Read the summary and watch or listen to the interview here: https://www.crowleylawllc.com/podcasts/connecting-innovators-in-life-sciences-with-jennifer-hawks-bland/
Voiceover: Welcome to the From Lab to Patient Garage to Market podcast with your host, Phil Crowley. In each episode, we will discuss professionals serving the tech startup market and the various issues of importance to those companies. You can find this show on all the major platforms, including YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Apple podcasts, Spotify and on our website, crowleylawllc.com. Now here’s the host of From Lab to Patient, garage to Market, Phil Crowley.
Phil Crowley: Welcome. Thanks for tuning into our podcast. We try to bring you leaders in the life sciences and technology who have perspectives to share that can be helpful; how to succeed; mistakes to avoid; issues you should be aware of; all with a view to demystify the process of getting your great ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace [00:01:00] to enrich the lives of thousands or even millions of people. Meet Jennifer Hawks Bland, CEO of NewYorkBIO.
Phil Crowley: Today I’m delighted to have as my guest, Jennifer Hawks Bland, who is the Chief Executive Officer of NewYorkBIO.
NewYorkBIO is the leading advocate for the life sciences in the state of New York. And I’ll point out that New York State lays claim in the life sciences to a number of notables, one of which is having the world’s largest concentration of academic medical centers. it’s a real center of innovation where things are happening.
And stay tuned for the end of our discussion because I’ll ask Jennifer to give you a couple of pointers to help you increase your understanding of innovation in this area, which can lead to helping you be more successful in your innovations and your journey as an entrepreneur. Jennifer, welcome.
Jennifer Hawks Bland: Thanks, Phil. I’m glad to [00:02:00] join you today. Thanks for having me.
Phil Crowley: Glad to have you here. Please tell us a little bit about your background and the pathway that brought you to NewYorkBIO.
Jennifer Hawks Bland: , of course. It, it is interesting. I love talking to people about their backgrounds and how they arrive, at whatever they’re doing today.
And I find that they are rarely linear. In fact, I think a circuitous sort of path is probably the most common path and mine is no different. as but some people don’t. I am a recovering litigator. I worked on Capitol Hill early in my career, then went to law school. And that was that was actually a very, it was a very good thing to take a few years before I went to law school because I.
I learned the value of paying rent and putting my own bills as it were before, before diving back into schools. And when I was in private practice, I did primarily pharmaceutical products, defense litigation. I was on a junior [00:03:00] lawyer defending companies and product liability claims.
And it was interesting. We, we moved back to DC second tour, if you will. In DC and that’s where I got into advocacy and I switched, instead of a jury that I was speaking to, I was speaking to members of Congress and members of state legislatures and really delving into. Primarily for pharma and over the counter issues. my advocacy skills were still being honed. They were just in a different way. And that’s actually how I got into ultimately the path that led me to NewYorkBIO, which was I. Worked at GlaxoSmithKline for a while, and then worked for she plow for a very brief period before it merged with Merck where I was all in for almost a decade.
And doing both federal and state government affairs. all in the advocacy space, and then got recruited to join NewYorkBIO to [00:04:00] run it about seven years ago. As hard as that, it seems to believe that it’s been seven years. Yes. . Overview of NewYorkBIO
Phil Crowley: Tell us a little bit about NewYorkBIO. It’s one of the state organizations that’s coordinated with bio, the International Biotechnology Innovation Organization.
But what’s your particular style and particular focus for NewYorkBIO? Jennifer Hawks Bland: , of course. Yes. It we do have, I think maybe there are 49. State biotech association affiliates now that work with Bio, which is based in Washington DC and we work closely with them on advocacy issues as well as our purchasing programs.
And our goal at NewYorkBIO is to really take advantage of things that are specifically New York or that the region offers in order to support the growth of life science companies. In New York. Now I work very well [00:05:00] with my counterparts all along the region. And we tend to go to each other’s events and we show up for each other, which is fantastic.
And I really do think it’s hard to think about New York Life Sciences without also talking about. The pharma that exists in, particularly in New Jersey, ? And then as well as Connecticut and up to Boston. you have this real. Strong northeast corridor of life science companies. And we’re really we’ve just really seen the growth take off now NewYorkBIO.
Because we serve as a convener and an advocate, we spend a lot of our time. Hosting events, connecting companies with opportunities, as well as advocating in Washington, DC and in Albany in our case, at our state capital, to talk about issues that are important to fostering a strong life science economy in the state of New York.
Exciting Innovations in Life Sciences
Phil Crowley: What are some of the most exciting [00:06:00] areas that you are seeing in the life sciences generally, and that excite you about the prospects and the potential for life sciences?
Jennifer Hawks Bland: , it, there are many, I’ll pick a couple. New York is interesting because as you mentioned I would even go a step further in your characterization of our academic medical institutions and say we have.
The best collection of world class medical centers in the country, ? Everyone has their own, everyone has their own opinion. I get to have mine. And what we have seen as far as the ecosystem growing, really across the state. Whether it is at whether it’s at Stony Brook, cold Spring Harbor, out on Long Island to MSK Columbia Rockefeller.
NYU here in the city to Roswell Park, university of Buffalo. University of Rochester Medical Center. And the Empire Discovery Institute [00:07:00] that those three institutions, University of Buffalo, Roswell Park cancer Center, as well as the University of Rochester, they spun out a discovery center which will ultimately help commercialize IP and discoveries that come out of those three institutions. what we’re seeing is a real growth. In early stage life sciences from our academic institutions. And that’s, I think it’s similar, but I think the concentration of early stage companies that we have in New York is really what sets us apart and the, where they come from some of our from some of the other cluster areas across the country.
Phil Crowley: I think that one of the great distinguishing things about NewYorkBIO. NewYorkBIO’s Role in Fostering Innovation
Phil Crowley: Is the opportunity to get people to connect because it’s in collaboration that sometimes that spark of innovation occurs. And although there [00:08:00] are limits to that that people can protect their own intellectual property, convening opportunities you do, NewYorkBIO does in order to get people together to talk to.
In investors to talk to academicians, to talk to people who are looking to form companies can be incredibly beneficial. What are some of the opportunities and events that NewYorkBIO sponsors to help its members? Learn about new innovations, connect with people who can help them take their innovations to the next level and that sort of thing.
Jennifer Hawks Bland: , no, thank you for that question. It’s a great one. And it’s interesting because where we sit as a convener of the ecosystem, we also wanna make sure we’re offering programs, events, opportunities. That meet our members where they are. And because our members are made, and I guess I should have [00:09:00] said this earlier our members are made up of very early stage companies, mid late stage pharma, ? from the two person spin out. Of out of academia who probably still has their academic appointment . And is doing this on the side as they, as they de-risk and try to prove their concept to very large multinational, international, companies, academic medical centers, patient advocacy organizations, and then what I affectionately call.
The businesses that make the business of life science work, and that is law firms yours that help their clients navigate accounting firms, all of the companies that really support the ultimate r and d work that, that ends up with patient treatments. that’s the who NewYorkBIO is.
And we do a series of. We have a fellows program, which is for early stage companies that have raised less than 7.5 million, very early stage, and it provides an on-ramp [00:10:00] to full membership. And what we also do as programming, which I love is our mini pitch days. And at some point we’re gonna come up with some sort of catchy name other than mini, but I haven’t gotten there yet. we’re sticking with it. And basically this is a iterative learning, helpful process for an early stage founder to work and present their deck to a series of judges. Before they do that though, and an audience, before they do that, we pen, we pair them with a mentor and they’re able to have an online, conversation and work through some of the hiccups that come with pitching their deck to investors. it really is a supportive, iterative process for these early stage companies. We take that. that’s one end. To the other end of the spectrum. And once a year we partner with a newer stock exchange and we have these are series A plus companies and they present to an investor. Finance audience at the New York [00:11:00] Stock Exchange.
And that’s in December. And that’s your other end of the spectrum. These are companies that are, that have raised significant amounts of capital. They’re either in the process of raising or they’re getting ready for a crossover and basically they are this is an opportunity for them in a longer format pitch to be able to do that sort of thing.
Phil Crowley: That’s one of the things that I found very challenging, particularly for. My younger clients, younger in terms of their development of their . Ideas is understanding the focus that they need to have in the pitch deck. I have a methodology that I try to help them understand that I call the ms a, b, C method, ms.
A, B, C. And although the technologists love to dive deeply into the weeds of the technology, if they start there, they really risk losing their [00:12:00] audience. And where they really need to start is with the M, which is, what is the market? How big is the market? How many dollars are being spent in the United States and worldwide on this particular addressable market? Yep Exactly.
Phil Crowley: And what is the market not providing? And hopefully you can identify that because then you talk to the stakeholders. And those include not only the patients, but also the insurers, the people who are paying for this. . And thinking about the incentives for them. And then the A, B, and C are A is.
What is your approach at the 30,000 foot level? Not to get too detailed. B, what are the benefits, you identified in your market analysis, what’s not being provided. Presumably it’s what your benefits are. And then very importantly, C who’s the competition? And [00:13:00] sometimes the competition is just not doing anything.
It’s inertia, the natural. Reticence of the medical establishment to move on to new things. I always remember the old saw for doctors, which is be not the first to adopt the new therapy or the last to abandon the old that can really get in the way of progress.
Jennifer Hawks Bland: Yes. Yes. And a first mover has advantages, but you also have to hack your path.
Oh . And that may not and because no one’s tamped down , the path before you it may be more difficult. But there are patients out there I guarantee that are waiting for whatever that product or therapeutic or diagnostic it is that you’re working on. And that’s the thing I think that we can’t lose sight of.
Phil Crowley: That’s , and particularly the benefit to patients. And I want to get into, in, [00:14:00] in a bit your view of some of the therapies that NewYorkBIO companies are working on that really have substantial benefits to patients.
Phil Crowley: But I’d just to take a minute now to introduce our viewers and listeners to Crowley Law.
We are a boutique law firm of very experienced lawyers. Who are passionate about helping innovators in the life sciences and other technologies avoid being taken advantage of as they develop their ideas and bring them to the market. I’m a former research physicist. You described yourself as a recovery litigator.
I guess I’m a recovering. Physicist, I used to do my work in Superconductivity and I know how difficult and demanding the work is of creating new knowledge. And then as a corporate lawyer, I and my team of lawyers understand how difficult it is to [00:15:00] take that new knowledge from the laboratory bench to the patient’s bedside or to the marketplace.
Create products and services that improve the lives of thousands or millions of people. And I’ve seen many cases where the innovators due to a lack of knowledge about the process, wind up losing much of the value that they’ve worked long and hard to. To develop and we all think that’s unfair and we work to protect our clients from that.
We’ve got a website, crowley law llc.com, where we have a library of materials. And as I speak we’re celebrating our 10th anniversary of Crowley Law and as part of the celebration, I’ve written a book that will be available on Amazon fleas. Look for, it’s called Avoid Startup Failure. Learn the Top 10 [00:16:00] Causes of Failure for Technology Startups, and How to Turn them to Your Advantage. I hope you’ll take a look at that. Look for the book. Take a look at our website. We have a library of free resources that are focused on the needs of innovative companies at every stage in their development. From startup to a company ready to make its first initial public offering. And just remember that we are here to help.
Now to get back to Jennifer. Jennifer…
Jennifer Hawks Bland: but I’m amazed that you’ve written a book. I love that. And I love that it’s, I love that. It sounds I look forward to reading it. It sounds it’s really broken down into sort of bite-size . Pieces of information that will really be helpful to founders.
Phil Crowley: I’ve written it in part because humans are programmed to enjoy stories. I have a story of an intrepid, likable innovator. [00:17:00] Who came from a humble background, worked hard to develop his training, went to graduate school and had some adventures. And let’s just say that they didn’t work out quite as he planned.
Yes. And there are learnings from that and we go into explaining that after the story. And it’s based on some. Stories that I have seen and incidents that I’ve seen play themselves out. It’s one of the reasons why we’re focused on protecting innovators. But you’ve got a lot of stories to tell from.
Some of the members of NewYorkBIO and some of the things that have been done can you give us some examples of some of the innovations that NewYorkBIO members have been involved in that really focus on improving the lives of patients? Because we hear a lot about medical [00:18:00] research and. We hear complaints about research, not really providing benefits to patients, but in the life sciences here, we’re talking about innovations that have the potential to relieve suffering cure diseases, maybe even save lives.
What examples do you have of that?
Jennifer Hawks Bland: we have we clearly have with, over. With nearly 300 members, we have a lot of examples that I can use. And I think the most destructive thing is if you look at. NewYorkBIO member companies from, the very largest, pharma companies and to the very smallest and realize how some of those interact.
A very good example that we saw announced during the JP Morgan Healthcare conference week in January, was the purchase of Intracellular. By Johnson and Johnson, and it’s obviously that deal hasn’t closed, but those are two NewYorkBIO members. Intracellular was founded in New York City by [00:19:00] Dr.
Sharon Maes and just has really focused on CNS and bringing therapeutics to patients in the CNS and schizophrenia space. And that is a really good example of a. Very homegrown, successful patient forward company that, and I think when you’re, especially when you’re talking with entrepreneurs about what happens long term and how things play out, ?
There are you have several options, but. There is the build it, take it public, continue to grow into the next, Pfizer, j and j Merck, or but that’s a long road, ? These companies have been around a hundred over a hundred years in some cases. And then you also, but then also acquisition, ?
Is it is a really important part of how the ecosystem functions. And I’m really excited when I see deals that getting done, which will be to the benefit of patients. And then you have other [00:20:00] successful think stories Regeneron, also founded in New York is in Westchester.
Which is where I that’s where I live, ? Just north of Manhattan. And it’s it’s an amazing story of yet another patient-focused forward company bringing, doing. Most I would say the vast majority of their research in-house here in New York and reaching patients where they’re needed. it’s been really exciting to see those. And I could we could talk for hours and I could give you hours and examples of New York companies growing and making a difference in the lives of patients. And, one thing that I think it doesn’t get talked off. Talked about that often, but New York City and the New York in the region is one of the most diverse in the world because we have many people that live here, that live in New York from other areas, of the world. And it also means [00:21:00] that this region is a really important piece of our clinical trials network and our clinical trial work that is done. We do have access in a relatively small geographic area to patients with characteristics because they come different characteristics because they come from all over the world.
Phil Crowley: That’s been an important topic in terms of clinical trial, diversity of the patient population. What have you seen in the development of. Protocols to try to get people from different racial and ethnic groups involved in clinical trials that there’s some validation of therapeutic effect over people who have, well-known different genealogies.
Jennifer Hawks Bland: I, we’ve seen we’ve seen a significant effort in New York because of the population to be able to run clinical trials [00:22:00] here. And granted, you have to work with, obviously the. With both, with trial design as well as an investigator to be able, and often they are part of an academic medical center.
And as we said earlier, we have world class academic medical institutions that do a lot, that do a lot of research as part of their remit. And we’ve also been involved in conversations about reducing barriers because I also think that there is this idea that. A barrier in, in a very sparsely populated state, for example, is distance, distance to a medical center. then we’ve looked at , decentralized clinical trials and what sort of technological advances are available to help, ? With clinical trial adherence and clinical trial participation. But even in New York, if you are if you live on. Let’s say Staten Island. If you have to get to Harlem for a medical appointment it is not the easiest [00:23:00] journey.
Even though the distance itself isn’t 50 miles the journey can be challenging. And we face some of those same barriers even within the New York metropolitan region that we have in other parts of the country. They’re just present differently. Phil Crowley: It’s interesting to see the advancements in electronic communications and also the advancements within the medical community and the use of electronic medical records to provide a more facile method of transferring information and also may transferring information on the patient and then standardizing.
Medical records for the purposes of clinical trials that people can enter information directly into a database rather than having to use the old paper and pencil method of putting information in and then make it easier [00:24:00] in order to audit that information and make sure it’s been put in correctly.
Jennifer Hawks Bland: , absolutely. all of these and I do think if we can call out a bright spot ? From our COVID experience, which was what, five years ago today ish. That sort of everything started shutting down. I think that this adoption of the digital tools that you just mentioned was certainly accelerated and became obviously more acceptable for providers and payers.
To cover the cost, of those digital interventions or pieces of the healthcare spectrum? Impact of NIH Funding Changes
Phil Crowley: I don’t think we’d have a complete discussion unless I mentioned, and we’re talking now March 13th, 2025, about the potential impact of changes at the National Institutes of Health in its grant making and grant administration process [00:25:00] and.
What impact have you seen to date on the virtual shutdown of the, as I see it, the review process at the National Institutes of Health, which has been one of the primary funders of basic. Medical research in the United States.
Jennifer Hawks Bland: From a NewYorkBIO perspective. And I put out a statement as all of this was, is starting to come out a few weeks ago, but I, my position is.
NewYorkBIO is gonna continue to do exactly what we’ve done in the past. We just talk about the importance of NIH funding, talking about the importance of basic research funding. We share that information with our New York delegation in Washington. that they understand when it comes to.
What they control as members of Congress through the appropriations and the authorization process. The small business innovation research SBIR grant program is up for reauthorization this year. And I think that we’re [00:26:00] gonna continue to talk about the real importance. New York is only second.
Behind California for NIH funding. it has a real, excuse me, a real potential impact, ? As those as those changes are worked through at the federal level. And , we’re gonna continue to talk about how important it is. And the good work that our companies do with those funds that they receive from N NIH to encourage Congress and the administration to both recognize and continue , to spend money on the basic research that they have them.
Phil Crowley: And Jennifer what one or two tips could you give to aspiring Life Sciences innovators to help them along their pathway of entrepreneurship and innovation in terms of helping them? Optimize their chances for success?
Jennifer Hawks Bland: Yes. If you [00:27:00] force me to narrow it to two, I’ll give you two lightning round here.
I one is, I’m gonna piggyback on what I just said. number one is if you have the opportunity to talk to your members of congress, members of the state legislature, your elected representatives. To take that opportunity. We provide numerous opportunities for our member companies to interact with these with the elected officials throughout the year.
I’ll be in Washington at the beginning of April with member companies, we’ll be on the hill. In February, we were in Albany talking to elected officials, our state elected officials. I encourage you to take advantage of that. Don’t think you are not ready. Because every time you have the opportunity to talk about the work that you are doing on behalf of patients, that is a good opportunity that you shouldn’t pass up to talk to elected officials that they understand the importance of what we’re doing.
And then the second thing is taking it back locally wherever you are. If there is a [00:28:00] life science organization similar to NewYorkBIO or others. Take advantage of that networking opportunity. There is real value to be had from getting to know your peers, the others in the industry. We all could go home and put up our feet.
And, but occasionally take advantage of those opportunities to network and get to know other people. Those dividends will pay out from years to come. Phil, you and I met when both of us were in our previous roles and previous organizations. And then, and those benefits are continuing today because we get to have conversations this. I, I would say 100% take advantage of that. Conclusion and Contact Information
Phil Crowley: Super. And if viewers would to learn more about NewYorkBIO, how can they do that?
Jennifer Hawks Bland: Our website is NewYorkbio.org. And you find us on LinkedIn too as well. And then I’m on LinkedIn as well.
Phil Crowley: Super. Jennifer, thank you much for joining us today and [00:29:00] sharing your perspectives and. I hope that our viewers and listeners have benefited from this. If you have, please subscribe to our podcast. Tune in, take a look at our website, crowleylawllc.com, and our library of resources, and just remember that we are here to help.
Voiceover: Thank you very much. You’ve been tuning into the from Lab to Patient, Garage to Market podcast with your host, Phil Crowley. You can find this show on all the major platforms including YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Apple Podcasts, Spotify. And on our website, crowleylawllc.com. If you found this information helpful, please subscribe, leave a positive review and share with others.