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Agenda subject to update before Conference Dates For the most current version of the Conference Agenda, please refer to the Conference App. |
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6:00 - 8:30 pm | Welcome Cocktail Reception | |||||
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7:00 - 8:50 am | BREAKFAST | |||||
8:50 - 9:00 am | Welcome | Day One Introductions and Announcements | |||||
2023 Conference Co-Chairs | Martyn Webster, Chief Financial Officer, RefleXion Medical Amy Bachrodt, Vice President, Finance, Maze Therapeutics |
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9:00 - 10:00 am | KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Joe Quinlan, Managing Director & Chief Market Strategist, Merrill Wealth Management, Bank of America, "Economic Overview" | |||||
Joe’s presentation will highlight key drivers of growth, critical secular trends, and the potential risks to growth and earnings in the medium-term. Key global trends affecting the US economy and capital markets will also be examined. | ||||||
10:00 - 11:00 am | BREAKOUT SESSIONS, Day One: Select One | |||||
A. Venture Debt Financing in Today's Market | Venture Debt Financing in Today's Market Raising equity has become even more challenging recently. Companies are exploring non-dilutive financing alternatives. This panel of experts will address what to consider when exploring venture debt. | |||||
Panelists: | Marc Belsky, Chief Financial Officer, Kezar Life Sciences, Inc., ABFO Board Member Deepa Rich, Partner, Life Sciences Group, Business Law Department Leader, Silicon Valley Brian Stephenson, PhD, CFA, Chief Financial Officer, BridgeBio, Inc. David Hickman, Managing Director, Oxford Finance LLC Ryan McCarthy, Director, Capital Advisors Group |
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B. Insurance Market Update: Cybersecurity, D&O & More | Review of trends and current issues in the corporate insurance landscape, specifically addressing current hot topics such as the growing need for Cybersecurity related insurance coverages and the evolving D&O coverage landscape. Overview of the industry landscape will be provided by the Aon team, followed by an open Q&A session to address specific questions or concerns attendees may have. | |||||
Moderator: | Herb Cross, Chief Financial Officer, Atreca, Inc., ABFO Board Member Aaron Simpson, Director, Life Sciences Practice, AON Risk Sevices James Walters , Managing Director, Life Sciences & Chemical Group, AON Risk Services Erin Brodbeck, Cyber Vice President & Team Leader, AON Risk Services Scott Francis, Managing Director, West Region Leader, AON Financial Services Group |
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C. Drive Savings and Do More with Less: Modernize your P2P Process | This session will center on how digital transformation of the back office can drive operational efficiencies, mitigate risk to stakeholders, and optimize cash and working capital. In the current macro environment, organizations are looking to do more with less. We will showcase industry and global benchmark data as well as leading studies that reveal quantifiable statistics supporting that best-in-class technology is driving margin improvement and G&A savings. | |||||
Moderator: | Jason Crawford, Go To Market Lead, Life Sciences Practice, Coupa Hector Casab, Vice President, Finance, Lyell Immunopharma David Tucker, Chief Financial Officer, Anacora Heart, Inc. Betsy Gelfand, Vice President, Finance, Mirati Therapeutics, Inc. |
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11:00 - 11:15 am | Break | |||||
11:15 - 12:10 pm | ROLE ROUNDTABLES - Select One | |||||
These role-level roundtables will be facilitated by individuals experienced at the relevant level with the aim of stimulating a forum for thoughtful discussion of the issues relevant to each role. Please check your conference app for the location of each roundtable. | ||||||
CFO | ||||||
Moderator: | Herb Cross, Chief Financial Officer, Atreca, Inc., ABFO Board Member | |||||
Controller's Function | ||||||
Panelists: | Eldar Bolsakov,Vice President, Corporate Controller, Invitae Robert Lopez, Vice President, Controller, Intuity Medical, Inc. Veronica Sanchez, Corporate Controller, Lyell Immunopharma |
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FP&A and IR | ||||||
Panelists: | Ryan Froelich, R&D Finance, Denali Therapeutics, inc. Allison Richards, Sr. Director, Financial Planning & Analysis, Maze Therapeutics, Inc. |
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12:10 - 1:05 pm | LUNCH | |||||
1:05 - 1:15 pm | Afternoon Introductions and Announcements | |||||
1:15 - 2:15 pm | KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Cara Hale-Alter, Author, Founder, "Speech Skills,""Projecting Credibility" | |||||
Credibility. Leadership presence. Personal power. We know these qualities when we see them, but what are the cues that lead us to these impressions? In her signature presentation, Cara Hale Alter deconstructs what it takes to carry yourself like a leader. Using the criteria laid out in her book The Credibility Code, she emphasizes the power of the “subtextual” conversation and identifies the specific “codes of conduct”—for posture, gestures, vocal skills, eye contact, and more—that influence the perception of credibility. Individually, these behaviors are easy to implement; together they form a skill set that can transform your career. Whether you are meeting one-on-one or presenting to a large group, appearing credible and confident will significantly raise your effectiveness.
MoreWhether you are meeting one-on-one or presenting to a large group, appearing credible and confident will significantly raise your effectiveness. This seminar examines the power of the “subtextual” conversation—body language, vocal patterns, and mannerisms that can raise or lower one’s status in the workplace. Based on 20 years of research, nonverbal communication expert Cara Hale Alter outlines explicit “codes of conduct” for projecting credibility, especially when the stakes are high. Individually, these behaviors are easy to implement; together they form a skill set that can transform your career. DISCOVER HOW TO
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2:15 - 3:15 pm | PANEL PRESENTATION: CFO Panel | |||||
A group of veteran Chief Financial Officers discuss key economic and business considerations affecting the current life sciences industry. | ||||||
Panelists: |
William Le, Director, Active Disclosure & Global Capital Markets, Donnelley Financial Solutions |
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3:15 - 3:30 pm | Break | |||||
3:30 - 4:30 pm | BREAKOUT SESSIONS, Day One: Select One | |||||
A. Venture Debt Financing in Today's Market | Venture Debt Financing in Today's Market Raising equity has become even more challenging recently. Companies are exploring non-dilutive financing alternatives. This panel of experts will address what to consider when exploring venture debt. | |||||
Panelists: | Marc Belsky, Chief Financial Officer, Kezar Life Sciences, Inc., ABFO Board Member Deepa Rich, Partner, Life Sciences Group, Business Law Department Leader, Silicon Valley Brian Stephenson, PhD, CFA, Chief Financial Officer, BridgeBio, Inc. David Hickman, Managing Director, Oxford Finance LLC Ryan McCarthy, Director, Capital Advisors Group |
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B. Insurance Market Update: Cybersecurity, D&O & More | Review of trends and current issues in the corporate insurance landscape, specifically addressing current hot topics such as the growing need for Cybersecurity related insurance coverages and the evolving D&O coverage landscape. Overview of the industry landscape will be provided by the Aon team, followed by an open Q&A session to address specific questions or concerns attendees may have. | |||||
Moderator: | Herb Cross, Chief Financial Officer, Atreca, Inc., ABFO Board Member Aaron Simpson, Director, Life Sciences Practice, AON Risk Sevices James Walters , Managing Director, Life Sciences & Chemical Group, AON Risk Services Erin Brodbeck, Cyber Vice President & Team Leader, AON Risk Services Scott Francis, Managing Director, West Region Leader, AON Financial Services Group |
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C. Drive Savings and Do More with Less: Modernize your P2P Process | This session will center on how digital transformation of the back office can drive operational efficiencies, mitigate risk to stakeholders, and optimize cash and working capital. In the current macro environment, organizations are looking to do more with less. We will showcase industry and global benchmark data as well as leading studies that reveal quantifiable statistics supporting that best-in-class technology is driving margin improvement and G&A savings. | |||||
Moderator: | Jason Crawford, Go To Market Lead, Life Sciences Practice, Coupa Hector Casab, Vice President, Finance, Lyell Immunopharma David Tucker, Chief Financial Officer, Anacora Heart, Inc. Betsy Gelfand, Vice President, Finance, Mirati Therapeutics, Inc. |
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D. Targeting Your Message in Presentations | In the internet age, finding in-depth information is relatively easy, so the new high-value skill is not depth or breadth, but brevity. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll practice our 3-step “Targeting Your Message” process for creating a concise message that focuses on what’s most important to your audience. DISCOVER HOW TO • Distill your core message into a 15-second sound bite • Craft a compelling opening paragraph • Frame your content around benefits to the audience | |||||
Moderator: | Cara Hale-Alter, Author, Founder, "Speech Skills," | |||||
4:30 - 5:15 pm | ABFO, the Early Years: "History, Memories & Trivia" | |||||
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Host: | David Tucker, Chief Financial Officer, Anacora Heart, Inc. ABFO Board Member | |||||
5:15 - 5:20 pm | Closing Remarks | |||||
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6:00 pm | Walk to Evening Social Event: "Cocktails and Conversation" Depart at 6:00 | |||||
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7:00 - 9:00 am | BREAKFAST ABFO Regional Coordinators' Meeting |
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9:00 - 9:10 am | Welcome | Day Two Introductions and Announcements | |||||
9:10 - 10:10 am | KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Christie Pearce Rampone, International soccer star, multiple gold medal-winning Olympian, former Captain, US National Team, coach and sports broadcaster | |||||
Christie Pearce Rampone is an International soccer star, multiple gold medal-winning Olympian, former Captain of the US National Team, coach and sports broadcaster. In a fireside chat format, Christie will outline the many incredible twists and turns of her life story and explain how humility, perseverance, and hard work can be the perfect formula for success, on and off the field. | ||||||
10:10 - 11:00 am | BREAKOUT SESSIONS, Day Two: Select One | |||||
A. Clinical Trials: Best Practices for Finance and Accounting | Clinical trial finances affect your company’s runway, audit risk, strategic planning, and investor relations. And yet, getting it right is difficult, time-consuming, and prone to error. Join a panel with perspectives from audit, finance, accounting, and clinical operations, as they share war stories and best practices. | |||||
Panelists: | Jennifer Kyle, CPA, Co-founder, CEO, Condor Software Roy Gonzales, Vice President, Accounting, Ventyx Biosciences Phil Howard, Financial Accounting Advisory Services Partner, West Health Sciences and Wellness, Ernst & Young LLP Tiffany Sepp, President and CEO, Vanguard Clinical, Inc. |
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B. Investor Relations: Building for the Long Term | The past few years have substantially changed how companies interact with investors and what investors are looking for in their investment decisions. This panel of Investor Relations experts will address today’s investor environment and how to prepare your company for future financings. | |||||
Panelists: | Marc Belsky, Chief Financial Officer, Kezar Life Sciences, Inc., ABFO Board Member Rachael Bushey, Partner, Co-Chair, Goodwin Philadelphia Office Celia Economides, Chief Financial Officer, Gritstone Bio Caroline Corner, PhD, ICR Westwicke, Partner, SF Medical Technology Diagnostics Gloria Tang, Managing Director, Global Advisory/Capital Markets Advisory/Equity Capital Markets, Evercore |
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C. From CFO to Board Member | Serving on a board of directors allows you to contribute beyond your own company, as well as bring insights back to your company from others’ experiences. Getting your first board seat requires a well thought-out strategy and it’s important to chart your course now. Learn from current CFO board members and a board recruiter on what you can do now to develop your talents and experiences so that you are ready when the time arises to join a board. | |||||
Panelists: | J. Christopher Griffin, President & Chief Operating Officer, Bench International Search, Inc. |
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D. Building a World-class Finance Team | This panel of experienced Chief Financial Officers and Talent & Consulting firm leaders will explore current trends in building out a highly effective finance organization. | |||||
Panelists: | Leslie Boudreaux, Sr. Managing Partner, Founder, BVOH Nick Roberts, Managing Director, Financial Officers & Private Equity Practices, Russell Reynolds Associates Susan Kim, Chief Financial Officer, PacBio Smital Shah, Experienced Chief Financial Office and Board Member Siobhan Mangini, President and Chief Financial Officer, NGM Biopharmaceuticals Bob Goeltz, Chief Financial Officer, Arcus Biosciences Juan Graham, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, FibroGen, Inc. |
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11:00 - 11:15 am | Break | |||||
11:15 - 12:15 pm | PANEL PRESENTATION - Analyst Panel | |||||
The analyst panel brings together an exciting group of life sciences analysts to discuss their insights into what makes an analyst tick, what at analyst is really looking for and how you, as a senior finance professional, can best work with them to maximize the clarity of your external financial communications. | ||||||
Moderator: | Caroline Corner, PhD, ICR Westwicke, Partner, SF Medical Technology Diagnostics Tim Lugo, Partner, William Blair & Company, LLC Andrew Tsai, Senior Vice President, Jeffries Jessica Tassan, Equity Research Analyst, Piper Sandler |
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12:15 - 1:00 pm | LUNCH | |||||
1:00- 1:05 pm | Afternoon Introductions and Announcements | |||||
1:05 - 2:05 pm | COMPANY ROUNDTABLES - Select One | |||||
These company roundtables will be facilitated by experienced individuals from each of the company stages/types with the aim of providing a forum for thoughtful discussion of the issues relevant to each. Please check your conference app for the location of each roundtable. |
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Pre-commercial Biotech Companies | Whether public or private, pre-commercial biotech companies face unique challenges in raising necessary capital and transacting with strategic partners and critical vendors. In this roundtable, we will explore such challenges and various tactics to prepare for and succeed in the pre-commercial stage. | |||||
Moderator: | Hector Casab, Vice President, Finance, Lyell Immunopharma, ABFO Board President | |||||
Commercial-stage Biotech Companies | Commercial stage biotech companies are facing many challenges in today's environment. We will discuss a variety of factors contributing to these challenges and share key learnings across the life cycle of a commercial enterprise. | |||||
Moderator: | Joy Berberich, Sr. Vice President, Finance, Synthego, ABFO Board Member | |||||
Medical Devices and MedTechs | Marty will lead a lively discussion of best and evolving practices for some major issue. Areas facing today’s Medtech businesses. Topics will cover the regulatory, commercialization, supply chain and reimbursement sides of the Medtech landscape. | |||||
Moderator: | Martyn Webster. Chief Financial Officer, RefleXion Medical, ABFO Board Member | |||||
2:05 - 3:05 pm | ERNST & YOUNG LLP and GOODWIN Technical Update | |||||
Update on the latest accounting developments & SEC updates that are expected to impact bioscience companies. EY & Goodwin will share their insights on how the matters are being interpreted, what bioscience companies should be focused on, and how the various regulatory bodies view these areas. |
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Moderators: | Michael Formolo, Partner, Ernst & Young LLP Marianne Sarrazin, Partner, Life Sciences Group, Goodwin Phil Howard, Partner, Ernst & Young LLP Tom Mantione, Managing Director, Ernst & Young LLP Carole Mu Si Yan, Senior Manager, Ernst & Young L LP |
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3:05 - 3:20 pm | Break/Transition | |||||
3:20 - 4:20 pm | KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Markus Renschler, MD, President and CEO of Cyteir Therapeutics | |||||
Markus will join ABFO San Francisco and will share his life story from his early days as a bench scientist to CEO at Cyteir, from academic medicine to industry, from product failures to product approves all through a life fulfilling career “being comfortable with being uncomfortable." | ||||||
4:20 - 5:10 pm | BREAKOUT SESSIONS, Day Two: Select One | |||||
A. Clinical Trials: Best Practices for Finance and Accounting | Clinical trial finances affect your company’s runway, audit risk, strategic planning, and investor relations. And yet, getting it right is difficult, time-consuming, and prone to error. Join a panel with perspectives from audit, finance, accounting, and clinical operations, as they share war stories and best practices. | |||||
Panelists: | Jennifer Kyle, CPA, Co-founder, CEO, Condor Software Roy Gonzales, Vice President, Accounting, Ventyx Biosciences Phil Howard, Financial Accounting Advisory Services Partner, West Health Sciences and Wellness, Ernst & Young LLP Tiffany Sepp, President and CEO, Vanguard Clinical, Inc. |
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B. Investor Relations: Building for the Long Term | The past few years have substantially changed how companies interact with investors and what investors are looking for in their investment decisions. This panel of Investor Relations experts will address today’s investor environment and how to prepare your company for future financings. | |||||
Panelists: | Marc Belsky, Chief Financial Officer, Kezar Life Sciences, Inc., ABFO Board Member Rachael Bushey, Partner, Co-Chair, Goodwin Philadelphia Office Celia Economides, Chief Financial Officer, Gritstone Bio Caroline Corner, PhD, ICR Westwicke, Partner, SF Medical Technology Diagnostics Gloria Tang, Managing Director, Global Advisory/Capital Markets Advisory/Equity Capital Markets, Evercore |
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C. Building a World-class Finance Team | This panel of experienced Chief Financial Officers and Talent & Consulting firm leaders will explore current trends in building out a highly effective finance organization. | |||||
Panelists: | Leslie Boudreaux, Sr. Managing Partner, Founder, BVOH Nick Roberts, Managing Director, Financial Officers & Private Equity Practices, Russell Reynolds Associates Susan Kim, Chief Financial Officer, PacBio Smital Shah, Experienced Chief Financial Office and Board Member Siobhan Mangini, President and Chief Financial Office, NGM Biopharmaceuticals Bob Goeltz, Chief Financial Officer, Arcus Biosciences Juan Graham, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, FibroGen, Inc. |
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5:10 - 5:30 pm | Announcements, Closing Remarks | |||||
45 Minute Break Before Evening Special Event | ||||||
6:15 pm | Wednesday Night "Mystery Event" | |||||
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7:30 - 9:15 am | BREAKFAST | |||||
9:15 - 9:30 am | Welcome | Day Three Introductions and Announcements | |||||
Introducing 2024 ABFO Conference Chair - 2024 Boston | ||||||
9:30 - 10:30 am | KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Meredith May, Award-wining journalist, fifth-generation beekeeper and best-selling author, "We are Stronger Together Than Apart: How Bees Teach Us To Be Better Humans" | |||||
Best-selling author and fifth-generation beekeeper Meredith May will take you into the heart of a beehive to discover how one of the oldest creatures on earth has survived by perfecting the art of social living. Using stories drawn from her childhood memoir, The Honey Bus, and examples from her beekeeping adventures in Big Sur and on the San Francisco Chronicle rooftop, she will discuss how honeybees rely on family, democracy, humility, and altruism. She will offer ways everyday people can use these same values to reverse the plight of the honeybee, a creature that pollinates one-third of the foods we eat. | ||||||
10:30 - 11:30 am | PANEL PRESENTATION: "Leadership in Times of Change: Part Deux" | |||||
In changing times, leadership gets tested in action, as decisions made in lean times shape the organization for times to come. How to lead well when simultaneously considering resource management, DEI and culture needs, so your teams grow stronger through facing adversity together? How can finance leaders lead well in times of change? | ||||||
Moderator: | Killu Sanborn, Managing Director, Oxford Finance LLC Bonnie Hyun, US Head of Capital Markets at NYSE Sharon Tetlow, Managing Partner, Potrero Hill Advisors Jennifer Kyle, Co-founder, CEO, Condor Software Carrie Paff, Senior Director, Stand & Deliver |
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11:30 - 11:45 | Closing Remarks and Raffle - Conference Concludes | |||||
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