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Reality Check: The State of Real Estate Market
9:45am – 11:00am

2008 stands in stark contrast to 2009. Northern California life sciences companies started 2008 with bullish expectations. In late spring/early summer, when the 2008 Real Estate Survey was conducted, 82 percent of the respondents anticipated growth over the next two years, with 35 percent expecting growth to exceed 20 percent. By the time the results of that survey were presented in September last year, the first signs of the economic downturn were taking place and the year finished with a full implosion of the financial markets. Enter 2009 - a crisis year for the industry. Of the 300 publicly traded biotechnology companies, 75 percent have less than one-year of cash remaining, and 120 of those have less than six months of cash on hand. Given this bleak picture and building upon four years of research, the 2009 Real Estate Survey presentation will address the following questions: How do Northern California life sciences companies weather the storm? What impact does the financial crisis have on facility and operations needs? Is the cost of laboratory space affected? Have vacancy rates gone up? Which communities weather this downturn better than others and why?

Panel Speakers:

Douglas Davis
Principal, AE3 Partners

Brad Werner
Senior Vice President, CB Richard Ellis

Real Estate Strategies – Challenges and Opportunities for Tenants & Landlords
11:30am – 12:45pm

In an effort to apply the 2009 Northern California Life Sciences Real Estate Survey findings to today’s realities and bring them into a practical dimension, a panel of life sciences tenants and landlords will discuss real estate strategies, alternatives and decisions contemplated by tenants and owners. Attendees will be exposed to the real estate market dynamics, opportunities and challenges in the current environment, and be introduced to ideas that may help navigate their companies through these turbulent times. This panel will focus on tenant strategies: actions that occupiers may take to manage risk, capitalize on opportunities and provide operational and financial agility; and landlord strategies: actions that owners may take to manage through a period of decreased demand and a difficult capital markets environment.

Panel Moderator:

Ben Pugh
Senior Managing Director, Global Consulting Group, Cushman & Wakefield of California, Inc.

Panel Speakers:

Jerry Bernie
Director, Global Real Estate, Amgen Inc.

Leone Patterson
Vice President, Finance, Exelixis, Inc.

Geoffrey B. Sears
Partner, Wareham Development

Becoming a Landlord: Maximizing Return on Under-Utilized Space
3:00pm – 4:15pm

Whether through a positive event (smart planning for projected company growth or an M&A event), or a negative event (downsizing due to lack of additional rounds of finance or failed clinical trials) – companies end up with excess office and lab space. Becoming a landlord and subleasing space to a fellow biotech company is a good way to offset your costs and perhaps make some money, or is it? A panel of life sciences professionals who have been on both sides of the equation will discuss what you need to know before jumping head first: What are the benefits and the pitfalls? What are the advantages and the liabilities? And most of all, is it worth it?

Panel Moderator:
James K. Bennett
Senior Vice President l Life Sciences, GVA Kidder Mathews

Panel Speakers:
Charles Alaimo
Director of Operations, Oncomed Pharmaceuticals

Helmut Altmann
Vice President of Integration, Bayer HealthCare

Ginny Kosor
Director of Facilities, FibroGen