Dr. Gunnar Weikert, chairman of Inventages Venture Capital Investments, will be the keynote speaker at the Big Bang! Business Plan Competition kickoff event at UC Davis on Wednesday, Oct. 26.
In a talk, titled "From Therapy to Prevention: The End of the Traditional Pharma Industry," Weikert will offer his perspective on the pharmaceutical industry's increasing focus on direct-to-consumer preventive medication. His venture capital firm makes investments in cutting-edge life sciences and health sciences research and technologies.
Weikert's talk will begin at 5 p.m. at the University Club, followed at 6 p.m. by the launch of the sixth annual Big Bang! Business Plan Competition.
The Big Bang! competition, organized by MBA students at the Graduate School of Management, promotes entrepreneurship, innovation and hands-on learning across the campus. During the next seven months, the competition will include workshops on finance, marketing, intellectual property and legal issues, and business-plan development. Finalists will present their plans in May, at which time $15,000 in prize money will be awarded.
Tuesday's event will include a mixer to help connect students, researchers and others interested in forming teams to enter the competition. For more information about Big Bang!, see
Weikert's keynote lecture is presented by the UC Davis Office of Research, the management school and UC Davis CONNECT. Attendees and members of the media are asked to R.S.V.P. to ortia@ucdavis.edu.
Media contact(s):
* Tim Akin, Graduate School of Management, (530) 752-7362, tmakin@ucdavis.edu
* Julia Ann Easley, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-8248, jaeasley@ucdavis.edu
