University Spin-Offs Look Like Hot Funding Prospects.

It's long been said that Southern California's greatest barrier to becoming the next Silicon Valley is that it lacks major university centers dedicated to spinning off new technologies, like Stanford University and UC Berkeley to the north. But if the presenters at a coming Southern California Biomedical Council conference are any indicator, that may be changing.

Working in the shadow of the continuing Internet frenzy, the Biomedical Council is gearing up for its second major annual conference, entitled Investment and Strategic Partnering Opportunities in Southern California. The event is a forum for promising biotech firms, which present their business plans to an assortment of venture capitalists and others in hopes of attracting funding or strategic partnerships.

To be held Feb. 7 at the Pasadena Convention Center, the conference provides a good benchmark against which to measure the health of the local biomedicine scene. By all indications, it's on the upswing.

The Biomedical Council and its selection panel narrowed the pool of applicants to the 20 most innovative Southern California biotech firms. Fifteen of the 20 selected firms are from L.A. County, and surprisingly, many are commercial spin-offs from the region's large medical research centers, including UCLA, USC, Caltech, Jet Propulsion Labs and the City of Hope, headed by scientists who discovered new technologies in their labs.

"The local (biomedical) industry atmosphere has changed, and we're seeing a much stronger entrepreneurial spirit coming from the universities," said Southern California Biomedical Council Executive Director Ahmed Enany. "They are understanding better the resources and prestige that entrepreneurial development brings them, as well as the goodwill it creates in the community."

The firms presenting their business plans work in diverse market segments, ranging from cancer therapies -- like the less-toxic cancer drugs being developed by Santa Monica-based Pivotal BioScience -- to diagnostic tools, such as L.A.-based Antiviral Resistance Technologies' new testing methods for detecting resistance to HIV.

The selected biomedical companies have gone through an extensive mentoring process over the last five months or so, polishing business plans and VC pitches, as well as consulting with much-needed resources like patent lawyers, accountants and investment bankers.

More than 300 conference attendees are expected this year, as are 10 of the major venture firms active in biotech investment. Strong word of mouth from last year's conference has helped raise he event's national profile and the number of VC firms attending. Lehman Bros. Vice Chairman Fred Frank, leading investment bank luminary in the biomedical arena, is the keynote speaker.