Two senior life science executives and a Nobel Prize winner are the keynote speakers for the CED Life Science Conference.

Dr. Jack Szostak, the 2009 Nobel Prize winner in physiology or medicine and a professor of genetics at Harvard, will deliver the closing keynote at the 22nd Council for Entrepreneurial Development event, which is set for Feb. 27-28 in Raleigh.

Other keynote speakers include:

  • Dr. N. Anthony (Tony) Coles, M.D., chairman and CEO, Onyx Pharmaceuticals
  • Dr. Samuel Nussbaum, M.D., executive vice president, Clinical Health Policy and chief medical officer, WellPoint.

“This conference is a must-attend event for those in the life science industry,” said David King, CEO of LabCorp, who will lead a panel on leadership and is one of the conference co-chairs. “We have secured an impressive lineup of opinion leaders, who will speak to the critical challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”

Some 1,000 people are expected to attend.

The N.C. Biotechnology Center and NCBIO are partners in putting on the event.

The conference agenda:

Feb. 27

9:00 am – 5:00 pm Partnering Meetings

9:00 am – 11:00 am Entrepreneur Workshop

11:00 am – 6:00 pm Registration Open

11:30 am – 1:30 pm

  • Conference Opens and Keynote Speaker: Samuel R. Nussbaum, MD, EVP, Clinical Health Policy and Chief Medical Officer, WellPoint, Inc.
  • State of the Industry Report, Presented by Deloitte LLP

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Life Science Leaders Panel

  • David King, CEO, LabCorp (Moderator)
  • Roger L. Davenport, CEO, M*Modal
  • Stephen Hill, CEO, Targacept
  • Joel Marcus, CEO, Alexandria Real Estate Equities

3:20 pm – 4:10 pm

“New Business Models” Panels – BioPharma and Medtech

  • Cindy Clark, President, ibiliti
  • Lynn Marks, SVP, Projects, Clinical Platforms & Sciences Pharmaceuticals R&D, GlaxoSmithKline and Corporate Secretary and Chair of Operations Committee for Transcelerate Biopharma
  • Fred McCoy, CEO, NeuroTronik Ltd.

4:30 pm – 6:00 pm Emerging Company Showcase – BioPharma & Medtech Tracks

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm Networking Reception

7:30 pm – 9:30 pm Investor Dinner (Invitation Only)

Feb. 28

7:30 am – 8:30 am CEO Breakfast (CEO Only)

N. Anthony Coles, Jr., M.D., Chairman and CEO, Onyx Pharmaceuticals

8:30 am – 11:30 pm Partnering Meetings

8:30 am – 10:00 am Opening Remarks

10:30 am – 11:30 pm

New Models of Financing

  • Dan Dubin, Vice Chairman, Leerink Swann (Moderator)
  • Tom Hawes, Managing Director, BlueCross BlueShield Venture Fund

12:30 pm – 2:30 pm

Closing Lunch

  • Presentation of Life Science Leadership Award to Robert A. Ingram
  • Featured Keynote Speaker: Jack W. Szostak, Ph.D., Recipient of 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; and Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School