Scientific American’s Custom Media division hosted a unique salon-style event in collaboration with Immunomic Therapeutics on Monday, February 12th in the heart of Manhattan’s Times Square. The forum, Hot Topics in Biotech: Cancer at a Crossroads, was co-located and held in association with the BIO CEO & Investor Conference at the New York Marriott Marquis, providing a rich audience of trailblazers and investors in biotechnology and immuno-oncology.

Nearly 85 attendees joined the party for a dynamic discussion and networked over hors d’oeuvres and drinks while overlooking the bright lights of Broadway. Jeremy Abbate, VP & Publisher of Scientific American, welcomed the group and set the tone of the evening with a history of salons and the unique opportunity to freely exchange ideas. David Thomas, Senior Director of Industry Research and Analysis at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, jump-started the conversation by focusing on the repatriation of cash for investment among the biopharma set and how this is changing the deal-making climate in IO and related fields.

The discussion that followed, moderated by Scientific American’s Executive Editor for Partnerships, Cliff Ransom, explored what the second wave of immunooncology will look like for businesses. After the initial investment and development phase of vaccines and other therapies, companies may be entering a cooldown and are looking ahead for new financing models and partnering possibilities to navigate the next 5-10 years of growth. Expert panelists weighing in included Bill Hearl, CEO of Immunomic Therapeutics, Barbara Ryan, Life Sciences Capital Markets Advisor,
Garo Armen, CEO & Chairman of Agenus and Randy Burkholder, VP of Pharmacy and Research at PhRMA.

It was an engaging evening and guests really enjoyed networking and discussing some hot-button topics in their field. This was the third reception hosted in a series of partner events with Immunomic Therapeutics aimed to open up the conversation of the future of development and investment in cancer vaccines and immunotherapies.