COVER STORY
By Kelly Quigley, Canale Communications
For Life Science Companies in California, Biocom Provides A Window to the World International trade and expansion is thriving in California’s biotech markets. In 2015, Brad Messmer, Ph.D., packed his suitcase, grabbed his passport, and set off for Southeastern France. He wasn’t going for a suntan; he could get that right at home in San Diego. Rather, he was joining Biocom on one of its many annual trade missions. This one would be to explore potential business opportunities in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. While the average person might know this region of France for its beautiful landscapes and Mediterranean coastline, biotech insiders know it’s also home to some 500 health care companies; a host of leading academic laboratories in immunology, infectious diseases and cancer; and a booming clinical trial scene. Those are among the factors that convinced Biocom President and CEO Joe Panetta to forge a partnership with the life science industry association in the South of France. As part of its four-day trade missions, such as the most
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Biocom LifeLines Summer 2017
recent one in September of last year, a small group of Southern California biotech industry executives tour through Nice, Toulon and the region’s capital city of Marseille, meeting with leaders at businesses and academic centers to find areas of collaboration. “I decided to go, but I didn’t really know what to expect,” recalls Dr. Messmer, a faculty member at University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center and CEO of San Diego-based Abreos Biosciences. Abreos is developing tools to enable precision dosing of biologic medicines. “During the trip, I was introduced to a number of people at Institut Paoli-Calmettes, the cancer institute of Marseille,” he explains, “which ultimately led Abreos to create a French subsidiary that can do clinical trials in France.” It also led Abreos to find a talented French intern who is currently working in the lab at the company’s San Diego headquarters. If all
