The nearly 600 attendees at BioNJ’s annual BioPartnering Conference Tuesday — a total that included 85 company presenters and 77 investors — were more than enough reason for Debbie Hart to feel confident about the life sciences industry in New Jersey.
Having large pharma companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Pfizer meet with startups, both formally and informally, throughout the Liberty Science Center creates the kind of environment where the next great New Jersey bio could get its start.
The day, however, is just one aspect of why Hart, the founder and longtime CEO of BioNJ, has a positive outlook.
Hart sees the efforts of the Murphy administration — from setting up the Evergreen Innovation Fund to creating Strategic Innovation Centers — already being taken to the next level by the Sherrill administration.
“I’m always an optimist, but I sincerely feel the sky is the limit right now,” she told BINJE. “The Sherrill administration is embracing this sector with authenticity and commitment. That means everything.”
“The amount of time and attention that’s being paid to permitting and red tape issues alone is going to be a game-changer.”
As is the HELIX, the life science innovation district that DEVCO is developing in New Brunswick — a spot that BioNJ is so excited about that it recently announced it is taking space there.
“The possibilities there are so great.”
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As the head of BioNJ, it’s fair to think Hart always will put a happy spin on the industry. But she wasn’t the only one doing so Tuesday.
Tom Morrisroe, a VP of Healthcare Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan, gave a more upbeat presentation on the state of the industry than he did last year.
His optimism was echoed by many at the event. Many encouraged Gov. Mikie Sherrill to embrace New Jersey’s storied history in the sector.
Aruna Dontabhaktuni of Hillsborough-based RegKey, a regulatory-tech platform that automates FDA compliance work for life-sciences companies, said connecting the state to more funding sources should be the aim.
“There is a lot of good work being done here,” she said. “Bringing in more funders, from California and other places, would help kickstart all the great innovation that’s happening here.”
That sense of creating a greater community was echoed by Uchechi Osuagwu, a longtime leader in the space at EY who now serves as managing partner at Primevant Advisory, who said the key to growth is growing those involved.
“Good ideas can come from just opening your doors and listening to people,” she said. “This is a great market. Smart people are here who want to do great things. So open up your doors and listen to people.”
So much of that was going on Tuesday. In addition to formal meetings, the event had tables with representatives from major companies — and the N.J. AI Hub — meeting anyone who wanted a few minutes.
“These are intended to be quick conversations that basically say, ‘Come tell us how we can help you, and then we’ll tell you how we can help you,’” Hart said. “The big companies want to be here. They want to partner.”
If only it were that easy.
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There are challenges to the industry.
Almost every metric involved in the conference was up, except for one: international attendees.
BioQuebec was here in full force, as were a number of representatives from Israel, but there was little beyond that.
Cuts to NIH funding by the federal government — as well as challenges to the basic premise of scientific research — are ongoing issues in the sector.
And while it’s fair to pick on the feds, there are concerns about the commitment from the state, too.
A new budget will be finalized in the next six weeks — one in which the Sherrill administration and the Legislature need to find places to cut to make the mark.
Hart, who also chairs the state’s Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology, said this sector should be spared for one good reason: its return on investment.
“The challenge the governor gave us and everyone else in the state is to show your worth,” she said.
“CSIT had our annual meeting last week and showed we can have a 20x return on our investments. I think we can make the case.”
