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The San Diego Union-Tribune People To Watch Column: July 1, 2005

Posted on: Friday, 1 July 2005, 06:00 CDT

Jul. 1--NAME: Ian Wisenberg

TITLE: Vice president and chief financial officer of Biocom, the San Diego region's biotechnology trade group

AGE: 45

Although he was educated in finance and accounting of the University of Cape Town in South Africa and was a captain in the anti-aircraft division of the South African Defense Force, Wisenberg had to pay his dues after packing up his golf clubs and moving to San Diego in 1986. He worked with a friend selling toilets, tiles and fixtures before getting a job with a local CPA firm and passing the CPA exam in 1988.

He then worked for several local companies as a part-time CFO, until the demand on accounting professionals in the wake of Sarbanes-Oxley introduced him to Biocom.

Q: Why does your organization exist?

A: Biocom is well known for representing the life science community in Southern California, but two years ago, our leadership identified capital development as a new initiative for us to undertake. Basically, with more than a dozen research institutions and 39,000 life science employees, we wanted to help make sure that all the great ideas and technologies from San Diego have the chance to succeed, and money and talent is what it will take to ultimately bring those therapeutics to market.

Q: What about your job do you brag about?

A: There's very little collaboration in high-tech, which can be pretty cutthroat. But in life science, there is lots of interaction between companies.

This is an area I've always wanted to be involved in, with the great support system and resources here in San Diego that can't be found anywhere else. In this role, I get to help make connections between VCs and our life science community, which means I get to interact with both the top echelon of the life science industry, as well as some of the smartest investors both nationally and internationally.

Q: What about your job keeps you up at night?

A: I wear several hats at Biocom -- head of finance, point person on the capital development initiative and now head of the Biocom Purchasing Group, where our vendors work together with us to get better pricing on staple goods like lab goods and office supplies for our members. Each one of these could be a full-time endeavor, but at Biocom, everyone wears multiple hats. Every day is unique with an agenda that is constantly evolving as the day rolls on, so not knowing what lies ahead is what keeps me up at night.

Q: What are some of the biggest challenges facing Biocom?

A: The regular challenges to the biotech industry, like volatility, are ones we have to face as well. You never know one day to the next if a company will go though unexpected clinical trial results or go though financial difficulties, and how this might affect our membership or the perception of the industry.

There have been some local acquisitions recently, so while its great that big pharma is paying attention to what our region does, I want to see us continue to build our base of strong local companies.

Q: Tell us something interesting about yourself.

A: I grew up in South Africa and played competitive rugby and cricket. My first experience with baseball was when my older son started playing Little League.

Somehow, I ended up being president of the Little League for two years. It was the most thankless job in my life. I've seen boardroom battles that could not hold a candle to the politics and infighting I experienced in Little League. My sons have managed to pick the game itself up much better than me -- the eldest is a freshman and starting pitcher for the varsity team at his high school. His brother is a southpaw and a 2005 Little League All-Star. I have not yet hit a baseball, but I can bunt one. I'd be much better if I could just use a cricket bat.

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Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

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