Roche, OrbiMed, and McKinsey officially launched the SEED Competition at the Beijing International Healthcare Industry Forum today. This is one of the first life sciences business plan competitions in Greater China.
SEED stands for “Scientists to Entrepreneurs, Education and Development.” The competition has been designed to help entrepreneurs startup companies in the life sciences and healthcare field, enhance the technology transfer and commercialization capabilities across the scientific community, and create a platform for commercialization of life sciences and healthcare innovations in China.
China’s innovation capabilities have grown considerably in recent years. However, there are significant gaps in transforming these scientific activities into successful commercial enterprises and products, especially in the healthcare and life science field. To address these gaps, the organizers have designed the SEED Competition to help entrepreneurs build companies. Any team with active academic affiliation in the Greater China, innovative ideas and operations based in Greater China, are qualified to participate. SEED participants will gain free training and education from the industry experts and senior executives.
Besides the Beijing launch, there will be two other similar kickoff meetings: one in Shanghai on December 11, 2009, and the other in Guangzhou on January 6, 2010. All seed events are presented by ChinaBio® LLC, a conference and consulting firm based in Shanghai.