One-on-one meetings were front and center at BIO 2012, with nearly one-fourth of the exhibit floor at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center accommodating the long gray line of nondescript partnering booths.

What transpires in hushed tones behind those black curtains? Bassil Dahiyat, president and CEO of Xencor Inc., gave BioWorld Today a peek.

7:00 a.m. We meet for breakfast at the Seaport Hotel, adjacent to the convention center, along with Ed Baracchini, Xencor's chief business officer; the public relations associate who coordinated calendars; and one of Xencor's long-time investors, who has flown from Europe for two days of meetings.

Dahiyat usually arrives at the Monrovia, Calif.-based firm by 8:15 a.m. He spends about an hour responding to pressing emails and deleting most of the rest before turning his attention to intellectual property matters. An inventor on 60 patents and applications and co-author of more than a dozen scientific papers, he co-founded Xencor in 1997 to commercialize a protein design automation technology he co-developed with California Institute of Technology colleague Stephen Mayo. The timing was fortunate, he says, because "the biggest financing bubble in human history" gave Xencor a cushion to experiment with its platform technology. "We were a hammer in search of a nail for a long time," Dahiyat admitted.

These days, he spends 80 percent of his time on business – including three to four daily meetings with Baracchini to discuss upcoming meetings, presentations, potential deals and strategies – and only 20 percent on science. He travels four to six weeks out of the year to meet with potential partners, most recently in Shanghai, China, and spends about one-third of a typical day on the phone. "In the morning it's European calls, and in the late afternoon it's Asia," he said.

Privately held Xencor raised some $150 million in five financing rounds, the last in 2007. Partnerships now perform the heavy lifting for the company's bottom line, so Dahiyat isn't consumed with fundraising, "which can dominate everything you do for months at a time," he observed. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 19, 2006.)

7:45 a.m. Dahiyat and the investor head to the hotel's lobby for a 10-minute chat while Baracchini and I hoof it to the convention center, where Dahiyat will join us for the first partnering meeting, with a Japanese firm.

7:55 a.m. First snag of the day. Baracchini began to relate the back story on the Japanese company – a potential partner for regional rights to an early stage technology – when we're stopped at the door to the partnering section, or "BIO Business Forum," by two security guards. I'm not wearing the requisite orange-colored badge, and they're not buying the media credentials. Baracchini and I exchange phone numbers, and I hike back to the BIO registration desk where a volunteer makes a call, apologizes for the inconvenience and hands me an orange badge – and several additional colors for good measure.

8:30 a.m. Each half-hour, a burst of music rings out in the exhibit hall and participants exchange dance partners. I've missed the Japanese but join the next meeting with the president and two development officers of a European biopharma. Xencor, a protein engineering company that develops monoclonal antibodies (XmAb) and protein therapeutics (XPro), has a two-pronged mission at BIO 2012: to seek partners for candidates in oncology and respiratory indications – autoimmune and anti-inflammatory candidates are being developed in-house and others are already partnered – and to advance its pipeline of antibody biosuperiors, or biobetters, which more than double half-life through a technology the company calls Xtend.

8:35 a.m. Dahiyat launched into his presentation about Xencor's platform technologies and the opportunities for co-development. "Our technologies have been validated by a lot of companies," he said, explaining the company's approach in building the differentiated antibodies. For example, its XmAb Fc domains are created with a wide range of immunological properties – nearly 2,000 Fc variants. The company mines that repertoire to load its pipeline and facilitate multiple partnerships, resulting in seven antibodies with Xencor technology currently in clinical trials. (See BioWorld Today, June 29, 2010, Jan. 10, 2011 , and May 5, 2011 .)

8:50 a.m. Dahiyat explained the company's biobetters. Why make a biosimilar, he asked, if you can make a different version of a branded drug and double or triple the half-life by changing a few amino acids? The group asked about potential development and commercialization rights, including intellectual property coverage in China.

9 a.m. "The meeting went well," Dahiyat said as we walked to the next cubicle. "The big question is whether we can make the economics work."

9:02 a.m. Baracchini requested this meeting. Xencor has met with the company, a big pharma, on multiple occasions, "but we haven't made a dent," Dahiyat admitted. The R&D executive said his company has placed big bets in antibodies "but we're opportunistic." Dahiyat gave a condensed version of his Fc engineering speech and asked, "Who should we call to follow up? Because, candidly, we've never received feedback from the company in the past." The exec said an email to him will put Xencor "in touch with the right people."

9:32 a.m. The morning isn't half over, but it feels like noon. The next meeting with a U.S. contract development and manufacturing organization is a bit of hand-holding after Xencor selected a different vendor in a previous biobetters deal. The CMO is increasing its manufacturing capacity. Is Xencor interested? "Our priority is to partner a whole portfolio of biobetters rather than a single molecule," Dahiyat said. The CMO indicated interest in that approach, and they agreed to talk more.

10 a.m. I'm asked to skip a potentially sensitive meeting with a big pharma about Xencor's XmAb 7195, a humanized antibody that targets IgE and co-engages CD32b with the company's XmAb γRIIb Fc domain in asthma and allergy.

11 a.m. Baracchini left for a meeting, and Dahiyat got a 30-minute break. We grab a pre-packaged salad and find a table in the corner of the exhibit hall. By Dahiyat's count, we had seven minutes to eat.

11:27 a.m. As we headed toward the cubicles, Dahiyat talked about the next appointment with a Japanese pharmaceutical, medical device and home health company that has an interest in respiratory products – a target partnering opportunity. He's met the company before, but these R&D reps are new. Their data, however, are not. Dahiyat reviewed the same peak sales forecasts for a respiratory indication at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference in January. He didn't believe the numbers then or now. He politely walked the newcomers through the math but challenged the forecasts, making a note to email Xencor's internal respiratory projections to the company a second time.

Noon. Dahiyat is eager for the next meeting with an ex-U.S. pharmaceutical and generics manufacturer. The company previously left Xencor at the altar, but Dahiyat liked its technology and scientists – and it has deep pockets. He reviewed XmAb 2513, Xencor's anti-CD30 candidate in Hodgkin lymphoma, which needs a partner to move forward, and the portfolio of biobetters. Could he follow up in August or September? "Maybe earlier," was the reply, prompting a smile.

12:40 p.m. The cubicle's previous tenants are slow to leave, so the meeting will be short. It's another Japanese pharma, but this one escaped Dahiyat's radar screen and he wanted to know more. When the R&D reps explained their technology and primary indication, he began taking notes. The company "is interested in getting into biologics or you wouldn't be talking to us," he mused, half to himself. "And we're looking for additional ways for our tools to be used by partners." He ran through a quick Xencor sales pitch, and they agreed to exchange data and talk again.

1 p.m. With a one-hour break in his partnering schedule, Dahiyat dashed to meet a colleague at the nearby Westin after reconfirming the spot for his 2 p.m. appointment.

2:10 p.m. Dahiyat is running late and literally running down the aisle between booths. A New York-based life sciences consultant was waiting. This is another long-time relationship.

The consultant represented several potential partners that previously expressed interest in Xencor but never moved forward. Nothing has really changed. The client companies are still seeking proof of concept data. "We'd love to do a regional deal," Dahiyat prompted, suggesting a dermatology indication that's of interest to one of the clients. They agreed to talk further.

4 p.m. We're rejoined by Baracchini, who is well acquainted with the development team for the next U.S. pharma on the schedule. He's skeptical about the company's intentions, but Dahiyat laid out the Fc technology with great energy and discussed the company's pipeline of novel compounds. Xencor has "a simple story, and in a developing market it can be a very compelling story," he observed, offering to meet with scientists at the pharma's headquarters.

4:30 p.m. It's the last formal one-on-one of the day, with yet another Japanese pharma that has an interest in oncology. Like others, the firm wanted to see Phase I data before partnering, but unlike others, it's done creative co-development deals. The two R&D reps shared data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, and Dahiyat was impressed. He walked them through Xencor's technology, pitching the biobetters as potential next-generation antibodies for their company. They agreed to exchange datasets. "If you have a good idea and we have a good technology, this could be a great partnership," Dahiyat said.

5 p.m. The Xencor team headed to the booth of a Korean biopharma for a meeting arranged through an outside consultant. They've talked with this company off and on for six years, even signing a confidential disclosure agreement and sharing dozens of data slides. Today they're pushing the Xtend technology. The head of the Korean firm's biotech research institute sounded averse but asks for more data. "We've already sent 30 slides," Dahiyat said, with a hint of frustration. "It would be better to send your scientists to our offices so we can walk them through the technology."

5:30 p.m. We walk to the adjacent Westin for an invite-only CEO reception hosted by GlaxoSmithKline plc. "We only attend the pharma receptions," Dahiyat confided. "The others have no value for our goals right now.

"I was surprised to snag an invite to GSK as we've never done a deal with them, but the face time is invaluable. Most people do their BIO partnering in booths – GSK being one of the exceptions," he added, referring to the pharma's avoidance of exhibit hall partnering for more private off-site hotels.

7:15 p.m. We arrived at the second party on Dahiyat's schedule and the last stop for the evening. The invite-only reception was hosted by Janssen Pharmaceuticals at the historic Boston Public Library. The event concluded two full days for Dahiyat at BIO – almost all of his time in partnering talks.

"The scientist in me would love to attend some sessions, but I just don't have the time," he said.

7:55 p.m. The crowd was thinning and the doors opened to the outside gardens, but Dahiyat is at the center of a happy crowd discussing families, business and mutual friends. "He's on a roll," Baracchini observed. "You'll never stop him now."

That seemed appropriate, as Dahiyat is pumped from a productive day.

We shook hands, and I left him sharing stories as I headed for my hotel.