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Un mot de Steph
September is always a special month for the French BioBeach community — the summer heat fades, San Diego life sciences kicks back into full gear, and this year we have something truly très spécial in store. Our September event is a departure from the usual Happy Hour format: a fireside chat on the realities of biotech entrepreneurship, hosted at the stunning La Jolla Institute for Immunology, sponsored by PwC. The talent in the room — on stage and in the audience — will make for an evening I think many of you will remember. I can’t wait to see you there. 
As always, if you ever need a thought partner on BD strategy, partnerships, or connecting with the right people in San Diego or France — you know where to find me.
— Steph
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🌊 🌴 🌊
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Featured event
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September Happy Hour — Special Edition 🥂
Fireside Chat: The Realities of Biotech Entrepreneurship
| 📅 Thursday, September 10 |
| 🕓 4:30 PM Registration | 5:00–6:00 PM Fireside | 6:00–7:00 PM Champagne & Networking |
| 📍 La Jolla Institute for Immunology, 9420 Athena Cir, La Jolla |
| 🅿️ Free parking available in the SRP781 Lot |
Join us for an intimate conversation on the opportunities, challenges, and realities of building a biotech company — followed by champagne and networking on the LJI terrace.
| Panelists & Moderator |
Dr. Alain Baron
Founder, Escient / Elcelyx Therapeutics
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Christopher Reyes, PhD
CEO & Co-Founder, Bloom Science
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Jason Stewart
Moderator — Founder & CEO, Blake & Michaels
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⚠️ 24-hour preregistration required to attend the Fireside Chat
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French pharma & biotech news
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Innate Pharma × Sobi
Innate Pharma signed a strategic partnership with Sobi for lacutamab, potentially worth up to $580 million including $75 million upfront and additional milestones, to advance treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
Read more →
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Innate Pharma — €30M Share Offering
Innate Pharma priced a €30 million share offering to fund development of its lead oncology program IPH4502 and its preclinical antibody-drug conjugate portfolio.
Read more →
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Biophytis
Biophytis received approval in Brazil to launch its OBA Phase 2 clinical trial of BIO101 in obesity, expanding development of its lead longevity/metabolic candidate and leveraging the GLP-1 muscle-preservation opportunity.
Read more →
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San Diego highlights
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Craif
Craif raised $33 million in Series D financing to expand U.S. R&D and advance its non-invasive, urine-based cancer detection test, including a prospective pancreatic cancer study at its new San Diego laboratory.
Read more →
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Rznomics × Eli Lilly Gateway Labs San Diego
South Korean RNA therapeutics startup Rznomics is joining Eli Lilly’s Gateway Labs in San Diego to accelerate its trans-splicing ribozyme platform and expand U.S. R&D, following Lilly’s potential $1.3 billion deal with the company in 2025.
Read more →
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Jazz Pharmaceuticals × Actio Biosciences
Jazz Pharmaceuticals is acquiring Actio Biosciences for $820 million upfront, gaining ABS-1230, a precision therapy targeting KCNT1 for a rare genetic epilepsy, with up to $500 million in additional milestones.
Read more →
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Atrium Therapeutics × Bristol Myers Squibb
Atrium Therapeutics earned a $15 million milestone payment from Bristol Myers Squibb under their global cardiovascular collaboration, supporting RNA therapeutics for cardiovascular diseases.
Read more →
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Khartis Therapeutics
Khartis Therapeutics launched with a $50 million Series B, bringing total funding to $95 million, to advance an oral selective IGF-1R inhibitor for thyroid eye disease into clinical trials in 2027.
Read more →
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BlossomHill Therapeutics
BlossomHill Therapeutics priced an upsized $150 million IPO to advance its clinical-stage oncology programs, including EGFR, CLK, and KRAS inhibitor programs.
Read more →
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Processa Pharmaceuticals × Vidya Therapeutics
Processa Pharmaceuticals acquired Vidya Therapeutics and secured approximately $200 million in financing to advance VT-7208, a CNS-penetrant BTK inhibitor, into Phase 2 for food allergy, chronic spontaneous urticaria, and relapsing MS.
Read more →
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Sidewinder Therapeutics
San Diego-based Sidewinder Therapeutics raised an oversubscribed $137 million Series B co-led by Frazier Life Sciences and Novartis Venture Fund to advance its bispecific ADC platform targeting solid tumors, with lead asset SWT012 on track for an IND filing by end of 2026.
Read more →
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cAMPfield Therapeutics
San Diego-based cAMPfield Therapeutics launched with a $180 million Series A led by Frazier Life Sciences to advance prifemilast, an oral PDE4B-selective inhibitor, into two global Phase 2 studies in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
Read more →
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Upcoming events
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Biocom New Member Welcome Mixer + San Diego Converge Meet-Up
4:00–8:00 PM · Green Acre at Campus Point, 10300 Campus Point Dr, SD 92121
Register →
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FBB Fireside Chat + Champagne Happy Hour 🏆 · Sponsored by PwC
4:30 PM Registration · 5:00–7:00 PM · La Jolla Institute for Immunology · ⚠️ 24h preregistration required
Register →
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GemPharmatech Metabolic Disease Symposium
9:30 AM–4:00 PM · Biocom, San Diego
Register →
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AGBT Precision Health Meeting
Sep 14–16 · Loews Coronado Bay Resort, Coronado, CA · Genomics, precision medicine, AI in healthcare
Register →
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Overcoming Challenges in Bringing Your AAV Therapy to Market
10:00 AM · Del Mar Social, San Diego
Register →
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3rd Annual Gene Therapy Initiative Symposium · FBB Community Partner
Sep 16–17 · Conrad Prebys Auditorium, Salk Institute, La Jolla
Register →
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SD Squared Mentor +1 Happy Hour
4:30–7:30 PM · AleSmith Brewing Co., 9990 AleSmith Ct, San Diego 92126
Register →
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Biocom CEO Networking Reception
5:00–6:30 PM · Grande Colonial Hotel, La Jolla · Biocom industry members only
Register →
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Usha Mahajani Symposium: Targeting Metabolic Vulnerabilities in Cancer
8:50 AM–5:00 PM · Conrad Prebys Auditorium, Salk Institute, La Jolla
Register →
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24th San Diego Biopharma Conference
8:00 AM–6:00 PM · Hilton San Diego/Del Mar, 15575 Jimmy Durante Blvd, Del Mar
Register →
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UCSD RNA Technology & Therapeutics Symposium
7:00 AM–6:00 PM · Beyster Auditorium, UC San Diego
Register →
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Biocom CEO Summit
8:15 AM–5:45 PM · Fairmont Grand Del Mar, San Diego
Register →
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About the GTI Symposium · FBB Community Partner
FBB is proud to serve as a community partner for the 3rd Annual Gene Therapy Initiative Symposium at the Salk Institute, September 16. Featuring pioneers from UCSD, UPenn, Regeneron, N-Lorem, Editas Medicine, and more. Stay for September 17 when California Life Sciences (CLS) & CIRM host panels on commercialization and patient access — a full bench-to-bedside experience. Keynote Sept. 16: Kiran Musunuru, MD, PhD UPENN (TIME 100 Most Influential People of 2026). Keynote Sept. 17: Eric Adler, MD, UCSD
Read more & Register →
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In case you missed it 👀
No judgment. But also... you really should have been there.
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August 13 · FBB Happy Hour at The Bella
Sunset, good wine, and 105 of your future best colleagues 🌅
The August Happy Hour at The Bella, Torrey Pines, was one of those evenings the FBB community does best — scientists, founders, and investors mixing on a terrace with a Pacific sunset as backdrop. 105 people registered, the conversations ran long, and nobody wanted to leave. Classic. If you were there: you know. If you weren't: well, September 10th is your chance to redeem yourself. 😏
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August 26 · MatrixOne AI Engineering Afterwork
Where AI meets biotech meets a very good drink 🤖🍷
The MatrixOne West Coast Forum afterwork in San Diego brought together a sharp crowd of biotech and AI engineers for an evening of ideas, connections, and the kind of cross-disciplinary conversation that doesn't happen often enough. The photo says it all — smiles, good energy, and not a single awkward pause. More of this, please.
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French Bio Beach
A France–US life sciences networking community since 2006
9920 Pacific Heights Blvd #150 · San Diego, CA 92121
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French BioBeach is an initiative of GEN2X
Life Sciences BD & Strategic Advisory
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Stéphane Richard, PhD — Founder · Sonia Feau, PhD — Newsletter Editor
© 2026 French Bio Beach. All rights reserved.
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