Bioscience companies face the difficulty of setting and managing the expectations of their key stakeholders.  Why are stock prices (and, sometimes, reputations) crushed when companies report clinical or corporate setbacks?  Why are the results of clinical studies not always reported in a timely fashion?  What are the best ways to describe publicly a company's plans and predict its future performance?  Why aren't more companies meeting or beating the expectations they set?   Is the desire to please investors and patients with encouraging guidance interfering with management's obligations to be candid and transparent? 

This expert panel will explore these issues from the perspectives of key audiences including institutional investors, research analysts, investor relations officers, public relations consultants, and patient advocates.

Moderator:

• Jason Rubin, president and founder, The Redstone Group, LLC

Panelists:

• Jane Baj, associate director of public and investor relations, PTC Therapeutics, Inc.
• John Elicker, vice president, investor relations, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
• Brian Gill, vice president, global corporate communications, Celgene Corporation
• Laura Liotta, president, Sam Brown

In today's fast-paced and regulated environment, the investment community and the news media demand constant updates regarding the status of clinical trials.  With so much riding on the results of a single clinical trial, companies need to demonstrate a consistency in the management of expectations with external audiences to avoid becoming the subject of rumors and speculation. All components of communications and disclosures regarding a clinical trial development program need careful consideration as they can have a significant impact in determining the overall success of a company.

Focusing in on best practices, the panel will explore the strategies and tactics that must be considered in developing and implementing a clinical trial communication program. 

Topics will include:

• Trial initiation
• Enrollment status
• Interim data
• Clinicaltrials.gov
• Press release content
• Presentations
• Guidance on timing
• Trial results

Moderator:

• Sheryl Williams, vice president, public affairs, Cephalon, Inc.

Panelists:

• Stephanie Baldwin, senior manager of investor relations and corporate communications, Antares Pharma Inc.
• Michael Becker, president & CEO, VioQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
• Tom Petzinger, CEO, LaunchCyte LLC
• Will Sargent, vice president of investor relations & corporate communications, Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Last year, the search for innovation created record levels of partnerships and alliances in the bioscience industry.  The increasing collaboration across the industry's sectors - among traditional pharmaceutical companies, biotechs, academic institutions, and government - has the potential to increase the number of compounds being researched, speed their development, and provide more hope for patients.

This dynamic also creates new opportunities and challenges for the industry's communications professionals.  In many cases, partnerships bring together communicators from very different organizations, of different sizes, and with different needs and philosophies, to identify and implement strategies that benefit both partners. 

This panel will focus on strategies for communicators involved in partnerships, featuring speakers that have successfully navigated these waters.  Participants will gain a better sense of the needs of potential partners, as well as effective strategies to employ in these relationships and pitfalls to avoid.

Moderator:

• Stephanie Baldwin, senior manager of investor relations and corporate communications, Antares Pharma Inc.

Panelists:

• Len Lavenda, vice president, communications, sanofi pasteur US
• William Foster, senior director, global hematology & oncology, communication and public affairs, Ortho Biotech, Inc.
• William Roberts, vice president of corporate communications, ViroPharma Incorporated