Steering committee member, Les Mace, describes the course set for Bend Bioscience Consortium (Bend Bio) as “promotion of economic development through recruiting individuals or companies to the area, enhancing job creation, encouraging start ups, providing more networking among similar fields,” and general support for the entire “bioscience ecosystem in Central Oregon.”
Initially Bend Bio was formed with support from the Economic Development of Central Oregon (EDCO) and Looking Forward, both future oriented organizations focused toward employment opportunities for Central Oregonians. Entrepreneurially speaking, Central Oregon is very dynamic and contains much potential to attract business in all sectors and Bend Bio was formed to foster that development in the field of bioscience.
Specifically, bioscience refers to pharmaceuticals, biological technology and medical technology or devices and the consortium strives to include persons or entities who work in these fields.
Mace says though it’s only been a year and a half and having an all volunteer staff the website and a charter are coming together and the cluster has had great success holding networking and educational events. Dr. Kate Ryan, also a member of the steering committee and co-founder, is excited about streamlining the website utilizing funds from the City of Bend and other grants.
Dr. Ryan says “fortunately, we have excellent help now with Matt Sybrant, the Key Industry Coordinator hired by EDCO.”
Bend Bio’s most recent networking event held at Stackhouse Coffee attracted 60 people and featured the latest information from the Bend Science Station, Central Oregon Research Coalition and Seven Peaks Ventures. They hope to host another Pub talk in early 2016 with EDCO.
Bend Bio contributed to Oregon Bioscience Association’s (Oregon Bio) annual spring event, Bio in the High Desert. This year, the event catered to over 80 bioscientists at McMenamins Old St. Francis School and featured Oregon Bio’s Dennis McNannay, executive director, discussing bioscience industry’s economic impact in Oregon, Oregon Bio’s increased involvement in policy directives, the catalytic impact of the Knight Cancer Challenge and how bio business can leverage current strengths to penetrate promising new markets. Bend Bio plans to continue partnering with Oregon Bio, throughout the year and with future High Desert events.
Community outreach such as this has helped grow Bend Bio’s membership which now includes Bend Research, Agere Pharmaceuticals, Medline Renewal and Suterra. Individuals are encouraged to join. When asked why an individual might want to join Bend Bio, Mace explained, “the industry is multi-disciplined, it is important to have a broad scope in the sciences, this group can help provide that broader knowledge.”
Mace explains that this type of consortium is essential to bioscience commerce because of the uniqueness and complexity of the market. “The field contains a high level of multi-disciplinary science, it is a highly educated and regulated industry, including legislation and insurance, there are many barriers to enter the market, there is a strong emphasis on trade secrets and health care makes up 18 percent of GDP. Because of these complexities, there is a need for consortiums to keep everyone on the same page.”
In the future, Dr. Ryan looks forward to attracting bigger entities. “Next steps are to involve the larger bioscience stakeholder companies in greater depth to more finely understand their needs as it relates to Bend Bio.”
A survey will be conducted, found at www.bendbio.org, to poll the bioscience community on what sort of support Bend Bio could provide. Be it funding and research opportunities, education, policy updates or more networking and speaker events, Bend Bio is eager to listen. Whether you are like Mace, retired from the industry but still actively contributing, or a novice just starting out, Bend Bio is a professional organization interested in serving the entire ecosystem of bioscience constituents.
info@bendbio.org
www.bendbio.org
Les Mace is a medical device consultant and senior bioscience advisor with Focus Investment Banking. His 37 year medical device career includes senior corporate positions in R&D, engineering management, product/business development and co-founder. He currently sits on advisory boards including JettStream, MedItelliBase, Bend Bioscience Consortium, the Economic Development of Central Oregon Stable of Experts (EDCOSE) and E::Space. His volunteer efforts include the Oregon Bioscience Association, Mt. Bachelor Ambassador and mentor for entrepreneurs and engineering students.
Kate Ryan, PhD consults with life sciences organizations focusing on medical, commercial and partnership strategies for concept, start-up, mid-size and established companies. Dr. Ryan’s background includes leadership positions in pharma, engineering, scientific research and technology development. Dr. Ryan holds board or steering committee positions with the Bend Bioscience Consortium, Oregon Bioscience Association, Central Oregon Research Coalition and St. Charles Institutional Review Board. She is a scientific advisor to Amplion Research, Seven Peaks Ventures, EDCOSE and serves as a mentor.
