Globalization in Life Sciences Forum
April 27th, 2010
Panel #1: The State of Global R&D in Life Sciences
This panel focused on the nature of life sciences
R&D in Asia and Europe and how they compare to practices in the US as well as
career opportunities outside the US for scientists. The panel explored the R&D
strengths of different countries and the types of global research collaborations
that are being set up by companies. Additionally, the panel also examined how
governmental initiatives and policies are fostering the development of R&D
practices around the world.
Speakers :
Eli de los Pinos,
CEO, Aura Biosciences
Dr. de los Pinos is the founding CEO at Aura Biosciences. She has over ten years of experience in Oncology and Translational Research in Biotech and Big Pharmaceutical settings. Prior to founding Aura, she was Marketing Manager at Eli Lilly Oncology Business Unit. Dr. de los Pinos received a magna cum laude doctorate in Molecular Biology at the University of Barcelona, completing part of her training at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NYC and at Georgetown School of Medicine. She worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of Cancer Research in London (UK). She has also an MBA from IE Business School in Spain and completed the Entrepreneurship Development Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has recently been awarded as one of the Top 40 most brilliant talents in Boston under the age of 40 and one of this year’s Mass High Tech Woman to Watch. Aura is one of the few companies that received the 2010 Tech Pioneer award from the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland).
Xiaolin Zhang,
Head of R&D China, Astra Zeneca
Dr. Zhang is the vice president and the head of the Innovation Center China (ICC), AstraZeneca global R&D. He is a member of the senior management team for cancer and infection research area. Dr. Zhang started his career in AstraZeneca at the R&D Boston site as a research scientist in 1998. He was subsequently promoted to team leader, principle scientist, science discipline leader, and director. In 2006, Dr. Zhang relocated from Boston, USA to Shanghai, China, to establish and lead the ICC as the AstraZeneca global translational science center in Asia. Dr. Zhang received his PhD in molecular genetics from the Oregon State University in 1995, followed by 3 years postdoctoral training at the Harvard Medical School and Boston University College of Engineering.
John Thomson, VP
Research, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Thomson is currently the Vice President of Strategic R&D Networks at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. In this role, he seeks to improve the speed and efficiency of the overall R&D process, while maximizing the creation and liberation of intellectual property power, through the design and construction of innovative alliance networks. This can involve anything from helping to coordinate technical asset acquisitions to designing the overall architecture and IP-liberation instruments for technologically- or therapeutically-targeted multi-partner networks with other companies, universities, governmental entities and NGO’s. Vertex’s international tuberculosis (TB) research network is emblematic of many of these activities and embraces one of his more personal interests, in helping to evolve more robust incentive models to sustain the most innovative new drug research for “poverty sector” neglected diseases, while helping to develop the economic and technological self-sufficiency of the stakeholder nations.
Prior to his current position, Dr. Thomson spent about five years as Vice President of Research, where he headed Vertex’s Cambridge MA based discovery research and was responsible for approximately 250 researchers. He joined Vertex in 1989, as one of the Company’s founding scientists and has contributed to most of the company’s research programs, especially in areas of immunoregulation, inflammation, antivirals (HIV and HCV), anti-infectives, and oncology research, as well as in new target exploration. These programs have yielded two marketed drugs (HIV protease inhibitors) and more than 20 drug candidates that have proceeded to human clinical testing. From 1993 to 1998, Dr. Thomson was the Head of Vertex’s HCV Research Project, a role he eventually relinquished in order to take over leadership of Vertex’s Cambridge Research site. This HCV project led to the discovery of telaprevir (VX-950) an HCV protease inhibitor currently in late stage human clinical trials where it is showing remarkable antiviral effects in diverse patient populations.
Dr. Thomson’s research training began in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Melbourne, in Melbourne, Australia, where he gained a B.Sc. (Hons.) and a Ph.D. working on the structures and interactions of ocular lens proteins, and the senescent changes that lead to cataractogenesis. From 1985 to 1987, Dr. Thomson was a Post-Doctoral Associate in the Department of Physics at MIT, where he explored the physics of rare, ultra-high-concentration protein phase equilibria.
Shiladitya
Sengupta, Professor of HST, MIT
Shiladitya is currently Assistant Professor of Medicine and Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard Medical School. Shiladitya obtained his bachelors with honors and masters from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where he received the Geeta Mital Gold Medal. He then went to Trinity College, University of Cambridge as a British Chevening and Nehru Scholar for his PhD in pharmacology. His postdoctoral training was in biological engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has received the Shakuntala Amir Chand Prize from the Indian Council for Medical Research and the Young Investigator award from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. He was recently selected for the TR35 Innovator Award by MIT-Technology Review Magazine. The Sengupta laboratory is part of the Indo-US Joint Center for nanobiotechnology. The Indo-US Joint Center for nanobiotechnology is a collaborative initiative in bridging nanotechnology and biomedical sciences in India and the United States. This initiative is supported by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. It brings together leaders in nanotechnology and biology from USA (Harvard and MIT) and India (NCBS, JNCASR, and CCMB).
Sandra
Glucksmann, SVP Research at Cerulean
Sandra is currently Senior Vice President of Research and Business Operations at Cerulean Pharma, which she joined in October 2006 at its founding. Cerulean Pharma is developing a proprietary nanoparticle technology designed to improve the safety and efficacy of marketed and development-stage drugs. Prior to joining Cerulean, she spent 13 years at Millennium Pharmaceuticals which she joined in 1993 as one of its first scientists.At Millennium, she held a series of positions of increasing responsibility, ultimately becoming vice president of all platform technology groups before moving into a senior role in strategic program management and operations,where she worked closely with the CEO and led company-wide process improvement initiatives and participated in business development and M&A efforts. During her tenure at Millennium, Alexandra was critical to helping Millennium evolve from a genomics research-focused organization to a fully integrated pharmaceuticals company with products on the market. Her division played an integral role in the numerous Millennium-large pharma collaborations, which raised over $1.8 billion in funding for the company. She serves on the Board of Directors of Taconic Farms and is the Chair of the Board of Women Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology. She is also a member of Genetics Advisory Council of the Harvard-Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics. Sandra received her B.S. from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, her Ph.D., with honors, from the University of Chicago and completed her post-doctoral training at MIT.
Moderator:
Mark Namchuk, Head of Research, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Namchuk is currently Vice President of Research for Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge. He manages more than 200 scientists working in all areas of Drug Research including Medicinal Chemistry, Structural Biology, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, DMPK and Pharmacology and oversees Research projects in Infectious Disease, Oncology, Inflammatory and Autoimmune Disease. Included in his responsibilities is also research support of a number of Vertex’s ongoing clinical programs as well as oversight of biomarker activities for Vertex worldwide.
Dr. Namchuk received his BSc in Chemistry with Honors from the University of Alberta in 1988 and his Ph.D. in Bioorganic Chemistry from the University of British Columbia in 1993. Upon completion of his graduate work, Dr. Namchuk was an HFSP Post Doctoral Fellow at UCSF. In 1996 he accepted a position with Cubist Pharmaceuticals as the head of the Enzymology group. In 1998, he joined Vertex Pharmaceuticals and has held a number of positions with the company. In 1999, he took on responsibility for the high throughput screening group and developed the high throughput enzymology paradigm in support of the Vertex Chemogenomics effort. In 2002, he was promoted to Worldwide Head of preclinical research for the Vertex/Novartis Kinase Program, and in 2003 was made overall head of the program and Vertex chair for the Joint Research Council. In 2004, he took on additional responsibilities as the Co-chair group responsible for new projects at Vertex. He was promoted to VP, Research in 2005.
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Panel #2: Global Life Sciences Start-up Trends
This panel provided an investment
outlook and operational analysis on the current and future start-up environment
in China, India, and Europe. Specifically, the current trends and future
potential for the emergence of service providers and fully functioning life
sciences companies in different countries around the world.
Speakers:
Florent
Gros: Managing Director of Novartis Venture Fund
Florent Gros is a Managing Director of the Novartis Venture Funds in Basel, Switzerland. For nearly 15 years, he held various positions and projects in the intellectual property and venture areas at Nestlé, Aventis-Pasteur and Novartis, in various countries including Switzerland, France and USA. Florent has multiple experiences in managing IP, BD&L and M&A projects, particularly in the Biologics area. Florent has a Biotechnology Engineering Degree in France, and made his diploma thesis at Glaxo-Vaccine in Belgium. He also holds European and French patent lawyer degrees, as well a Master in Private Law.
Pravin
Chaturvedi: President/CSO of Napo Pharmaceuticals & Founder/CEO of IndUS
Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Chaturvedi is the President and Chief Scientific Officer of Napo Pharmaceuticals and has nearly 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience. He has been associated with the discovery and development of several novel drugs for the treatment of a variety of diseases. Over his career, Dr. Chaturvedi has been a part of the development of five marketed drugs and of several new drugs undergoing clinical evaluation. Most recently, Dr. Chaturvedi was the Founder & CEO of IndUS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an emerging pharmaceutical company, focused on the discovery and development of novel small molecule drugs for the treatment of cancer, diabetes and infectious diseases. Prior to founding IndUS Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Chaturvedi was the founding President & CEO of Scion Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on the discovery and development of new drugs targeting ion channels for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS), cardiovascular (CV) and urological disorders. Prior to Scion, Dr. Chaturvedi, spent several years at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where he was the Head of Lead Evaluation and participated successfully in the discovery and development of several new antiviral, oncology, immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory drugs. Prior to Vertex, Dr. Chaturvedi was in the preclinical group at Alkermes, where he participated in CNS and oncology product development and prior to that, he was in the Product Development group at Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert Company, where he worked on the development of new drugs for the treatment of oncology, epilepsy, pain and cognition. Dr. Chaturvedi holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from West Virginia University and a Bachelor's in Pharmacy from the University of Bombay.
Jinbo Lee: President at Sage Partner International; Senior Advisor at Shanghai
Medicilon Inc.
Dr. Lee is currently President at Sage
Partner International and Senior Advisor at Shanghai Medicilon, Inc. Dr.
Lee obtained his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Princeton University in 1998,
under the
guidance of Professor John Groves. He then joined Boehringer-Ingelheim
Pharmaceutical as a medicinal chemist. In 2001, Dr. Lee moved to Wyeth Research
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, serving the role of group/project leader in
medicinal chemistry department. In 2006, he was recruited to be the head of
chemistry at Ensemble Discovery Corporation in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Lee
has extensive
experience in drug discovery from hit-tolead to lead optimization. He is
knowledgeable in multiple diseases areas including cancer, cardiovascular,
metabolic and inflammatory diseases.
Anupendra Sharma: Partner, Siemens Venture Capital
Anupendra Sharma is Partner at Siemens Venture Capital investing in healthcare (devices, diagnostics, software and services). Anupendra is an investor in BioImagene, China Diagnostics and Cylex. He is a former investor in Sequenom (NASD: SQNM). Prior to Siemens Venture Capital, Anupendra helped companies go public and raise capital, and completed $5 billion in M&A transactions at JPMorgan, Salomon Smith Barney and Siemens. Anupendra also worked in strategy consulting for McKinsey London, and Product Development Finance for Ford Europe, where he was a member of the core team that set-up Ford in China and India. Anupendra founded several companies and not-for profits including Mobile Medics, named the Most Innovative Social Venture of 2006 by the Global Social Venture Competition for attempting to solve the “last-mile” problem for global rural healthcare. Anupendra is a Charter Member of TiE Boston, Founder of the TiE Leadership Program for Entrepreneurial CEOs of the future, and advisor to to early-stage life sciences efforts in New England. Anupendra founded the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at BITS Pilani, and is Founding Advisor to Peking University's Venture Capital Association. He also started the Massachusetts Life Sciences Startup Initiative, to accelerate the pace of startups in the Commonwealth, and advises government and related agencies on policy matters related to startups in the Commonwealth. Anupendra holds an MBA from Cornell University, MS in Accounting & Finance from Manchester Business School, Masters in Economics and Bachelors in Instrumentation Engineering from BITS Pilani, India.
Moderator:
Wei Zhang, Founder/President, Harvard Square Consulting
Dr. Wei Zhang is the Founder and
President of Harvard Square Consulting, Inc. Previously, she was Corporate Vice
President of Strategy and Corporate Development at Millipore Corporation, a $1.6
billion life sciences tools company that has been acquired by Merck KGaA. Wei
also spent six years with McKinsey & Company’s Los Angeles and Boston
Offices.Wei’s work has been focused on the broader healthcare and life sciences
industry. She has a proven track record of helping companies set and meet their
strategic, business development, financial, and operational goals. While she
mostly worked with large companies, she has also worked extensively with
investment firms on valuation, due diligence, and other investment issues. She
has served as advisors to startup and pre-startup teams. In addition to the US,
Wei has in-depth experience with Asian markets, China in particular. Wei
received her postdoctoral training in stem cell biology at Stanford Medical
School. While at Stanford, she co-founded CNetWork, a non-profit organization
providing services to Asian communities in the Bay Area. She holds a Ph.D. in
Immunology from Harvard University and a B.S. in Biochemistry from Peking
University.