This week, Fintan Walton seeks the opinions of Tom Quinlan, Partner at Reed Smith, and Matthew Gardner, President at BayBio, on the state of the industry in 2006 and how they see 2007 developing. Initially, the panelists discuss the high number and differing types of deals that took place in 2006, and consider how they expect this to continue in the foreseeable future and the drivers behind this. Also covered is the impact of company acquisitions and the effect these have on their local regions, with Matthew giving examples specific to Northern California. The debate moves on to the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2006 and the potential opening up of the market in 2007 due to the expected loosening of restrictions and the opportunities that may arise from this. Further topics include patent infringement issues, specifically the MedImmune v. Genentech case, and the impact of the US Democrats being the majority party in the US Senate as well as in the House of Representatives. The discussion closes with both Matthew and Tom giving their predictions for 2007.
Tom joined Reed Smith in 2003. Many of Tom’s clients are technology, life sciences and health care companies, which he advises on corporate and securities issues, e-commerce and commercial law, competitive business practices, sales and distribution practices, and the acquisition and protection of intellectual property. Prior to Reed Smith, Tom had been at Crosby, Heafey, Roach & May since 1985. Before that he was employed by the US House of Representatives. Tom holds a JD, from the University of San Francisco and also attended the University of Santa Clara. Matthew is the President of BayBio, which represents the life sciences industry in northern California. Prior to BayBio, Matthew was Director of the Maryland Bioscience Alliance, where he was responsible for serving the Mid-Atlantic bioscience community. Before that, Matthew was the North American Director of Business Development for the government of Queensland, Australia. While serving Queensland, he founded and chaired the Queensland-United States Bioscience Business Council. Matthew was the founding member of the Global Board of Advisors for the Patent and License Exchange and was a charter member of the LA Morning Rotary Club, serving downtown Los Angeles, California. He earned his BA in Political Science and his MA in History, both from the University of San Diego.