Unleash the Dragon, a daylong event hosted by the Sino-American Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Professionals Association, will explore cross-Pacific deal-making Nov. 8.
The 4th Annual SABPA Pacific Forum on Life Science Alliances event, held at UC San Diego’s Copley International Conference Center, will examine the many ways of conducting business in Asia, from licensing deals to partnerships and outsourcing. About 300 people are expected to attend.
The cost at the door is $40.
San Diego companies have increasingly looked to outsource a portion of their research activities to overseas firms that offer quicker, cheaper services.
SABPA organizer and life sciences consultant Zhu Shen, who helped establish the annual event, said she expects life sciences firms to increase their outsourcing activities as they look to cut costs in the coming months.
“With the economic downturn, a lot of big pharmaceutical and some biotech companies have been cutting jobs and downsizing and a lot of that is going to the outsourcing budget,” Shen said. “It’s going to other companies in India and China, in particular.”
Formed six years ago by a group of Chinese-American researchers, most of them from Pfizer La Jolla, SAPBA has grown into an organization of 1,500 members in Southern California.
, Heather Chambers
