CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The founder of a global company that helps turn breakthrough ideas in biotechnology into moneymaking businesses will speak this week at the University of Illinois.
G. Steven Burrill, chief executive officer of Burrill & Company, will discuss how innovation becomes enterprise during a program from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday (March 12) in the conference center at the Institute for Genomic Biology, 1206 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana.
The event is sponsored by the U. of I. Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Management program, created in 2008 to help professors, Ph.D. students, postdoctoral researchers and other entrepreneurially minded people through the business, economic and legal aspects of managing intellectual property. Burrill is a sponsor of the CEM program and serves on its advisory board.
A pioneer in the biotechnology industry, Burrill founded a merchant bank that manages nearly $1 billion in venture capital funds, helping life sciences companies launch operations and sustain growth.
The San Francisco-based firm specializes in medical biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and other health-care innovations, as well as agricultural and industrial technology such as biofuels.
Burrill, whose career in the biotechnology industry spans more than four decades, was recognized by Scientific American magazine as the visionary of biotech investment in 2002.
His talk, titled “Idea to IPO,” will examine the steps involved in turning ideas into businesses, including technology transfer arrangements, intellectual property rights and business plans.
The talk is free, but seating is limited. To register, contact Liz Stull at estull@illinois.edu by 5 p.m. Wednesday.
