Distinguished Speaker Series -- Comments by Jennifer Rhodes
Posted Tuesday, March 11, 2008 by Harry Gonso

Jennifer Rhodes is a partner in Ice Miller's Private Equity/Venture Services Practice.  Her primary area of concentration is in private equity fund formation and operations, venture capital and private equity financings, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate matters.

 Dr. Homer L. Pearce's remarks during Ice Miller's recent life science distinguished speaker's series highlight the importance of sufficient research funding for success in the war on cancer.  Research and development costs associated with identifying pharmaceutical solutions are particularly daunting and, given the time to market and current patent protection periods, sometimes commercially unjustifiable.

As a result of the targeted efforts of many, including the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and BioCrossroads, among others, Indiana's unique contribution to the national life science sector is becoming increasingly recognized - not only in terms of its many research institutions, major pharma companies and contract service providers, but also with respect to availability of funding.  In 2006, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, Indiana ranked 21st in the nation for venture capital investments in the life science sector.

 

According to the S&P-2006, Purdue and Indiana University currently have $200 million in academic life science funding commitments and graduate 10,000 science and engineering students each year.  Both institutions are developing innovative diagnostic equipment and pharmaceutical protocols that, with appropriate funding, can bring life saving treatments to market.  The financial needs of Indiana's innovators have not gone unnoticed by public and private financial sources that are positioned to fund such developments. 

 

In 2008, we should expect to see further growth in Indiana's life science community as our state's leading research scientists build on the efforts of past scientific contributors to develop cutting-edge technologies and as funding sources become increasingly available both locally and nationally.  

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Life Science Distinguished Speaker Series
Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2008 by Harry Gonso

February 21, 2008, marked the inaugural of  Ice Miller's life science distinguished speaker's series.  We were fortunate enough that Homer L. Pearce, Ph.D., could join us as the featured speaker on the "Progress in the War on Cancer."  Homer spent the last 30+ years working in cancer research and development.   He also has a continuing distinguished career of scholarly publications, teaching and consulting and advisory services in the cancer field.

 

The unofficial war on cancer was declared in 1971 during President's Nixon State of Union address. Later that year, Nixon signed the National Cancer Act into law, declaring, "I hope in the years ahead we will look back on this action today as the most significant action taken during my Administration."  Since that time, over $200 billion has been allocated to cancer research.

 

Statistics surrounding the causalities in the war on cancer are staggering.  It is still a major disease.  Over 1.5 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year – an average of one every 30 seconds.  About 600,000 deaths occur each year.  In 2010, cancer will likely be the leading cause of death in the U.S. 

 

But there is some progress in the war on cancer and Indiana's life science community is playing a significant role.  Indiana is home to some of the leading cancer research institutions, including Indiana University and the Purdue University Cancer Center.  Biotech companies are creating both innovative diagnostic tools and genome therapies.  Our major pharmaceutical companies are also bringing to market targeted pharma solutions.

 

Future prospects will likely include personalized drug protocols for each patient with treatment based on individual profiles.  New technologies in screening and detection will also play a major role as will prevention.

 

As Dr. Pearce observed, one thing is clear – a victory in the war on cancer can only be declared through a spirit of mutual trust and cooperation between all stakeholders.

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Life Sciences Blog- Harry Gonso
Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2008 by Harry Gonso

Harry L. GonsoHarry Gonso is a partner at Ice Miller LLP.  His primary areas of practice concentration are in general corporate and transaction law and life sciences.

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