founded Argenta Advisors (formerly Certus Healthcare). In 2007 she co-founded mgine6 , a subscription based reimbursement database for government payers.

Prior to establishing Argenta, her career experience included lobbying for a top Minnesota law firm and payer relations and reimbursement strategy for multiple clients at a large Washington DC healthcare consulting firm, as well as at the Minnesota Council of Health Plans.

Carla has developed and implemented strategic reimbursement plans for both biotechnology and medical device companies. She has been involved with the launch or reimbursement strategies for over 60 technologies, including three Orphan Drugs.

Carla has recruited, trained, and managed field reimbursement specialists. Her experience has also included management and sales force reimbursement training; health plan education and advocacy, including Medicare, Medicaid, private health plans, worker’s compensation, and self-insured corporations; development of reimbursement tools; and lobbying and grassroots advocacy program development.

Carla holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Minnesota. She is an adjunct faculty member at St. Cloud State where she is a co-lead instructor for the Master of Regulatory Affairs Health Policy and the Medical Technology Industry and lecturer on developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy for the Reimbursement classes. She is also a past co-chair of Life Science Alley’s Reimbursement Special Interest Group.[/tab_content] [/tab_container]

Regulatory Strategy Discussion

The Regulatory discussion features Shirley Furesz, CanReg Inc., Dawn N. Norman, Christie Medical Innovations, David West, Quintiles Consulting, and moderated by Diana Pliura, ALBRY Inc.

Panel members will discuss the importance of an regulatory stratgey in start-ups and the impact of the changes in FDA and changes expected in Health Canada.

Moderator: Diana Pliura, President, ALBRY Inc.

Dr. Diana Pliura has over 29 years working in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical devices sectors, advancing life sciences products through all stages of development from discovery, target identification, lead optimization, preclinical development, manufacturing, technology transfer and early to late stage clinical development. In various senior executive roles, she has participated in securing over $100 million in equity financing from the private and public capital markets and has led or assisted companies through acquisitions, partnerships and IPO’s. She recently completed an 18 month assignment as Entrepreneur-in-residence with HTX, the Health Technology Exchange. Previously, Diana has served as an Executive Vice President at YM BioSciences, founding CEO of DELEX Therapeutics Inc., Company Creator to the Eastern Technology Seed Investment Fund, Vice President of Research at Hemosol Inc. and Head of the Division of General Biochemistry at Syntex (Canada) Research. Currently, Diana is President of ALBRY Inc. which provides strategic advisory and management services to emerging life sciences initiatives, investors, technology transfer offices, and established companies undergoing transition.

Panelists

[tabs] [tab name="Shirley"]Shirley Furesz[/tab] [tab name="Dawn"]Dawn N. Norman[/tab] [tab name="David"]David West[/tab] [/tabs]
[tab_container] [tab_content name="Shirley"]

Shirley Furesz Ph.D. RAC
Manager, Regulatory Affairs Manager (Medical Devices) – CanReg Inc.

Shirley Furesz is a Regulatory Affairs Manager in the Medical Devices Department with CanReg Inc, Canada’s largest regulatory affairs consulting firm. Shirley manages a wide range of device submissions for Health Canada and other regulatory agencies. She received her Regulatory Affairs Certificate (RAC) for Canada in 2009. Prior to working at CanReg Inc., she worked in various research positions for Syn-X Pharma and NoAb BioDiscoveries Inc. in the areas of Point of Care Diagnostic Kit development, Proteomics, Cell Biology, and ADME-Tox testing. She received her Ph.D. in the area of vaccine development from the Department of Veterinary Immunology at the University of Guelph and a BSc. Honours Microbiology degree with a Minor in Biotechnology also from the University of Guelph.[/tab_content]

[tab_content name="Dawn"]

Dawn N. Norman
Manager of Clinical Operations, Christie Medical Innovations

Dawn N. Norman is the Manager of Clinical Operations at Christie Medical Innovations in Memphis Tennessee. Dawn joined Christie in August, 2010 bringing over 10 years of clinical and regulatory experience in medical and combination devices to the management team. Prior to joining Christie, Dawn was the Director of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at NovaLign Orthopaedics, a start-up orthopaedic trauma company and Senior Manager of Clinical Affairs at Medtronic Spinal and Biologics, leading the clinical trials for all investigational BMP-2 products for spine, trauma, and dental applications. She has previously worked in two other venture capital start-up companies where she helped develop the infrastructure of the clinical and regulatory departments and led their clinical trials. At ProRhythm, Inc., Dawn led the global clinical trials investigating the treatment of atrial fibrillation with high intensity focused ultrasound; and, while at Stereotaxis for five years, she led the investigations in multiple applications including electrophysiology, interventional neuroradiology, interventional cardiology, and neurosurgery that supported the clearance and approval of their magnetic navigation system and related disposables.

Dawn is previously certified with the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (RAPS) and is currently the co-chair of the local Mid-South RAPS Chapter. She received a M.S. degree in Biological Sciences (neuroendocrinology) and a B.A. in Biomedical Sciences and Chemistry from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. [/tab_content]

[tab_content name="David"]

David West
Vice President, Medical Device Development, Quintiles Consulting

As a Vice President of Quintiles Consulting, David assists domestic and international medical device companies develop and implement strategic and regulatory plans for developing and marketing medical devices and combination products.

Areas of expertise: David is an expert in U.S. medical device laws and regulation, global strategies, medical device development and evaluation, regulatory strategy and policy formulation, and device/drug/biologic combination products.[/tab_content] [/tab_container]

Agenda:

8:30am – Breakfast and Registration
9:00am – 10:00am – Dr. Arun Menawat, President and CEO, Novadaq Technologies Inc.: Building a Successful Life Sciences Company in Canada
10:00am-10:15am – Break
10:15am-12:00pm – Market Development Panel – Moderator: Rob Hall, HTX
Laurence Fourchet, Consultant, Frost & Sullivan – North America
Cameron Hay, Executive-in-residence, Communitech
Carla Monicelli, Managing Partner, Argenta Advisors
12:00pm-1:00pm – Lunch
1:00pm-2:00pm – Gord Jans, Partner, Tax Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers: State of the Life Sciences Industry
2:00pm-2:15pm – Break
2:15pm-3:30pm – Regulatory Strategy Panel – Moderator: Diana Pliura, President, ALBRY Inc
Shirley Furesz Ph.D. RAC (CAN)Manager, Regulatory Affairs (Medical Devices), CanReg
Dawn Norman, Medical Clinical Manager, Christie Medical Innovations
David West, Vice President Medical Device Development, Quintiles Consulting
3:30pm-5:00pm – Networking Reception

Conference fees

Communitech Network Members – $69.00+HST: $77.97
Non-members – $89.00+HST: $100.57

Thanks to our Supporters