COVER STORY INSURING BIOTECH SUCCESS Mike Milligan, 38 | Principal, Leader of the Life Science Practice, Barney & Barney Insurance is a business necessity in almost any industry, but especially so in the risktaking realm of biotech and pharma. And if there’s anyone in San Diego who is an expert in this niche area, it’s Mike Milligan. Back in 2000, Milligan was attending a Biocom event when he heard a patient—a mother—share her story of cancer survival. The story hit close to home, as Milligan’s father had cancer many years earlier. The experience sparked Milligan’s passion for making sure biotech companies have the insurance they need to continue developing life-saving medicines. Making it big: In the following years, Milligan helped expand Barney & Barney’s life sciences practice into the company’s largest, today serving more than 500 life science clients—including 150 public companies. He’s helped insure hundreds of clinical trials in the U.S. and abroad, and helps biotech execs wade through a range of other risky business issues. Living the dream: The dad of three loves San Diego’s small-town feel, which is why he says he’d never want to leave.
THE LAWS OF LIFE SCIENCE Ed Truitt, 34 | Co-Founder and CEO, Lubris Biopharma LLC It’s not common to see a corporate attorney starting up new biopharma companies. But Ed Truitt’s not your common guy. After receiving his law degree from University of San Diego, Truitt focused for several years on patent litigation and startups before deciding to launch his own company focused on early detection of cancer. He’s since launched another company that’s developing therapies for eye conditions. Both are based on science from UCSD. Poking holes: Truitt says that law is a lot like science; in both fields your goal is to build solid evidence to prove that something (your argument or your hypothesis) is unequivocally true. Working in biotech now, Truitt says he deals with lawyers more so than ever. Engaging the entrepreneurs: In 2006, Truitt helped his wife, Nikki, create the Entrepreneur Challenge at UCSD, and continues to be passionate about helping young leaders pursue their business goals.
THE MICROBIOME MAGNATE Rob Knight, 39 | Faculty Director, Center for Microbiome Innovation University of California, San Diego UC San Diego’s School of Medicine made a pivotal hire in 2015, winning out over elite universities around the country when they brought on board Rob Knight, Ph.D., a superstar biologist. Knight is recognized globally for his expertise in all things microbiome—the next frontier of medicine. While San Diego’s hiking and scuba diving scene didn’t hurt, Knight was lured by the city’s rich ecosystem of sequencing companies (Illumina, Synthetic Genomics) and scientific research institutions, which together can accelerate research into patient care. A voice in D.C.: Knight was a driving force behind the White House’s $121 million National Microbiome Initiative, launched in early 2016, of which UCSD is now a key participant. All about the data: Always one to want to know more about the many microbes that make us who we are, Knight has been collecting his own poop for sequencing essentially every day for the last eight years (and he’s not shy about it).
Biocom LifeLines Winter 2016
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