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Who
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Tracking Biotech’s Original
Movers and Shakers
The Life-Work
Balance of
Visionary CEOs
Women Leaders
in Biotech
Biotech Diaries: Behind
the
P a r t n e r i n g C ur ta i n
BioWorld’sTM BioPeople: Inside the World of Biotech’s Luminaries, Titans and Brainiacs
Copyright © 2013
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TABLE OF
CONTENTS
BioWorld’s BioPeople: Inside the World of Biotech’s Luminaries, Titans and Brainiacs...................................... 6
Chapter I: Profiles of Biotech’s Luminaries, Titans and Brainiacs........................................................................ 8
Lew Bender: Career Detours Lead N.J. Boy to Biotech..............................................................................................9
Women Leaders in Biotech: ‘Walls Are Coming Down’............................................................................................. 12
Atyr’s Mendlein: Keeps Sights on New Biology.......................................................................................................... 16
Avalon’s Lichter: ‘Laid-Back’ Savvy Keeps Deal Flow Strong..................................................................................................... 18
CEOs of Newly Public Biotechs Balance Work and . . . More Work........................................................................... 21
Navigating Successful Biotechs: CEOs Need to be Visionaries....................................................................................... 24
Basement to Start-Up: Kubota Kept Vision for Eye Diseases ..................................................................................... 27
Unconventional Paths Give Young Standouts a Step Up............................................................................................ 29
Irish-born Exec Finds Fulfillment in San Diego’s Biotech Hot Spot.............................................................................. 32
Chapter II: Biotech Diaries................................................................................................................................. 35
Behind the Partnering Curtain: Avaxia’s Barbara Fox Stays On the Run at BIO 2013................................................... 36
Oleg Nodelman: EcoR1 Surveys Investment Options at JPM..................................................................................... 41
Philip Toleikis: Sernova Cuts Through ‘Valley of Death’ at JPM................................................................................. 45
Bassil Dahiyat: Peeking Behind The BIO Partnering Curtain...................................................................................... 48
Jim Burns: Walking the Streets of SF with Assurerx...................................................................................................52
Brent Ahrens: Offers a Peek Behind VC Curtain.......................................................................................................... 55
Mike Kamdar: Going Behind the Scenes with Ventirx............................................................................................... 57
Chapter III: BioPeople on the Move................................................................................................................... 60
Company Names Index...................................................................................................................................... 77
Executive Names Index...................................................................................................................................... 82
BioWorld BioPeople
5
BioWorld’s
BIOPEOPLE
Inside the World of Biotech’s
Luminaries, Titans and Brainiacs
The people who make up our biopharmaceutical
community never cease to amaze me. The sheer passion
they bring to drug development, the scientific innovation,
the business acumen and their stalwart approach to
the evolving regulatory landscape are representative of
a group of individuals driving toward the same goals:
to improve our collective quality of life and reduce the
suffering caused by the many diseases and conditions
afflicting humans. As a group, these folks are so very
admirable. As individuals, they are indeed luminaries,
titans and brainiacs.
BioWorld Today, and its analytical companion, BioWorld
Insight, are the biopharmaceutical industry’s most
respected news sources and have been for more than
two decades. We provide the day-to-day breaking
business, scientific and regulatory news surrounding drug
development. In 2010, BioWorld Today celebrated a 20BioWorld BioPeople
year anniversary. To mark the occasion, we published
a glossy special edition BioWorld: 20 Years of Biotech
News and Analysis magazine, which commemorated
two decades of biotech happenings. But the party
never ended. Readers were so enamored of the articles
featuring the movers and shakers of biotech, that we
started a series of occasional features in BioWorld Today
called BioPeople.
In addition to that feature series, several years ago we
had the honor and opportunity to begin tagging along
with executives through partnering meetings at two of
the most important gatherings each year: The annual J.P.
Morgan Healthcare Conference and the Biotechnology
Industry Organization’s International Convention. Another
series was born, called Biotech Diaries.
Both feature series focus on these most interesting and
6
talented people who are leading companies in efforts to
create innovative and effective drugs. Chapter I includes
some of our best BioPeople features. For example, if you
want to better understand venture capital folks, read
Randy Osborne’s profile of Jay Lichter, managing partner
with Avalon Ventures, who has gained respect for not
only his “. . . plainspoken geniality but also for his solid
background in science and keen grasp of money matters.”
I was particularly thrilled with Catherine Shaffer’s piece
featuring four women execs, in “Women Leaders in
Biotech: ‘Walls Are Coming Down.’” Given that 2013
will likely go down in the record books as a big year for
biotech initial public offerings (IPO), it’s timely to read
Jennifer Boggs’ “CEOs of Newly Public Biotechs Balance
Work and . . . More Work,” in which she profiles two
executives who have helmed their respective companies
through the IPO process.
Want a behind-the-scenes taste of how these high-energy
execs navigate key partnering meetings? A selection of
Biotech Diaries features in Chapter II is sure to intrigue
with stories from Marie Powers, who for example
BioWorld BioPeople
shadowed Oleg Nodelman at the 31st Annual J.P. Morgan
Healthcare Conference. Nodelman, former analyst and
portfolio manager at BVF Partners LP, one of biotech’s first
dedicated hedge funds, was fronting a new venture, EcoR1
Capital LLC. Then there was Assurerx President and CEO,
Jim Burns, who gave Boggs a taste of his hectic schedule
outside of the actual J.P. Morgan meeting in “Walking the
Streets of SF with Assurerx.”
If you’re curious to learn who moved where in the
biopharma community during the last year or so, see
Chapter III: Biopeople on the Move, a listing of quick takes
on executive hires organized by company names. The list
of interesting people who make up the biopharmaceutical
industry is, luckily, unending. I hope that you enjoy this
collection and read BioWorld Today for more to come.
Lynn Yoffee
Executive Editor
7
CHAPTER I
Profiles of Biotech’s
Luminaries, Titans and Brainiacs
BioWorld BioPeople
8
LEW
BENDER
Career Detours Lead N.J. Boy to Biotech
By Marie Powers
L
ew Bender, CEO of Interleukin Genetics Inc., of
Waltham, Mass., never had a master plan to run a
biotech company.
Growing up in a lower middle class neighborhood in
central New Jersey, the self-described science geek
eschewed the matinee sports teams for more esoteric
athletics, including gymnastics, pole vaulting and unicycle
riding – a pastime he still pursues on occasion to maintain
a sense of balance and enjoy a good core workout.
“I had a kind of naiveté,” Bender admitted. “I never tried
to manage a career.”
Instead, Bender’s career has zigzagged more than a Swiss
mountain road – a metaphor he knows something about.
His first love was chemical engineering, which he studied
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning
BioWorld BioPeople
bachelor’s and master’s degrees, which he completed in
1982. Although Bender was drawn to the energy industry,
especially oil shale recovery, jobs in petroleum were
scarce during the recessionary years of the early 1980s.
At the same time, Bender’s father, then 55, developed
heart problems and needed quadruple bypass surgery.
Bender decided to remain on the East Coast, where he
joined an electronic materials business in Connecticut.
“It was nothing like the biotech industry, where you can
take losses for 30 years and then suddenly make billions of
dollars,” he recalled. “In this business, we had 10 percent
or 20 percent gross margins.”
Bender cut his teeth in that industry, starting in
technology and eventually moving into marketing and
sales. When his boss was promoted, Bender moved up.
At 26, he was the youngest manager in the company and
9
in a department with two dozen employees, ranging from
steelworkers to engineers, marketing reps to scientists.
But he also saw the dark side of the business when
steelworkers at the plant went on strike and tried to close
the facility. “That was my introduction to labor relations,”
he observed wryly.
IN ONE WEEKEND, I changed
my country, my apartment,
my language, my job –
everything.
At that point, Bender fell in love again, this time with a
young Swiss woman working at the United Nations in New
York. When her visa expired and she had to return home,
he followed, networking within the industry to land a
chemical engineering job in Neuchatel, Switzerland.
since his girlfriend – now wife – hailed from Basel. Bender
remains fluent in both languages.
Bender left work on a Friday afternoon, sold his car to
a co-worker, gave away his furniture and on Sunday
boarded a plane for Switzerland. He didn’t speak French
or German.
“In one weekend, I changed my country, my apartment,
my language, my job – everything,” he recalled.
For six months, Bender rose early, studied French for
four hours, then went to the company’s lab where he
was tasked with developing new products. Once he could
speak the language, he began learning Swiss German,
Moving back to the lab reawakened the science geek,
and Bender helped the company develop strips for blood
glucose sensors with a uniform particle precision not
previously seen in the industry. When he left the company
four years later, the product line represented 10 percent
of the company’s sales but generated nearly half its
profitability.
The work piqued Bender’s interest in biotech. And,
despite the romance of European living, he missed the
U.S. So Bender returned to the States, and to school,
pursuing an MBA at the Wharton School of Business
in an unusual program that offered a dual degree
in international studies, through the University of
Pennsylvania’s Lauder Institute, for individuals fluent in a
second language.
At the age of 34, the newly minted MBA finally turned
onto the biotech road, joining the business development
team at Emisphere Technologies Inc., then in Hawthorne,
N.Y. During his 14-year tenure with that company,
Bender honed his skills in partnering across a variety
of technologies, including heavy hitters heart disease,
diabetes and obesity.
As senior vice president of business development,
he was instrumental in helping Emisphere to
secure several large financings and partnerships
for its oral delivery technologies, including a $13.5
million raise in 1998 to move the company’s oral
heparin into Phase II in deep-vein thrombosis, a
potential $31 million collaboration with Regeneron
Pharmaceuticals Inc. in 2000 on a potential obesity
treatment and several drug development deals with
Novartis AG.
When some of the drugs failed during
development, Bender became chief technology
officer and, for a time, interim CEO, where he gained
experience working with a board of directors.
BioWorld BioPeople
10
“The company was 30 people when I started,” he
recalled. “It grew to about 300 at its peak and was back
down to 110 when I left. And I saw everything, from
the discovery of the compounds all the way to Phase III
development, as well as the ups and downs of operating
a biotech. It was a tremendous learning experience.”
Colleagues say Bender has an uncanny ability to switch
gears, a trait they attribute to his broad competency.
Biotech colleague Tom Dubin, who’s known Bender a
dozen years, calls the Interleukin Genetics CEO “a oneman-band” with a masterful grasp of the technical and
operational sides of biotech.
In January 2008, Bender joined the small biotech
Interleukin Genetics, which develops genetic tests for
the personalized health market.
“He’s a full believer,” Dubin told BioWorld Today.
“Sometimes he struggles to convince others about the
value of taking risks in the biotech context, but he’s
making progress.”
“I thought personalized medicine was the next wave for
biotech, and we had some
interesting technology in
inflammatory medicine
and metabolic disease,” he
explained.
Bender “thought the
pharma guys would love”
the approach of subtyping
populations and giving
the right drug to the right
patient at the right time –
especially since pipelines
were shrinking and drug
development costs were
rising. Several years passed
before he recognized that
old habits die hard.
MANY PHARMAS STILL
believe a one-size-fits-all
approach is easier, even if
it only works in a fraction
of the patients. But that’s
not a winning model in this
world.
“Many pharmas still believe a
one-size-fits-all approach is easier, even if it only works
in a fraction of the patients,” Bender said. “But that’s not
a winning model in this world.”
Instead, Interleukin Genetics turned to the dental
industry. A significant portion of its R&D effort is focused
on developing genetic tests linked to partner Delta
Dental’s insurance products for corporate customers
seeking to help improve employee health.
“We’ve found that payers are the most interested in
learning which treatments work well in people,” Bender
explained. “They’ve embraced personalized medicine in
a much bigger way. So we were able to partner with the
largest payer in the dental industry.”
A few years ago, the companies embarked on a study
to assess the predictability of personalizing dental
treatment.
BioWorld BioPeople
Bender remains optimistic
about the promise of
personalized medicine and
the ability of Interleukin
Genetics to capture a chunk
of that business.
“I’m also very optimistic
about people,” he said. “It’s
important to learn what
motivates each person,
because everybody wants
to do a good job. You
just have to give them an
opportunity to contribute.”
Too, Bender has faith in his
company’s products. Based
on his father’s brush with
an early death, Bender took
his company’s own test to predict his heart attack risk.
The results confirmed his family history and showed his
genetic composition was prone to inflammation that could
lead to plaque deposits. The test also revealed how to
mitigate that risk, prompting him to embrace a healthier
lifestyle.
“The genetic test was a wake-up call,” he said. “Now my
health regimen is affecting my biomarkers, moving me
into a lower risk category. There is definitely a genetic
interplay.”
In addition to his unicycle, Bender continues to study
history, reads voraciously, travels with his family, raises
chickens and, next year, plans to start a bee colony. He still
considers himself a scientist, not a CEO, at heart.
“You have to have an interesting life,” he maintained. “You
can’t be all about managing your career.” n
11
Women
LEADERS
IN BIOTECH
‘Walls Are Coming Down’
By Catherine Shaffer
T
he glass ceiling is shattered, and barriers to women’s participation in the
biotech industry have fallen at every level, including the highest. That is the
happy testimony of four leading women in biotech who presented at the
2013 BIO International Convention in Chicago.
It is no longer uncommon to find women in executive positions in the biotech
industry, and overt sexism is rare to unheard of. BioWorld Today interviewed four
dynamic women in top positions in research, business management, venture
capital and BIO leadership to take the measure of this year’s convention when it
comes to female participation and visibility.
BioWorld BioPeople
12
Rachel K. King
R
achel King is a co-founder of Glycomimetics Inc.,
with a background in venture capital and a CV
peppered with leadership roles at companies like
Novartis and Genetic Therapy Inc. King also has been
vice chair of the board of the Biotechnology Industry
Organization (BIO) for two years and is on the executive
committee and a former chair of the Emerging Companies
Governing Body.
“I can only speak anecdotally,” King told BioWorld
Today, “But I believe more women are moving into
biotechnology. I think it’s a great field for women and
men. I hope that we continue to have not just gender
diversity, but all kinds of diversity within the industry.”
King graduated from Dartmouth College and attended
Harvard business school for her MBA. She said the
greatest challenge on her career path has been learning
enough science to manage companies with a scientific
mission. Her solution was a lot of extra homework. “I’m
not trained as a scientist. . . . I had to spend a lot of time
with scientists who have been willing to talk me through
it,” King said.
ing
.K
Rachel K
According to King, biotech is not “just another business,”
but a way to make a meaningful difference in people’s
lives.
“Being involved with BIO is a chance to influence policy
debate around issues I think are really important. I also
enjoy the chance to engage with my peers in the industry.”
Leslie Williams
L
eslie Williams, president and CEO of ImmusanT Inc.,
of Cambridge, Mass., has the unique experience of
moving from a female-dominated profession at the
beginning of her career to the heavily male-dominated
world of biotech industry executive leadership. She
started her career as a critical care nurse in university
hospitals, including Duke University and the University of
Iowa. “I enjoyed caring for patients and it allowed me to
understand firsthand many things, including the dynamics
of a hospital. I often think about the positive impact this
had on my career and how important that was to where I
am today,” Williams told BioWorld Today.
A critical care nurse needs to have an understanding of
patients, administering drugs and treatments, coupled
with the ability to work within the hospital system and
coordinate a multidisciplinary team. Williams, however,
decided to expand her knowledge and responsibilities and
moved toward medical
Leslie William
s
BioWorld BioPeople
13
school, stopping along the way to work with physicians on
research sponsored by Glaxosmithkline plc. During that
time, she work worked nights as a nurse while in school
and preparing for MCATs.
“I got the bug for understanding the business side
of medicine,” Williams said of her time working on a
sponsored research project. In the end, after much soul
searching, she made a break from medicine to focus on
the business side of industry. While obtaining an MBA
from Washington University, she worked on her first startup.
Williams served as director of sales and marketing for Ino
Therapeutics Inc., and later became president and CEO of
Ventaira Pharmaceuticals. She also has experience on the
venture capital side, where she was a venture partner at
BattelleVentures, sourcing deals and assisting early stage
companies with strategy and business development.
Speaking of her experience at Ino Therapeutics, where
she was heavily involved in many aspects of commercial
development, including lobbying for reimbursement for
the company’s product, inhaled nitric oxide, a treatment
for persistent pulmonary hypertension in newborns,
Williams said, “it was very exciting. I was passionate about
making a difference.
“In the early days, I would travel to help ICUs set up the
equipment and deliver the drug to newborns. We were
saving lives and I was extremely passionate about what I
was doing.”
was not in the cards for her, as she was repeatedly not
admitted to Cornell’s highly elite program.
Finally, after she had completed her PhD in cellular
immunology, and she was once again not admitted, she
had to start looking for other opportunities.
“Opportunities come up all the time if you keep your
eyes open. Once I learned to keep my eyes open and
look outside my original plan, it ended up paying off a bit
better for me.”
Flechtner said she has not seen overt sexism in her
experience in the biotech industry, but noted that
boardrooms are still pretty much all men. She was happy
that Genocea has added an independent board member
who is female.
“The one thing I wish I’d learned that I don’t think women
get coached on is negotiation,” Flechtner said. “It seems
like men always negotiate, and always land with a little bit
more because they ask for it.”
Women tend not to negotiate. “Hiring managers expect
you to negotiate. I didn’t learn that, and I still have a hard
time with it,” she said. Now that Flechtner is in a position
to hire, and if she can’t meet the salary request of the
candidate, will offer something else, like extra vacation
days.
Jessica Flecht
ner
Williams has not been held back by discrimination. “I think
opportunities are there if you seize them and are willing
to sacrifice,” she said. “Many women are taking leadership
roles. I think we still have a ways to go but the walls are
coming down.”
Jessica Flechtner
F
or Jessica Flechtner, her current role as vice
president of research at Genocea Biosciences
Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., is a “perfect fit that
fell into my lap.” Flechtner’s former co-workers from
Antigenics Inc. introduced her to “these two guys with a
transformational technology from Harvard,” who were
starting up Genocea. “It was a no-brainer for me to join
the company,” Flechtner told BioWorld Today.
She’s been with Genocea for the past six years, but it was
not the path she planned at the beginning of her career.
Flechtner majored in animal science at Cornell with the
intention of going to veterinary school. But vet school
BioWorld BioPeople
14
Denise Pollard-Knight
“I
think one of the greatest challenges is to find a
job that you love doing and want to do for the
rest of your career. It can be really difficult to get
to that job without personal networks and the courage
to link through those connections,” said Denise PollardKnight, a managing partner with Phase4 Ventures, a
London-based venture capital firm.
Denise Pollar
d-Knight
Pollard-Knight earned a PhD in biochemistry at
Birmingham University in the UK, then completed
postdoctoral work at the University of California Berkeley
as a Fulbright Scholar. She disappointed her professors
by breaking for applied sciences in a commercial setting,
rather than pursuing an academic career. She moved
into management positions in R&D and from there
into strategic consulting. She was soon promoted to
board member, then made a difficult decision to begin a
venture capital career as an investment manager in the
Biosciences Unit of Rothschild Asset Management.
From there she moved to Nomura International until
finally landing at Phase4. Although she has faced many
challenges in her career, Pollard-Knight calls them
“gender-neutral.”
“What I’ve found over the past 30 years is that people in
the life science industry and in the investment community
respect you for who you are and what you’ve done.
Knowledge, judgment, decision-making ability, fairness,
experience, leadership skills – these are things people are
looking for, and if you have them, you’ll be successful,” she
said. n
BioWorld BioPeople
15
ATYR’S
MENDLEIN
Keeps Sights on New Biology
By Jennifer Boggs
C
HICAGO – John Mendlein may not look like the
typical biotech exec – the long hair and laidback manner suggest he might be more at home
catching a few waves rather than moderating a panel on
orphan and rare diseases, as he did one morning at the
BIO 2013 International Convention.
But looks belie a long list of credentials and experience. As
one session attendee was overheard explaining to another
as they left the orphan drug session, Mendlein is a rare
combination of PhD and JD.
experience joining established firms such as Adnexus Inc.
(then named Compound Therapeutics Inc.), which he led
through the acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
“I want to work wherever it makes sense,” he said, adding
that he looks for opportunities that are “productive, fun
and exciting.”
And insights gleaned over the years from his roles as
scientist and entrepreneur landed the executive chairman
and CEO of Atyr Pharma Inc. on the roster for two other
sessions at this year’s BIO.
Most of all, he wants to work on new biology. His
latest firm Atyr, for instance, founded in 2005 by serial
entrepreneur Paul Schimmel, is based on research
on physiocrines, a class of endogenous proteins that
help rebalance the immune system for use in treating
autoimmune diseases. The idea is that Atyr’s candidates
could “trigger a resetting of the immune system,”
Mendlein told BioWorld Today.
Mendlein’s roles in biotech include both start-up firms
such as Atyr and Fate Therapeutics Inc., and he’s also had
The lead program was heading to the clinic late in
2013 or early in 2014, he said, with a focus on orphan
BioWorld BioPeople
16
I GROW OUT MY HAIR
for a cancer patient [cutting
it every two years or so].
autoimmune indications.
So many biotechs have pipelines full of drugs hitting
familiar-sounding targets, but the lowered risk is offset
by becoming fourth, fifth or sixth to market. “So why not
work on a brand new novel mechanism?” he asked.
Mendlein actually started his biotech career on a new
mechanism: He worked on the first protein pump
inhibitor, omeprazole. At the time, the drug has its share
of skeptics. It was directed to a brand new target and
looking to go up against well-established drugs for acid
secretion, Tagamet (cimetidine) and Zantac (ranitidine).
“No one thought there was room for improvement.”
Still, omeprazole ended up being a leader in acid
reduction medicines, besting initial sales estimates by
billions.
clinical path, decisions that are rarely cut and dry. Data are
“a lot softer and fuzzier than you think,” he said. “It’s not
always hard and precise.”
On the business side, it means running multiple strategies
– “even if it’s a single-asset program” – to stay flexible in
the chance of changes in clinical or regulatory pathways.
“You want to find the best-fitted, almost in a Darwinian
sense,” he said.
And if a drug succeeds, it’s a win for everyone, from
the shareholders to the patients who now have new –
sometimes the first – treatment option for their disease.
That and the prospect of new science is what keeps
Mendlein – and probably most others – in the biotech
industry, despite the risks of drug development. “It’s a
very meaningful purpose, and it’s an interesting job,” he
said. “It makes it worth it, getting up at 5:30.”
Of course, it’s possible he could be getting up early to go
surfing, an activity he admitted to doing “sometimes.” But
the long-haired surfer look comes and goes.
“I grow out my hair for a cancer patient,” he said, cutting it
every two years or so. It’s almost time to shear it off again,
he added. n
Similar skepticism surrounded a cystic fibrosis program
being developed by Aurora Biosciences Inc., which
Mendlein joined in 1998. Aurora later was acquired by
Cambridge, Mass.-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
and the drug, a cystic fibrosis
transmembrane conductance
regulator potentiator, went on
to gain approval as Kalydeco
last year for patients whose
disease is caused by the
G551D gene mutation.
“If 98 percent of the people
aren’t telling you you’re
wrong, you’re probably not
that innovative,” Mendlein
said.
Succeeding in development
of innovative products
takes much the same skill
as running a biotech: good
judgment. On the science
front, that means choosing
the right compounds and
BioWorld BioPeople
17
AVALON’S
LICHTER
‘Laid-Back’ Savvy Keeps Deal Flow Strong
By Randy Osborne
W
hen it comes to getting venture capital (VC)
deals done, the science and the financial
terms naturally take center stage, but the
personalities of the players need to mesh, too, for the best
outcomes.
“I’m an investor, and I’m judged solely by financial returns,
but there are a lot of ways to [get those],” said Jay Lichter,
managing partner with Avalon Ventures in San Diego.
“Screwing entrepreneurs and screwing founders because
you can, because you have the money, is not the way to
be successful in the long run.”
Midwest-raised Lichter, 51 , has gained respect during his
20 years with Avalon not only for his plainspoken geniality
but also for his solid background in science and keen grasp
of money matters.
“He’s a pretty laid-back guy,” said Carmine Stengone, vice
BioWorld BioPeople
president of corporate development for Afraxis Inc., also
of San Diego. “I had the stereotype in my head for what a
VC would be like – generally intense, at times abrupt.”
Afraxis, an early stage Avalon-backed concern for which
Lichter serves as CEO, scored a potential $187.5 million
licensing deal with Genentech, a member of the Roche
Group, near the start of 2013.
Lichter “doesn’t take himself too seriously, [in] his
successes or his failures,” said Heidi Chokeir of the public
relations firm Canale Communications. “There’s not a
pretentious bone in his body.”
Chokeir has lost count of how many projects she has
helped Lichter introduce to the world. “I work with him
as a vendor, and he’s always shown me respect,” she said.
“He’s never treated me like a ‘vendor,’ he’s treated me like
a person – a peer, someone he respects and values. He’s a
18
NOW, THE MARKET IS
changing again a little bit,
and tech is maybe a little
over-bought, and life sciences
is under-bought. So we’re
getting some good deals.
good listener. He hears what people have to say.”
Because of his humility, “people aren’t turned off by his
persona, they’re not intimidated by him,” she said. “But
he also exudes confidence, and has the track record to
back it up.”
The only Avalon partner focused solely on life sciences,
Lichter has been involved in several success stories so
far this year: the Afraxis deal, the buyout by Biomarin
Pharmaceutical Inc. of Zacharon Pharmaceuticals
Inc. for $10 million up front, and antibiotics firm RQx
Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s potential $111 million agreement,
also with Genentech.
Born in Washington, D.C., Lichter moved with his parents
and brother to Evanston, Ill., when very young. He
graduated in biochemistry from the University of Illinois
(UI) at Champaign-Urbana, attended grad school at
the UI’s Chicago campus, where he finished his PhD in
biochemistry and molecular biology. His post-doctorate
work at Yale University “crystallized my path in this
industry,” he said, as he trudged in “the foothills of the
genomics era.”
Lichter laughs about it now. “An offer I couldn’t refuse,
right?
‘You Can’t Go in Like a Banker’
He started with Avalon as co-founder of Sequana
Therapeutics Inc., which later merged with Arris
Pharmaceutical Corp. and became Axys Pharmaceuticals
Inc., eventually bought by Celera Corp. for $173 million.
“We just kept investing through the down days in our core
business,” Lichter said. “The notion was that eventually
the available Phase II and Phase III assets that are out
there, that are good, would be soaked up. It was nothing
more than that.”
An element of luck figured in, too, he said. “Our historical
track record through our first six funds was very good,”
Lichter said. “In the later funds, when we were more
mixed, between tech and biotech, we got a lot of patience
from our investors because the tech returns were pretty
good. Now, the market is changing again a little bit, and
tech is maybe a little over-bought, and life sciences is
under-bought. So we’re getting some good deals.”
High among them is Afraxis, which began with Lichter
perusing scientific journals and finding the work of Nobel
Prize winner Susumu Tonegawa, of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences.
“I called him up, and he was skeptical,” Lichter said. “I
Lichter published more than 20 papers in two years,
earned a certificate in DNA diagnostics that allowed him
to perform tests and counsel patients, and pulled down a
fellowship in informatics. “I was in the right place at the
right time,” he said.
In the early 1990s, Lichter recalled, he was doing
pharmacogenetics research at Dupont Merck
Pharmaceutical Co. when Kevin Kinsella phoned. “He
wanted to know if I wanted to start a company in
genomics. I said, ‘Where’s it going to be?’ He said, ‘I don’t
know.’ I said, ‘Who else is involved? He said, ‘Nobody.’ I
said, ‘What’s it going to do?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’ I said,
‘How much money do you have?’ He said, ‘Not much.’”
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19
THERE ARE SOME WHO SAY,
‘Forget you, entrepreneur.
I’ve got to get my return, and
I’ll do it at your expense.’
called him again, and he was less skeptical. I went out and
visited with him, spent an hour with him at his office. He
got comfortable, and we talked about things, and laughed.
He made a few phone calls about me, and checked our
track record. And then we started the company. Five years
later, we got the Genentech deal.”
Lichter is anything but oblivious to the “very personal
aspect” of deal making, he said. “I understand living at
the [lab] bench. When you go to an investigator who has
spent his career working his tail off on a piece of science
he’s very passionate about, you can’t go in like a banker
and start trying to purchase it,” Lichter said. “You have
to understand that this project is their child, and you’re
BioWorld BioPeople
asking them to give their child to you and help it grow up.”
He has two daughters of his own. “They’re not really
into science in the slightest,” Lichter said. The older
one, a freshman at Colgate University, is “interested in
economics and finance, so I guess in some ways she’s
following in my footsteps,” he said, while the younger
daughter, a senior at Carlsbad, Calif.’s independent high
school Pacific Ridge, is “more of an artist type, a free
spirit.”
His business, Lichter said, is “a universe of how to
treat people. There are some who say, ‘Forget you,
entrepreneur. I’ve got to get my return, and I’ll do it at
your expense.’ To our own detriment, we [at Avalon]
are probably more generous than we need to be in any
particular deal. But what that means is that, across the
board, we see a lot more deals from people who trust
us. We get entrepreneurs and technology managers who
go the extra yard because they know that we’re going to
protect them if they take that risk and push the company
to the edge to get the better outcome. There’s a lot
of pain the entrepreneur goes through to make [their
companies] successful. I’ve lived the pain.” n
20
CEOs of Newly
PUBLIC
BIOTECHS
Balance Work and . . . More Work
By Jennifer Boggs
T
he initial public offering (IPO) window may be
creaking open for biotech – thanks in part to
the new emerging growth company designation
included in last year’s JOBS Act – but running a publicly
listed small biotech requires as much dedication as ever.
Among speakers at the 2013 BIO International Convention
in Chicago were two CEOs who can attest to that, having
helmed their respective companies through the process
in the past year – Kalobios Pharmaceuticals Inc., which
priced a $70 million IPO in February, and Tesaro Inc.,
which went public via an $86.8 million IPO in June
2012. While they might have taken different paths to
their current positions, these top executives bring the
experience, passion and the willingness to work 24/7 for
which the biotech industry is known.
BioWorld BioPeople
Putting Family Before Work
Kalobios’ Dave Pritchard, who spoke on a BIO panel on
new approaches for bacterial infection, was in his 30s
when he started getting offers for CEO jobs. A chemical
engineer by training, he spent seven years working for
Shell Chemical, a division of the oil company, before taking
a sabbatical to earn an MBA at Stanford University, a move
that brought him into contact with the burgeoning biotech
community in the Bay Area. “This was the early ’80s.
Genentech had just gone public. Things were starting to
happen out here,” he said.
After graduating, Pritchard decided biotech was where he
wanted to be and, through his contacts at Shell, was given
the opportunity to start his career as a founding manager
at Triton Biosciences Inc., a start-up firm that ended up
21
EACH ONE TOLD ME IT WAS
a mistake, that it took a toll
on personal relationships.
They said, ‘Don’t take a
CEO job until your kids are
pretty much out of the nest.
. . . It was the best advice I
ever received.
developing Betaseron, the first approved multiple sclerosis
drug, as well as fludarabine for second-line chronic
lymphocytic leukemia.
That experience gave Pritchard something he’d been
missing in his earlier career. “After about 10 years in
biotech, I was at my daughters’ preschool playground
when a young mother came up to me and said, ‘Dave,
I don’t tell many people this, but I wanted you to know
that I have multiple sclerosis. I have been taking your drug
[Betaseron], and it has made a big difference in my life.’”
His time at Triton also gave him his first look into how
the biotech industry operated. “It was such in its infancy
that it was very hard to find anyone who understood,”
Pritchard told BioWorld Today. Part of it was the novelty
of the science – with monoclonal antibodies, his first
interest, it “took a good 25 years for us to get it right” –
and part of it was the time frame required for developing
drugs.
With two young daughters at home, Pritchard opted to
heed those warnings, waiting until his youngest was a
senior in high school before accepting the CEO role at
Kalobios.
“It was the best advice I ever received,” he said. In
addition to allowing him to be “a father first,” Pritchard
also was able to expand his experience in a series of
other executive positions. For instance, he served as chief
financial officer at Metabolex Inc., where he handled
three financing rounds and negotiated four worldwide big
pharma deals, and later worked as chief business officer at
Rinat Neuroscience Corp., where he managed that firm’s
acquisition by Pfizer Inc. in 2006.
“Your career and your personal life are intertwined, and
there are times you have to make compromises because
of your personal life,” he said. “When you are a CEO, it’s a
24/7 job. You feel an obligation to shareholders. Now it’s
my No. 1 priority.”
Though he has limited downtime, Pritchard said he enjoys
cycling and is an avid fan of theater and music, with a
“strong tendency toward rock-and-roll.” But, even there,
his job as CEO requires some sacrifice.
“The Rolling Stones just announced [show dates] out
here,” he said. “And I’m going to be out of town, as usual.”
Dave Pritchar
d
“By the time Betaseron was approved, most of my friends
[in the technology sector] were on their fifth or sixth
products,” he said.
Pritchard’s success at Triton attracted attention and the
CEO offers started to come in. “It was very flattering,” he
admitted. But before committing to a top spot, he sought
out other thirty-somethings who had topped the biotech
corporate ladder – young CEOs with a “fair amount of
hubris,” he noted wryly – and got some unexpected
advice.
“Each one told me it was a mistake, that it took a toll on
personal relationships,” he said. “They said, ‘Don’t take a
CEO job until your kids are pretty much out of the nest.’”
BioWorld BioPeople
22
Best Decisions = People
Traveling is almost a given in terms of CEO duties.
Fortunately for Lonnie Moulder, who heads up oncology
firm Tesaro, it’s a task he enjoys. “It takes me to some
interesting places,” including destinations in Europe and
Asia.
At somewhere perhaps a little less exotic – Chicago for the
2013 BIO meeting, where
he spoke on the IPO panel
and looked forward to
“meeting up face to face”
with colleagues, friends
and acquaintances. “There
are only a few events like
these that occur every
year,” he told BioWorld
Today. And people are
the critical ingredient to
biotech. Moulder said the
best decisions he’s made
throughout his career “have
had to do with the people
I’ve worked with.”
members of his MGI team formed a new company, Tesaro.
“We thought we could create a company that leveraged
our experience and knowledge and would feed our
passion in oncology,” he said. Despite the cash-crunch in
biotech the past several years, Moulder and his colleagues
happily discovered that funding the company wasn’t
difficult, despite the fact that the firm started without a
single drug in the pipeline.
THE BEST DECISIONS ARE
the people. In biotech,
you can’t always predict
where the science will
go. But if a management
team has experience and
the confidence of the
investors, you’ll find a way.
Originally trained as a
pharmacist, Moulder spent
a year working as a clinical
pharmacist but always had an
interest in designing and developing drugs, with a specific
bent toward oncology. In addition to mixing “interesting
science with significant need,” cancer marks a disease
area that eventually touches nearly everyone. “It impacts
you in a way that’s personal.”
They didn’t even have
office space, yet. “We just
had an idea and a plan in
mind,” he said. But the
reputation of the people,
including co-founder Mary
Lynne Hedley – “we’ve
worked together in several
organizations,” Moulder
said – was enough to bring
significant investment to
the table.
“The best decisions are
the people,” he said.
“In biotech, you can’t
always predict where
the science will go. But
if a management team has
experience and the confidence of the investors, you’ll find
a way.” n
Lonnie Mould
er
To break into the biotech sector, Moulder opted for what
was a well-trodden route at the time: He took a job as
a pharmaceutical sales rep. After spending a number
of years in sales and marketing positions at Marion
Laboratories, he found that he craved a “small entity
environment,” and joined a Boston-based start-up, an
experience he described as “enjoyable, exhilarating and a
learning opportunity.”
In 1999, he was recruited to head up Minneapolis-based
MGI Pharma Inc., a then-small public firm with a “little
bit of revenue, one drug in the pipeline and less than $20
million on the balance sheet.”
During his tenure at MGI, he put together a successful
team and built a product portfolio via in-licensing and
acquisition deals, eventually attracting a $3.9 billion
buyout offer from Eisai Inc. He stayed on board at Eisai
following the acquisition, but in 2010, Moulder and other
BioWorld BioPeople
23
Navigating
SUCCESSFUL
BIOTECHS
CEOs Need to be Visionaries
By Peter Winter
I
t takes a special kind of person to be able to help navigate a biotechnology company
from its early stages, with all its attendant hopes and dreams into the reality of a
truly therapeutic product organization, which generates revenue and builds value
for its shareholders. The job description calls for visionaries with business savvy and
the ability to keep a positive attitude even when bumps in the road are encountered.
The common denominator for all evolving biotechs is access to financing – and
plenty of it – to fuel product programs. It is the industry’s life line, and it is probably
safe to say that if you put a number of biotech CEOs in a room together, it won’t
be long before their conversation turns to fundraising. There is no doubt that it is
the number one issue that is constantly “top of mind” for biotech execs. We talked
with two CEO’s who have been involved in significant financings since the 2012 BIO
meeting in Boston and discuss their experiences on running a biotech company.
BioWorld BioPeople
24
Kleanthis Xanthopoulos
In the current challenging economic environment the
requirements for biotechs to access capital in the public
markets have changed. There has been a shift in the typical
profile of companies going public with investors gravitating
toward those that have developed late-stage assets.
Kleanthis Xan
thopoulos
Enter Regulus Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego,
(NASDAQ:RGLS), a company developing medicines
targeting microRNA. Regulus is one of a handful of firms
to undertake a successful initial public offering (IPO) as
a preclinical-stage company. In fact, according to data
analysis by Lazard Capital Markets, only 5 percent of the
IPOs completed in the current IPO window have been for
companies that are preclinical or had only reached Phase I.
“We certainly raised some eyebrows when we completed
our offering,” Kleanthis Xanthopoulos, president and CEO
of Regulus, told BioWorld Today.
His company raised $50.9 million from its IPO, including
an overallotment option exercise by the underwriters.
Added to that, Regulus concluded a related private
placement of $25 million from the sale of common stock
in a private placement to Astrazeneca AB, one of its
strategic partners, that closed concurrently with the IPO.
The pharma had also earlier in the year paid $28 million
up front for Regulus to develop three microRNA targets,
including its lead product microRNA-33 for cardiovascular
and metabolic disease.
Regulus also received $5 million from the sale of a
convertible note in August 2012 to Biogen Idec Inc., one of
its research collaborators, which converted into shares of
common stock at the completion of the IPO.
Although the company could have waited several
years and come back to the market to conduct an
IPO at a higher valuation as a more mature company,
Xanthopoulos said it was very pleased to complete
the transaction even though the public market was
challenging and selective at the time of the IPO. “I believe
our combined $80.9 million financings established a new
way of thinking about funding very promising early stage
companies,” he added.
Xanthopoulos said
the change hasn’t been dramatic since the
company thrusted itself into the highly regulated world
that governs public companies. Regulas anticipated the
increased regulatory milieu, and company management is
experienced in this world.
What about running a public company? It requires a
unique personality to remain motivated and keep at
it 24/7, Xanthopoulos said, adding it’s a demanding
business and you have to be a visionary with a strong
passion to succeed.
Xanthopoulos credits his Greek heritage for his deep
commitment to science and the love of business. There is
no better way to combine these inherent motivations in
an industry like ours, he noted.
Regulus is now putting the cash to work on building a
meaningful clinical portfolio for the company and realizing
the transformative potential of microRNA therapeutics.
His experience prior to joining Regulus, at the time of
its formation in 2007, combined both of his passions.
Xanthopoulos co-founded and served as president and
CEO of Anadys Pharmaceuticals from its inception in 2000
to 2006, and remained a director until its acquisition by
Roche AG in 2011 . He also participated in the Human
Genome Project as a section head of the National Human
Genome Research Institute from 1995 to 1997. Previously,
he was an associate professor at the Karolinska Institute
in Stockholm, Sweden, after completing a postdoctoral
research fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York.
Has life changed, since transforming into a public
company?
In addition to spending time with his family, Xanthopoulos
said he uses another passion – the love of soccer –
BioWorld BioPeople
25
to unwind from the demands of running a biotech.
He continues to play the sport in San Diego and also
follows the fortunes of his favorite English soccer team,
Manchester United.
with dievini Hopp and have delivered on promised
milestones, Hoerr noted. The investment represents
a shared vision in the opportunities offered by the
technology.
Ingmar Hoerr
“Messenger RNA was, for a long time, a forgotten
biomolecule, but I think it’s quite natural that we are
seriously exploring this new approach,”
BioWorld caught up with the CEO of Curevac GmbH, of
Tubingen, Germany, in his office in the early evening. It is
the vision about his company’s platform messenger RNA
technology (mRNA) that is his driving force and one of the
reasons that he dedicates long hours at the company.
He was pleased to see mRNA technology get a major
endorsement with Moderna Therapeutics Inc.’s $240
million up-front licensing deal with Astrazeneca plc.
“We have in hand a new tool, which might revolutionize
everything in biotech,” Hoerr explained. “This is what
drives me, the excitement that is building around the
potential for mRNA.” Using its RNA technology platform,
Curevac is currently developing therapeutic mRNA
vaccines (RNActive) and vaccine adjuvants, comprised of
long, noncoding RNA molecules (RNAdjuvant).
Hoerr said that he likes to work on strategy. “I am happy
that I don’t have to be a scientist anymore because
our company has excellent scientists. I can concentrate
on company building and empowering people to take
responsibility.” He contended his major strength lies in
translating science into business. But it is not all work.
The company has started a Phase IIb trial testing RNActive
cancer vaccine CV9104 in patients with castrationresistant prostate cancer.
But he does take time out of his busy schedule. “It is
essential to take time away from the office. On a boat I
have enough space and time to reflect, otherwise you will
never get the ideas you need to help take the company
forward.” n
“Considering that we are a relatively small biotech, it is
quite a big trial for us involving about 180 chemotherapynaïve patients with asymptomatic or minimally
symptomatic metastatic castration-resistant
prostate cancer in eight European countries,”
Hoerr said. “The primary endpoint is overall
survival, and results are expected in 2016.”
Ingmar Hoerr
Helping finance the trial is an investment of €80
million (US$104.9 million) from dievini Hopp
BioTech Holding GmbH & Co. KG, of Walldorf,
Germany, that represents the interests of
Dietmar Hopp, the wealthy philanthropist
and co-founder of software titan Sap AG. The
financing, according to BioWorld Snapshots,
was the second largest private equity round in
European biotechnology in 2012.
We have developed a very good relationship
BioWorld BioPeople
26
BASEMENT
TO
START-UP
Kubota Kept Vision for Eye Diseases
By Catherine Shaffer
T
here’s a special place in the lore of biotechnology
for the scientist-entrepreneur who starts a company
in his basement.
Ryo Kubota, CEO of Acucela Inc., is one such intrepid
businessman, an idealist who saw unmet needs in his own
ophthalmology practice and crossed half a world to build
a pipeline of promising drugs for them.
attended in New Jersey provided a culturally different
learning experience than what he had been exposed
to in Japan, introducing Kubota to a thought process of
questioning and dialogue.
Although the idea for Acucela, a company with a
pipeline of visual cycle modifiers for ocular diseases,
came from Kubota’s experience with patients in his
practice, the spark for his passion to change the world
can be traced to early influences in his life.
In Japan, Kubota’s classroom experiences had been rigid,
emphasizing conformity. One of his classmates, he said,
had left his school after debating a teacher about the
answer to a question. But Kubota’s teacher in the U.S.
handled a similar classroom discussion much differently.
Although there was one correct answer to a question
posed to the classroom, the teacher encouraged
the students to discuss and each to contribute their
thoughts and ideas.
Kubota is from Japan, but he spent much of his youth
in New Jersey, where his father worked for a U.S.
subsidiary of a shipping company. The school he
“That helped me develop a scientific thinking process,”
Kubota said. “It’s not just getting the right answer, but
how do you get to the right answer?”
BioWorld BioPeople
27
I REALLY LIKED THE EYE
from childhood. I was
always interested in
observing the eyes.
Kubota’s interest in ophthalmology also traces back to his
early years. “I really liked the eye from childhood. I was
always interested in observing the eyes.”
A retinal tear requiring surgery in high school solidified
Kubota’s interest in ophthalmology.
But aspects of that practice troubled Kubota. “I was
a retinal specialist by training in Japan. I realized that
there are many neurodegenerative diseases of the eye
that cannot be treated by surgical procedures. I was
devastated that there were no drugs in the pipeline to
treat those diseases at the time.”
When Kubota decided to continue his education, he
wanted to return to the U.S., where he had been so
inspired by the culture of open inquiry and scientific
process.
Kubota’s work at Keio University in Japan, where he
earned his MD and PhD, in discovering the glaucoma
gene, myocilin, helped him to secure a position continuing
his research at the University of Washington.
But it was a smaller step that took him to the small
basement of his home, starting Acucela while also
continuing as a faculty professor at the University of
Washington and also discovering his role as a new parent.
“It was a very small, tiny basement. At least we had a
computer,” Kubota said.
BioWorld BioPeople
Acucela was funded out of Kubota’s pocket for the
first six months of its existence. Its first outside
investment came from Olympus Corp., of Tokyo. At the
time, Olympus was looking to expand its microscope
business into the drug discovery space, and Acucela was
developing primary cull culture neurons for cell culture
screening.
“That was kind of hot in 2002,” Kubota said. He used
Olympus’ microscope to analyze the cultured neurons,
looking for phenotypic changes on drug exposure.
Olympus eventually sold its shares to Otsuka
Pharmaceutical Co. as Acucela’s business model evolved.
Kubota said his biggest challenge in founding Acucela
was finding the right people to work in his small,
basement start-up.
Additionally, it was difficult at first to find clients for the
company’s technology.
Acucela has grown to about 80 employees. Its lead
compound is ACU-4429, in development for dry agerelated macular degeneration. The drug is in a Phase II
trial.
ACU-4429 produced positive results in a Phase I study.
Data from that trial, published in Retina: The Journal of
Retinal and Vitreous Diseases, showed a well-tolerated,
dose-dependent modulation of the visual cycle through
electroretinography.
Phase II results showed a dose-dependent response and
modulation of the rod visual cycle.
The company also is studying OPA-6566 in a Phase I/
II trial in partnership with Otsuka. OPA-6566 is an
adenosine A2 receptor agonist in development as an
ophthalmic solution to reduce intraocular pressure in
open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. n
28
Unconventional
PATHS
Give Young Standouts a Step Up
By Mari Serebrov
A
mong the thousands of interesting people who attended the 2013 BIO
International Convention in Chicago were young standouts who are already
making their mark in biotech. Undeterred by an industry often constrained
by tight budgets, snail-paced progress and unexpected disappointments, these
young scientists/entrepreneurs – named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science and
Technology – are passionate about the promises and possibilities of the field. Aside
from that passion, their secret for success may be their untraditional paths.
BioWorld BioPeople
29
Josh Sommer
A
s the founder and executive director of the
Chordoma Foundation, Josh Sommer has an
impressive biotech resume by any standard; it’s
especially so for a 24-year-old. But his is a career path that
he wouldn’t wish on anyone else.
In 2006, Sommer was having the time of his life as a
freshman environmental engineering student with a full ride
at Duke University, when he got what he calls a frightening
slap in the face. Doctors discovered a tumor in the right side
of his head. The news was the “most surreal experience”
he’d had in his life, he told BioWorld Today.
A second shock struck after the surgery to remove the
tumor – he was the one in a million with chordoma, a slowgrowing neoplasm that tends to recur. The diagnosis came
with an average life expectancy, following treatment, of
about seven years.
Because of complications, Sommer was hospitalized for
five weeks. He used that time to read up on chordoma. As
a result, he discovered that one of the few research labs
focused on the condition was at Duke.
Long story short, Sommer began working in that lab.
Although Sommer had avoided biology in high school
because he thought it was a “nebulous” science as opposed
to the concreteness of engineering, his work in the lab got
him hooked. He switched his major to molecular biology,
seeing it as a path toward a cure.
But working in the
lab was as frustrating
as it was exhilarating,
because there was
so much work that
couldn’t be done
due to a lack of cell
lines, animal models
and other resources.
Sommer said he quickly
realized “one lab wasn’t
going to solve the
problem.”
Josh Sommer
and funding research, facilitating information exchanges
and collaboration among researchers, and providing the
scientific resources needed to study chordoma. After getting
the first grant, Sommer left school to focus all his energies
on the foundation.
To date, the foundation, now with a team of four, has raised
about $3.5 million, funded research in 11 labs, distributed
cell lines to 52 labs and hosted four international research
workshops, bringing together more than 200 researchers.
It also has tested all FDA-approved drugs in two chordoma
cell lines to determine if any existing drugs could effectively
treat the condition; founded the Chordoma Genome
Project; and funded the development of a mouse model and
expanded cell lines.
Isaac Kinde
G
rowing up with a father who was a veterinarian,
Isaac Kinde was no stranger to the life sciences. But
he owes his decision to pursue a career in research
and health care to a bad bout of salmonella food poisoning
when he was in the fifth grade.
Recognizing something was seriously wrong, his father took
Kinde to the hospital, where the doctors looked at him
and sent him home. Not satisfied with that response, the
father took a stool sample and tested it in his veterinary lab.
Armed with the results that showed his son had salmonella,
the father took the boy back to the hospital. This time the
Isaac Kinde
Very much aware of
the value of time and
not wanting to waste
a single hour, Sommer
created the Chordoma
Foundation in 2007 to
accelerate the search
for a cure by initiating
BioWorld BioPeople
30
Laura Deming
Andina Mang
ubat
exciting discoveries from
the lab. But whatever
he does, it will likely
include research.
“I want to work on
something that improves
the health care of a very
large number of people,”
he said.
Laura Deming
A
t 18, Laura
Deming is the
youngest of the
30 Under 30 to speak at
BIO. An early start has
her well on her way to a
promising career.
doctors admitted Kinde and put him on an I.V.
Intrigued that a test could show what was going on in his
body, Kinde wanted to explore what else he could learn
through tests. Despite that early desire, it was the research
requirements of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at the
University of Maryland, Baltimore County, that really
opened the door for him.
When he first got the scholarship, Kinde said he figured
“I can just suck it up” and do research for a few months
each summer. But in that first summer of research, “I got
hooked and haven’t stopped since,” he added. Much of his
undergrad research was devoted to work on HIV treatments.
A big part of the research allure is that Kinde likes to figure
things out. In the lab, that’s all he does. “It’s liberating,” he
told BioWorld Today.
As an MD-PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine, Kinde is combining his love for figuring
things out with his early interest in diagnostic tests, as his
research has focused on developing a DNA sequencing
method to detect cancers at their earliest, most treatable
stages.
So far, Kinde has taken a more traditional path for biotech
research, but he’s not locked into a specific career path yet.
He can see himself starting a company to further develop
BioWorld BioPeople
From the time she was
8, Deming knew she
wanted to help cure the
diseases of aging. She took
the initiative to seek out researchers in that field and
began working in a biogerontology lab when she was 12.
She enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
when she was 14. But a few years later, she put her
undergrad studies on hold to become one of the first Thiel
Fellows.
Today, Deming is a partner at The Longevity Fund, which
looks to find and fund the development of treatments for
Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other aging-related diseases.
Andina Mangubat
B
esides a bachelor’s in psychology, Adina Mangubat
graduated from the University of WashingtonBothell with a plan for a company, Spiral Genetics.
She and another student came up with the idea for the
Seattle-based start-up in a college entrepreneurship class.
Today, Mangubat is the CEO of the company that offers
researchers a cloud-based solution for dealing with all the
data generated in DNA sequencing.
In addition to starting Spiral Genetics, Mangubat has held
leadership positions in two high-tech start-ups focused
in the distributed computing space. Her role in both
companies included team development, executive team
management, brand development, marketing, channel
development and sales for complex technologies. n
31
IRISH-BORN
EXEC
Finds Fulfillment
in San Diego’s Biotech Hot Spot
By Catherine Shaffer
S
angart Inc.’s CEO Brian O’Callaghan first took on his
C-level responsibilities at the age of 30 for a division
of Merck Serono, but it wasn’t official for two years
because of his young age. “Investors thought at 30 years
it was too big a risk for the CEO title,” O’Callaghan told
BioWorld Today. After 11 years, O’Callaghan has grown
into the executive leadership position he took on so early.
He has held senior positions at Pfizer Inc. in the UK,
Merck Serono in Germany, Biopartners in Switzerland,
Novartis AG in Switzerland, Covance Inc. in Princeton,
N.J., and finally San Diego-based Sangart. “I’m counting
the East and West of the U.S. as two different countries,”
O’Callaghan joked, noting that the cultural barriers
between the East and West coasts of the U.S. are much
greater than those he found between European countries.
O’Callaghan headed up Merck Serono’s Merck
Biopharmaceuticals division, which was spun out as an
BioWorld BioPeople
independent company by Merck Serono and its partners
LG Chem and the investment bank DLI, which was
subsequently taken over by Credit Suisse First Boston.
Biopartners, LG Chem and DLI then shared the costs
for late-stage clinical trials for seven products plus
construction of three manufacturing facilities and
commercialization costs, with payments to Merck Serono
by DLI.
Although O’Callaghan enjoyed his work in European
pharma companies, moving to an English-speaking
country was a homecoming for him and his family. “I
didn’t want to go back to Switzerland. I wanted to stay in
the U.S. a bit longer. My kids had never lived in an Englishspeaking environment.”
Covance was O’Callaghan’s first placement in the
U.S., where he served as general manager of cardiac
32
I DREAD EVER DOING
something that doesn’t
have me jumping out of bed
in the morning. I’m not sure
what the point would be
other than putting food on
the table.
safety and the Interactive Voice and Web Response
Services businesses. From Covance he moved to NPS
Pharmaceuticals Inc., also in New Jersey, in the capacity of
chief commercial officer.
A Small Pond That Worked
The next transition was a move back into biotech as
CEO of Sangart. “The big fish in a small pond scenario
suited me better,” O’Callaghan explained. Having come
from Ireland, a country of 3 million to 4 million people,
O’Callaghan found himself innately more comfortable in a
small, dynamic, intimate setting that reminded him of his
roots in his home country.
cell disease by delivering therapeutic levels of carbon
monoxide to stabilize the hemoglobin of patients with the
disease, preventing sickling of the red blood cells.
O’Callaghan said that it eventually became clear he would
never return to Ireland, but 18 years on the European
continent and in the U.S. haven’t dulled his Irish brogue,
which together with his eloquence and fiery intellect
make it easy to understand how at the age of 30 he gained
the confidence of the investors and boards of directors
that hired him into executive management.
O’Callaghan’s Europe experience is a bonus working on
the West coast of the U.S. “It gives me a perspective on
Europe that not many biotech companies have on the
West coast. I found it to be a big advantage when it comes
to Sangart,” O’Callaghan said.
A Generalist With Broad Perspective
His philosophy of leadership is informed by the mentors
and leaders who shaped him in his earlier career. “My
role has changed from looking for good leadership and
following good leadership to providing good leadership.”
Rather than being an expert in any one area such
as technical, scientific, or commercial operations,
O’Callaghan is a generalist, and has specialized in
providing that big-picture perspective in his career in
general management.
“There was also a fulfillment factor. In biotech, we’re
addressing unmet medical needs, in our case trauma and
sickle cell where there aren’t treatments . . . that has a
direct impact on lives,” O’Callaghan said. “I dread ever
doing something that doesn’t have me jumping out of
bed in the morning. I’m not sure what the point would be
other than putting food on the table.”
O’Callaghan’s generalist perspective also helped him to
craft a very disciplined approach to corporate finance
at Sangart. When the company negotiated a Series G
financing in 2011 , it divided the disbursement from
investors into two payments of $50 million each, with a
solid clinical milestone of positive interim data analysis for
its Phase IIb trial of MP4OX.
Sangart is developing two products based on the MP4
technology platform. MP4 is a human hemoglobin
modified with maleimide-activated polyethylene glycol
designed to bind gasses and transmit them to target sites
in the body. They are in development for trauma and
sickle cell anemia.
Only if the interim data was positive would the company
need the second $50 million.
The first gas that Sangart worked with was oxygen,
resulting in the product, MP4OX. According to Sangart,
MP4OX prevents premature release of oxygen in the
vascular system, and opens capillary beds for perfusion,
creating a therapeutic benefit for patients experiencing
trauma.
ONE OF THE THINGS I
believe is important is
investors in biotech are
treated with responsibility by
those they are investing in.
Another product, MP4CO, is in a Phase Ib trial for sickle
cell anemia. The product is designed to treat sickle
BioWorld BioPeople
“One of the things I believe is important is investors in
33
biotech are treated with responsibility by those they are
investing in,” O’Callaghan said. There are many areas
where you can invest with less risk, in something that
requires far less up-front money, far shorter development
cycles, and far less risk, with a greater return on
investment, he explained.
Brian O’Calla
ghan
But for an investor that will take on the timelines, risk,
and regulatory burden of biotech, O’Callaghan said, “I
feel a duty to not just take money that’s on offer, even
though I know I could influence them to invest more and
more often. They need to understand exactly what they’re
investing in at every stage, what the potential risks and
rewards are, and what they’re getting.”
Data-driven milestones are a way to provide that
needed clarity. “It builds up good credibility and stronger
relationships.” n
BioWorld BioPeople
34
CHAPTER II
Biotech Diaries
BioWorld BioPeople
35
Behind the
PARTNERING
CURTAIN
Avaxia’s Barbara Fox
Stays On the Run at BIO 2013
By Marie Powers
C
HICAGO – For Avaxia Biologics Inc., the decision to
attend BIO 2013 was a no-brainer. The Lexington,
Mass.-based company is in the middle of a Phase Ib
study of lead compound AVX-470, an orally administered
anti-TNF polyclonal antibody, in ulcerative colitis (UC).
Results are expected in November 2013, and if all goes
well the company plans to report data in January 2014 at
the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.
Based on preclinical safety and efficacy findings, founder
and CEO Barbara Fox said she is confident the company
will move quickly into Phase IIa, and she’s in the hunt for a
partner to move with her.
Fox and Mike Rivard, Avaxia’s vice president of corporate
development, scheduled three full days of one-on-one
meetings at BIO. Fox allowed BioWorld Today to tag along
during their meetings that Monday.
BioWorld BioPeople
7:30 a.m. We met at the BIO registration desk and
headed to the first partnering booth to chat for a
few minutes before the meetings began. On a typical
workday, Fox rises by 5:30 a.m. and spends about an
hour responding to emails and scanning stories in
the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Boston
Globe. When she’s in town, she’s at the office by 8 a.m.,
where she devotes much of her time to reviewing FDA
regulatory filings, writing scientific papers, updating
company presentations and dealing with patent office
actions. Fox also holds a weekly staff meeting that
involves all 13 Avaxia employees, and she’s always
ready to “fill in the gaps” to maintain the small biotech’s
momentum.
“I’m the founder of the company, so part of my role is to
keep the vision and the mission of the company on track,”
she said.
36
Fox spends about half her time on the road – mostly
raising money, and occasionally traveling the better part
of day for a single meeting.
“A lot of my responsibility is making sure we’re
capitalized,” she explained. Avaxia is funded primarily by
angel investors, which insulates the company from the
vagaries of the venture market but requires more handholding. The company has raised more than $12 million
from local and national angel groups and individuals
since its founding in 2005, supplemented by $6 million in
nondilutive grants and government contracts. Fox’s goal
is to have at least six months of funding in the bank. “It’s
a fairly time-intensive way to raise money,” she admitted,
“but we have a very loyal investor base.”
Fox and Rivard packed much of their partnering schedule
with companies outside the U.S. Most were established
contacts seeking an update about the trial, others were
initial introductions and some were third parties that
contacted Avaxia about collaborative opportunities.
“A lot of this is about building relationships and
establishing credibility,” Fox told BioWorld Today. “We
said we were going to accomplish certain goals, and
companies want to see that we actually meet them.” She
cited FDA clearance of the company’s investigational new
drug application in November 2012 as a key milestone
“that opened a lot of doors for us. Ideally, we would like
to get companies teed up and as far along the
diligence path as possible
so we can engage them when the clinical data come in.”
8:00 a.m. The director of business development at a
Japanese specialty pharma first contacted Avaxia at BIO
2012, and the companies talked often in the ensuing
months. He’s also read previous partnering stories in
BioWorld Today. “I hope you’ll describe me as a young,
handsome Japanese business executive,” he joked.
As Rivard queued up the slideshow, Fox offered an update
on the status of Avaxia’s randomized, placebo-controlled,
ascending-dose Phase Ib trial. Eight patients have been
enrolled at the lowest dose at sites in the U.S. and Canada,
and two have completed dosing. No discontinuations
were reported, and the data monitoring committee was
scheduled to take a look in mid-May. In the meantime,
the company received regulatory approval for additional
sites in Belgium and Hungary and a third European
country is pending for the trial, which plans to enroll 24
patients, each dosed for 28 days. Plus, “we’re doing some
additional nonclinical work on pharmacokinetics and
immunogenicity,” Fox said, and the company is working on
commercial manufacturing process development.
Because the Phase Ib trial – which the FDA approved as
a first-in-human study – is blinded, the company won’t
get an interim look, she added. “But the data monitoring
committee will review safety after every cohort so we
know we can safely escalate the doses,” she said.
The pharma contact liked what he heard, indicating
he hoped to present his recommendations “to a wider
audience” by June. “Keep me updated,” he added, ending
the meeting on a high note in just 15 minutes.
8:30 a.m. Fox greeted a long-time acquaintance who’s
now director of business development for a European
biopharma with a significant U.S. operation. The company
recently shuffled its internal priorities and has renewed
interest in Avaxia, whose technology is designed around
antibodies isolated from the early milk of immunized
cows, known as bovine colostral antibodies, which are
naturally resistant to digestion. By designing oral drugs
that act locally in the GI tract, Avaxia is seeking to address
both known and novel targets in inflammatory bowel
disease with improved safety and efficacy.
Moreover, bovine milk antibodies have a predictable
regulatory path through the FDA’s Center for Biologics
Evaluation and Research (CBER) Blood Products Group. The
technology is scalable, since cows produce approximately
1 kg of immunoglobulin in three days, and millions of cows
are available in the U.S. alone. Avaxia also has three issued
U.S. patents, pending applications in all global markets and
BioWorld BioPeople
37
WE HAVE OUR IDEAS ABOUT
the type of deal structure we
would like, but all sorts of
interesting things can come
out of these discussions.
the ability to bypass most of the intellectual property issued
around monoclonal antibodies.
“We’re in line with where much of the field is going,
which is trying to make suppression of the disease more
specific to the particular tissue,” Fox said. “And we think
we’re doing this in a really novel and more powerful way
because we can use the same target, an anti-TNF, as
currently marketed drugs and focus on the delivery of those
antibodies into the GI tract. To our knowledge, we are the
only ones doing direct delivery of antibodies to the gut.”
Fox explained the company’s plans to begin working on
supply chain issues and to set up standard operating
procedures to handle the animals – a sensitive issue in
Europe and the UK. Avaxia recently hired a specialist to
oversee its animal welfare plan.
“The fact that you’ve even thought about these issues
this far ahead is a big deal,” was the response. “This was a
great presentation.”
The obvious next question: What are Avaxia’s thoughts on
partnering? The company wants to finish the Phase Ib and
go straight into a deal with up-front fees, milestones and
royalties, Rivard responded.
But Avaxia is flexible, Fox added. Although she expects to
partner after completing proof-of-concept studies, “we
have room to look at a lot of different opportunities,”
she said, ranging from global deals with a pharma or big
biotech to regional collaborations in Europe and Japan –
even licenses with manufacturing and supply agreements.
“We have our ideas about the type of deal structure we
would like, but all sorts of interesting things can come out
of these discussions,” Fox said.
9:00 a.m. Another Japanese firm, this time a large
conglomerate with a pharmaceutical operation. The
company was especially interested in the commercial
process development and supply chain issues, asking
BioWorld BioPeople
about animal issues in Europe and cost models. The
representatives also inquired about other formulations
and whether Avaxia had considered Crohn’s disease
instead of UC as its first indication. “Yes,” Fox said, but
the diseases are different enough in nature, including
tissue penetration, that UC looked superior from a patient
management perspective in the clinical trials.
“Safety is our strongest seller,” she added. “It’s milk, and
it’s oral dosing.”
Fox was heartened by the company’s questions. “This
company has been interested at a distance, but they’re
starting to circle in,” she said. “They were much more
engaged than I expected.”
9:30 a.m. The fourth meeting almost ended before it
began when the representative from a U.S. big pharma
spotted the “media” sticker on my badge and prepared to
walk away. Instead, I did.
9:55 a.m. We reconvened at the next partnering booth,
where Fox graded the morning so far as “four for four” in
terms of interest level. “What’s not to like about an oral
anti-TNF?” Rivard responded.
10:00 a.m. Using the BIO Partnering website, a U.S.
academic medical center contacted Avaxia about
a potential gut-targeted therapeutic in-licensing
opportunity. Fox did a quick rewind on the company’s
technology and Phase Ib study, seeking to move on to the
organization’s investigational program.
“You’re focused on your Phase Ib,” the associate said.
“Well, yes,” Fox responded. “We’re a little company, and
if you drop the ball on your lead program, you’re dead.
But we’re opportunistic, so we’re eager to take a look at
something interesting.”
WE’RE A LITTLE COMPANY,
and if you drop the ball
on your lead program,
you’re dead. But we’re
opportunistic, so we’re
eager to take a look at
something interesting.
38
As it happens, the technology appeared only distantly
related, and Fox was mildly concerned over the prospect
of an epithelial signal. She and Rivard asked about the
organization’s patent strategy and partnering approach
and offered advice on alternative indications, such as
necrotizing enterocolitis – which is off Avaxia’s radar for
now.
10:30 a.m. The managing
director of an ex-U.S.
company that specializes
in biopharmaceutical
imaging services sought
this meeting with Avaxia,
which currently relies on
ELISA testing and biopsies
to study pharmacokinetic
antibody circulation and
tissue penetration, respectively. Fox wants the ability
to demonstrate where AVX-470 goes, how it interacts
with other compounds and how it’s cleared from the
body – answers that could be provided by selecting the
appropriate radioisotope.
added, spending the next 10 minutes on the company’s
presentation and citing another huge potential market
that is up the pharma’s alley: oncology patient-supportive
care. Avaxia is developing a polyclonal anti-TNF antibody
to block the inflammatory cascade that is central to the
development and worsening of oral mucositis.
A TYPICAL FIRST MEETING.
He was completely
inscrutable.
The imaging technology also could help Avaxia advance
a second application, in acute radiation syndrome, under
a contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and
Development Authority. And, potentially, it could be used to
stratify patients or to conduct a preclinical biodistribution
study. “We’re able to play with ratios of chelators and
antibodies and to change coupling chemistries,” the
imaging rep pointed out.
Although potential implementation hurdles loom, Fox was
clearly intrigued. “A lot of outstanding scientific questions
could be answered with imaging studies,” she said.
“We haven’t done gut imaging, so we’d be learning, too,”
came the reply, suggesting co-development potential.
2 p.m. Following two private meetings and a quick
lunch in the ever-crowded Plate Room Lunch Court at
McCormick Place, we met back in the partnering hall
with a large European specialty pharma. The company
does development and commercialization but no early
stage discovery, typically seeking to license an asset,
commercialize it in Europe and partner elsewhere.
“What caught your attention about Avaxia?” Rivard asked.
“We’re looking for products we can in-license to build our
pipeline,” the rep replied.
“Let’s go through this and see if there’s a fit,” Fox
BioWorld BioPeople
“Is this the sort of program
you’d bring in after a Phase
Ib?” Fox asked.
“Absolutely,” was the reply,
and both sides agreed to
move discussions to the
next level.
2:30 p.m. Fox and Rivard
met with the business
development manager at an ex-U.S. biotech seeking to
out-license its inflammatory platform. The company was
recently acquired, and the new owner wants to divest
programs that fall outside its core expertise. Although the
preclinical program has some nice data, the technology is
a small-molecule inhibitor.
Fox is not averse to adding other technologies with
attractive synergies, provided they don’t distract from the
company’s primary mission. “I can’t really see us going
into a small molecule, especially at this stage,” she said.
3 p.m. In one of Avaxia’s most highly anticipated meetings
of the day, we headed to the front of the business forum
section where global big pharma booths are marked by
company logos rather than nondescript alphanumeric
designators. The senior official, a partnering lead, listened
attentively as Fox made her pitch, interrupting with
pointed questions. He asked about the use of immunized
cows, jotting careful notes about the answer. He also
made note of the CBER regulatory pathway and Phase
Ib trial design. “Can I see any of your efficacy data?” he
asked. “What is it about the antibody that causes it to be
effective in the digestive system? Will it target multiple
sites on TNF? Can you give me an idea of the cost of
goods? How big of a herd is needed for commercial scaleup? Do you have competitors in the space? What’s your
IP? What are you looking for from a partner? What else is
in your pipeline?”
He smiled politely as we left, telling Fox, “I look forward to
seeing your data.”
Gathering her thoughts outside, she shrugged her
shoulders. “A typical first meeting,” Fox noted. “He was
completely inscrutable.”
39
Rivard stayed a few minutes to chat with the pharma exec
and emerged more optimistic. “He liked it,” he said.
3:30 p.m. Another Japanese pharma meeting, this time
with the associate director of licensing and alliances,
who’s already familiar with AVX-470 and the Phase Ib trial.
Fox offered a quick update
while he took copious
notes before moving almost
immediately into questions
about the company’s
partnering strategy.
“We’re flexible,” Rivard
responded. “It could be
one global partner or
multiple deals, but we want
to find someone that will
invest in development and
commercialization and sell a
lot of product.
The show was all Fox’s, with nary an interruption from
the rapt audience. As she
concluded, Rivard neatly
transitioned into the
partnering pitch.
YOU HAVE TO BE NIMBLE IN
this industry. You can carve
out a strategy, but you’ve
got to be able to move
on the opportunities that
come your way.
“If the Phase Ib data look
good, we want to move fast,”
he added, making a note to forward the company’s
presentation.
4 p.m. Two meetings were left on the schedule, and
everyone was dragging. A patent attorney from the tech
transfer office at a European university requested this
meeting, and Fox’s antenna went up when she heard that
a researcher at the institution developed antibodies that
appear to show an anti-inflammatory effect in UC. In fact,
the antibodies seem to target lesions in the colon.
“What’s the IP?” Fox asked. “This is potentially a very nice
fit for us.”
“The university is open to any collaborative research or
licensing approach,” the attorney responded. In fact, the
investigator plans to attend Digestive Disease Week in
Orlando next month, which Fox and her clinical staff also
will visit. Meeting there “would be a great next step,”
Rivard suggested.
4:30 p.m. Last meeting of the day, and one of the most
important. Rivard has been talking regularly with the
senior manager of business development and licensing at
the European division of this Japanese specialty pharma
BioWorld BioPeople
since they met at BIO 2012 in Boston. Recently, the two
companies held “a very productive” conference call. This
was the first meeting to involve a senior licensing official
from the Tokyo office.
“We’re trying to address
any questions about
contract manufacturing,
animal welfare or other
concerns up front so we
can partner as quickly as
possible once we have
Phase Ib data,” he said.
“We want to have partner
input into the design of the
Phase II study.”
Almost as an aside, he added,
“We’ve hired a regulatory consultant in Japan, and we’ve
been assured there are no outside issues.”
“We’re really interested,” the manager responded. “I
guess we just need to see Phase Ib data.”
With the sound of the last partnering chimes of the day,
we navigated through the quickly darkening exhibition
hall. Rivard headed for his hotel as Fox and I moved on to
the Women in Bio reception. She was energized by the
positive feedback, which she called “a great way to start
the week.”
Many small biotechs overestimate their ability to execute,
which hurts their credibility, Fox observed. That’s a
misstep she’s taken great pains to avoid at Avaxia.
“We haven’t had any scientific setbacks, although
financings sometimes take longer to get done than we
anticipated,” she said. “But you have to prepare for
setbacks and know how to handle them.
“You have to be nimble in this industry,” Fox added. “You
can carve out a strategy, but you’ve got to be able to move
on the opportunities that come your way.” n
40
OLEG
NODELMAN
EcoR1 Surveys Investment Options at JPM
By Marie Powers
S
AN FRANCISCO – The annual J.P. Morgan
Healthcare Conference is perhaps more renowned
for the dealmaking that occurs on the periphery
of San Francisco’s Westin St. Francis than for the news
and views expressed within the hotel’s hallowed halls. In
2013, one familiar face, Oleg Nodelman, was fronting a
new venture, EcoR1 Capital LLC, which he founded just
two months before.
“Although there is always considerable investment risk in
biotech, mine is a highly differentiated approach to that
of most biotech investors,” he wrote in a holiday letter
to friends explaining the firm’s philosophy. “My goal is to
find extraordinary companies that have been caught in
an extraordinary time and help ensure that exceptional
people are involved to help make those companies a
success. Ideally, I will hold my investments forever.”
Nodelman spent more than a decade as an analyst and
portfolio manager at BVF Partners LP, one of biotech’s
first dedicated hedge funds, before pursuing the dream
of managing his own investment firm. A consummate
contrarian, Nodelman’s firm is seeking “un-followed,
unloved, misunderstood and generally orphaned”
biotechs, mostly in the public markets, with hidden value.
In his estimation, that universe encompasses roughly 500
of the 600 or so globally traded biotechs.
Nodelman allowed BioWorld Today to tag along on
Tuesday during his foray into the J.P. Morgan playground
as an investor hanging out his own shingle.
BioWorld BioPeople
Here’s a peek at his day:
7 a.m. Nodelman was waiting in the lobby of the Four
Seasons Hotel with a longtime colleague who’s a senior
executive at a health care merchant bank and adviser to
41
the firm. We were joined shortly by Kellee Kim, a Harvard
University grad Nodelman lured away from a New York
health care consulting firm to serve as his analyst.
Two additional members of the banking team also shared
the breakfast conversation. There was lively banter about
mutual friends, deals and potential biotech blow-ups, as
well as the increasing creep of pre-J.P. Morgan meetings.
“I had to fly in Sunday,” one lamented. “I hope this doesn’t
evolve to Saturday night stayovers.”
8:00 a.m. First meeting of the day, several doors from the
restaurant, with the CEO of a Boston biotech focused on
cancer therapeutics. Though media-shy, the legendary
entrepreneur was gracious. He walked Nodelman and Kim
quickly through a series of slides describing the potential
indications, existing treatments and their shortcomings,
proposed Phase I/II trial design and the compound’s
mechanism of action. The company, which may have a
biomarker for the disease, is targeting a regulatory filing in
mid-2015. The compound already has attracted potential
suitors, but the company prefers to advance it unpartnered
and launch independently in the U.S.
Nodelman asked about the history of the agent and was
impressed with its pedigree. Although the dual inhibitor is
more potent than existing cancer therapeutics, “we need to
get into Phase I and see the toxicity,” the CEO said.
“He’s amazing,” Nodelman said as we left. “I count
him among a small group of
people who make things happen in biotech.” Nodelman is
spending the week after J.P. Morgan in Boston to “kick the
tires” with companies, consultants, bankers and inventors,
so he’ll revisit that opportunity.
8:30 a.m. With Kim departing for another meeting,
Nodelman has built in 30 minutes to discuss his background
and company. Based in the Mission Bay area of San
Francisco, he confessed there’s no “typical day.” He often
rises at 4:30 a.m. to scan the wires before the U.S. markets
open. When something big happens in biotech, investors
have only a short time to react, he observed. “I’m looking
for the insight that others don’t have,” he said.
A fringe benefit of rising early is the opportunity to spend
quality time with his wife and 19-month-old identical twin
girls. A native of Kiev, Ukraine, Nodelman followed his
freshman year at Georgetown University with a two-month
stint as a Russian translator at the 1996 Summer Olympic
Games in Atlanta, where he met his wife, a Georgia native
who was serving as a Japanese translator.
When he’s in town, Nodelman works from home some
mornings and usually gets in a run or workout at the gym
– a habit instilled recently on the advice of a mentor. He
divides his time between meetings, phone calls and due
diligence, preferring PubMed to expert analytics.
“I consider my relationship with the scientists at a lot of
these companies as collaborative,” he explained. “I’m
not looking to extract information from anyone.” In fact,
the firm’s name, EcoR1 , harkens to the enzyme that can
be used to cut and reconstruct DNA – an appropriate
metaphor for a firm seeking to build value by improving the
structure of a biotech.
Nodelman is on the road about half the time. He asks two
key questions: What’s the quality of the science? And is the
company asking the right questions?
“I’m agnostic about situations,” he said. “I don’t fall in love
with an asset.”
However, he is a strong advocate of building relationships
and began crafting his J.P. Morgan itinerary the prior
November. “Everyone in the world who does anything
in health care is here this week,” Nodelman observed.
Although he tries to attend some breakout sessions, his
main objective is to meet with as many companies as
possible – particularly those located outside California.
The payoff was obvious as Nodelman was greeted every
few minutes throughout the day – in hallways and
on sidewalks – by acquaintances wishing his company
BioWorld BioPeople
42
I’VE KNOWN THIS COMPANY
forever, and they do great
work. But they also spend
a lot of money, and that’s
somewhat troubling to
investors.
success. At J.P. Morgan, he saw 50 companies in four days
in addition to informal chats. “The hardest thing is to turn
down a meeting with a great company,” he admitted.
“When Kellee ramps up, we’ll be able to cover twice as
much territory.”
9 a.m. I sat out Nodelman’s meeting with representatives
from a pharma venture firm. “They only come to the West
Coast several times a year and want to stay in stealth
mode,” he explained.
10 a.m. We reconvened at the Handlery Hotel with a
Canadian biopharma in the cancer space. In addition
to Kim, we were joined by a long-time friend and
medical consultant who’s helping to vet oncology assets.
The company’s chief medical officer (CMO) – also an
acquaintance of Nodelman’s – walked the group through
the product profile, mechanisms of action, clinical
development plan and four potential indications. The
market is large, intellectual property is sound and targets are
well validated, but there are questions about the response
rate that suggest formulation struggles. Those questions
likely will be answered this year, according to the CMO, but
Nodelman is doubtful. “They’re not there yet,” he said.
10:30 a.m. We walked to Il Caffe on the Square, where
we had coffee and met with the portfolio manager of a
global health care investment group. Talk turned to the
U.S. and global markets, M&A activity and valuations
of recent biotech initial public offerings. “What do you
think about orphan indications?” Nodelman asked. “I
think they’ll trundle along,” came the reply, “but the
data are not there yet.” Nonetheless, several rare disease
biotechs were presenting at J.P. Morgan, including Alexion
Pharmaceuticals Inc. in the Grand Ballroom on opening day,
he added, “so that’s an indication of something.”
Noon: After a short break for Nodelman to check email and
return phone calls, we met at the Sir Francis Drake with a
small U.S. infectious disease firm. Nodelman was excited
BioWorld BioPeople
about that company, which has brought in a respected
team he’s known for many years. He fired away with
questions. What assets might the firm acquire, and who’s in
charge of looking for them? How much cash does the firm
have? What’s the company’s burn rate? Is it hiring? What
value can be created from the programs? Can he be helpful
in any way?
“No one’s been looking at this company,” he observed as
we left. “But they have some interesting assets, and they
might need to raise some money.”
1 p.m. Next stop, the Hotel Monaco, to meet with the chief
operating officer and management team of a seasoned
biotech focused on therapeutics with a unique mechanism
of action. Thankfully, they offered us a light lunch. The
company has an extensive pipeline in a handful of disease
states, including orphan indications, and recently inked
a major deal. Now, other pharmas are knocking on its
door. The firm wants deals that provide up-front cash and
research funding but has little leverage. Its lead product
hasn’t reached the goal line, and the stock has lagged.
“What’s your perspective for 2013?” Nodelman asked “Is
there a dose-dependent, clinically meaningful response
or are you simply seeing trends? When will new studies
start?”
He congratulated the team on “a brilliant deal,” but if their
drug isn’t approved, “what’s the cash gap?” he asked.
Approval will allow the company to hold onto more of its
pipeline “a little longer” and to be opportunistic, he’s told.
In contrast to most partnering discussions in small suites,
that meeting was held in a large board room with a long
conference table. And, with another analyst in the room,
the conversation dragged. Still, it’s clear some wheels were
turning.
“I’ve known this company forever, and they do great work,”
Nodelman said. “But they also spend a lot of money, and
that’s somewhat troubling to investors.”
2 p.m. Up one flight of stairs, we met the highly energized
team of a European firm developing peptide drugs.
“You guys have a busy dance card,” Nodelman said.
“Can you bring me up to date?” They discussed finances
before turning to the clinical portfolio. He asked about
a competing compound at a big pharma partner and
its impact on their partnered candidate. “If it’s good
for them, it’s good for us,” said their investor relations
rep, provided the FDA looks favorably at the other drug.
“What’s your royalty rate?” Nodelman added, applauding
a deal that starts in double digits and moves up in sync
43
with product sales, which could exceed $600 million in
three years.
elegant trial design. “Most drugs are compared to placebo
but you’ve used an active comparator,” she said.
Still, the strategic value of the company exceeds the
cash flow, according to the CEO. Approval is likely for
the partnered drug, but there are no guarantees. The
company has earlier-stage drugs – including two that are
unpartnered – representing additional shots on goal. One
is in Phase I, and safety and tolerability data could report
in the first half of the year. The company also is fiscally
conservative. “We don’t spend money we don’t have,”
said the chief financial officer (CFO).
What’s the downside scenario? Nodelman asked. The
company has a good cash position, and “we have levers to
pull,” said the CFO. But if the FDA asks for another study,
“we’d have to think hard,” he admitted. The biotech could
look to another indication, and it would immediately cut
costs. On the other hand, a postmarketing study “would
not be the end of the world for us,” the CFO added.
For Nodelman, the $64,000 question was, instead, the
$3 billion question. “What will get you there?” he asked.
Perhaps by adding pearls on as string or structuring
innovative risk-sharing deals with pharmas facing a patent
cliff. “We can do the early part much faster and cheaper
than pharma,” the CFO said. “That would provide a soupto-nuts approach, but we need more than 15 percent if
we’re leveraging the strengths of both sides.”
“They’re a great company,” Nodelman said as he rushed
to meet privately with a board member. And his type of
company – out of the limelight.
3:30 p.m. Back at the Handlery, we met another European
firm with a diversified structure that includes a variety
of outsourcing options in addition to therapeutic
development. “I would like to uncharacteristically just
listen for the next 30 minutes,” Nodelman said.
After reducing costs, the company has enjoyed three
years of double-digit growth and moved from losses
to profitability, including a steady royalty stream. Its
standalone screening business doesn’t generate sexy
margins, “but it’s long-term business,” the chief operating
officer (COO) explained. The company can perform drug
discovery more quickly and inexpensively than pharma,
for milestones and a share of the profits. For now, product
development is focused mainly on helping academic
institutions and foundations.
“But if somebody buys you, they’re not going to pay
you for those royalties,” Nodelman cautioned. “Can you
preserve that value – for example, separating the assets
and monetizing the service part of your company?” The
possibility exists, the COO acknowledged. “We’re at a
crossroads,” he admitted.
4:00 p.m. It’s the last formal meeting of the day with
another Boston oncology firm that is facing the FDA
this year. Nodelman’s oncology consultant applauds the
BioWorld BioPeople
Nodelman peppered the team with questions. What’s
their global commercialization deal? Can it be converted
to a royalty? Will they receive milestones for approval?
How much cash do they need to launch? Is the market
overlooking any value? Could the company do an
outcomes-based deal? “Any way we can be helpful to you
guys?” he asked.
“Stay close,” the CFO replied.
“They’re a great team,” Nodelman lamented as he broke
away to meet a venture investor back at the Four Seasons.
“They were once very popular, but they’ve been written
off by Wall Street.”
5:30 p.m. At a table tucked away in the back of Urban
Tavern, Nodelman sparred with the CEO of a respected
California biotech with a growing pipeline and rising
share prices more as friend, ally and confidante than a
conventional investment prospect. The questions were the
same but the tone different. Are your expenses staying
the same? Why not buy back your stock? Are you looking
at other assets? How would you drive to $3 billion? Am I
missing anything here?
“Oleg comes to biotech with a view that a lot of
dysfunctional companies invest too much in assets that
are failing or no longer relevant,” the CEO said. “We
have a similar mindset because we’ve rescued distressed
assets.”
“I would do a deal with them any day,” Nodelman
responded.
On that note, we shook hands and Nodelman left for an
evening of invite-only pharma receptions and a late-night
Texas hold’em game.
But that wasn’t the end of the story. The next afternoon,
as I was rushing between meetings, he texted, “Not the
same without you today.” With relationships like these,
who couldn’t love the biotech world? n
44
PHILIP
TOLEIKIS
Sernova Cuts Through ‘Valley of Death’ at JPM
By Jennifer Boggs
S
AN FRANCISCO – On the periphery of the 30th
annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, with its
8,000 registered attendees and crowded hallways at
the Westin St. Francis hotel, another tier of activity reigns:
the small and medium-sized life sciences companies
hoping to gain an audience with the right investor or
partner to bolster shrinking cash balances and propel R&D
work to the next levels.
One such firm is Sernova Corp., a regenerative medicine
cell therapy firm based in London, Ontario. The small
Canadian company, which re-invented itself in 2006
with a listing on the Toronto Venture Exchange and an
approach for improving the islet transplantation space,
has remained largely under the radar. But, in June 2009,
Sernova appointed new CEO Philip Toleikis, and in the last
2.5 years, his team has completed the preclinical package
needed to launch the first clinical study in Canada later
this year.
BioWorld BioPeople
“We have money in the bank to get the clinical study up
and running,” Toleikis told BioWorld Today. Over the last
2.5 years, he has gone to the firm’s retail investors and
obtained government grants, pulling in about $4.5 million
in funding altogether. As the company looked ahead past
the planned 20-patient Phase I/II trial, however, it was
clear more money would be needed. “We’re crossing that
valley of death between a preclinical- and clinical-stage
company,” he said, adding that Sernova is looking for
around $5 million to $10 million.
So Toleikis arrived in San Francisco Sunday, armed with
a three-day schedule of one-on-one meetings with
prospective investors, partners and consultants. And on
Monday, he let BioWorld Today tag along.
9 a.m. I met with Toleikis in the lobby of Hotel Nikko, just
a few blocks from the Parc 55 Wyndham hotel, which is
hosting the simultaneous Biotech Showcase. An earlier
45
meeting with a prospective investor was rescheduled. We
had a couple of hours before Toleikis was slated to give a
30-minute presentation at the Showcase, so I took that
opportunity to get a little background on the company –
and on Toleikis.
The Sernova CEO started as a scientist and eventually
worked his way up into
senior management at
Angiotech Pharmaceuticals
Inc., the Vancouver, British
Columbia-based firm that
helped pave the way for
drug-device combos with
its drug-eluting coronary
stents. By figuring out a way
to add drugs to the bare
metal stents, Angiotech
grew the stent market
“from $500 million to a $4
billion to $5 billion market,”
Toleikis said. “That’s the kind of thing I’d like to do here”
with the islet transplantation space.
in humans, the Cell Pouch could mark a potentially
disruptive treatment in the diabetes space.
10:15 a.m. We headed over to the Parc 55 hotel – after
making a quick Starbucks run – and made our way to
the fourth floor meeting rooms. We caught the tail end
of another firm’s presentation before Toleikis takes
the podium. During his
presentation, he stressed
the benefits of the Cell
Pouch System, such as the
fact that it requires only
10 percent to 25 percent
of the islet cells required
under the Edmonton
protocol.
WE’RE CROSSING THAT
valley of death between
a preclinical- and clinicalstage company.
Using islet transplantation to get diabetics off the daily
insulin injections is not a new idea: For the past few
years, a process called the “Edmonton protocol” has
been available, a treatment method that involves the use
of donor islet cells infused into the portal vein – usually
from two to four pancreata – transplanted into diabetic
patients. It works – at least to some degree and lasts for a
few years.
The problem is that the majority of islet cells end up dying
in the process – they don’t like being bathed in blood,
Toleikis said. There also is a limited number of donor islet
cells. Plus, patients receiving islet transplant must stay on
anti-rejection pills for the rest of their lives.
Sernova’s approach involves the transplantation of
islet cells via the Cell Pouch System, a scalable polymer
medical device about the size of a business card that
can be implanted in an outpatient procedure under the
skin. At implantation, the device would hold removable
plugs, around which tissue and micro-vessels would form
to create a natural environment. After a few weeks, the
plugs would be replaced with the donor islet cells – and
eventually with Sernova’s cell-based technology Sertolin
to provide immune protection, Toleikis said.
Those cells would then be capable of reading insulin levels
in the blood and releasing insulin as needed, eliminating
the need for insulin injections. Animal data have been
strong, he added. If Sernova can confirm those results
BioWorld BioPeople
Toleikis also noted that the
product already captured
the attention of James
Shapiro, the physician from
the University of Alberta, Edmonton, who developed
the Edmonton protocol. Shapiro has since signed on as
the lead investigator for the upcoming Phase I/II trial,
expected to start in the first half of this year.
As Sernova CEO, Toleikis does hundreds of these types of
presentations a year. But he tries to never let it seem by
rote. He takes a similar approach to dealing with existing
and potential investors. “I always take their calls,” he said.
“You never know if they’re going to invest $1 million or
$2.”
At the end of the presentation, a few prospective investors
wanted to chat, so we headed to the breakout room down
the hall. After a brief conversation, during which one of
the investors advised Toleikis to emphasize the lack of
available donor islet cells as a major selling point for the
Cell Pouch System, the Sernova CEO agreed to a follow-up
phone call and meeting after the conference to start the
due diligence process.
2 p.m. Following a lunch break, Toleikis and I ended up
back in the meeting rooms at Parc 55, where Toleikis spent
a few minutes talking to a contract research organization
(CRO) that also made equity placements. The CRO seemed
interested in the technology’s potential, and they agreed
to talk later about potential regulatory strategies and
possible funding opportunities.
Sernova has decided to launch the upcoming trial
in Canada first, where the regulatory path is clearer.
Canadian authorities accepted the firm’s suggestion to
seek clearance of the Cell Pouch System as a medical
46
device – the therapeutic cells are approved separately.
That means development of the Cell Pouch should move
rapidly. Sernova anticipates, pending positive data from
the Phase I/II study, to go straight into pivotal testing
pending regulatory approval.
Getting the program through the FDA as a medical device
rather than drug-device combo might prove trickier.
Sernova plans to wait until there is interim data from the
Phase I/II trial before approaching the agency to expand
testing in the U.S.
3 p.m. We left the Parc 55 and headed down the street
to another Union Square hotel to meet with a consultant
who was interested in hearing about Sernova’s plans for
reaching U.S. investors.
The company has returned to its retail investor base in
Canada to raise money in small bursts over the past few
years, but Toleikis said the firm had been considering a
move to a larger exchange as it moves further into the
clinic. “We’ve been thinking about the OTCQX right now,”
he said.
5 p.m. We returned to the Parc 55 meeting rooms to meet
BioWorld BioPeople
with an investment banker, who was most interested in
applications of Sernova’s technology beyond islet cells.
Toleikis said the Cell Pouch System could be used with
any protein or hormone, including parathyroid hormone,
Factor X for hemophilia and could even be a way to
transplant stem cells. Those possibilities make the firm
ripe for a potential partnership, which also could help
shore up its cash position, and Toleikis said he’s eager to
discuss collaboration opportunities this week as well.
That meeting marked the end of the day for me. For
Toleikis, Tuesday and Wednesday would be much
the same, with back-to-back meetings with potential
investors, though he said he tried to aim for quality rather
than quantity. The connections made at J.P. Morgan
might not immediately translate into a financing round or
partnership, but each one increases the firm’s chances of
striking a deal.
That makes pounding the pavement in Union Square
during J.P. Morgan well worth it, Toleikis said. “We only
need one good meeting to lay the groundwork for future
financing that could launch the company to the next
stage.” n
47
BASSIL
DAHIYAT
Peeking Behind The BIO Partnering Curtain
By Marie Powers
O
ne-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
BioWorld BioPeople
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
48
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.
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.
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)
BioWorld BioPeople
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.
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 walk
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.
49
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.
1:00 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.
WE ONLY ATTEND THE
pharma receptions. The
others have no value for
our goals right now.
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.
BioWorld BioPeople
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
50
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.
THE SCIENTIST IN ME
would love to attend some
sessions, but I just don’t
have the time.
“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
BioWorld BioPeople
schedule and the last stop for the evening. The inviteonly 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 is
thinning and the doors
open 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. n
51
JIM
BURNS
Walking the Streets of SF with Assurerx
By Jennifer Boggs
S
AN FRANCISCO – Though it’s hard to believe, given
the crowded hallways and standing-room-only
presentations and breakout sessions, most of the
action at J.P. Morgan actually happens away from the
Westin St. Francis, with conference attendees taking over
hotels and restaurants all around Union Square, looking
for any cozy corner to conduct quick meetings with
prospective investors and partners, or maybe just catching
up with friends and former colleagues.
Assurerx President and CEO Jim Burns gave BioWorld
Today a taste of that hectic schedule one conference day
in 2011, allowing a reporter to accompany him and Chief
Operating Officer Don Wright as they met with experts to
talk reimbursement issues and with venture capitalists to
seek investments in the pharmacogenetics firm’s ongoing
Series B round.
Only the day before, Assurerx secured a lead investor
BioWorld BioPeople
and signed a term sheet for the financing, which aims
to bring in about $9 million to fund sales and marketing
activities, clinical work and R&D on second-generation
products.
8 a.m. I arrive at a Sansome Street hotel. I waited about
15 minutes as Burns and Wright finished up a breakfast
meeting. There’s some time before the next meeting,
so we all sat down to talk about the company, a 2006
spinout of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical
Center working on a bioinformatics approach aimed at
helping psychiatrists prescribe the right antipsychotics
and antidepressants to patients.
Currently, most of those drugs are given on a trial-anderror basis, Burns said. That means the failure rate is
high and the cost to the health care system significant.
Assurerx’s Genesight test can scan for genetic variants –
largely related to metabolism – against 26 FDA-approved
52
drugs by testing a simple cheek swab and quickly yield
an easy-to-understand web-based report that lists the
drugs in three categories: those than can be prescribed
safely, those that likely will require monitoring and those
that should not be used for a particular patient.
The use of genetic testing to determine treatment
already is used in indications such as oncology, but
Assurerx’s technology is the first aimed at psychiatric
drugs, Burns said. “So this
is really the creation of a
market.”
In this case, Burns determined that Assurerx’s meeting
actually was scheduled for Wednesday.
He and the VC decide to keep the Wednesday
appointment, and we had a few minutes to regroup
before heading out to a lunch meeting – with another VC
– at a hotel on Stockton Street.
12 p.m. In the elevator heading up to the VC’s suite, Burns
told me that he expected
the next VC to raise
questions about adoption
of Genesight, since the
product’s success hinges
on overcoming the typical
resistance physicians have
to new technologies.
RELATIONSHIPS MAKE
the difference between
success and failure.
8:55 a.m. With only a
few minutes before the
next meeting, we hopped
in a cab to the Westin,
where we were set to
meet with an expert on
reimbursement strategy.
“Reimbursement is key,” Burns said, though he noted
“the ground under us is changing.”
We threaded our way through the crowded Westin lobby
and found a place to wait near the Starbucks. Neither
Burns nor Wright had met the consultant in person, so
we looked around, trying to spot someone who looked
like they were waiting to talk to a couple of execs.
Unfortunately, so was everyone else. So Burns pulled out
his cell phone and makes a quick call. “What did we do
before cell phones?” he asks.
As it turned out, the consultant was on the other side of
the room. After introductions, we walked into the hotel
restaurant, seeking a quiet place to sit and talk. The
consultant clearly was intrigued by Assurerx’s story and
recommended that the company make sure it has a role
in the changing reimbursement landscape, particularly
since the firm has worked to differentiate Genesight
from the molecular diagnostics space.
“It’s a good time to be starting in this market,” the
consultant said. He and Burns decided to talk again later
to start mapping out a strategy.
10:30 a.m. Burns gets directions to the next meeting –
with a VC – which turns out to be a hotel right across the
street. But another group arrives at the VC’s hotel room
just as we do, which made for a few awkward moments
while everyone double-checked their digital calendars,
more than one person remarking how double-bookings
and overlapping meetings were hardly uncommon at J.P.
Morgan.
BioWorld BioPeople
During the meeting,
Burns took special care to
emphasize the product’s simplicity of use, particularly for
physicians who “only had about six hours of genetics in
med school.”
He also outlined the product’s initial use – it is part of the
standard of care at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital – and
explained plans to generate additional clinical data and to
expand the product by adding additional genes to the test.
Assurerx also aims to move into additional indications,
specifically attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and
epilepsy, in the next 18 months to 24 months.
The VC took notes, asked a few incisive questions about
sales and marketing and reimbursement and said he
would talk to the lead investors. Otherwise, he remained
inscrutable. Back in the elevator after the meeting, both
Burns and Wright said it’s impossible to predict which way
VCs are leaning based on initial meetings. “There are just
so many variables,” Burns said.
1 p.m. There was a mix-up with the next meeting.
We were waiting in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt for a
representative of the Mayo Clinic, another of Assurerx’s
technology licensors.
When he didn’t show, Burns checked his messages and
learned that he was waiting for us in the Westin lobby,
so we headed over there, only to find that we must have
passed him en route.
We finally all meet up at the Hyatt. The meeting was much
more relaxed than the last. Burns updates the Mayo rep
on Assurerx’s upcoming clinical plans and newly signed
term sheet.
53
Mayo is one of one of the firm’s existing investors, and
Burns values the partnership. “Relationships make the
difference between success and failure,” he said.
2:15 p.m. Burns and Wright were set to meet with
another VC, but she was running a bit late. Burns took the
time to get caught up on emails and discovered that a 5
p.m. meeting with yet another VC had been cancelled; a
suggestion was made to talk by phone the following week,
instead.
2:40 p.m. The VC showed up, apologizing for being late.
She was familiar with Assurerx’s story, having talked to
Burns and Wright over the past year, and was excited
to hear that the company had a signed term sheet for
the Series B. She said her firm was nearing the end of
one of its funds and was looking more toward late-stage
investments but said she would follow up with the lead
investor.
3 p.m. Burns and Wright met with another VC. When
BioWorld BioPeople
Burns first started in with his pitch, the VC seemed terse
and pressed for time, though he warmed up as Burns kept
talking. At the end of the meeting, the VC acknowledged
that Assurerx fit right in his firm’s “sweet spot,” and asked
Burns for additional information, adding that he would get
back to Burns shortly.
3:45 p.m. We headed off to Burns’ hotel on Ellis Street,
where we met with another consultant that Burns
had worked with before. “We’re trying to get some
help working through issues with pharmacy benefits
managers,” he said.
They talked shop for a bit and that meeting wound down
with some catching up.
5:50 p.m. We shared a cab to the Burrill reception, where
we parted ways. After the reception, Burns and Wright
were off to dinner and to get ready for Wednesday, when
they would launch into another crazy and exhausting J.P.
Morgan meeting schedule. n
54
BRENT
AHRENS
Offers a Peek Behind VC Curtain
By Jennifer Boggs
W
ASHINGTON – Brent Ahrens, general partner
at venture capital (VC) firm Canaan Partners,
arrived at the 2011 BIO International
Convention Tuesday in a pretty good mood: Canaan’s
portfolio firm Advanced Biohealing Inc. had just closed
its $750 million acquisition by Shire plc.
The deal, disclosed in May, marked a whopping 15x
return for Canaan, ABH’s largest shareholder, and
recouped half of the VC firm’s $450 million fund closed
in 2005. “It was a big win,” acknowledged Ahrens, who
spoke on a financing panel Tuesday.
On Wednesday, he had a series of meetings with other
investors, a biotech firm and a couple of media outlets,
and he let BioWorld Today tag along to get a peek into
the VC world.
9 a.m. I met Ahrens in front of the media work room.
BioWorld BioPeople
We had half an hour before the first meeting, so we sat
down in an adjacent interview room, and Ahrens gave
me a quick overview of Canaan’s investment strategy.
The Menlo Park, Calif.-based firm invests in both
technology and life sciences, with life sciences
representing about a third of the investments. Of those,
about half go to biotech firms. Medical devices make up
about a third, and diagnostics and infrastructure/health
IT make up the rest. The firm currently is on its eighth
fund, a $650 million fund closed in late 2007, with about
a year of investments left.
“We like to be the lead or co-lead [investor],”
Ahrens told BioWorld Today. And having substantial
ownership in a company is important. Canaan
averages about a 21 percent to 22 percent stake in its
portfolio firms. In the recently acquired ABH, Canaan
held about 30 percent.
55
9:30 a.m. We headed
down toward registration
where we meet with
two representatives
of a contract research
organization, and ended
up returning to the media
interview room, where it
was a little quieter.
The CRO is based largely
in China. Canaan, which
has opened offices
outside the U.S. – in
India and Israel – isn’t
looking to expand to China right
now. But Ahrens said there might be an opportunity for the
firm’s portfolio companies to work with the CRO. He took
several pages of notes during the meeting and appeared
impressed with the CRO’s capabilities. “Tell me what you
don’t do,” he asked them, finally.
11 a.m. Ahrens had an interview with a media outlet. Like
his participation on Tuesday’s BIO panel, he said he was
asked to do those types of interviews from time to time.
That’s no surprise given predictions that venture capital
will shrink substantially over the next few years. Everyone
wants to know how that will affect innovation in the life
sciences industry and how they can make sure their firms
will have sufficient funding to move forward.
Like the rest of the venture capital community, Canaan is
focused on new investments, as well as making sure that
its existing portfolio firms have enough money to get to
that next value inflection point. Ahrens explained that for
every dollar invested in a company, Canaan has nearly $2
set aside for subsequent financing rounds if needed.
Noon We met with a small public biotech that’s raising
money to fund commercialization activities for its latestage orphan drug product. Canaan’s investments to date
have tended more toward firms working in large market
disease areas, such as cardiovascular, metabolic and the
anti-infectives space. It also hasn’t invested in too many
public companies, though Ahrens said, “We are looking to
expand our portfolio.”
12:30 p.m. Ahrens had another media interview, and then
we took a break to check emails and return calls. Work
isn’t put on hold just because BIO is going on.
BioWorld BioPeople
2:30 p.m. We returned to the media interview room,
and Ahrens’ office notifies him that a call scheduled for
3 p.m. has been pushed back by 20 minutes. So I took
the opportunity to ask him how he got into the venture
capital business.
It wasn’t the usual route. He actually started out as an
engineer, eventually going to work on medical devices
for Johnson & Johnson. He later moved into the sales
side of the business and went on to earn an MBA, soon
discovering his interest in venture investing. But breaking
into the VC industry is harder than it looks.
“There weren’t that many openings,” he said. And that
was back in the late 1990s. Now there are even fewer VC
opportunities.
Ahrens got some help when he was accepted into
Kauffman Fellows, an elite program designed to train
future VCs. He ended up joining Canaan in 1999 and has
had a hand in several portfolio exits, including Calixa
Therapeutics Inc.’s acquisition by Cubist Pharmaceuticals
Inc. the prior year and Cerexa Inc.’s buyout by Forest
Laboratories Inc. in 2006.
3:20 p.m. With a meeting scheduled for 4 p.m. in
Alexandria, Ahrens decided to take the call. I was
able to dial into a conference line to listen in on the
conversation. On the other end of the phone was a
potential investor in Canaan. He and Ahrens reviewed
their firms’ respective strategies and agreed to talk again
later.
4 p.m. We arrived in Alexandria, at the office of a
hedge fund that Canaan is looking at as a potential
co-lead investor. The hedge fund managing partner
congratulated Ahrens on the recent ABH deal, and
the two talked about some of their portfolio firms and
discussed how they might work together.
7:30 p.m. We ended the day at a dinner hosted by
the National Venture Capital Association at DC Coast,
a restaurant not far from the Walter E. Washington
Convention Center. It was an opportunity for Ahrens and
other VCs and analysts to talk informally about some of
the challenges facing the funding community, reiterating
many of the themes Ahrens mentioned during the
financing panel the day before, such as the difficult
initial public offering market and often frustrating
regulatory environment. n
56
MIKE
KAMDAR
Going Behind the Scenes with Ventirx
By Trista Morrison
C
HICAGO – Beneath the surface of the BIO 2010
conference, away from the panel sessions, the
company presentations, the keynote lunches and the
bustling exhibit hall, there’s an inner circle of activity – one
in which C-level biotech execs race between meetings with
potential partners, investors, service providers and other
industry players.
What happens at these closed door meetings? Mike
Kamdar, president and chief business officer of Ventirx
Pharmaceuticals Inc., let BioWorld Today tag along to find out.
6:30 a.m. Rise and shine. Kamdar skipped his morning
run, given that it’s still just 4:30 a.m. California time. [Note
– I’m reporting this part of the day second-hand; Kamdar
understandably preferred to get up and dressed before we
met].
7:15 a.m. Meeting with a big pharma company that – like
BioWorld BioPeople
many pharmas these days – is selling rather than buying.
They were out-licensing a Phase I compound, and Kamdar
noted that while many pharmas are looking for someone
else to pay for development until they can option the
compound back later, this group seemed genuinely
interested in handing over the asset. [Note – this part is
also reported second-hand, as the pharma didn’t want a
reporter sitting in.]
8:05 a.m. I’m waiting in Kamdar’s suite in the Hyatt when
there’s a knock on the door. Since I’m the only person
there, I open it . . . to find two gentlemen from an Indian
contract research organization. I play hostess, offering
coffee and explaining that Kamdar is running late.
8:07 a.m. Another knock. I open it, but once again it isn’t
Kamdar. It’s Peter Colabuono, an associate with Frazier
Healthcare Ventures, one of Ventirx’s investors who’s
planning to sit in on some of the day’s meetings. Although
57
Frazier doesn’t usually get this hands-on with its portfolio
companies, Colabuono has some expertise in dealing with
Indian CROs. He also thinks Ventirx’s virtual model is “the
future of this industry” and wants to learn more about it.
8:10 a.m. Kamdar breezes in, explaining that his previous
meeting ran late. As
everyone moves to swap
business cards, he launches
into a story about how his
pen exploded on the plane,
soaking his business cards
and his shirt pocket with ink.
10:00 a.m. Our second Indian CRO meeting. Kamdar gives
the introduction, and once again the CRO says they are
interested in both fee-for-service and risk-sharing deals.
The CRO does a lot of big pharma work, so Kamdar tries
to get a sense of whether or not a 12-person biotech like
Ventirx will get mindshare. One of the CRO higher-ups
comes to the meeting 10
minutes late, works on his
computer for 10 minutes,
and then leaves early –
which doesn’t seem like a
good sign, but Kamdar says
it’s an occupational hazard
of scheduling meetings at
BIO.
IT’S LIKE WHEN PEOPLE ASK
us if we are raising money.
We’re always raising money,
even when we’re not raising
money. And I’d imagine
you’re always looking, even
when you’re not looking.
8:11 a.m. We get down
to business. Kamdar
introduces Ventirx, a San
Diego biotech founded in
2006 to focus on Toll-like
receptors. With $54 million
in Series A funding, Ventirx
licensed a portfolio of
preclinical TLR8 agonists
from Array Biopharma Inc.,
selected a lead and moved
it into Phase II trials for allergy,
completed Phase I trials in cancer, and created its own
preclinical portfolio of TLR7 and TLR8 antagonists.
As Ventirx moves its cancer program into Phase II, the
virtual company is looking to maximize efficiencies.
Kamdar envisions funding and conducting the first Phase
II trial in the U.S. and finding an Indian CRO to run a
second Phase II trial for a different tumor type. And he
is “looking beyond fee-for-service” – Kamdar wants an
Indian CRO who will take a risk-sharing approach, perhaps
funding the trial in exchange for milestone payments or
regional rights. Similarly, he’d like to find a CRO to pay
for the preclinical work on the TLR antagonist program in
exchange for a portion of the pay-out when the program
is sold.
The CRO we’re meeting with is receptive to these ideas,
and the president says they do risk-sharing deals at the
preclinical stage. Colabuono, the venture capitalist, grills
them on the financials of such deals. The CRO also talks
about the benefits of doing the second Phase II trial in
India, noting that costs can be at least one-third lower and
recruitment can be sped up dramatically. Everyone agrees
to a follow-up call between the clinical teams.
9:30 a.m. Kamdar picks up his replacement business
cards, which have been rushed from San Diego via Fedex.
BioWorld BioPeople
11:00 a.m. Business
development meeting with
a scout from a big biotech
firm. This guy comes from
big pharma and has been
involved in some very large
deals. He seems weary of
getting pitched by little
biotechs and sets the stage
by saying he is doing more
selling than buying at this conference.
“Well,” Kamdar says, “It’s like when people ask us if we
are raising money. We’re always raising money, even when
we’re not raising money. And I’d imagine you’re always
looking, even when you’re not looking.” The scout smiles
grudgingly.
Kamdar starts to flip through the Ventirx slide deck,
explaining why TLR8 is different than TLR7 and TLR9,
which have been the focus of most biotech effort thus
far. The scout leans forward, clearly intrigued. He is also
impressed by the fact that Medimmune Ventures led the
second tranche of Ventirx’s Series A. But he is skeptical
of stimulating immune responses to fight cancer, an
approach that has struggled despite Dendreon Corp.’s
recent FDA approval.
“We want to avoid late-stage failures,” the scout explains,
citing numerous recent oncology programs that have
flamed out due to a lack of efficacy. He wants to see data
that makes Ventirx’s programs less risky. He is impressed
by the Phase I correlation between pharmacokinetics
and pharmacodynamics, but he suggests that the
pharmacodynamic data should also correlate with efficacy.
Kamdar quips that if they had that data, they’d be selling
the company rather than starting another trial.
58
They continue through the slides. Kamdar says Ventirx
is open to feedback regarding what type of data the
big biotech would like to see, and the scout indicates
his company would be open to those discussions. He
acknowledges that Ventirx has more data than many
companies at their stage.
“So is the company for sale?” the scout asks.
If Kamdar is excited, it doesn’t show. “We’re keeping our
options open,” he says casually.
12:00 p.m. We run out for a quick lunch.
1:00 p.m. Our third Indian CRO meeting. They are late;
apparently there was some confusion regarding the
meeting time. After a few calls back to the home office,
a breathless CRO representative arrives. Kamdar gives
his spiel. This group isn’t as interested in investing their
own capital, but they do risk-sharing through a pay-forperformance model and they boast an impressive Indian
investigator network.
2:00 p.m. Our fourth Indian CRO meeting. Much of the
same, except this group is an oncology specialist, so there
is more drilling down into whether certain cancers in
the U.S. are similar to certain cancers in India, and how
well data can be expected to translate. They also discuss
complications such as the fact that trial sponsors must pay
for concomitant study medications in India, while in the
U.S. they are usually covered by insurance.
3:45 p.m. Our fifth Indian CRO meeting. Afterwards, I ask
Kamdar if these meetings are useful or if it wouldn’t be
easier to have these introductions over the phone. He
said meeting face-to-face is important because it gives
you a sense for how hungry the CRO is, and how they will
treat you once you’re in a relationship. Doing this many
BioWorld BioPeople
meetings in India would take a week, but at BIO he can do
them all in a day.
5:00 The team from Medimmune Ventures, which led
Ventirx’s second tranche of the Series A round, stops
by. Kamdar gives them an update on the day of CRO
meetings, and they share some CRO recommendations
from other portfolio companies.
6:30 p.m. With the meetings done for the day, Kamdar,
Colabuono and I head out to a reception being hosted by
law firm DLA Piper, audit firm KPMG, bank Oxford Finance
Corp. and business behemoth Sumitomo Corp. Kamdar
sips sangria and chats up some corporate venture folks
and cross-over investors.
7:30 p.m. We grab a cab to another reception being
hosted by law firm Cooley Godward Kronish. Their parties
are always heavily attended by the San Diego biotech
clique, so Kamdar spends most of his time socializing with
other local CEOs.
9:00 p.m. Our entourage has grown, and we all walk to
another reception.
10:00 p.m. We move on to yet another reception,
this one hosted by BIO’s business development team.
Unfortunately, we are not on the guest list for this
invitation-only event. Kamdar and Colabuono hand over
their business cards, which are whisked inside so that
someone can judge their worthiness. A few minutes
later, we are ushered into the crowded club.
11:00 p.m. Kamdar is schmoozing with the business
development folks from several large pharma firms. I’m
exhausted; I never realized how much stamina it takes to
be a biotech CEO. And it’s only the second day of a weeklong event. n
59
CHAPTER III
BioPeople on the Move – Appointments
and Advancements in 2013
B
ioWorld Today tracks the movement of executives across the biopharma
community in periodic Appointments and Advancements columns.
Here you’ll find a complete listing of those executive hires organized by
company names.
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• 3SBio Inc., of Shenyang, China, appointed Tianruo (Robert) Pu to its board; he will chair the audit committee and
serve on the compensation committee.
• Aequus Biopharma, of Bainbridge Island, Wash., a subsidiary of Cell Therapeutics Inc., named Ronald J. Berenson president and CEO.
• A.P. Pharma Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., added Robert
Rosen to its board and named him senior vice president
and chief commercial officer. The company also appointed
Thomas Pitler vice president of business development.
• Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Bedminster, N.J.,
appointed Vincente Anido chairman of its board, David
Epstein chairman of its scientific advisory board and Richard J. Rubino chief financial officer.
• Aastrom Biosciences Inc., of Ann Arbor, Mich.,
appointed Dominick C. Colangelo president and CEO and
Daniel R. Orlando chief commercial officer. The company
also added Joyce L. Frey-Vasconcells to its scientific advisory board.
• Aeterna Zentaris Inc., of Quebec City, added Marcel
Aubut, David A. Dodd, José P. Dorais, Carolyn Egbert,
Juergen Ernst, Pierre Lapalme and Gérald Limoges to its
board and appointed David A. Dodd president and CEO.
• Acelrx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Redwood City, Calif.,
appointed Mike A. Royal chief, clinical affairs and named
Adrian Adams board chairman.
• Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New Haven, Conn.,
named Milind Deshpande president and CEO and
appointed David Apelian executive vice president and
chief medical officer.
• Acorda Therapeutics Inc., of Ardsley, N.Y., named Jane
Wasman president, international.
• Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, hired Jack
V. Talley as president and CEO, appointed Geraldine Henwood chief development officer, lomab-B, and added
Enza Guagenti as chief financial officer. Actinium also
added Hagop Kantarjian to its clinical advisory board.
• ADC Therapeutics sarl, of Lausanne, Switzerland,
appointed Patrick van Berkel senior vice president of
research and development.
• ADMA Biologics Inc., of Hackensack, N.J., appointed
James Mond chief medical and scientific officer and
added Lawrence Guiheen to its board.
• Advaxis Inc., of Princeton, N.J., appointed Daniel J.
O’Connor senior vice president, chief legal and business
development officer and added David Sidransky to its
board.
• Adventrx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, named
Brandi L. Roberts chief financial officer and senior vice
president and Santosh Vetticaden chief medical officer
and senior vice president. Adventrx also added Ted W.
Love to its board.
• Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass.,
added Anne M. VanLent to its board.
BioWorld BioPeople
• Affinium Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Austin, Texas,
appointed Ed Mascioli CEO and named Robert (Bob)
Radie to its board.
• Affymax Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., named Karin L. Walker
vice president of finance and chief accounting officer.
• Afraxis Inc., of San Diego, named Carmine Stengone
president and CEO and Christopher Rex chief scientific
officer.
• Agendia BV, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, named
Peter W. Schineller chief commercial officer.
• Aileron Therapeutics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass.,
appointed Hubert C. Chen vice president of clinical development.
• Aimm Therapeutics, of Amsterdam, added Bob Lowenberg, John Mendelsohn and Hidde Ploegh to its scientific
advisory board.
• Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Mountain View, Calif.,
named Peter W. Schineller senior vice president and chief
commercial officer; James Cassella executive vice president, research and development and chief scientific officer; Darl Moreland senior vice president, quality; Mark
Oki senior vice president, finance and chief financial officer; Edwin Kamemoto vice president, regulatory affairs;
and Michael S. Holfinger vice president of manufacturing
and global supply chain management. Alexza also added
J. Kevin Buchi to its board.
• Alimera Sciences Inc., of Atlanta, appointed Philip Ashman senior vice president and European managing director and named Eric Teo vice president and European medical director. Anne-Marie Swift will serve as vice president
and European marketing director.
• Althea Technologies Inc., of San Diego, named Rick
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Hancock president and CEO, Chris Duffy senior vice president of operations and E.J. Brandreth senior vice president of quality and regulatory.
• Altherx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Exton, Pa., appointed
Charles E. Becker board chairman and named Jim Bennethum CEO. It also added Michael R. Dougherty, Jeffrey
O’Donnell and Anthony Zook to its board.
• Amag Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass.,
appointed Amit Verma vice president of marketing, Carol
Satler senior vice president of medical and scientific
affairs, Steven Caffe senior vice president and chief development and regulatory officer and Greg Madison executive vice president and chief commercial officer.
• Amarantus Bioscience Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., named
Robert J. Zimmerman product development advisor and
added Adam J. Simon, Toi Cook and Joseph Rubinfeld to
its advisory board.
• Apricus Biosciences Inc., of San Diego, appointed Richard W. Pascoe CEO.
• Aragon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, added
Faheem Hasnain to its board.
• Aratana Therapeutics Inc., of Kansas City, Kan.,
appointed Don Stitzenberg vice president of manufacturing; Tammy Newbold vice president of chemistry, manufacturing and controls; and Julia A. Stephanus chief commercial officer.
• Arca Biopharma Inc., of Broomfield, Colo., named Stuart Connolly chairman of the steering committee and
named as members Inder Anand, David E. Haines, Jonathan P. Piccini, William H. Sauer and Dirk J. van Veldhuisen.
• Argen-X BV, of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, added
David L. Lacey to its supervisory board.
• Ambit Biosciences Inc., of San Diego, added David R.
Parkinson to its board.
• Argos Therapeutics Inc., of Durham, N.C., appointed
Jean Lamarre to its board.
• Ambrx Inc., of San Diego, named Lawson Macartney
president and CEO.
• Armagen Technologies Inc., of Los Angeles, named
James Callaway CEO.
• Amgen Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif., appointed Cynthia
M. Patton vice president and chief compliance officer,
Vance D. Coffman lead independent director and Ray Jordan senior vice president, corporate affairs. Amgen also
appointed Robert A. Bradway chairman of its board and
added Robert Eckert to its board.
• Arno Therapeutics Inc., of Flemington, N.J., added
Randy Thurman to its board.
• Ampio Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Greenwood Village,
Colo., appointed Josh Disbrow chief operating officer.
• Asceneuron SA, of Lausanne, Switzerland, added J. Donald deBethizy to its board.
• Anaptysbio Inc., of San Diego, named Andrew McKnight
senior director, target biology.
• Assurerx Health Inc., of Cincinnati, appointed David A.
Mrazek chairman of its new scientific advisory board and
added Brian D. Athey, Tracy A. Glauser, James L. Kennedy,
Lawrence J. Lesko, John P. Pestian, Sheldon H. Preskorn
and Wolfgang Sadee.
• Anavex Life Sciences Corp., of Vancouver, British
Columbia, named Athanasios (Tom) Skarpelos a director
of the company.
• Anergis, of Eplinges, Switzerland, named Gilles Della
Corte director of clinical development and Eva Castagnetti
director of product development.
• Array Biopharma Inc., of Boulder, Colo., appointed
Michael N. Needle chief medical officer and added John
Orwin to its board.
• Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd., part of Astellas Pharma
Inc., of Tokyo, appointed Susan Wood senior director,
market access.
• Anika Therapeutics Inc., of Bedford, Mass., named Sylvia Cheung chief financial officer.
• Astellas Pharma Inc., of Tokyo, named Songlin Xue head
of global pharmacovigilance, and he will be based in the
Northbrook, Ill., office.
• Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Haywood, Calif.,
appointed May Liu senior vice president, finance and
administration.
• Atheronova Inc., of Irvine, Calif., named Mark K. Wedel
senior vice president of clinical affairs and chief medical
officer, appointed Stephen Nicholls chair of its clinical
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advisory board, added John Kastelein to its medical advisory board and added Fred Knoll to its board.
• Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Aliso Viejo, Calif., added
Corinne Nevinny to its board.
• Avaxia Biologics Inc., of Lexington, Mass., added Deborah S. Hartman vice president of research.
• Aveo Oncology Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., added Robert
Epstein to its board.
• Axelar AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, named Harald Janson
CEO.
• Bach Pharma Inc., of North Andover, Mass., named William S. Lynn director emeritus.
• Benitec Biopharma Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, added
Kevin Buchi to its board.
• Bergenbio AS, of Bergen, Norway, added Barrie Ward to
its board.
• BG Medicine Inc., of Waltham, Mass., named Howard
Rosen vice president, sales and marketing; Thomas Bendix
Mortensen vice president, sales and marketing in Europe;
Charles H. Abdalian Jr. executive vice president and chief
financial officer; and Paul Sohmer president and CEO.
• Bind Biosciences Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., named
Andrew Hirsch chief financial officer, Gregory I. Berk chief
medical officer and Daniel S. Lynch chairman of its board.
• Biocartis SA, of Lausanne, Switzerland, named Stefan
Scherer chief medical officer.
• Biocryst Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Research Triangle
Park, N.C., elected Fred E. Cohen to its board.
• Biodelivery Sciences International Inc., of Raleigh, N.C.,
appointed George K. Ng senior vice president and general
counsel, named Adrian Hepner vice president of clinical
and regulatory affairs and added Thomas W. D’Alonzo to
its board.
• Biogen Idec Inc., of Weston, Mass., appointed Spyros
Artavanis-Tsakonas chief scientific officer.
• Bioinvent International AB, of Lund, Sweden, named
Michael Oredsson president and CEO, to be effective
within six months of June 2013.
• Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc., of Novato, Calif., named
BioWorld BioPeople
Jeff Ajer senior vice president and chief commercial officer.
• Biomotiv LLC, of Cleveland, named Baiju R. Shah CEO
and board member.
• Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., of Belleville, Ontario,
appointed James Rae independent chairman of its board
and named Michael Rubin vice president, business development.
• Biontech AG, of Mainz, Germany, named Sean Marett
chief operating officer.
• Biorestorative Therapies Inc., of Jupiter, Fla., named
Wayne A. Marasco chairman of its scientific advisory
board.
• Biosante Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Baudette, Minn.,
added Robert Schrepfer as vice president of new business
development and contract manufacturing. The company
also appointed Daniel Raynor to its board.
• Biota Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Rockville, Md., added
Anne M. VanLent and Michael R. Dougherty to its board.
VanLent also was named chair of the audit committee.
• Biothera Inc., of Eagan, Minn., added John P. Atkinson
to its research advisory board.
• Biotime Inc., of Alameda, Calif., appointed Jeffrey Janus
vice president of sales and marketing. The company also
appointed Stephen C. Farrell to its board.
• Blueprint Medicines, of Cambridge, Mass., appointed
Chris Varma president and CEO. The company also added
David Schenkein to its board and named Daniel S. Lynch
executive chairman of its board.
• Boston Therapeutics Inc., of Manchester, N.H.,
appointed Peter Sheehan consulting medical director.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., of New York, named Francis
Cuss executive vice president and chief scientific officer.
• C3 Jian Inc., of Los Angeles, added Richard Bastiani to
its board.
• Cadence Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, appointed
Stephen L. Newman to its board.
• Caisson Biotech LLC, of Austin, Texas, appointed Glenn
Nedwin CEO and president.
• Cambrex Corp., of East Rutherford, N.J., named Shlomo
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Yanai nonexecutive vice chairman of the board.
• Cangene Corp., of Winnipeg, Manitoba, appointed
Michael Adelman vice president, commercial operations.
• Cannabis Science Inc., of Colorado Springs, Colo.,
named Dorothy Bray CEO and director. It also appointed
Michael McGrath to its scientific advisory board.
• Cardio3 Biosciences, of Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium,
appointed Alexander Milstein vice president of clinical
development.
• Cardiome Pharma Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia, appointed William Hunter president and CEO and
promoted Karim Lalji to chief commercial officer. Sheila
Grant was named chief operating officer. Cardiome also
added Steen Juul-Moller as medical director and
appointed Jennifer Archibald chief financial officer.
• Cardium Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, appointed the
following members to its new medical advisory board:
Rudolph C. Anderson Jr., Jay S. Berenter, James Blaine,
Anthony Cannizzaro, John D. Halebian, Howard M. Kimmel, Lawrence A. Lavery, Eric J. Lullove, William D.
McDonald, Jeffrey A. Ross, Arthur J. Tallis, David A. Yeager
and Stephanie C. S. Wu.
• Caris Life Sciences Inc., of Irving, Texas, appointed
Joachim Schorr chief scientific officer.
• Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners Inc., of Coral Gables,
Fla., named Bernardino Mosquera vice president of clinical operations.
• Celator Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Princeton, N.J.,
appointed Fred M. Powell chief financial officer.
• Cell Medica Ltd., of London, appointed Kurt Gunter
chief medical officer, Jeff Hammel chief financial officer
and Ross Durland senior vice president development with
global responsibility for product development.
• Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, appointed Matthew J.
Plunkett executive vice president, corporate development
and named Daniel D. Von Hoff chairman of its scientific
advisory board.
• Cellular Biomedicine Group Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif.,
named Gene Hsiao corporate controller and appointed
Jianping Dai to its board.
• Celsion Corp., of Lawrenceville, N.J., named Jeffrey W.
Church chief financial officer.
BioWorld BioPeople
• Celtaxsys Inc., of San Francisco, appointed Edward E.
Philpot chair of its new medical advisory panel and added
Stuart Elborn, Richard B. Moss, Steven M. Rowe and
Michael S. Schechter to the panel. The company also
named Brett A. Premack chief technology officer.
• Cepheid Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., named Warren C.
Kocmond executive vice president, global operations.
• Cerecor Inc., of Baltimore, appointed James Vornov
senior vice president, clinical development and regulatory
affairs; John Kaiser vice president of commercialization
and business development; and Federica F. O’Brien chief
financial officer.
• Champions Oncology Inc., of Hackensack, N.J., added
Dan Mendelson and Arthur G. (Bart) Epker III to its board.
• Chemocentryx Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., added Ira
Klein to its board.
• Chimerix Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., appointed
Michelle Berrey chief medical officer and Michael D. Rogers chief development officer. Chimerix also named Ernest
Mario board chairman.
• Circassia Ltd., of Oxford, UK, appointed Brett Haumann
chief medical officer and Stewart Sharpe vice president,
commercial operations. Circassia also added Jean-Jacques
Garaud to its board.
• Civitas Therapeutics Inc., of Chelsea, Mass., named
Bryan Stuart chief business officer.
• Clarus Therapeutics Inc., of Northbrook, Ill., named
Theodore M. Danoff vice president of clinical development and chief medical officer and appointed Wael A.
Salameh vice president of medical affairs and chief scientific officer.
• Clavis Pharma ASA, of Oslo, Norway, named Martin Nes
interim chairman of the board and Gunnar Manum, who
is chief financial officer, acting CEO.
• Clearside Biomedical Inc., of Alpharetta, Ga., appointed
Stephen H. Lang vice president, commercial operations.
• Cleave Biosciences Inc., of Burlingame, Calif., named
David Wustrow vice president of chemistry and added
Robert Garland to its board.
• Cleveland Biolabs Inc., of Buffalo, N.Y., appointed David
Hohn board chairman, Jean Viallet chief development
officer, Gillian Miller senior director of regulatory affairs
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and Judith Schnyder director of clinical operations. The
company also added Julia Brown and Anthony Principi to
its board.
• Coco Therapeutics Ltd., of London, named Steve
Butcher chief operating officer, and the company also
appointed Clive Ballard, Jonathan Corcoran, Roy Lobb,
Andrew Wood and Butcher to its clinical and scientific
advisory board.
• Coherus Biosciences Inc., of Redwood City, Calif.,
named George G. Montgomery chief financial officer and
V. Bryan Lawlis chairman of its scientific advisory board.
• Collegium Pharmaceutical Inc., of Canton, Mass.,
appointed Douglas Carlson vice president of business
development.
• Combimatrix Corp., of Irvine, Calif., named Mark
McDonough chief commercial officer and added Jeremy
M. Jones to its board.
• Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, appointed
Mark Morris head of biostatistics and Daniel Ripley head
of corporate development.
• Cornerstone Therapeutics Inc., of Cary, N.C., appointed
Alastair McEwan chief financial officer.
• Coronado Biosciences Inc., of Burlington, Mass.,
appointed Thomas F. Schaible project leader,
inflammatory bowel disease; George Avgerinos senior
vice president, biologics operations; and Harlan F.
Weisman CEO and board member.
• Cytodyn Inc., of Portland, Ore., appointed Anthony D.
Caracciolo chairman and named Michael D. Mulholland
chief financial officer, treasurer and corporate secretary.
The company also added Michael Nobel and Allan Green to
its board.
• Cytomx Therapeutics Inc., of South San Francisco,
appointed Krishna Polu chief medical officer. Cytomx also
promoted Debanjan Ray to vice president of business
development and alliance management.
• Cytori Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, named Steven
Kesten executive vice president and chief medical officer.
• Cytos Biotechnology Ltd., of Zurich, Switzerland,
appointed Christian Itin CEO, Matthias Alder executive vice
president for corporate development and legal affairs, and
Cheryl Lassen vice president for clinical development.
• Cytrx Corp., of Los Angeles, named Daniel Levitt executive vice president, and he will continue as chief medical
officer.
• Dara Biosciences Inc., of Raleigh, N.C., added Stephen
Jaeger and Timothy J. Heady to its board.
• Dart Therapeutics LLC, of Cambridge, Mass., named
Eugene W. Williams CEO, Ernest D. Bush chief scientific officer, Elliot Goldstein chief medical officer and Cabot Brown
chief financial officer.
• DBV Technologies, of Antony, France, appointed Veronique Foutel chief strategic marketing officer and Stef Koppelman general scientific advisor.
• Creabilis SA, of Luxembourg, added Catherine Moukheibir to its board.
• DCPrime BV, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, named
Marcel Zwaal CEO and Anthony Hall chief medical officer.
• Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass.,
appointed Lorianne Masuoka chief medical officer and
senior vice president, clinical development and medical
affairs; Thomas J. DesRosier senior vice president, chief
legal officer and secretary; and Patrick Vink senior vice
president and general manager of international business.
• Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lawrence, Kan.,
appointed John Condeelis to its scientific advisory board.
• Curemark LLC, of Rye, N.Y., named Matthew Heil chief
scientific officer and James Szigethy vice president of
research and product development.
• Curis Inc., of Lexington, Mass., appointed Ali Fattaey
president and chief operating officer and named Mani
Mohindru vice president of corporate strategy and investor relations. Curis also named Kenneth Pienta to its
board.
BioWorld BioPeople
• Delmar Pharmaceuticals, of Vancouver, British Columbia,
added John K. Bell to its board.
• Dendreon Corp., of Seattle, named Lindsay Rocco executive vice president of corporate communications and member of the executive committee.
• Depomed Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., added Samuel R.
Saks, Vincente J. Anido Jr. and Louis J. Lavigne Jr. to its
board.
• Dezima Pharma BV, of Naarden, the Netherlands, named
Rob de Ree CEO.
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• Diamyd Medical AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, added
Bryndis Birnir, Brooke Ligon and Qinghua Wang to its scientific and medical advisory board.
• Discovery Laboratories Inc., of Warrington, Pa., named
John G. Cooper president and CEO and John R. Leone
board chairman; Cooper will continue as chief financial
officer. The company also added Joseph M. Mahady and
John R. Leone to its board.
• Durata Therapeutics Inc., of Morristown, N.J., named
Allison Wey vice president of investor relations and public
affairs.
• Dyadic International Inc., of Jupiter, Fla., named Danai
Brooks executive vice president and chief operating officer.
• Dyax Corp., of Burlington, Mass., added Marc Kozin to
its board.
• Dynavax Technologies Corp., of Berkeley, Calif.,
appointed Robert Janssen chief medical officer and vice
president of clinical development, David Novack senior
vice president of operations and quality and Christine Larson vice president and chief financial officer. The company also added Natale (Nat) Ricciardi to its board.
• Eclipse Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, added Patrick
O’Connor to its scientific advisory board.
• Edge Therapeutics Inc., of New Providence, N.J., named
Robert S. Langer chairman of its scientific advisory committee, Sol J. Barer chairman of the board and Isaac Blech
vice chairman.
• Edimer Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass.,
added William Aliski and Wendy L. Dixon to its board.
• Effrx Pharmaceuticals SA, of Freienbach, Switzerland,
appointed Lorenzo Bosisio vice president, head of business development and marketing.
• Egenix Inc., of Millbrook, N.Y., appointed Bob Bishop,
Jerry Shipps, Alan Cooper and Arshad Siddiqui to its drug
development team, and added Siddiqui, Rainer Fuchs and
John Reid to its board.
• Eisai Inc., of Woodcliff Lake, N.J., named Lynn Kramer
chief clinical officer of Eisai Product Creation Systems and
Ricardo Gonzalez Balboa general manager of Eisai Laboratorios, S. de R.L. de C.V. in Mexico.
• Elcelyx Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, named Mark
Wiggins senior vice president of business development
BioWorld BioPeople
and added Ginger Graham to its board.
• Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, named Michael Harrington senior vice president and general counsel.
• EMD Millipore, part of Merck KGaA, of Darmstadt, Germany, named John Kamerud principal scientific director
for discovery and development solutions.
• Emergent Solutions Inc., of Rockville, Md., appointed
Robert G. Kramer chief financial officer.
• Emisphere Technologies Inc., of Cedar Knolls, N.J.,
appointed Alan L. Rubino president and CEO and Timothy
G. Rothwell chairman of its board.
• Emmaus Medical Inc., of Torrance, Calif., part of
Emmaus Life Sciences Inc., named Timothy Cote
regulatory advisor.
• Endocyte Inc., of West Lafayette, Ind., appointed Scot L.
Harper vice president of clinical operations and David
Meek chief commercial officer. It also added Lesley Russell and Marc Kozin to its board.
• Entremed Inc., of Rockville, Md., appointed Ken K. Ren
CEO and added James Huang and Y. Alexander Wu to its
board.
• Envivo Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Watertown, Mass.,
appointed Deborah Dunsire president and CEO.
• Epicept Corp., of Tarrytown, N.Y., added Robert W. Cook
to its board.
• Epirus Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of Boston, appointed
Thomas Shea chief financial officer and named J. Kevin
Buchi to its board.
• Epizyme Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., named Jason P.
Rhodes president.
• Esperion Therapeutics Inc., of Plymouth, Mich., named
Tim Mayleben president and CEO and Roger Newton
executive chairman and chief scientific officer.
• Eyevensys, of Paris, appointed Ivan Cohen-Tanugi CEO.
• F2G Ltd., of Manchester, UK, appointed Ian Nicholson
CEO and board member.
• Fate Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, added K. Christopher Garcia to its scientific advisory team and appointed
Christian Weyer president and CEO.
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• Fedora Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Edmonton, Alberta,
appointed Ronald W. Odynski and Leonard E. Post to its
newly created board, named Christopher Micetich board
chairman and appointed Thomas Parr chief scientific officer.
• Five Prime Therapeutics Inc., of South San Francisco,
appointed Julie Hambleton senior vice president and chief
medical officer.
• Flexion Therapeutics Inc., of Woburn, Mass., appointed
Frederick W. Driscoll chief financial officer.
• Forma Therapeutics Inc., of Watertown, Mass.,
appointed Christopher Kirby general counsel and Rob
Sarisky chief business officer. Forma also appointed Peter
Wirth chairman of its board.
• Glycovaxyn AG, of Zurich, Switzerland, named Gerd
Zettlmeissl board chairman.
• Gradalis Inc., of Dallas, appointed Joseph M. Limber
president and CEO.
• Halozyme Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, named David
A. Ramsay chief financial officer and appointed Matt
Posard to its board.
• Hatchtech Pty. Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, appointed
Hugh Alsop CEO.
• Hemispherx Biopharma Inc., of Philadelphia, added
Peter W. Rodino III to its board and appointed him chairman of the audit committee.
• Foundation Medicine Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., named
Steven J. Kafka chief business officer.
• Hemoshear LLC, of Charlottesville, Va., added Mehmood Khan and Frederick W.K. Brown to its board.
• Galectin Therapeutics Inc., of Newton, Mass., named
Harold H. Shlevin chief operating officer, Jack W. Callicutt
chief financial officer and Rex Horton executive director
of regulatory affairs and quality assurance.
• Heptares Therapeutics Ltd., of Welwyn Garden City, UK,
added Roger M. Perlmutter to its board.
• Galena Biopharma Inc., of Lake Oswego, Ore., added
William L. Ashton to its board.
• Galenea Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., added Timothy
Ryan to its scientific advisory board.
• Genable Technologies Ltd., of Dublin, Ireland,
appointed Annette Clancy board chairman.
• Genelux Corp., of San Diego, appointed Stefan M.
Manth president and CEO.
• Genmus Pharma Inc., of San Francisco, added Christopher Dunn, Louis Miller Jr. and Marc Rubin to its board.
• Histogenics Corp., of Waltham, Mass., named Peter
Greenleaf CEO and added Kevin L. Rakin to its board.
• Hookipa Biotech AG, of Vienna, Austria, appointed
Paul-Henri Lambert chairman of its new scientific advisory
board and added Stanley Plotkin, Michael Mach, Arnaud
Marchant and Franz Heinz.
• Hyperion Therapeutics Inc., of South San Francisco,
named Ashley Gould senior vice president of governmental affairs and chief legal officer, Natalie Holles senior vice
president of corporate and business development and
Sylvia Wheeler vice president of investor relations and
corporate communications. The company also added Daniel G. Welch to its board.
• Geno LLC, of Waltham, Mass., named Kurt Dasse president and Barry Gellman senior vice president, engineering.
• Ibio Inc., of Newark, Del., appointed Andrea Corcoran
senior vice president, finance and strategy, and added
Seymour Flug to its board.
• Genocea Biosciences Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., added
Katrine Bosley to its board.
• Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass.,
added Charles Rowland to its board.
• Genspera Inc., of San Antonio, named Nancy Jean Barnabei vice president of finance and treasurer.
• Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass.,
appointed James Geraghty chairman.
• Glide Pharmaceutical Technologies Ltd., of Oxfordshire,
UK, named Mark Carnegie-Brown CEO.
• Igenica Inc., of Burlingame, Calif., appointed Mary Haak
Frendscho CEO and Thi-Sau Migone chief scientific officer.
• Gliknik Inc., of Baltimore, added Paul A. Friedman to its
board.
• Ignyta Inc., of San Diego, appointed Tom Huizinga to its
scientific advisory board.
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• Imaginab Inc., of Los Angeles, appointed Abbie Celniker
chairman of its board.
• Intelgenx Corp., of Saint Laurent, Quebec, named Rajiv
Khosla chief operating officer and chief scientific officer.
• Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, of Tuebingen, Germany, appointed Peter Chambre chairman of its board.
• Intellicell Biosciences Inc., of New York, appointed
Harry Fisch director of urology and added him to its scientific advisory board. It also added Michael Hershman and
Myron Z. Holubiak to its board.
• Immunocellular Therapeutics Ltd., of Los Angeles,
named Andrew Gengos president and CEO.
• Immunocore Ltd., of Oxford, UK, appointed Eva Lotta
Allan chief business officer.
• Immunogen Inc., of Waltham, Mass., named Charles
Morris executive vice president and chief development
officer.
• Immunotech Laboratories Inc., of Glendale, Calif.,
added Valentin Dimitrov to its board as chief financial
advisor.
• Immunovaccine Inc., of Halifax, Nova Scotia, added
Scott Halperin to its scientific advisory board.
• Imprimis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Solana Beach, Calif.,
added Gus Bassani and Stephen Austin to its board. The
company also added Lee S. Simon, Allan Green and Gerald Yakatan to its science and regulatory advisory board.
• Innovus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., named
Morgan Brown executive vice president and chief financial officer and appointed Robert E. Hoffman to its business and finance advisory board.
• Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Lexington, Mass.,
named David R. King executive chairman.
• Insmed Inc., of Monmouth Junction, N.J., named Will
Lewsi president and CEO and Andrew Drechsler chief
financial officer.
• Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge,
Mass., appointed Robert Corcoran senior vice president,
quality; Mike Keavany vice president of commercial operations, North America; Mark De Rosch vice president, regulatory affairs; Neil Schauer vice president, process sciences; and Lorrie Ferraro vice president, human
resources. The company also added Scott A. Canute and
Gino Santini to its board.
• Intarcia Therapeutics Inc., of Boston, appointed Eddie Li
vice president and global head of regulatory affairs and
Owen Hughs Jr. chief business officer and head of corporate development. The company also added Gino Santini
to its board.
BioWorld BioPeople
• Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, appointed
Daniel Regan chief commercial officer.
• Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc., of New York, added
Michael Rawlins to its board.
• Invivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp., of Cambridge,
Mass., named Brian Hess interim chief science officer.
• Ipsen SA, of Paris, appointed Christel Bories deputy
CEO.
• Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass.,
named Mark Currie senior vice president, chief scientific
officer and president of research and development. Ironwood also added Benjamin Cravatt to its pharmaceutical
advisory committee and Edward Owens to its board.
• Isa Pharmaceuticals BV, of Leiden, the Netherlands,
appointed Jan Fagerberg chief medical officer and named
Jens Hennecke chief business officer and advisor. Gerard
Platenburg will become chief operating officer.
• Ischemix Inc., of Maynard, Mass., named David A.
DeWahl Jr. president and CEO.
• Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., named
Breaux Castleman to its board.
• Islet Sciences Inc., of New York, added Eitan Akirav,
Kevan Herold and Morton Printz to its scientific advisory
board and Richard A. Franco Sr. to its board.
• Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc, of Dublin, Ireland, added
Catherine Angell Sohn to its board.
• Johnson & Johnson, of New Brunswick, N.J., added A.
Eugene Washington it its board.
• Juventas Therapeutics Inc., of Cleveland, named Paul
Resnick vice president of business development.
• Kala Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Waltham, Mass.,
appointed Guillaume Pfefer president and CEO, Charles
McDermott executive vice president of business development and Kim Brazzell chief medical officer. The company
68
also added Bernard Gilly to its board.
• Kalobios Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco,
appointed Donald R. Joseph chief legal officer.
• Karus Therapeutics Ltd., of Southhampton, UK,
appointed James Bristol, Jeff Evans, Fritz Frickel, Richard
Groves, Chris Reilly, Phill Hawkins, Len Stephens and Bart
Vanhaesebroeck to its new scientific advisory board.
• Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc., of Natick, Mass., named
Paul Brannelly senior vice president, finance and administration.
• Kempharm Inc., of North Liberty, Iowa, appointed Gordon K. (Rusty) Johnson chief operating officer and chief
financial officer.
• Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, appointed
Amit Sharma vice president of medical affairs.
• Kinex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Buffalo, N.Y., appointed
Flint D. Besecker chief financial officer and executive vice
president and Patrick Gallagher vice president, business
development and investor relations.
• Kite Pharma Inc., of Los Angeles, named Keith Nolop
chief medical officer.
• Kolltan Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New Haven Conn.,
named Jane Henderson senior vice president and chief
business officer and Theresa M. LaVallee vice president,
translational medicine.
• Labrys Biologics Inc., of San Francisco, appointed Marcelo Bigal chief medical officer, Michael Chang vice president of project management, Michele Bronson vice president of regulatory and quality, Rafael Escandon president
of clinical operations and Henry Stern executive director
of CMC.
• Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of The Woodlands, Texas,
named John Northcott vice president of marketing, commercial strategy and operations.
• Lycera Corp., of Ann Arbor, Mich., named Bruce A.
Goldsmith chief business officer.
• Medigene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, added Peter
Llewellyn-Davies to its executive management board and
appointed Joseph J. Grano Jr. to its board.
• Medistem Inc., of San Diego, appointed Alan Lewis CEO.
• Medivir AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, appointed Henrik
Krook executive vice president, commercial.
• Mei Pharma Inc., of San Diego, added Nick Glover and
Thomas C. Reynolds to its board. It also named Christine
A. White acting lead director of its board.
• Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass.,
added James Quigley to its board.
• Mersana Therapeutics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass.,
appointed Peter Park vice president of biology and Wayne
Foster vice president of finance.
• Merz Inc., of Greensboro, N.C., part of the Merz Pharma
Group, named Hyunna Coelho vice president, commercial
excellence, and Cynthia Schwalm vice president, neurology.
• Mimedx Group Inc., of Kennesaw, Ga., added Charles R.
Evans and Neil S. Yeston to its board.
• Miragen Therapetuics Inc., of Boulder, Colo., appointed
Christopher J. Morl chief business officer and Aimee L.
Jackson director of target development.
• Mirna Therapeutics Inc., of Austin, Texas, appointed
Sinil Kim vice president of oncology and chief medical
officer and added Clay B. Siegall to its board.
• Mission Therapeutics Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, appointed
Michael Moore executive chairman and Fritz Frickel nonexecutive director of its board.
• Lightlake Therapeutics Inc., of London, appointed Kevin
Pollack chief financial officer and David Kessler strategic
advisor.
• Moderna Therapeutics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., named
John Reynders chief information officer; Stephen Hoge
senior vice president of corporate development and new
drug concepts; and Divakar Ramakrishnan senior vice president of process development, manufacturing and quality.
The company also added Henri A. Termeer to its board.
• Lixte Biotechnology Holdings Inc., of East Setauket, N.Y.,
added Kathleen Mullinix to its board.
• Morria Biopharmaceuticals plc, of London, named Alan
Harris chief medical officer.
• Lorus Therapeutics Inc., of Toronto, named Brad
Thompson to its board.
• Mucosis BV, of Groningen, the Netherlands, named
Thomas Johnston CEO.
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69
• Multicell Technologies Inc., of Woonsocket, R.I., added
Grant G. Miller to its board.
appointed Keith R. Bley senior vice president of product
development.
• Mylan Inc., of Pittsburgh, added Melina Higgins and
Rajiv Malik to its board.
• Novalix SAS, of Strasbourg, France, appointed Luc Van
Hijfte CSO drug discovery.
• Mymetics Corp., of Epalinges, Switzerland, named Ronald Kempers president and CEO.
• Novavax Inc., of Rockville, Md., named Amy B. Fix vice
president of regulatory affairs and Barclay A. (Buck) Phillips senior vice president and chief financial officer.
• Myokardia Inc., of South San Francisco, named Jonathan C. Fox chief medical officer.
• N30 Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Boulder, Colo., named
Sherif Gabriel vice president of research.
• Nanobio Corp., of Ann Arbor, Mich., named David Peralta CEO.
• Novira Therapeutics Inc., of Radnor, Pa., named Klaus
Klumpp vice president, discovery research.
• Novocure Inc., of Anaheim, Calif., added Louis J. Lavigne
Jr., James T. Lenehan, Robert J. Mylod Jr. and Charles G.
Phillips III to its board.
• Nanobiotix, of Paris, added Alain Herrera to its supervisory board.
• Nuevolution A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, added
Marc Feldmann, Gordon B. Mills and Alan Collis as scientific advisors.
• Nanoviricides Inc., of West Haven, Conn., added Milton
Boniuk and Mukund S. Kulkarni to its board.
• Numab AG, of Wadenswil, Switzerland, appointed Burkhard Becher to its scientific advisory board.
• Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of Dublin, Ohio,
named Cornelia Reininger chief medical officer.
• Numedii Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., appointed Craig Webb
chief scientific officer. It also added Ted Driscoll, Brad
Webb and Samuel Saks to its board.
• Neostem Inc., of New York, appointed Stephen W. Potter executive vice president and added him to its board.
• Neurovive Pharmaceutical AB, of Lund, Sweden,
appointed Jan Nilsson chief operating officer and elected
Anna Malm Bernsten and Boel Flodgren to its board.
• Newlink Genetics Corp., of Ames, Iowa, appointed
Brian Wiley vice president of business development.
• Nicox SA, of Sophia Antipolis, France, appointed Jason
Menzo director of marketing, Mark Puwal national director of sales and Jason Werner director of commercial
development and strategic alliances.
• Nile Therapeutics Inc., of San Mateo, Calif., named Darlene Horton president, CEO and director.
• Nimbus Discovery LLC, of Cambridge, Mass., appointed
William (Wes) F. Westlin head of preclinical research and
early development.
• Northwest Biotherapeutics Inc., of Bethesda, Md.,
named Gunter Rosskamp CEO of its German subsidiary,
Northwest Biotherapeutics GmbH.
• Novabay Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Emeryville, Calif.,
BioWorld BioPeople
• Nuovo Biologics LLC, of Miami, added Robert G. Savage
to its board.
• Ocular Therapeutix Inc., of Bedford, Mass., added Richard Lindstrom to its board.
• Ohr Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, added Jeffrey S.
Heier and Daniel Roth to its scientific advisory board. The
company also added June S. Almenoff and Thomas M.
Riedhammer to its board.
• Omeros Corp., of Seattle, named Thomas A. Mitro vice
president, sales and marketing. It also added Arnold C.
Hanish to its board and appointed him chairman of the
audit committee.
• Oncolytics Biotech Inc., of Calgary, Alberta, named Alan
J. Tuchman chief medical officer and senior vice president, clinical and medical development, and Jeremy
Grushcow general counsel.
• Onconova Therapeutics Inc., of Newtown, Pa.,
appointed Ajay Bansal chief financial officer and Thomas
J. McKearn president, research and development. Onconova also added Jerome Groopman and Anne VanLent to
its board.
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• Oncos Therapeutics Ltd., of Helsinki, Finland, named
Frans Wuite president and CEO and Pekka Simula chief
operating officer.
• Oncosec Medical Inc., of San Diego, appointed Sanjiv S.
Agarwala, Axel Hauschild, Kim A. Margolin and Vernon K.
Sondak to its new melanoma advisory board (MAB) and
named Adil I. Daud chairman of the MAB.
• Oncothyreon Inc., of Seattle, named Guy Cipriani vice
president, business development.
• Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco,
named Pablo J. Cagnoni executive vice president, global
research and development and technical operations, and
N. Anthony Coles chairman of its board.
eda, Calif., appointed Francois Binette vice president of
research and business development.
• Ovascience Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., named Alison
Lawton chief operating officer and Christopher Beck chief
commercial officer. The company also added Mary Fisher
and Thomas Malley to its board.
• Oxford Biomedica plc, of Oxford, UK, added Martin Diggle to its board.
• Oxford Biotherapeutics Ltd., of Oxford, UK, appointed
Bryan G. Morton nonexecutive chairman.
• Oxigene Inc., of South San Francisco, added David (Dai)
Chaplin to its board.
• Ophthalix Inc., of Carson City, Nev., named Gil BenMenachem CEO.
• Oxygen Biotherapeutics Inc., of Morrisville, N.C.,
named Charles L. Pamplin III chief medical officer.
• Opko Health Inc., of Miami, named David Okrongly
president of its diagnostics business unit.
• Pacific Biosciences of California Inc., of Menlo Park,
Calif., named Jonas Korlach chief scientific officer.
• Opthalix Inc., of Petach Tikva, Israel, appointed Michael
Belkin to its board.
• Pain Therapeutics Inc., of Austin, Texas, added Saira
Ramasastry to its board.
• Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Jersey City, N.J.,
named Henry McKinnell CEO and Eric Sirota chief
operating officer. Optimer also added Stephen Newman
to its board.
• Pathwork Diagnostics Inc., of Redwood City, Calif.,
named Lee McCracken CEO.
• Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Jerusalem, named
Joshua Hexter chief operating officer and vice president
of business development. It also added Gerald Ostrov to
its board.
• PDL Biopharma Inc., of Incline Village, Nev., appointed
David Montez controller and chief accounting officer;
Peter S. Garcia vice president, chief financial officer and
acting chief accounting officer; and Glenn M. Reicin
senior advisor.
• Orexigen Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, added David
Endicott to its board.
• Pearl Therapeutics Inc., of Redwood City, Calif.,
appointed Michael Riebe vice president, pharmaceutical
development and research.
• Organovo Holdings Inc., of San Diego, added Tamar D.
Howson to its board.
• Pfenex Inc., of San Diego, named Kristi Sarno director of
business development.
• Orgenesis Inc., of White Plains, N.Y., appointed Sav
DiPasquale president and CEO and Jacob BenArie CEO of
its subsidiary, Orgenesis Ltd. Orgenesis also added Camillo
Ricordi to its scientific advisory board and David Sidransky
to its board.
• Pharmacyclics Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., appointed
Joshua Brumm executive vice president of finance.
• Osiris Therapeutics Inc., of Columbia, Md., appointed
Lode Debrabandere chief operating officer. Osiris added
Hans Klingemann to its board and appointed him to the
audit, compensation and nominating committees.
• Othocyte Corp., a subsidiary of Biotime Inc., of AlamBioWorld BioPeople
• Pharmalink AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, named Heather
Cook director of regulatory affairs and Marek Poszepczynski director of business development.
• Pharmanest AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, added Per
Lango and Gunilla Ekstrom to its board, and named Alan
Raffensperger board chairman.
• Phasebio Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Malvern, Pa.,
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appointed Jonathan Mow chief business officer.
• Pluristem Therapeutics Inc., of Haifa, Israel, appointed
Fred Appelbaum, Richard Champlin, Edwin M. Horwitz,
Hillard M. Lazarus, Reuven Or and Jacob M. Rowe to its
hematology clinical advisory board.
• PNP Therapeutics Inc., of Birmingham, Ala., added J.
Claude Bennet and James F. Fuqua to its board.
• Polyphor Ltd., of Allschwil, Switzerland, added Jerry
Karabelas, Jean-Jacques Garaud, Bernard Bollag and JeanPierre Obrecht to its board.
• Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco,
added Robert Califf to its board.
• Probiodrug AG, of Halle, Germany, appointed Ronald
Black chief medical officer and Inge Lues chief development officer.
• Promedior Inc., of Malvern, Pa., appointed Elizabeth G.
Trehu chief medical officer and appointed Howard J.
Weisman to its board.
• Promentis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Milwaukee,
appointed Chad Beyer president and CEO.
• Prosensa Therapeutics BV, of Leiden, the Netherlands,
named Larry Bell vice president of regulatory affairs and
Henri Termeer strategic advisor.
• PTC Therapeutics Inc., of South Plainfield, N.J.,
appointed Mark A. Rothera chief commercial officer and
Shane Kovacs chief financial officer. PTC also added Geoffrey McDonough and Jerome B. Zeldis to its board.
• Pulmatrix Inc., of Lexington, Mass., appointed Robert
Clarke CEO.
• Qu Biologics, of Vancouver, British Columbia, appointed
Richard Fedorak and William Sandborn to its new IBD
advisory team, and added Robert Pelzer to its board.
• Quanterix Corp., of Lexington, Mass., named Paul Chapman president and CEO.
• Quest Diagnostics Inc., of Madison, N.J., appointed Jim
Davis senior vice president, diagnostic solutions.
• Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Anaheim Hills, Calif.,
appointed Michael Aldridge senior vice president, corporate strategic development. The company added Angus C.
Russell to its board.
• Receptos Inc., of San Diego, appointed Graham Cooper
chief financial officer and appointed Erle T. Mast director.
• Regenesis Biomedical Inc., of Scottsdale, Ariz., named
Scott Brooks CEO.
• Prosonix Ltd., of Oxford, UK, appointed Cecile Miles
chief business officer and Ken Cunningham non-executive
chairman of its board.
• Regulus Therapeutics Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., appointed
Victor Knopov vice president, pharmaceutical development. The company named Stelios Papadopoulos board
chairman; added Douglas E. Williams, William H. Rastetter to its board; and added Mark G. Foletta to its board
and audit committee.
• Prosonix, of Oxford, UK, appointed Frank Condella nonexecutive director.
• Relypsa Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., added Paul J. Hastings and David W.J. McGirr to its board.
• Protagonist Therapeutics Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif.,
appointed David Y. Liu chief scientific officer.
• Repros Therapeutics Inc., of The Woodlands, Texas,
appointed Joachim F. Wernicke chief medical officer.
Repros also named Trinity Bivalacqua, William Bremner,
John Dean, Andre Guay, Lawrence Hakin, Wayne Hellstrom, Edward Kim, Larry Lipshultz, Andrew McCullough,
Martin Miner, David Rowland, Allen Seftel and Myles Spar
to its clinical advisory board.
• Protea Biosciences Inc., of Morgantown, W. Va., added
Thijs Spoor and Josiah T. Austin to its board.
• Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass.,
named David Weiner chief medical officer and Markus
Haeberlein senior vice president of chemistry.
• Proteros Biostructures GmbH, of Martinsried, Germany,
named Arnd Christ chief financial officer.
• Resverlogix Corp., of Calgary, Alberta, appointed Bengt
Winblad chairman of the clinical and scientific advisory
board, and added Jeff Cummings, Henrick Zetterberg and
Rada Koldamova to that board.
• Prothena Corp. plc, of Dublin, added Dennis J. Selkoe,
Richard T. Colllier and Shane Cooke to its board.
• Retrophin LLC, of New York, appointed Stephen Aselage
CEO.
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• Retrosense Therapeutics LLC, of Ann Arbor, Mich.,
appointed Steven Bramer chief development officer.
• Revance Therapeutics Inc., of Newark, Calif., appointed
Lauren Silvernail chief financial officer and executive vice
president of corporate development.
• Rexahn Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Rockville, Md., named
Peter D. Suzdak CEO and Chang AHN chief scientist.
• Rib-X Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New Haven, Conn.,
named Mary Szela CEO; Eugene Sun executive vice president, research and development; Michael Kenston chief
commercial officer; and Thomas Koestler board chairman.
Rib-X also added John E. Sununu to its board.
• Roche Group, of Basel, Switzerland, appointed John C.
Reed head of Roche pharma research and early development and added him to its corporate executive committee.
• Ruthigen Inc., of Petaluma, Calif., a subsidiary of Oculus
Innovative Sciences Inc., named Sameer Harish chief
financial officer.
• Rxi Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Westborough, Mass.,
added Jeannette Graf and Leroy Young to its scientific
advisory board.
• Sagent Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Schaumburg, Ill.,
appointed James M. Hussey president and added Michael
Fekete to its board.
• Saladax Biomedical Inc., of Bethlehem, Pa., appointed
Mark D. Myslinski senior vice president and chief commercial officer.
• Sanguine Biosciences Inc., of Santa Monica, Calif.,
appointed Darlene Rosario to its clinical advisory board
and ethics committee.
• Savara Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Austin, Texas, appointed
Michael P. Boyle, Elliott C. Dasenbrook, Michael W. Konstan, Felix Ratjen and Grant Waterer to its new clinical
advisory board.
• Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc., of East Brunswick, N.J.,
named John P. Hamill senior vice president and chief
financial officer and added David Meeker and Robert G.
Savage to its board.
• Sciclone Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Foster City, Calif.,
appointed Hong Zhao CEO and Wilson W. Cheung chief
financial officer and senior vice president. The company
also added Simon Li to its board.
BioWorld BioPeople
• Scifluor Life Sciences LLC, of Cambridge, Mass., an
Allied Minds Company, named Ben C. Askew vice president, research.
• Shield Therapeutics Ltd., of London, named Julian
Howell group medical director and vice president of drug
development. The company also added Lynn Drummond
to its board.
• Shire plc, of Dublin, Ireland, appointed Soren Tulstrup
senior vice president and franchise lead, MPS for its
human genetic therapies business; Jeff Jonas president of
its regenerative medicine business; and Frederic Chereau
senior vice president and franchise lead, angioedema.
Shire also named Flemming Ornskov CEO and board
member.
• Sialix Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., appointed Galit Alter,
Robert Anthony, Brian Collins, Nicholas Haining, Ganesh V.
Kaundinya, Shiv Pillai, Sean Stevens, Ajit Varki and Todd
Zion to its scientific advisory board, and Ed Cannon, John
Ripple, Roger Swanhey and Todd Zion to its business advisory board.
• Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md.,
appointed Dave Lemus CEO.
• Silence Therapeutics plc, of London, named Jerry Randall executive chairman, Ali Mortazavi director of corporate strategy, Michael Khan chief medical advisor and Tim
Freeborn finance director.
• Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, of Nanjing, China,
named Hongquan Liu CEO and executive director of its
board, and appointed Yehong Zhang CEO of Simcere MSD
(Shanghai) Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Simcere’s joint venture with Merck & Co. Inc.
• Sirona Biochem Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia,
appointed Neil Belenkie CEO.
• Smart Therapeutics Inc., of Jupiter, Fla., added John H.
Abeles to its advisory board.
• Soligenix Inc., of Princeton, N.J., appointed Stephen T.
Sonis, Dorothy Keefe and Mark Schubert to its newly created medical advisory board, which will deal with
SGX942, its treatment for oral mucositis.
• Sophiris Bio Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., formerly Protox Therapeutics, appointed Randy Woods CEO. The company also
appointed Lars Ekman, John (Jack) Geltosky, Jim Heppell,
Noah Knauf, William R. Rohn, Amit Sobti and Randall E.
Woods to its board.
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• Sorbent Therapeutics Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif.,
appointed Jason Levin chief business officer.
• Soricimed Biopharma Inc., of Toronto, appointed Tom
Reeves to its board and named Mario Thomas vice president of business development.
• Sound Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Seattle, added Bruce A.
Beutler to its scientific advisory board.
• Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Henderson, Nev.,
named Joseph Turgeon senior vice president and chief
commercial officer; Robert Fralin vice president of sales;
and Al DeJesus executive director, marketing.
• Spherix Inc., of Bethesda, Md., appointed Harvey Kesner interim CEO.
Andrew Bristol vice president of research and development and Michael Kaleko senior vice president of
research and development. The company also added
Charles B. Shoemaker and Brad Spellberg to its scientific
advisory board.
• Tapimmune Inc., of Seattle, appointed Sherry Grisewood to its board.
• Targacept Inc., of Winston-Salem, N.C., appointed Stephen A. Hill president and CEO.
• Tau Therapeutics LLC, of Charlottesville, Va., appointed
Bruce A. Silver chief medical officer and Paul H. Satori vice
president of operations and strategy.
• Springleaf Therapeutics Inc., of Boston, appointed
Pieter Muntendam president and CEO.
• Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Vancouver, British
Columbia, said Michael Abrams, Kenneth Galbraith, Don
Jewell, Frank Karbe, Daniel Kisner and Mark J. Murray
were elected to its board.
• Stellar Biotechnologies Inc., of Port Hueneme, Calif.,
named Herbert Chow chief technology officer and Catherine Brisson chief pharmaceutical officer.
• Tesaro Inc., of Waltham, Mass., appointed Robert E.
Martell chief medical officer and added James Armitage
to its board.
• Stemcells Inc., of Newark, Calif., appointed Eliseo Salinas executive vice president and head of research and
development and named Ann Tsukamoto executive vice
president, scientific and strategic alliances. In addition,
the company appointed Nicki Vasquez vice president of
program and portfolio management and Allyson Gage
senior director of clinical development.
• Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., of Jerusalem,
appointed Ichiro Kikushige CEO of Teva Seiyaku, Japan;
Ivana Magovcevic-Liebisch senior vice president and head
of corporate business development; and Jonathan L. Isaacsohn chief medical officer. Teva also added Arie Belldegrun to its board.
• Summit plc, of Oxford, UK, added Jim Mellon and Frank
Armstrong to its board.
• Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco,
appointed Deborah A. Thomas vice president, regulatory
affairs, and Gene C. Jamieson vice president, chemistry,
manufacturing and controls. Sunesis also added Steve
Carchedi to its board.
• Sutro Biopharma Inc., of San Francisco, appointed
Edward C. Albini chief financial officer; Jeremy Bender
chief business officer; and Aaron K. Sato vice president,
research.
• Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, appointed
Patrick H. Griffin chief medical officer.
• Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Lexington, Mass.,
appointed Sumant Ramachandra president of R&D.
• Synthetic Biologics Inc., of Ann Arbor, Mich., named
BioWorld BioPeople
• Theratechnologies Inc., of Montreal, appointed Luc Tanguay interim president and CEO.
• TNI Biotech Inc., of New York, named Peter Aronstam
chief financial officer and Christopher Pearce chief operating officer. The company also named Joseph M. Fortunak a strategic consultant.
• Tobira Therapeutics Inc., of South San Francisco, named
Caroline Loewy executive vice president and chief financial officer; Jeff Enejosa senior director, clinical research;
and Mark Menning director, pharmaceutical sciences.
• Tokai Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass.,
appointed Adrian Senderowicz chief medical officer and
vice president, medical development.
• Tolera Therapeutics Inc., of Kalamazoo, Mich., named
Linda C. Hogan vice president of business development.
• Transcept Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Point Richmond,
Calif., added Thomas J. Dietz to its board.
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• Transgenomic Inc., of Omaha, Neb., appointed Mark P.
Colonnese executive vice president and chief financial
officer.
• Ventrus Biosciences Inc., of New York, appointed JP
Benya vice president, commercial operations and business development.
• Tranzyme Pharma Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C.,
appointed David S. Moore chief business officer.
• Veracyte Inc., of South San Francisco, appointed Shelly
D. Guyer chief financial officer.
• Trevi Therapeutics Inc., of New Haven, Conn., named
William J. O’Shea to its board.
• Verastem Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., named Robert Forrester president and CEO; Forrester will continue as chief
operating officer. The company appointed Christoph
Westphal executive chairman, John (Jack) Green chief
financial officer and Joanna Horobin chief medical officer.
Verastem also added Alison Lawton, Michael Kauffman
and Stephen Sherwin to its board.
• Tris Pharma, of Monmouth Junction, N.J., appointed
Jonathan Berlent vice president of business development.
• Trius Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, named Matthew
Onaitis general counsel and secretary and added Seth H.
Z. Fischer to its board.
• Trophos SA, of Marsellle, France, named Marceline Clementine chief financial officer.
• Trovagene Inc., of San Diego, named Paul Billings to its
scientific advisory board.
• Uniqure BV, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, appointed
Hans Christian Rohde chief commercial officer and Philip
Astley-Sparke president US.
• Vacinnate Corp., of Cranbury, N.J., appointed Christine
Mayer vice president of business development and Katalin Abraham vice president of regulatory affairs.
• Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., of Montreal, appointed Laizer D. Kornwasser executive vice president/company group chairman; Ryan Weldon executive
vice president/company group chairman, for U.S. dermatology operations; Jason Hanson executive vice president/
company group chairman, for certain U.S. and international businesses and functions; Vince Ippolito senior vice
president, general manager, aesthetics; and Justin Smith
senior vice president, general manager, U.S. Rx dermatology. Valeant also added Howard Schiller to its board.
• Vermillion Inc., of Austin, Texas, appointed Thomas
McLain president and CEO.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass.,
appointed Stuart Arbuckle executive vice president and
chief commercial officer and added Yuchun Lee to its
board.
• VG Life Sciences, of Santa Barbara, named John Tynan
interim CEO and president.
• Vical Inc., of San Diego, named Mammen P. (Anza)
Mammen Jr. vice president, clinical vaccines, and added
Richard M. Beleson and Stephen A. Sherwin to its board.
• Viralytics Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, named Malcolm
McColl CEO.
• Visterra Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., named Brian J. G.
Pereira president and CEO.
• Vivus Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., appointed Michael
Astrue chairman and named Anthony Zook CEO. Vivus
also added J. Martin Carroll, Jorge Plutzky and Robert N.
Wilson to its board, and named Richard Fante senior
advisor.
• Valirx plc, of London, appointed Samuel Ogunsalu chief
commercial officer and Alan Boyd medical monitoring
officer for VAL201’s clinical development.
• Warp Drive Bio, of Cambridge, Mass., appointed Gregory Verdine CEO. It also named James Nichols chief operating officer and added Julian Adams to its board.
• Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Washington, named Paolo
Baroldi senior vice president and chief medical officer.
• Xenetic Biosciences plc, of London, appointed Robert
Gagnon chief finance officer of the firm’s U.S. subsidiary.
• Vaxxas Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., named David Hoey
CEO.
• Xenikos BV, of Nijmegen, the Netherlands, named Jaap
Kampinga chairman of its board and added Theo Buunen
and Henrik Luessen as board members.
• Ventirx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Seattle, named James
Kyle Bryan chief medical officer.
BioWorld BioPeople
• Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Vancouver, British
75
Columbia, named Gary J. Bridger executive vice president,
research and development.
• Xoma Corp., of Berkeley, Calif., named Tom Klein chief
commercial officer and added Joseph M. Limber to its
board.
• YM Biosciences Inc., of Mississauga, Ontario, elected
Kapil Dhingra to its board.
• Zafgen Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., appointed Patricia
Allen chief financial officer.
• Ziarco Ltd., of Canterbury, UK, appointed John L. LaMattina as strategic advisor and added David Brinkley to its
board.
• Zosano Pharma Inc., of Fremont, Calif., named Nandan
Oza chief operations officer, Chris Krueger chief business
officer and added Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos to its board.
• Zyngenia Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., added Christian Itin
and Jason Rhodes to its board.
• Zealand Pharmaceuticals A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, appointed Agneta Svedberg chief operating officer.
BioWorld BioPeople
76
Company Names Index
Symbols
3SBio Inc. 61
A
Aastrom Biosciences Inc. 61
Acelrx Pharmaceuticals Inc. 61
Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. 61
Acorda Therapeutics Inc. 61
Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc. 61
Acucela Inc. 27, 28
ADC Therapeutics sarl 61
ADMA Biologics Inc. 61
Adnexus Inc. 16
Advanced Biohealing Inc. 55, 56
Advaxis Inc. 61
Adventrx Pharmaceuticals Inc. 61
Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc. 61
Aequus Biopharma 61
Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. 61
Aeterna Zentaris Inc. 61
Affinium Pharmaceuticals Inc. 61
Affymax Inc. 61
Afraxis Inc. 18, 19, 61
Agendia BV 61
Aileron Therapeutics Inc. 61
Aimm Therapeutics 61
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. 43
Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc. 61
Alimera Sciences Inc. 61
Allied Minds 73
Althea Technologies Inc. 61
Altherx Pharmaceuticals Inc. 62
Amag Pharmaceuticals Inc. 62
Amarantus Bioscience Inc. 62
Ambit Biosciences Inc. 62
Ambrx Inc. 62
Amgen Inc. 62
Ampio Pharmaceuticals Inc. 62
Anadys Pharmaceuticals 25
Anaptysbio Inc. 62
Anavex Life Sciences Corp. 62
Anergis 62
Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. 46
Anika Therapeutics Inc. 62
Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc. 62
Antigenics Inc. 14
A.P. Pharma Inc. 61
Apricus Biosciences Inc. 62
Aragon Pharmaceuticals Inc. 62
Aratana Therapeutics Inc. 62
Arca Biopharma Inc. 62
Argen-X BV 62
Argos Therapeutics Inc. 62
Armagen Technologies Inc. 62
Arno Therapeutics Inc. 62
Array Biopharma Inc. 58, 62
Arris Pharmaceutical Corp. 19
Asceneuron SA 62
Assurerx Health Inc. 7, 52, 53, 54, 62
Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd. 62
Astellas Pharma Inc. 62
BioWorld BioPeople
Astrazeneca AB 25
Astrazeneca plc 26
Atheronova Inc. 62
Atyr Pharma Inc. 16
Aurora Biosciences Inc. 17
Avalon Ventures 7, 18
Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. 63
Avaxia Biologics Inc. 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 63
Aveo Oncology Inc. 63
Axelar AB 63
Axys Pharmaceuticals Inc. 19
B
Bach Pharma Inc. 63
BattelleVentures 14
Benitec Biopharma Ltd. 63
Bergenbio AS 63
BG Medicine Inc. 63
Bind Biosciences Inc. 63
Biocartis SA 63
Biocryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. 63
Biodelivery Sciences International Inc. 63
Biogen Idec Inc. 25, 63
Bioinvent International AB 63
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. 19, 63
Biomotiv LLC 63
Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. 63
Biontech AG 63
Biopartners 32
Biorestorative Therapies Inc. 63
Biosante Pharmaceuticals Inc. 63
Biota Pharmaceuticals Inc. 63
Biothera Inc. 63
Biotime Inc. 63, 71
Blueprint Medicines 63
Boston Therapeutics Inc. 63
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. 16, 63
BVF Partners LP 7, 41
C
C3 Jian Inc. 63
Cadence Pharmaceuticals Inc. 63
Caisson Biotech LLC 63
Calixa Therapeutics Inc. 56
Cambrex Corp. 63
Canaan Partners 55, 56
Canale Communications 18
Cangene Corp. 64
Cannabis Science Inc. 64
Cardio3 Biosciences 64
Cardiome Pharma Corp. 64
Cardium Therapeutics Inc. 64
Caris Life Sciences Inc. 64
Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners Inc. 64
Celator Pharmaceuticals Inc. 64
Celera Corp. 19
Cell Medica Ltd. 64
Cell Therapeutics Inc. 61, 64
Cellular Biomedicine Group Inc. 64
Celsion Corp. 64
Celtaxsys Inc. 64
77
Cepheid Inc. 64
Cerecor Inc. 64
Cerexa Inc. 56
Champions Oncology Inc. 64
Chemocentryx Inc. 64
Chimerix Inc. 64
Chordoma Foundation 30
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital 52, 53
Circassia Ltd. 64
Civitas Therapeutics Inc. 64
Clarus Therapeutics Inc. 64
Clavis Pharma ASA 64
Clearside Biomedical Inc. 64
Cleave Biosciences Inc. 64
Cleveland Biolabs Inc. 64
Coco Therapeutics Ltd. 65
Coherus Biosciences Inc. 65
Collegium Pharmaceutical Inc. 65
Combimatrix Corp. 65
Compound Therapeutics Inc. 16
Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. 65
Cooley Godward Kronish 59
Cornerstone Therapeutics Inc. 65
Coronado Biosciences Inc. 65
Covance Inc. 32
Creabilis SA 65
Credit Suisse First Boston 32
Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. 56, 65
Curemark LLC 65
Curevac GmbH 26
Curis Inc. 65
Cytodyn Inc. 65
Cytomx Therapeutics Inc. 65
Cytori Therapeutics Inc. 65
Cytos Biotechnology Ltd. 65
Cytrx Corp. 65
D
Dara Biosciences Inc. 65
Dart Therapeutics LLC 65
DBV Technologies 65
DCPrime BV 65
Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc. 65
Delmar Pharmaceuticals 65
Delta Dental 11
Dendreon Corp. 58, 65
Depomed Inc. 65
Dezima Pharma BV 65
Diamyd Medical AB 66
Dievini Hopp Biotech Holding GmbH & Co. KG 26
Discovery Laboratories Inc. 66
DLA Piper 59
DLI 32
Deborah Dunsire 66
DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. 19
Durata Therapeutics Inc. 66
Dyadic International Inc. 66
Dyax Corp. 66
Dynavax Technologies Corp. 66
E
Eclipse Therapeutics Inc. 66
EcoR1 Capital LLC 7, 41, 42
Edge Therapeutics Inc. 66
Edimer Pharmaceuticals Inc. 66
BioWorld BioPeople
Effrx Pharmaceuticals SA 66
Egenix Inc. 66
Eisai Inc. 23, 66
Eisai Laboratorios, S. de R.L. de C.V. 66
Elcelyx Therapeutics Inc. 66
Eli Lilly and Co. 66
EMD Millipore 66
Emergent Solutions Inc. 66
Emisphere Technologies Inc. 10, 66
Emmaus Life Sciences Inc. 66
Emmaus Medical Inc. 66
Endocyte Inc. 66
Entremed Inc. 66
Envivo Pharmaceuticals Inc. 66
Epicept Corp. 66
Epirus Biopharmaceuticals Inc. 66
Epizyme Inc. 66
Esperion Therapeutics Inc. 66
Eyevensys 66
F
F2G Ltd. 66
Fate Therapeutics Inc. 16, 66
Fedora Pharmaceuticals Inc. 67
Five Prime Therapeutics Inc. 67
Flexion Therapeutics Inc. 67
Forest Laboratories Inc. 56
Forma Therapeutics Inc. 67
Foundation Medicine Inc. 67
Frazier Healthcare Ventures 57, 58
G
Galectin Therapeutics Inc. 67
Galena Biopharma Inc. 67
Galenea Corp. 67
Genable Technologies Ltd. 67
Genelux Corp. 67
Genentech 18, 19, 20, 21
Genetic Therapy Inc. 13
Genmus Pharma Inc. 67
Genocea Biosciences Inc. 14, 67
Geno LLC 67
Genspera Inc. 67
Glaxosmithkline plc 14, 51
Glide Pharmaceutical Technologies Ltd. 67
Gliknik Inc. 67
Glycomimetics Inc. 13
Glycovaxyn AG 67
Gradalis Inc. 67
H
Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. 67
Hatchtech Pty. Ltd. 67
Hemispherx Biopharma Inc. 67
Hemoshear LLC 67
Heptares Therapeutics Ltd. 67
Histogenics Corp. 67
Hookipa Biotech AG 67
Hyperion Therapeutics Inc. 67
I
Ibio Inc. 67
Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. 67
Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc. 67
Igenica Inc. 67
78
Ignyta Inc. 67
Imaginab Inc. 68
Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH 68
Immunocellular Therapeutics Ltd. 68
Immunocore Ltd. 68
Immunogen Inc. 68
Immunotech Laboratories Inc. 68
Immunovaccine Inc. 68
ImmusanT Inc. 13
Imprimis Pharmaceuticals Inc. 68
Innovus Pharmaceuticals Inc. 68
Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp. 68
Ino Therapeutics Inc. 14
Insmed Inc. 68
Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals Inc. 68
Intarcia Therapeutics Inc. 68
Intelgenx Corp. 68
Intellicell Biosciences Inc. 68
Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. 68
Interleukin Genetics Inc. 9, 11
Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc. 68
Invivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. 68
Ipsen SA 68
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. 68
Isa Pharmaceuticals BV 68
Ischemix Inc. 68
Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. 68
Islet Sciences Inc. 68
J
Janssen Pharmaceuticals 51
Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc 68
Johnson & Johnson 56, 68
Juventas Therapeutics Inc. 68
K
Kala Pharmaceuticals Inc. 68
Kalobios Pharmaceuticals Inc. 21, 22, 69
Karolinska Institute 25
Karus Therapeutics Ltd. 69
Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. 69
Kempharm Inc. 69
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc. 69
Kinex Pharmaceuticals Inc. 69
Kite Pharma Inc. 69
Kolltan Pharmaceuticals Inc. 69
KPMG 59
L
Labrys Biologics Inc. 69
Lazard Capital Markets 25
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc. 69
LG Chem 32
Lightlake Therapeutics Inc. 69
Lixte Biotechnology Holdings Inc. 69
Lorus Therapeutics Inc. 69
Lycera Corp. 69
M
Marion Laboratories 23
Medigene AG 69
MedImmune Ventures 58, 59
Medistem Inc. 69
Medivir AB 69
Mei Pharma Inc. 69
BioWorld BioPeople
Merck & Co. Inc. 73
Merck KGaA 66
Merck Serono 32
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. 69
Mersana Therapeutics Inc. 69
Merz Inc. 69
Merz Pharma Group 69
Metabolex Inc. 22
MGI Pharma Inc. 23
Mimedx Group Inc. 69
Miragen Therapetuics Inc. 69
Mirna Therapeutics Inc. 69
Mission Therapeutics Ltd. 69
Moderna Therapeutics Inc. 26, 69
Morria Biopharmaceuticals plc 69
Mucosis BV 69
Multicell Technologies Inc. 70
Mylan Inc. 70
Mymetics Corp. 70
Myokardia Inc. 70
N
N30 Pharmaceuticals Inc. 70
Nanobio Corp. 70
Nanobiotix 70
Nanoviricides Inc. 70
National Human Genome Research Institute 25
National Venture Capital Association 56
Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc. 70
Neostem Inc. 70
Neurovive Pharmaceutical AB 70
Newlink Genetics Corp. 70
Nicox SA 70
Nile Therapeutics Inc. 70
Nimbus Discovery LLC 70
Nomura International 15
Northwest Biotherapeutics GmbH 70
Northwest Biotherapeutics Inc. 70
Novabay Pharmaceuticals Inc. 70
Novalix SAS 70
Novartis AG 10, 13, 32
Novavax Inc. 70
Novira Therapeutics Inc. 70
Novocure Inc. 70
NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. 33
Nuevolution A/S 70
Numab AG 70
Numedii Inc. 70
Nuovo Biologics LLC 70
O
Ocular Therapeutix Inc. 70
Oculus Innovative Sciences Inc. 73
Ohr Pharmaceuticals Inc. 70
Olympus Corp. 28
Omeros Corp. 70
Oncolytics Biotech Inc. 70
Onconova Therapeutics Inc. 70
Oncosec Medical Inc. 71
Oncos Therapeutics Ltd. 71
Oncothyreon Inc. 71
Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. 71
Ophthalix Inc. 71
Opko Health Inc. 71
Opthalix Inc. 71
79
Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc. 71
Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. 71
Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. 71
Organovo Holdings Inc. 71
Orgenesis Inc. 71
Orgenesis Ltd. 71
Osiris Therapeutics Inc. 71
Othocyte Corp. 71
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. 28
Ovascience Inc. 71
Oxford Biomedica plc 71
Oxford Biotherapeutics Ltd. 71
Oxford Finance Corp. 59
Oxigene Inc. 71
Oxygen Biotherapeutics Inc. 71
P
Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. 71
Pain Therapeutics Inc. 71
Pathwork Diagnostics Inc. 71
PDL Biopharma Inc. 71
Pearl Therapeutics Inc. 71
Pfenex Inc. 71
Pfizer Inc. 22, 32
Pharmacyclics Inc. 71
Pharmalink AB 71
Pharmanest AB 71
Phase4 Ventures 15
Phasebio Pharmaceuticals Inc. 71
Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. 72
PNP Therapeutics Inc. 72
Polyphor Ltd. 72
Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc. 72
Probiodrug AG 72
Promedior Inc. 72
Promentis Pharmaceuticals Inc. 72
Prosensa Therapeutics BV 72
Prosonix Ltd. 72
Protagonist Therapeutics Inc. 72
Protea Biosciences Inc. 72
Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc. 72
Proteros Biostructures GmbH 72
Prothena Corp. plc 72
Protox Therapeutics 73
PTC Therapeutics Inc. 72
Pulmatrix Inc. 72
Q
Quanterix Corp. 72
Qu Biologics 72
Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. 72
Quest Diagnostics Inc. 72
R
Receptos Inc. 72
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. 10
Regenesis Biomedical Inc. 72
Regulus Therapeutics Inc. 25, 72
Relypsa Inc. 72
Repros Therapeutics Inc. 72
Resverlogix Corp. 72
Retrophin LLC 72
Retrosense Therapeutics LLC 73
Revance Therapeutics Inc. 73
Rexahn Pharmaceuticals Inc. 73
BioWorld BioPeople
Rib-X Pharmaceuticals Inc. 73
Rinat Neuroscience Corp. 22
Roche AG 25
Roche Group 18, 73
Rothschild Asset Management 15
RQx Pharmaceuticals Inc. 19
Ruthigen Inc. 73
Rxi Pharmaceuticals Corp. 73
S
Sagent Pharmaceuticals Inc. 73
Saladax Biomedical Inc. 73
Sangart Inc. 32, 33
Sanguine Biosciences Inc. 73
Sap AG 26
Savara Pharmaceuticals Inc. 73
Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. 73
Sciclone Pharmaceuticals Inc. 73
Scifluor Life Sciences LLC 73
Sequana Therapeutics Inc. 19
Sernova Corp. 45, 46, 47
Shell Chemical 21
Shield Therapeutics Ltd. 73
Shire plc 55, 73
Sialix Inc. 73
Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals Inc. 73
Silence Therapeutics plc 73
Simcere MSD (Shanghai) Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. 73
Simcere Pharmaceutical Group 73
Sirona Biochem Corp. 73
Smart Therapeutics Inc. 73
Soligenix Inc. 73
Sophiris Bio Inc. 73
Sorbent Therapeutics Inc. 74
Soricimed Biopharma Inc. 74
Sound Pharmaceuticals Inc. 74
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. 74
Spherix Inc. 74
Spiral Genetics 31
Springleaf Therapeutics Inc. 74
Stellar Biotechnologies Inc. 74
Stemcells Inc. 74
Sumitomo Corp. 59
Summit plc 74
Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc. 74
Sutro Biopharma Inc. 74
Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. 74
Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. 74
Synthetic Biologics Inc 74
T
Tapimmune Inc. 74
Targacept Inc. 74
Tau Therapeutics LLC 74
Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. 74
Tesaro Inc. 21, 23, 74
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. 74
Teva Seiyaku, Japan 74
Theratechnologies Inc. 74
TNI Biotech Inc. 74
Tobira Therapeutics Inc. 74
Tokai Pharmaceuticals Inc. 74
Toleikis 45, 46, 47
Tolera Therapeutics Inc. 74
Transcept Pharmaceuticals Inc. 74
80
Transgenomic Inc. 75
Tranzyme Pharma Inc.
Trevi Therapeutics Inc.
Tris Pharma 75
Triton Biosciences Inc.
Trius Therapeutics Inc.
Trophos SA 75
Trovagene Inc. 75
75
75
21, 22
75
U
Uniqure BV 75
V
Vacinnate Corp. 75
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. 75
Valirx plc 75
Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. 75
Vaxxas Inc. 75
Ventaira Pharmaceuticals 14
Ventirx Pharmaceuticals Inc. 57, 58, 59, 75
Ventrus Biosciences Inc. 75
Veracyte Inc. 75
Verastem Inc. 75
Vermillion Inc. 75
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. 17, 75
VG Life Sciences 75
BioWorld BioPeople
Vical Inc. 75
Viralytics Ltd. 75
Visterra Inc. 75
Vivus Inc. 75
W
Warp Drive Bio 75
X
Xencor Inc. 48, 49, 50
Xenetic Biosciences plc 75
Xenikos BV 75
Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. 75
Xoma Corp. 76
Y
YM Biosciences Inc. 76
Z
Zacharon Pharmaceuticals Inc. 19
Zafgen Inc. 76
Zealand Pharmaceuticals A/S 76
Ziarco Ltd. 76
Zosano Pharma Inc 76
Zyngenia Inc. 76
81
Executive Names Index
A
Abdalian, Charles H. Jr. 63
Abeles, John H. 73
Abraham, Katalin 75
Abrams, Michael 74
Adams, Adrian 61
Adams, Julian 75
Adelman, Michael 64
Agarwala, Sanjiv S. 71
AHN, Chang 73
Ahrens, Brent 55, 56
Ajer, Jeff 63
Akirav, Eitan 68
Albini, Edward C. 74
Alder, Matthias 65
Aldridge, Michael 72
Aliski, William 66
Allan, Eva Lotta 68
Allen, Patricia 76
Almenoff, June S. 70
Alsop, Hugh 67
Alter, Galit 73
Anand, Inder 62
Anderson, Rudolph C. Jr. 64
Anido, Vincente J. 61, 65
Anthony, Robert 73
Apelian, David 61
Appelbaum, Fred 72
Arbuckle, Stuart 75
Archibald, Jennifer 64
Armitage, James 74
Armstrong, Frank 74
Aronstam, Peter 74
Artavanis-Tsakonas, Spyros 63
Aselage, Stephen 72
Ashman, Philip 61
Ashton, William L. 67
Askew, Ben C. 73
Astley-Sparke, Philip 75
Astrue, Michael 75
Athey, Brian D. 62
Atkinson, John P. 63
Aubut, Marcel 61
Austin, Josiah T. 72
Austin, Stephen 68
Avgerinos, George 65
B
Ballard, Clive 65
Bansal, Ajay 70
Baracchini, Ed 48, 49, 50, 51
Barer, Sol J. 66
Barnabei, Nancy Jean 67
Baroldi, Paolo 75
Bassani, Gus 68
Bastiani, Richard 63
Becher, Burkhard 70
Beck, Christopher 71
Becker, Charles E. 62
Belenkie, Neil 73
Beleson, Richard M. 75
BioWorld BioPeople
Belkin, Michael 71
Bell, John K. 65
Bell, Larry 72
Belldegrun, Arie 74
BenArie, Jacob 71
Bender, Jeremy 74
Bender, Lew 9, 10, 11,
Ben-Menachem, Gil 71
Bennet, J. Claude 72
Bennethum, Jim 62
Benya, JP 75
Berenson, Ronald J. 61
Berenter, Jay S. 64
Berk, Gregory I. 63
Berlent, Jonathan 75
Bernsten, Anna Malm 70
Berrey, Michelle 64
Besecker, Flint D. 69
Beutler, Bruce A. 74
Beyer, Chad 72
Bigal, Marcelo 69
Billings, Paul 75
Binette, Francois 71
Birnir, Bryndis 66
Bishop, Bob 66
Bivalacqua, Trinity 72
Black, Ronald 72
Blaine, James 64
Blech, Isaac 66
Bley, Keith R. 70
Bollag, Bernard 72
Boniuk, Milton 70
Bories, Christel 68
Bosisio, Lorenzo 66
Bosley, Katrine 67
Boyd, Alan 75
Boyle, Michael P. 73
Bradway, Robert A. 62
Bramer, Steven 73
Brandreth, E.J. 62
Brannelly, Paul 69
Bray, Dorothy 64
Brazzell, Kim 68
Bremner, William 72
Bridger, Gary J. 76
Brinkley, David 76
Brisson, Catherine 74
Bristol, Andrew 74
Bristol, James 69
Bronson, Michele 69
Brooks, Danai 66
Brooks, Scott 72
Brown, Cabot 65
Brown, Frederick W.K. 67
Brown, Julia 65
Brown, Morgan 68
Brumm, Joshua 71
Bryan, James Kyle 75
Buchi, J. Kevin 61, 63, 66
Burns, Jim 7, 52, 53, 54
Bush, Ernest D. 65
82
Butcher, Steve 65
Buunen, Theo 75
C
Caffe, Steven 62
Cagnoni, Pablo J. 71
Califf, Robert 72
Callaway, James 62
Callicutt, Jack W. 67
Cannizzaro, Anthony 64
Cannon, Ed 73
Canute, Scott A. 68
Caracciolo, Anthony D. 65
Carchedi, Steve 74
Carlson, Douglas 65
Carnegie-Brown, Mark 67
Carroll, J. Martin 75
Cassella, James 61
Castagnetti, Eva 62
Castleman, Breaux 68
Celniker, Abbie 68
Chambre, Peter 68
Champlin, Richard 72
Chang, Michael 69
Chaplin, David (Dai) 71
Chapman, Paul 72
Chen, Hubert C. 61
Chereau, Frederic 73
Cheung, Sylvia 62
Cheung, Wilson W. 73
Chokeir, Heidi 18
Chow, Herbert 74
Christ, Arnd 72
Church, Jeffrey W. 64
Cipriani, Guy 71
Clancy, Annette 67
Clarke, Robert 72
Clementine, Marceline 75
Coelho, Hyunna 69
Coffman, Vance D. 62
Cohen, Fred E. 63
Cohen-Tanugi, Ivan 66
Colabuono, Peter 57, 58, 59
Colangelo, Dominick C. 61
Coles, N. Anthony 71
Collins, Brian 73
Collis, Alan 70
Colllier, Richard T. 72
Colonnese, Mark P. 75
Condeelis, John 65
Condella, Frank 72
Connolly, Stuart 62
Cook, Heather 71
Cook, Robert W. 66
Cook, Toi 62
Cooke, Shane 72
Cooper, Alan 66
Cooper, Graham 72
Cooper, John G. 66
Corcoran, Andrea 67
Corcoran, Robert 68
Corcoran, Jonathan 65
Cote, Timothy 66
Cravatt, Benjamin 68
BioWorld BioPeople
Cummings, Jeff 72
Cunningham, Ken 72
Currie, Mark 68
Cuss, Francis 63
D
Dahiyat, Bassil 48, 49, 50, 51
Dai, Jianping 64
D’Alonzo, Thomas W. 63
Danoff, Theodore M. 64
Dasenbrook, Elliott C. 73
Dasse, Kurt 67
Daud, Adil I. 71
Davis, Jim 72
Dean, John 72
deBethizy, J. Donald 62
Debrabandere, Lode 71
DeJesus, Al 74
Della Corte, Gilles 62
Deming, Laura 31
de Ree, Rob 65
De Rosch, Mark 68
Deshpande, Milind 61
DesRosier, Thomas J. 65
DeWahl, David A. Jr. 68
Dietz, Thomas J. 74
Diggle, Martin 71
Dimitrov, Valentin 68
DiPasquale, Sav 71
Disbrow, Josh 62
Dixon, Wendy L. 66
Dodd, David A. 61
Dorais, José P. 61
Dougherty, Michael R. 62, 63
Drechsler, Andrew 68
Driscoll, Frederick W. 67
Driscoll, Ted 70
Drummond, Lynn 73
Dubin, Tom 11
Duffy, Chris 62
Dunn, Christopher 67
Durland, Ross 64
E
Eckert, Robert 62
Egbert, Carolyn 61
Ekman, Lars 73
Ekstrom, Gunilla 71
Elborn, Stuart 64
Endicott, David 71
Enejosa, Jeff 74
Epker, Arthur G. (Bart) III 64
Epstein, David 61
Epstein, Robert 63
Ernst, Juergen 61
Escandon, Rafael 69
Evans, Charles R. 69
Evans, Jeff 69
F
Fagerberg, Jan 68
Fante, Richard 75
Farrell, Stephen C. 63
Fattaey, Ali 65
Fedorak, Richard 72
83
Fekete, Michael 73
Feldmann, Marc 70
Ferraro, Lorrie 68
Fisch, Harry 68
Fischer, Seth H. Z. 75
Fisher, Mary 71
Fix, Amy B. 70
Flechtner, Jessica 14
Flodgren, Boel 70
Flug, Seymour 67
Foletta, Mark G. 72
Forrester, Robert 75
Fortunak, Joseph M. 74
Foster, Wayne 69
Foutel, Veronique 65
Fox, Barbara 36, 37, 38, 39, 40,
Fox, Jonathan C. 70
Fralin, Robert 74
Franco, Richard A. Sr. 68
Freeborn, Tim 73
Frendscho, Mary Haak 67
Frey-Vasconcells, Joyce L. 61
Frickel, Fritz 69
Friedman, Paul A. 67
Fuchs, Rainer 66
Fuqua, James F. 72
G
Gabriel, Sherif 70
Gage, Allyson 74
Gagnon, Robert 75
Galbraith, Kenneth 74
Gallagher, Patrick 69
Garaud, Jean-Jacques 64, 72
Garcia, K. Christopher 66
Garcia, Peter S. 71
Garland, Robert 64
Gellman, Barry 67
Geltosky, John (Jack) 73
Gengos, Andrew 68
Geraghty, James 67
Gilly, Bernard 69
Glauser, Tracy A. 62
Glover, Nick 69
Goldsmith, Bruce A. 69
Goldstein, Elliot 65
Gonzalez Balboa, Ricardo 66
Gould, Ashley 67
Graf, Jeannette 73
Graham, Ginger 66
Grano, Joseph J. Jr. 69
Grant, Sheila 64
Green, Allan 65, 68
Green, John (Jack) 75
Greenleaf, Peter 67
Griffin, Patrick H. 74
Grisewood, Sherry 74
Groopman, Jerome 70
Groves, Richard 69
Grushcow, Jeremy 70
Guagenti, Enza 61
Guay, Andre 72
Guiheen, Lawrence 61
Gunter, Kurt 64
Guyer, Shelly D. 75
BioWorld BioPeople
H
Haeberlein, Markus 72
Haines, David E. 62
Haining, Nicholas 73
Hakin, Lawrence 72
Halebian, John D. 64
Hall, Anthony 65
Halperin, Scott 68
Hambleton, Julie 67
Hamill, John P. 73
Hammel, Jeff 64
Hancock, Rick 61
Hanish, Arnold C. 70
Hanson, Jason 75
Harish, Sameer 73
Harper, Scot L. 66
Harrington, Michael 66
Harris, Alan 69
Hartman, Deborah S. 63
Hasnain, Faheem 62
Hastings, Paul J. 72
Haumann, Brett 64
Hauschild, Axel 71
Hawkins, Phill 69
Heady, Timothy J. 65
Hedley, Mary Lynne 23
Heier, Jeffrey S. 70
Heil, Matthew 65
Heinz, Franz 67
Hellstrom, Wayne 72
Henderson, Jane 69
Hennecke, Jens 68
Henwood, Geraldine 61
Hepner, Adrian 63
Heppell, Jim 73
Herold, Kevan 68
Herrera, Alain 70
Hershman, Michael 68
Hess, Brian 68
Hexter, Joshua 71
Higgins, Melina 70
Hill, Stephen A. 74
Hirsch, Andrew 63
Hoerr, Ingmar 26
Hoey, David 75
Hoffman, Robert E. 68
Hogan, Linda C. 74
Hoge, Stephen 69
Hohn, David 64
Holfinger, Michael S. 61
Holles, Natalie 67
Holubiak, Myron Z. 68
Horobin, Joanna 75
Horton, Darlene 70
Horton, Rex 67
Horwitz, Edwin M. 72
Howell, Julian 73
Howson, Tamar D. 71
Hsiao, Gene 64
Huang, James 66
Hughs, Owen Jr. 68
Huizinga, Tom 67
Hunter, William 64
Hussey, James M. 73
84
I
Ippolito, Vince 75
Isaacsohn, Jonathan L. 74
Itin, Christian 65, 76
J
Jackson, Aimee L. 69
Jaeger, Stephen 65
Jamieson, Gene C. 74
Janson, Harald 63
Janssen, Robert 66
Janus, Jeffrey 63
Jewell, Don 74
Johnson, Gordon K. (Rusty) 69
Johnston, Thomas 69
Jonas, Jeff 73
Jones, Jeremy M. 65
Jordan, Ray 62
Joseph, Donald R. 69
Juul-Moller, Steen 64
K
Kafka, Steven J. 67
Kaiser, John 64
Kaleko, Michael 74
Kamdar, Mike 57, 58, 59
Kamemoto, Edwin 61
Kamerud, John 66
Kampinga, Jaap 75
Kantarjian, Hagop 61
Karabelas, Jerry 72
Karbe, Frank 74
Kastelein, John 63
Kauffman, Michael 75
Kaundinya, Ganesh V. 73
Keavany, Mike 68
Keefe, Dorothy 73
Kempers, Ronald 70
Kennedy, James L. 62
Kenston, Michael 73
Kesner, Harvey 74
Kessler, David 69
Kesten, Steven 65
Khan, Mehmood 67
Khan, Michael 73
Khosla, Rajiv 68
Kikushige, Ichiro 74
Kim, Edward 72
Kim, Kellee 42, 43
Kim, Sinil 69
Kimmel, Howard M. 64
Kinde, Isaac 30, 31
King, David R. 68
King, Rachel 13
Kinsella, Kevin 19
Kirby, Christopher 67
Kisner, Daniel 74
Klein, Ira 64
Klein, Tom 76
Klingemann, Hans 71
Klumpp, Klaus 70
Knauf, Noah 73
Knoll, Fred 63
Knopov, Victor 72
BioWorld BioPeople
Kocmond, Warren C. 64
Koestler, Thomas 73
Koldamova, Rada 72
Konstan, Michael W. 73
Koppelman, Stef 65
Korlach, Jonas 71
Kornwasser, Laizer D. 75
Kovacs, Shane 72
Kozin, Marc 66
Kramer, Lynn 66
Kramer, Robert G. 66
Krook, Henrik 69
Krueger, Chris 76
Kubota, Ryo 27, 28
Kulkarni, Mukund S. 70
L
Lacey, David L. 62
Lalji, Karim 64
Lamarre, Jean 62
LaMattina, John L. 76
Lambert, Paul-Henri 67
Langer, Robert S. 66
Lang, Stephen H. 64
Lango, Per 71
Lapalme, Pierre 61
Larson, Christine 66
Lassen, Cheryl 65
LaVallee, Theresa M. 69
Lavery, Lawrence A. 64
Lavigne, Louis J. Jr. 65, 70
Lawlis, V. Bryan 65
Lawton, Alison 71, 75
Lazarus, Hillard M. 72
Lee, Yuchun 75
Lemus, Dave 73
Lenehan, James T. 70
Leone, John R. 66
Lesko, Lawrence J. 62
Levin, Jason 74
Levitt, Daniel 65
Lewis, Alan 69
Lewsi, Will 68
Li, Eddie 68
Lichter, Jay 7, 18, 19, 20
Ligon, Brooke 66
Limber, Joseph M. 67, 76
Limoges, Gérald 61
Lindstrom, Richard 70
Lipshultz, Larry 72
Li, Simon 73
Liu, David Y. 72
Liu, Hongquan 73
Liu, May 62
Llewellyn-Davies, Peter 69
Lobb, Roy 65
Loewy, Caroline 74
Love, Ted W. 61
Lowenberg, Bob 61
Lues, Inge 72
Luessen, Henrik 75
Lullove, Eric J. 64
Lynch, Daniel S. 63
Lynn, William S. 63
85
M
Macartney, Lawson 62
Mach, Michael 67
Madison, Greg 62
Magovcevic-Liebisch, Ivana 74
Mahady, Joseph M. 66
Malik, Rajiv 70
Malley, Thomas 71
Mammen, Mammen P. (Anza) Jr. 75
Mangubat, Andina 31
Manth, Stefan M. 67
Manum, Gunnar 64
Marasco, Wayne A. 63
Marchant, Arnaud 67
Marett, Sean 63
Margolin, Kim A. 71
Mario, Ernest 64
Martell, Robert E. 74
Mascioli, Ed 61
Mast, Erle T. 72
Masuoka, Lorianne 65
Mayer, Christine 75
Mayleben, Tim 66
Mayo, Stephen 48
McColl, Malcolm 75
McCracken, Lee 71
McCullough, Andrew 72
McDermott, Charles 68
McDonald, William D. 64
McDonough, Geoffrey 72
McDonough, Mark 65
McEwan, Alastair 65
McGirr, David W.J. 72
McGrath, Michael 64
McKearn, Thomas J. 70
McKinnell, Henry 71
McKnight, Andrew 62
McLain, Thomas 75
Meek, David 66
Meeker, David 73
Mellon, Jim 74
Mendelsohn, John 61
Mendelson, Dan 64
Mendlein, John 16, 17
Menning, Mark 74
Menzo, Jason 70
Micetich, Christopher 67
Migone, Thi-Sau 67
Miles, Cecile 72
Miller, Gillian 64
Miller, Grant G. 70
Miller, Louis Jr. 67
Mills, Gordon B. 70
Milstein, Alexander 64
Miner, Martin 72
Mitro, Thomas A. 70
Mohindru, Mani 65
Mond, James 61
Montez, David 71
Montgomery, George G. 65
Moore, David S. 75
Moore, Michael 69
Moreland, Darl 61
Morl, Christopher J. 69
Morris, Charles 68
BioWorld BioPeople
Morris, Mark 65
Mortazavi, Ali 73
Mortensen, Thomas Bendix 63
Morton, Bryan G. 71
Mosquera, Bernardino 64
Moss, Richard B. 64
Moukheibir, Catherine 65
Moulder, Lonnie 23
Mow, Jonathan 72
Mrazek, David A. 62
Muntendam, Pieter 74
Murray, Mark J. 74
Mulholland, Michael D. 65
Mullinix, Kathleen 69
Mylod, Robert J. Jr. 70
Myslinski, Mark D. 73
N
Nedwin, Glenn 63
Needle, Michael N. 62
Nes, Martin 64
Nevinny, Corinne 63
Newbold, Tammy 62
Newman, Stephen L. 63, 71
Newton, Roger 66
Ng, George K. 63
Nicholls, Stephen 62
Nichols, James 75
Nicholson, Ian 66
Nilsson, Jan 70
Nobel, Michael 65
Nodelman, Oleg 7, 41, 42, 43, 44
Nolop, Keith 69
Northcott, John 69
Novack, David 66
O
Obrecht, Jean-Pierre 72
O’Brien, Federica F. 64
O’Callaghan, Brian 32, 33, 34
O’Connor, Daniel J. 61
O’Connor, Patrick 66
O’Donnell, Jeffrey 62
Odynski, Ronald W. 67
Ogunsalu, Samuel 75
Oki, Mark 61
Okrongly, David 71
Onaitis, Matthew 75
Or, Reuven 72
Oredsson, Michael 63
Orlando, Daniel R. 61
Ornskov, Flemming 73
Orwin, John 62
O’Shea, William J. 75
Ostrov, Gerald 71
Owens, Edward 68
Oza, Nandan 76
P
Pamplin, Charles L. III 71
Papadopoulos, Stelios 72
Park, Peter 69
Parkinson, David R. 62
Parr, Thomas 67
Pascoe, Richard W. 62
86
Patton, Cynthia M. 62
Pearce, Christopher 74
Pelzer, Robert 72
Peralta, David 70
Pereira, Brian J. G. 75
Perlmutter, Roger M. 67
Pestian, John P. 62
Pfefer, Guillaume 68
Phillips, Barclay A. (Buck) 70
Phillips, Charles G. III 70
Philpot, Edward E. 64
Piccini, Jonathan P. 62
Pienta, Kenneth 65
Pillai, Shiv 73
Pitler, Thomas 61
Platenburg, Gerard 68
Ploegh, Hidde 61
Plotkin, Stanley 67
Plunkett, Matthew J. 64
Plutzky, Jorge 75
Pollack, Kevin 69
Pollard-Knight, Denise 15
Polu, Krishna 65
Posard, Matt 67
Post, Leonard E. 67
Poszepczynski, Marek 71
Potter, Stephen W. 70
Powell, Fred M. 64
Premack, Brett A. 64
Preskorn, Sheldon H. 62
Principi, Anthony 65
Printz, Morton 68
Pritchard, Dave 21, 22
Pu, Tianruo (Robert) 61
Puwal, Mark 70
Q
Quigley, James 69
R
Radie, Robert (Bob) 61
Rae, James 63
Raffensperger, Alan 71
Rakin, Kevin L. 67
Ramachandra, Sumant 74
Ramakrishnan, Divakar 69
Ramasastry, Saira 71
Ramsay, David A. 67
Randall, Jerry 73
Rastetter, William H. 72
Ratjen, Felix 73
Rawlins, Michael 68
Ray, Debanjan 65
Raynor, Daniel 63
Reed, John C. 73
Reeves, Tom 74
Regan, Daniel 68
Reicin, Glenn M. 71
Reid, John 66
Reilly, Chris 69
Reininger, Cornelia 70
Ren, Ken K. 66
Resnick, Paul 68
Rex, Christopher 61
BioWorld BioPeople
Reynders, John 69
Reynolds, Thomas C. 69
Rhodes, Jason P. 66, 76
Ricciardi, Natale (Nat) 66
Ricordi, Camillo 71
Riebe, Michael 71
Riedhammer, Thomas M. 70
Ripley, Daniel 65
Ripple, John 73
Rivard, Mike 36, 37, 38, 39, 40
Roberts, Brandi L. 61
Rocco, Lindsay 65
Rodino, Peter W. III 67
Rogers, Michael D. 64
Rohde, Hans Christian 75
Rohn, William R. 73
Rosario, Darlene 73
Rosen, Howard 63
Rosen, Robert 61
Ross, Jeffrey A. 64
Rosskamp, Gunter 70
Roth, Daniel 70
Rothera, Mark A. 72
Rothwell, Timothy G. 66
Rowe, Jacob M. 72
Rowe, Steven M. 64
Rowland, Charles 67
Rowland, David 72
Royal, Mike A. 61
Rubin, Marc 67
Rubin, Michael 63
Rubinfeld, Joseph 62
Rubino, Alan L. 66
Rubino, Richard J. 61
Russell, Angus C. 72
Russell, Lesley 66
Ryan, Timothy 67
S
Sadee, Wolfgang 62
Saks, Samuel R. 65, 70
Salameh, Wael A. 64
Salinas, Eliseo 74
Sandborn, William 72
Santini, Gino 68
Sarisky, Rob 67
Sarno, Kristi 71
Satler, Carol 62
Sato, Aaron K. 74
Satori, Paul H. 74
Sauer, William H. 62
Savage, Robert G. 70, 73
Schaible, Thomas F. 65
Schauer, Neil 68
Schechter, Michael S. 64
Schenkein, David 63
Scherer, Stefan 63
Schiller, Howard 75
Schimmel, Paul 16
Schineller, Peter W. 61
Schnyder, Judith 65
Schorr, Joachim 64
Schrepfer, Robert 63
Schubert, Mark 73
87
Schwalm, Cynthia 69
Seftel, Allen 72
Selkoe, Dennis J. 72
Senderowicz, Adrian 74
Shah, Baiju R. 63
Shapiro, James 46
Sharma, Amit 69
Sharpe, Stewart 64
Shea, Thomas 66
Sheehan, Peter 63
Sherwin, Stephen A. 75
Shipps, Jerry 66
Shlevin, Harold H. 67
Shoemaker, Charles B. 74
Siddiqui, Arshad 66
Sidransky, David 61, 71
Siegall, Clay B. 69
Silver, Bruce A. 74
Silvernail, Lauren 73
Simon, Adam J. 62
Simon, Lee S. 68
Simula, Pekka 71
Sirota, Eric 71
Skarpelos, Athanasios (Tom) 62
Smith, Justin 75
Sobti, Amit 73
Sohmer, Paul 63
Sohn, Catherine Angell 68
Sommer, Josh 30
Sondak, Vernon K. 71
Sonis, Stephen T. 73
Spar, Myles 72
Spellberg, Brad 74
Spoor, Thijs 72
Stengone, Carmine 18, 61
Stephanus, Julia A. 62
Stephens, Len 69
Stern, Henry 69
Stevens, Sean 73
Stitzenberg, Don 62
Stuart, Bryan 64
Sun, Eugene 73
Sununu, John E. 73
Suzdak, Peter D. 73
Svedberg, Agneta 76
Swanhey, Roger 73
Swift, Anne-Marie 61
Szela, Mary 73
Szigethy, James 65
T
Talley, Jack V. 61
Tallis, Arthur J. 64
Tanguay, Luc 74
Teo, Eric 61
Termeer, Henri A. 69, 72
Thomas, Deborah A. 74
Thomas, Mario 74
Thompson, Brad 69
Thurman, Randy 62
Toleikis, Philip 45
Tonegawa, Susumu 19
Trehu, Elizabeth G. 72
Tsukamoto, Ann 74
Tuchman, Alan J. 70
BioWorld BioPeople
Tulstrup, Soren 73
Turgeon, Joseph 74
Tynan, John 75
V
van Berkel, Patrick 61
Van Hijfte, Luc 70
van Veldhuisen, Dirk J. 62
Vanhaesebroeck, Bart 69
VanLent, Anne M. 61, 63, 70
Varki, Ajit 73
Varma, Chris 63
Vasquez, Nicki 74
Verdine, Gregory 75
Verma, Amit 62
Vetticaden, Santosh 61
Viallet, Jean 64
Vink, Patrick 65
Von Hoff, Daniel D. 64
Vornov, James 64
W
Walker, Karin L. 61
Wang, Qinghua 66
Ward, Barrie 63
Washington, A. Eugene 68
Wasman, Jane 61
Waterer, Grant 73
Webb, Brad 70
Webb, Craig 70
Wedel, Mark K. 62
Weiner, David 72
Weisman, Harlan F. 65
Weisman, Howard J. 72
Welch, Daniel G. 67
Weldon, Ryan 75
Werner, Jason 70
Wernicke, Joachim F. 72
Westlin, William (Wes) F. 70
Westphal, Christoph 75
Wey, Allison 66
Weyer, Christian 66
Wheeler, Sylvia 67
White, Christine A. 69
Wiggins, Mark 66
Wiley, Brian 70
Williams, Douglas E. 72
Williams, Eugene W. 65
Williams, Leslie 13
Wilson, Robert N. 75
Winblad, Bengt 72
Wirth, Peter 67
Wood, Andrew 65
Wood, Susan 62
Woods, Randall E. 73
Wright, Don 52, 53, 54
Wu, Stephanie C. S. 64
Wu, Y. Alexander 66
Wuite, Frans 71
Wustrow, David 64
X
Xanthopoulos, Kleanthis G. 25, 76
Xue, Songlin 62
88
Y
Yakatan, Gerald 68
Yanai, Shlomo 63
Yeager, David A. 64
Yeston, Neil S. 69
Young, Leroy 73
Z
Zeldis, Jerome B. 72
BioWorld BioPeople
Zetterberg, Henrick 72
Zettlmeissl, Gerd 67
Zhang, Yehong 73
Zhao, Hong 73
Zimmerman, Robert J. 62
Zion, Todd 73
Zook, Anthony 62, 75
Zwaal, Marcel 65
89