Episode 46: A Premier Biotech Event – Inside BIO on the BAYOU 2024 with Key Opinion Leaders James Zanewicz and Elaine Hamm

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Serving the entire Gulf South, but recorded in the heart of New Orleans.

Hello and welcome back to BIO from the Bayou. I'm James Zanewicz, CSO at Tulane University School of Medicine.

And I'm Elaine Hamm, the Executive in Residence at Tulane School of Medicine, and we are getting excited for upcoming BIO On the Bayou.

You got it.

You got to be clear about it because—

On from—

We're from right now, but we're talking about on—

Everywhere a mouse can go?

No.

Okay.

Focus. I'm focused.

I promise.

Okay. BIO On the Bayou 2024, which is October 29th and 30th. And today we are going to talk to you about what we are going to expect at this year's conference. And actually, it's your brainchild. I feel like you should tell us, like, where did this idea come from?

So we did an event we called Immersion for a couple of years, Immersion Days, which you came to.

I did, yeah.

And it just featured about 20 to 30 Tulane scientists. And we did it twice and cycled through. And it was a lot of production work on our side. But we also had several companies and investors come. By the end of the second year, they're like, this is great, but you know what would be better? If you invited your friends, because it's— we all want to come to New Orleans. And the more universities that we have have, the easier it is for us to justify coming down because we're getting access to more things from other places. And so we listened to the feedback from the people who attended and first got a partner in LSU Health, and then, then Ole Miss and Jackson State and Xavier University of Louisiana, and then University of Kentucky, Louisville, Auburn, a whole bunch of Mississippi universities, Puerto Rico Science Trust. Like, it's just crazy. University of Tennessee system now. How many people have come in for 2024?

Yeah, that was really exciting. And it's an opportunity to see science and sort of the overlooked part of the I mean, you always hear about things from Boston and San Francisco, obviously, but there's so much great science happening everywhere, and it really gives us a chance to showcase the things that are going on here. So—

And I think we do it in the way that companies and investors want to see it. We coach our scientists, and by we, I mean you and Alexis, on how to do a 7-minute pitch, 3-minute Q&A next, and we cut them off in moves.

Oh, we cut them off. Yeah.

And then we have, we have some really great panels.

Yeah, the panels are a lot of fun too.

I love that. Your favorite is always the investor panel. I wonder if you can talk about that a little bit.

Yeah, and actually last year, I think our investor panel were all female investors. So it was fantastic. And it really gives— well, it gives an opportunity to meet with some incredible investors that you don't normally get a chance to meet with at JPM because they're so busy. And then you literally have a front row seat to someone from Lilly Ventures. And it also allows our scientists to hear from investors and understand what they actually want to see from our scientists. And then they get to learn about all of the things that we're doing here too. So it's a good mix of things, I think.

And it's a tremendous amount of capital in the room, like the amount of money, the investors who attend overseas is pretty incredible for these companies that are getting a chance to showcase, and the universities who are showcasing things that might become companies. Another one of the panels I'm really excited about this year is communication in biotech, because as we've attended more and more of the fierce PR and comms conferences, we've seen the power of communication, PR, marketing, and what that can do in ways that we didn't even know about before. And Carolyn and I have done that a lot. We'll have a panel on strategic initiatives in life science, which always allows us to kind of do a catch-all and Put together something really cool each time. And they're people who normally wouldn't be on panels together.

Yeah.

The conversations are crazy.

Yep.

We're going to have some sort of super secret keynote, we hope. We haven't announced that yet, but we're working on it. And then a panel with industry partners.

When you listed all those panels, like, first of all, the communications ones, I think, is super exciting because there is no point in having good science if you have no idea how to communicate it. And I think that we all kind of forget that part of it. And, you know, even those of us who have been doing it for years, it's nice to get a little refresher course on it too. So I'm really looking forward to that. that because that's something we haven't done before either. So, and it's a good— what I like about the way that we've structured it is that we have it interspersed throughout these talks. So you get science, science, panel. It keeps it kind of moving. You're not just kind of being lulled to sleep by the same thing one right after another.

With a lot of networking time.

Absolutely. And that's the big part of coming, right? Like, you get to come and, and talk to people. And we have a very— it's a small conference. And so it's a very intimate conference and you actually get to have face time with people and, and get to know people in those networking situations.

Yeah, right around 200 people. And they're coming from Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Puerto Rico, and I think I hit them all. Yeah. Maybe.

We have a lot, and that just goes to show how much we're growing.

Yeah, it's like it's grown incredibly, and it really is that broader Gulf South, which has great science, and it's not picked over. Not picked over, exactly. It's amazing, and the amount of companies that come here because they get access to things they don't is pretty incredible. Yeah. And when they come here, they also get access to startups, and we're creating even more startup slots this year. And as the CEO of startups, Elaine, can you tell us what This is such a great opportunity for them.

I know, I had to think of whether I was going to apply or not. Honestly, I thought about it. I was like, should I be applying for this?

You should.

Should I come and pitch? I think I might be a little biased since I'm also judging who gets to come and pitch.

I guess you'd have to recuse yourself.

I mean, I'm just saying. But no, it's a great opportunity to get to talk about what your company is working on to a captive audience, and probably an audience that you don't often get a chance to interact with. And that's, that's everything for startups right now. So, and you know, it's always good to talk to people whether you're raising money or not. It's, in fact, it's It's better to talk to people when you're not raising money so you can start building that relationship. And in fact, that's something that we took away from our panel from last year. So the woman from Lilly Ventures actually specifically said that, like, come talk to us before you need money, not when.

So it's a perfect opportunity to do that. And speaking of that, we just opened our application process for our startup pitch slots for startups from the Gulf South, broader Gulf South region. They have until August 15th. Is that right? Oh, no.

August 15th. Yeah, sure. You're going to put me on the spot there. Yes, I think so.

I believe it's 11:59 PM. So stroke of midnight, you're out is what we said. Because why be arbitrary?

Yes, exactly. Well, and we're going to have more information about that in our show notes.

Absolutely.

I'm sure.

That'll apply.

The other thing that we do, which I think is actually quite sophisticated, is that we have the Partnering One system. That's something that when you and I go to BioEurope, we use to find who's going to be interested in some of the things that we're working on at Tulane and vice versa. It's the same It's the same system. And so that makes it so easy for people that are used to that on the partnering side that they can go in and it keeps records of who you've met with in the past. So, I mean, it helps build upon itself. So I think that's such a sophisticated aspect that you don't often see at these smaller type of conferences.

And the other really nice thing is if you've used it at an event, your information is available to people who subscribe to Partnering One Plus, which is a year-round version. And so while you may not be attending other things, there are large companies or investors who are in this looking at your information just because you went to Buy on the Bayou.

Absolutely.

Costs you nothing because of our sponsors still. I know.

Let's actually talk about that. Is this conference free, James?

It is still. Like, at some point that may have to change, but we have been very fortunate to have really great sponsors. And those sponsors cover all the costs. And it means you get a box lunch. You don't get a fancy lunch, but you know, it's food and a really nice reception.

That's what we sell here, food.

But you know, what do conferences for startups usually cost, Elaine? Like, you go to them all the time.

Yeah, I'm looking at one right now and it was like $4,000 and absolutely not. And there's not even a partnering session.

and free are different, right? Even though they both start with S?

Um, yes, they're plus or minus $4,000.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And they don't even have like description of like the networking opportunity. I mean, this, this is a partnering system. You have an opportunity to pitch. So we have these very clear things, clear value proposition when we talk about this conference.

And so network with people like the head of BD for Boehringer Ingelheim or other things like that where it's just—

Shout out to Patrick.

People, yeah, exactly. Because he was one of the first people to invest in our region and he deserves it.

Yep.

But you know, it's access you don't get at these other conferences because it's only a couple hundred people and there's receptions and breakouts and you're gonna bump to each other multiple times over several days.

And you're not gonna have to navigate across San Francisco and stay at an incredibly expensive hotel in San Francisco.

Our hotels are cheap compared to that.

Yeah, and it's also New Orleans. And like, let's also just talk about that date. That date is right near Halloween. We might have planned that specifically so that you can come do Bayou on the Bayou and then extend your stay a couple days and hang out in New Orleans on Halloween, which is like the best time.

Well, and to help you justify that, we have some new things this year, Jason, as well. So during the conference, we're partnering with the Bullpen.

Mm-hmm.

And they're gonna do some cool stuff. They're looking at doing a welcome dinner for venture capitalists the first night.

Yep.

Or the night before, the pre-night on Monday. They're having a few slots with us for companies in the Bullpen that are members.

Yep.

Who are able to pitch just like everyone else. They're going to do an event on the second night, a Bullpen party.

I'm excited about this, yes.

Either at an art gallery or a restaurant or some kind of cool New Orleans experience, which we're super excited for. And then the next night on Halloween evening, they're gonna coordinate A bullpen walk about the quarter.

Ooh, I didn't know that one actually, really?

You can network in costume on Halloween.

Oh Lord.

You can do work business and dress up however you want.

So you're telling me I need to bring a costume this time?

Uh-huh.

Okay.

Or you can raid my costume.

I mean, you do have a, yeah. I mean, that's sort of the good New Orleans that you have.

We have that New Orleans.

We always have costumes.

I bet our producer's mother, Susan, has some costumes she would loan you.

Love to.

Shout out to Susan.

Yes, I absolutely think that we should have our own costume closet here now if we're gonna continue to do that. I think that'd be amazing.

We could we could have a costume closet instead of a merch closet.

That's way better. Absolutely. No mugs, just costumes.

So much better. So we have those things. But also the one thing we haven't talked about is the bio challenge is coming back on October 31st, the day after.

Yeah.

Which is super cool in a partnership with Barta.

Yeah. No, that's really exciting. Absolutely. And that's in the same building too.

So it is. It's run by our Bio Innovation Center, Novick. And I know you are kind of passionate about startup accelerators, and I wonder if you can talk about them a little bit.

Well, I'm passionate because I actually run an accelerator. So and Barta is such an incredible partner too. So I mean, the I'm. I'm gonna forget the acronym, what it stands for. There's so many acronyms when it comes to government, but just—

But in our show notes, it'll be there.

Exactly. Can we just do that anytime we forget something, just to have it in our show notes?

Yeah, absolutely.

But it's gonna be a really incredible opportunity, and I'm so glad it's coming back this year, so.

Yeah, and so I'd say the last thing we probably wanna talk about is who should register and how do they register?

Ooh, good question. That is on our website, also gonna be available on—

Which is bioon, O-N, the bayou, B-A-Y-O-U, .com.

Yeah, and again, it's free, so please register and join us that week. It's going to be a lot of fun. Lots of things going on in the region and we want you to know about it.

So we're looking for academics, companies, investors, family offices, patient groups who are interested in this space, startup companies, large companies, like anyone in this ecosystem in biohealthcare. We're also going to have a panel on AI in healthcare, I think. So if you're interested in that kind of future of medicine, it's worth coming to.

Yeah. Anything that touches the patient, you know, honestly, that's our whole goal is our focus is the patient. So, and that's, and that's a number of different things. And that's what I think is really great about this. Conference is that it brings all of this ecosystem that swirls around the patient, whether they know it or not, with our goal of trying to help patients.

Well, and we always say at Tuiling, the future of medicine is here, and it really is here during Bio on the Bayou. And it's not just from New Orleans, it's from all of our friends, which is what we love.

Yeah.

Well, I think that's—

are we good? Can I go now?

I think you can. And again, um, just want to point out what— it's free.

It's free.

It's at Halloween.

It's free.

There are all these amazing side events going on as well. Yeah.

I mean, it's going to be the coolest Coolest bio on the Bayou ever. Bring a costume, I guess.

Yeah, bring a costume if you're gonna stay. I mean, if you have kids, you can fly home the morning of Halloween, or you can stay here and be a kid yourself.

Oh, that's— ooh, that's good.

While you're doing work. I mean, it's, it's a work event.

It's a work event.

So you can expense your drinks that night.

Oh, there you go. Oh, perfect, perfect.

All right, well, Elaine, thank you for taking time for doing this with us again. I love it. It's always super fun, especially when you're in town.

I know, and I'm not doing it over Zoom, so it's always good to be here.

Thanks for joining us for Bio from the Bayou, and we hope you'll join us again.

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