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The Termeer Foundation Opens up Nominations for the 2022 Henri Termeer Transatlantic Connections Award

Dec 16, 2021

Emerging Biotechnology Entrepreneurs and Leaders from the US and The Netherlands Encouraged to Apply for Award to be presented at the annual Innovation for Health Conference in April

BOSTON, December, 16, 2021 – The Termeer Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on connecting life science innovators and catalyzing the creation of new medicines, today announced that nominations for the annual 2022 Henri Termeer Transatlantic Connections Award are officially open.

The Henri Termeer Transatlantic Connections Award began as part of an agreement in July 2019, between the Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, which created and signed a Memorandum of Understanding laying the basis for a Massachusetts – Netherlands Transatlantic Life Sciences Partnership. The signatories included Top Sector Life Sciences & Health (Health-Holland), MassBio, HollandBIO and the Henri A. Termeer Tribute Committee; all of whom agreed to provide support and organize activities to promote trans-Atlantic collaboration between the two biotechnology ecosystems.

The nomination form can be found on the Termeer Foundation Transatlantic Connections Award page.

“The excitement and interest that was created around last year’s inaugural awards has provided an excellent platform from which to continue to support future biotech leaders through this unique opportunity,” said Catharine Smith, Executive Director, The Termeer Foundation. “The biotechnology industry is truly a global business environment and the Foundation is committed to creating programs for future industry leaders that elevate them within this international landscape.”

The Henri A. Termeer Transatlantic Connections Award was established in 2021. With support from the Termeer Foundation and Health-Holland, the Award recognizes and honors two emerging life science entrepreneurs, one in Massachusetts and one in the Netherlands, who are leading innovative biomedical research activities, and whose programs have the potential to strengthen transatlantic relations between the two life science regions. Each year, candidates will be selected based on their initial entrepreneurial success in establishing a life science company that meets certain scientific and financial criteria, exhibit a strong interest in mentoring other young entrepreneurs, and a willingness for additional involvement in Termeer Foundation programs. Awardees also receive Fellowship status within The Termeer Foundation, which includes access to experienced healthcare mentors, networking with fellow peer entrepreneurs, and recognition at the annual Termeer Fellows Celebration. Recipients are invited to spend a week visiting their fellow awardee’s company, and to participate in additional learning, networking and cultural events in that location.

2021 winners were Eline van Beest, CEO, Hybridize Therapeutics, and Joshua Cohen and Justin Klee co-founders and CEO’s of Amylyx Pharmaceuticals.

“The Henri A. Termeer Transatlantic Connections Award is helping to solidify the growing collaboration between the Cambridge and Netherlands biotechnology ecosystems by establishing opportunities for industry entrepreneurs to shape business policy and pipelines,” said Hans Schikan, board member of Health-Holland and a member of the Henri Termeer Transatlantic Connections Award Steering Committee. “Through the continuation of this Award, the novel partnership between the Termeer Foundation and Health-Holland will allow honorees to learn how best practices from each biotech community can impact their own growth and ultimately benefit patients.”

The Greater Boston and Netherlands biotechnology sectors represent two of the world’s prolific global biomedical research centers. Boston and Cambridge are home to approximately 1,400 biotechnology companies; ranging from small, emerging start-ups to larger, more established biopharmaceutical companies. Cambridge’s Kendall Square is the heart of this sector and holds a large concentration of life science companies, with over 120 located within the Square’s small footprint. The highly collaborative Dutch Life Sciences & Health community includes 3,100 R&D life sciences companies, 420 biopharmaceutical companies, 65,000 employees in pharmaceuticals and a 4.7-billion-euro medtech market. Life Sciences businesses in the Netherlands profit from countless opportunities for growth and collaboration.

Winners of the 2022 Henri A. Termeer Transatlantic Connections Award will be announced at the 2022 Innovation for Health Conference in Rotterdam.

About The Termeer Foundation

The Termeer Foundation is a nonprofit organization working to connect the world of healthcare innovators until every patient has a cure. We build and support an ever-expanding network of biotech entrepreneurs, CEOs, academics, and other innovators because we believe that helping people succeed will ultimately help their innovations reach patients. Our support includes mentoring, networking, professional development, and financial grants intended to facilitate connections, break down silos, strengthen skillsets and ultimately enable a diverse array of current and future healthcare leaders who bring much-needed solutions to patients. Find out more about The Termeer Foundation and how you can support, engage with, and join our network at www.termeerfoundation.org or on LinkedIn @TermeerFoundation.

Contact:
Erica Mawby-Roche
Termeer Foundation
erica@termeerfoundation.org

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Leadership is about putting people first, especially in biotech. But for first-time CEOs and other biotech executives, that vision can be challenging to achieve while also fulfilling the various other duties their jobs require. Indeed, these trailblazers are working to build a successful company and at the same time improve patients’ lives, often without specific training in how to launch and run a business.

At the Termeer Foundation, we, too, are committed to putting people first by empowering these biotech leaders — through values-driven leadership programs that provide skills competency growth, network-building activities, mentorship, and coaching — to enhance their leadership capacity so they can change the world and deliver lifesaving cures to patients.

This human-centered mission is guided by the life’s work of entrepreneur and biotech executive Henri Termeer, who believed deeply in the power of mentorship and nurtured dozens of leaders throughout his career. Shortly after Henri’s passing, a group of his colleagues sought a way to honor and continue his remarkable legacy. They decided to host a dinner and invited several people who had been mentored by Henri. They also invited a handful of first-time biotech CEOs. At the event, guests were asked to help these emerging leaders — offer support, pick up the phone, give advice. In short: Mentor them as Henri would have mentored them.

 Nobody realized it then, but on that evening in May 2018, the Foundation’s flagship program was born, the Termeer Fellows Program, which now provides support for first-time biotech CEOs and entrepreneurs across the globe. While the current program looks quite different than it did in those early days — for example, this year will include 100 hours of values-driven programming — the core principles of mentorship and connection-building remain constant.

 To date, 61 fellows have completed training through the Termeer Fellows Program. Last year’s class included 13 biotech leaders based in the U.S., Canada, England and the Netherlands; the incoming 2024 class — which stands at 15 — is the largest one yet. Fellows have found the program transformative and say it enabled them to become better CEOs. In addition to gaining skills and connections within the Termeer network, the fellows have discovered support and kinship with peers in their own fellowship cohort — valuable connections they can draw on as they continue on their entrepreneurial journey.

 And it is precisely these entrepreneurial journeys that the Termeer Foundation seeks to influence. By increasing the pipeline of skilled, passionate, effective leaders in biotech, we can cultivate a landscape of companies primed for success and, in turn, create a world that is better for patients.