Past EventBest Practices for Valuing and Monetizing Your IP Portfolio

Intellectual properties and intangible assets are often the foundation of a Company’s value and growth. But, Biotech companies, especially start-ups, may have little else other than their IP. This creates a high level of importance on the management, strategic development and valuation of those assets. As a result, proper management and credible valuations affect business strategy, competitive responses, subsequent capital acquisition, and even business survival. The valuation of intellectual property often involves many parties assessing the same assets from many different points of view. In addition, a Company’s IP also creates value in many ways-licenses, new product development, competitive advantage, and royalties are just the beginning.

The panel will provide insight and real life examples into the importance of proper management of IP, how IP is valued including a view of the many conflicting priorities and expectations in valuing IP, and discuss the best practices in monetizing and valuing the many potential income streams your IP could create.

 Our Panelists:

Thomas J. Stephenson

Prior to co-founding Verge Fund in the Spring of 2003, Mr. Stephenson had been a General Partner of various funds of Murphree Venture Partners. He joined Murphree Venture Partners in 1997 to open their New Mexico office after serving as the Director of Education and Research for the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), a world-recognized leader in fostering the development of high-technology start-up companies. At ATI, he prepared entrepreneurs for raising angel and venture capital, evaluated businesses for entry into the incubator and provided business consulting to ATI companies. Stephenson served as an invited speaker to the National Business Incubation Association’s National Conference, and assisted the Russian Academy of Market Management’s Morozov Project in the formation of six pilot incubators in that country by providing on-site advice, generating local government support, and authoring their “Incubator Operations Manual.”

Prior to receiving his M.B.A. in Information Management and Technology Transfer from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, Stephenson was a member of the science department faculty at his prep school alma mater, the Albuquerque Academy, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. While completing his B.A. in Physics at Rice University, he worked as a technical aide at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Stephenson represents Verge Fund on the Board of Directors of Altaview, Altela, Metaphor, Nanocrystal, and Wellkeeper. He also serves on several non-profit Boards of Directors, including the New Mexico Technology Council (formerly NMITSA); the New Mexico Venture Capital Association; the Coronado Ventures Forum; and the Association for Commerce and Industry. He is a graduate of the 2000 class of Leadership New Mexico.

Edward R. Street, CPA/ABV/CFF, CVA

Ed Street is principal in charge of REDW LLC’s Business Valuation, Forensic and Litigation Services practices. He has approximately 30 years of public accounting experience in a variety of areas, including business valuations, litigation support, auditing, and taxation. In addition to being a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Mr. Street holds the Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) and Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) designations granted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) designation granted by the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts.

Ed’s valuation work has included valuations and related services for financial reporting, gift and estate purposes, purchase and sales analysis and negotiations, employee stock ownership plans, marital dissolution cases, dissenting and oppressed stockholder actions, eminent domain and various other purposes. He has also performed and supervised numerous forensic, litigation and consulting projects which have involved valuation matters, fraud investigations, analysis of claims for commercial and personal damages, professional malpractice, insurance disputes, trademark and patent infringement, reasonable compensation, marital dissolutions and matters involving partner and shareholder disputes.

Ed graduated from South Dakota State University and also attended the University of New Mexico Anderson Schools of Management. He served as a member and is past chair of the New Mexico Society of CPAs Peer Review Committee which monitors adherence by accounting firms to professional standards in connection with performing audits, reviews and compilations of financial statements. Ed has also served as an examination grader for the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts. Ed has also served on the Board of Directors of the Central New Mexico YMCA and is a past Treasurer and past Chair of the YMCA.

Loraine V. Upham

Loraine V. Upham, is President and CEO of Azano Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Albuquerque, NM. Azano has a new therapeutic candidate for the treatment of kidney failure in systemic lupus erythrematosus (SLE) and other inflammatory conditions. She brings a wealth of experience to this project.

Loraine is a co-inventor of a novel diabetes treatment and a co-founder of CureDM, Inc., the company that licensed the drug in a $335M deal with Sanofi- Aventis in 2010. First in human studies for Human proIslet Peptide (HIP) are scheduled to commence in 2011.

As founding CEO, of CureDM, she successfully obtained start up financing and engineered partnerships to conduct basic research and establish the proof of concept for HIP, which allowed for progression into preclinical development. She successfully managed and executed all preclinical activities required for IND. She was a key and integral part in every facet of CureDM’s business, science and technology.

Her 28-year career in the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industries includes four years of cloning and expression research in the Molecular Genetics Research Department at Eli Lilly and Company. Subsequent to Lilly, Lori joined Merck and Co. and then ventured into the realm of smaller companies both in the device and biotechnology areas. Her success as Product Manager and Project Team Leader at Packard BioScience developing drug discovery research instrumentation and reagents led to their explosive growth and supported an eventual public offering.

Ms. Upham is a Connecticut native and holds a BA in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Arizona State University.