Daniel D. Adams
Executive Chairman and Global Head of Business Development
Protein Sciences
Mr. Adams joined Protein Sciences as CEO in 1996. Prior to that time, he founded and managed biopharmaceutical companies that have a combined market value of over $60 billion. Mr. Adams co-founded Biogen (OTC:BGEN) in 1976 and served as its first President and CEO. He also was Founder and CEO of Advanced Genetic Sciences Inc. (OTC:AGSI) in 1980, was Co-founder and Managing Director of Plant Genetic Systems in 1982, and was Founder and CEO of AlleRx in 1989. Mr. Adams is currently a Director of Medivation Inc. and several private companies and medical schools. He received a B.A. from Cornell University (Chemistry and Physics) and earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from New York University School of Law.
Koichi Ai
Director, Japan Information Center
Consulate-General of Japan in New York
Koichi Ai studied law at the University of Tokyo and earned his master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Massachusetts. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1989 and has since been posted to embassies in Washington, D.C., Ottawa and Jakarta. His recent assignments at the Ministry include: Counsel for Treaties Negotiation; Director, Ocean Affairs; Director, Policy Planning; and Director, International Economy. He assumed present position in March 2013.
Jeffrey M. Bockman, PhD
Vice President
Defined Health
Jeff’s scientific expertise encompasses a broad range of therapeutic disciplines for which he serves as Team Leader or internal consultant, including Oncology, Infectious Disease (especially HIV, hepatitis, and antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections), Inflammatory Disorders (especially asthma and psoriasis), Complex Therapeutics (cell and gene therapy) and Drug Delivery. Jeff also has extensive commercial and strategic perspective on the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. He has directed hundreds of in-depth licensing opportunity and valuation assessments during his tenure at DH.
Before joining Defined Health, Jeff was a Senior Research Scientist and Research Project Leader in the commercial development of oligonucleotide therapeutics for viral diseases and cancer at Innovir Laboratories; and an Assistant Research Professor at The George Washington University School of Medicine. He has worked with two Nobel Prize recipients: Dr. Sidney Altman on ribozymes, and Dr. Stanley Prusiner on prions, and holds four patents in applications of ribozymes as therapeutics and diagnostics.
Jeff is a member of the Licensing Executives Society and the American Association for Cancer Research. He received a BA from University of California at San Diego, a PhD in Medical Microbiology from the University of California at Berkeley, and an MA in English/Creative Writing from New York University.
With his wife he founded and has been running for over ten years a well-regarded literary journal, Literal Latte. Jeff continues to write fiction, essays and book reviews that he publishes in various literary magazines.
Ben Bonifant
Partner
Triangle Insights Group, LLC
Ben Bonifant is a founding partner at Triangle Insights Group. He is an experienced consultant to leaders of global pharmaceuticals and biotechnology organizations and to decision makers of large private equity funds. Mr. Bonifant has been a management consultant for more than twenty years. His perspectives on developments in the life sciences market are frequently published in industry and strategy journals. Recent by-lined articles have appeared in Pharmaceutical Executive, InVivo, Nature Biotech, RPM Report, and Scrip. In addition, Mr. Bonifant has written case studies on the pharmaceutical industry used in graduate business programs.
Mr. Bonifant is a member of the Life Sciences Executive Committee of the Licensing Executive Society. He has also been a member of the program committee for BIO International Convention. Prior to the founding of Triangle Insights Group, Mr. Bonifant was the leader of the Business Development Practice at Campbell Alliance and a partner in the Strategy practice at Oliver Wyman.
He has been a guest lecturer at the Fuqua School of Business, the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, and many industry conferences in the US, Europe, and Canada. Mr. Bonifant earned an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.S. from Duke University.
Joseph Brindisi
Vice President, Business Development
PRISM Pharma Co., Ltd.
JOE BRINDISI, is a pharmaceutical/biotech executive with focused experience in commercialization, IP strategies and closing high value L&A transactions. Presently, Vice President of Business Development for Prism Pharma and President of STRATELLIGENT Business Development LLC, a consulting firm providing strategically focused business development services for BioPharma companies including developing IP strategy, project management, alliance strategies, deal structuring and negotiating complex L&A transactions. PRISM Pharma of Japan is commercially developing protein helix mimetic technology and its lead compound is CBP catenin inhibitor in Phase 1b clinical trials in oncology. Previously, VP Business Development, Biovail Corp., executing business development strategy for Canada and acquiring CNS products. VP Business Development, General Counsel and Member of Executive Committee Kyowa Pharmaceutical, Inc., executing its pharmaceutical globalization/commercialization strategy. Co-Founder and VP BioWa, Inc. creating a new business model and strategy for spinning out an antibody platform technology from a Japanese company for out-licensing. Legal and business development roles at J&J (1988-2001)
Howard Brooks
Partner, Americas Life Sciences Sector Leader
EY
Howard Brooks serves as EY’s Americas Life Sciences Leader, which encompasses both the Pharmaceutical. Medical Technology, and Biotechnology sub-sectors. He is a member of the firm’s Global Life Sciences Sector Center Advisory Panel, responsible for developing market and operational sector strategy. Howard serves as the client service partner for many of EY’s global pharmaceutical clients, responsible for providing relevant industry insight and for insuring successful service delivery to clients. He has over 20 years of experience serving life science clients across their multiple business units including commercial operations, supply chain, R&D, technical operations, consumer healthcare and corporate services. His multinational pharmaceutical clients include: AmerisourceBergen, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, and Teva. Howard has extensive experience in addressing companies’ critical business issues with a focus on risk management, regulatory compliance, IT implementation, transaction diligence/structuring and various financial and tax matters. He has led several successful engagements in the life sciences sector including: finance and procurement transformation, shared service outsourcing, regulatory compliance design and implementation, third party contract risk management, and global tax restructuring/transfer pricing. Howard leads a team of over 500 professionals focused on the life sciences sector. He is a frequent industry speaker on business strategy and financial implications.
William H. Carson, M.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc.
William H. Carson, M.D. is President and Chief Executive Officer of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. (OPDC), where he is responsible for developing new products and bringing them to market. Since his appointment in 2010, Dr. Carson has led the development efforts of compounds in neuroscience, cardio-renal and oncology.
Dr. Carson was instrumental in the development and registration of ABILIFY MAINTENA™ (aripiprazole) for extended-release injectable suspension, an intramuscular (IM) depot formulation indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia.
In addition, he helped guide the development and registration of SAMSCA® (tolvaptan), marking the first time Otsuka successfully developed and commercialized a product entirely on its own in the U.S. SAMSCA is the only oral selective vasopressin antagonist for the treatment of patients with clinically significant hypervolemic and euvolemic hyponatremia.
Earlier, as OPDC’s Senior Vice President, Global Clinical Development, Dr. Carson was responsible for overseeing the global clinical development of Otsuka-discovered compounds. A board-certified psychiatrist, Dr. Carson joined Otsuka in 2002.
During his career at Otsuka and earlier at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), Dr. Carson has been one of the key drivers in the development and commercialization of ABILIFY® (aripiprazole), which Otsuka marketed in collaboration with BMS. Among his many contributions, he led the Aripiprazole Pediatric Efficacy Trials Team, which started the life-cycle management programs at Otsuka.
Prior to joining Otsuka, Dr. Carson was Group Director at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Neuroscience Clinical Research and Development, responsible for the clinical development of ABILIFY.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Carson was an associate professor and Director of the Inpatient and Partial Hospital Program at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Dr. Carson received his A.B. degree in history and science from Harvard University and earned his M.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Yuan-Hua Ding, PhD
External R&D Innovation – Asia/Pacific
Pfizer Worldwide R&D
Dr. Ding is Senior Director and Head of Pfizer External R&D Innovation (ERDI) for the Asia/Pacific Region. He partners with colleagues in ERDI, Business Development and therapeutic area and technology research unit leadership teams to search and evaluate academic & biotech research capabilities in the region, seek to incubate early biotech companies, collaborate on differentiated products and novel technology platforms, build and manage a research network of academic institutes, biotech/pharma companies and Contracted Research Organizations (CROs). Since June 2011, He also acts as Interim Head of ERDI Anti-Infective, leading a cross functional team to seek external novel anti-infective programs globally. Prior to his current role, Dr. Ding served a variety of roles in the Pfizer R&D division, including Head of Structural Biology at the Research Technology Center (RTC) in Cambridge, MA. Dr. Ding completed his doctoral studies in Biochemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and received postdoctoral training structural immunology at Harvard University. Dr. Ding is the founder and secretary of the New England Structural Biology Association. Dr. Ding also served on the Editorial Board for the Chemical Biology and Drug Design journal.
James J. Dolan
Senior Vice President, Licensing & Business Development
Purdue Pharma L.P.
Jim Dolan began his pharmaceutical career at Pfizer, where, after serving in international planning and finance functions at the New York headquarters, he held line management positions at Pfizer subsidiaries in Brazil and Morocco.
After completing 15 years at Pfizer, he joined Purdue in 1994. As head of the licensing function, he chairs the multidisciplinary Business Development Committee. He was named Senior Vice President in 2003, at which time he became a member of the Executive Committee. He is also a Director of Mundipharma K.K. (Tokyo), an affiliated company.
In support and oversight of the Company’s external equity and strategic investments, Mr. Dolan has held board observer positions at Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Novelos Therapeutics, and Kolltan Pharmaceuticals. Outside of Purdue, he is an active member of BIO and the Licensing Executive Society, and he is a recent past President of the New York Pharma Forum, Inc.
Mr. Dolan holds a BA from Holy Cross and an MBA from the University of Connecticut.
Jamie Egan
Senior Vice President Corporate Development
AnGes Inc.
Jamie Egan is Senior Vice President Corporate Development AnGes Inc., the US subsidiary of AnGes MG Inc., a publicly traded specialty pharma and gene therapy company with headquarters in Japan. AnGes has an HGF plasmid gene therapy entering phase III development for Critical Limb Ischemia. Prior to joining AnGes, Mr. Egan was Chief Operating Officer Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company in the US; Chief Business Officer at ESBATech AG, a venture capital biotech acquired by Alcon/Novartis in 2009; Senior Vice President, Licensing, M&A and Business Development at Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc.; and Chief Executive Officer at NeuronZ Ltd, a biotech start up located in Auckland, New Zealand. Prior to entering the biotech industry, Mr. Egan held positions of increasing authority in Licensing & Business Development at Monsanto/Searle and in the office of the General Counsel at Abbott Laboratories. Mr. Egan served as a Trial Attorney in the Foreign Commerce Section of the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice and as a diplomat in the United States Department of State at US Embassy Tokyo.
David Flores
Co-Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer
BioCentury Publications Inc.
David has devoted more than 20 years to developing information products for biotechnology executives and investors. He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and holds an MBA from Stanford University. David is a member of the Advisory Board of the Innovation and New Ventures Office (INVO) at Northwestern University and a member of the Advisory Council of the Keck Graduate Institute of the Applied Life Sciences. He also has served as a member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Management Board. In 1996, David and BioCentury Co-Founder, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief Karen Bernstein were honored with the Special Recognition Award given by the annual gathering of biotechnology chief executive officers in Laguna Niguel, Calif., citing BioCentury’s ongoing contributions to the industry.
James Foley, PhD
Managing Director
Aqua Partners LLC
Over 30 years pharmaceutical industry experience spanning R&D, corporate development and licensing. Served as Head of business development and licensing of pharmaceuticals for Japan and Asia/Pacific regions at Bristol Myers Squibb, SmithKline Beecham and GlaxoSmithKline. Extensive longstanding relationships with Japanese pharmaceutical industry. Former member of Board of Directors of Sosei & Co. in Tokyo. Responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of transactions in anti-infectives, inflammation, restenosis and cancer. Ph.D. in Physiology and Pharmacology from Thomas Jefferson University and BA in Biology and Chemistry from Rutgers University.
Les Funtleyder
Managing Director
Poliwogg
Les Funtleyder is responsible for the development and management of investment funds and related products. Mr. Funtleyder has been involved with the health care industry since 1993, both as a portfolio manager and analyst, and as an employee of major pharmaceutical companies.
His most recent experience prior to Poliwogg was as portfolio manager and health care strategist for the Miller Tabak Health Care Transformation Fund (Symbol: MTHFX)., which was a ’40 Act mutual fund focused on investing in the most innovative sub-sectors of healthcare. MTHFX achieved top decile performance in the long/short category. He joined Miller Tabak after managing a healthcare equity portfolio for Provident Advisors, a hedge fund located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Before joining Provident, Mr. Funtleyder worked as a medical device analyst at UBS Warburg. He also covered biotechnology stocks as an analyst at Bigelow and Company.
His direct industry experience includes the direction of clinical and business research at Innovative Health Solutions, a joint venture of Merck and Wyeth; and as a consultant to HMOs and hospitals for Coopers & Lybrand and Health Strategies Group.
Mr. Funtleyder wrote Healthcare Investing: Profiting from the New World of Pharma, Biotech, and Health Care Services (McGraw Hill), published in January 2009, which bridges the gap between health reform, innovation and investing. He is widely quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Financial Times, and is a frequent guest on CNBC, Bloomberg and NPR for his unique perspective on the healthcare sector and its constituent companies.
Gary Gabrielsen
Vice President, Business Development/Alliance Mgmt
Astellas
Gary Gabrielsen is Vice President of Business Development and Alliance Management at Astellas US LLC, the North American affiliate of Astellas Pharma Inc. Astellas is a global pharmaceutical company based in Tokyo that was formed by the merger of Fujisawa and Yamanouchi in April 2005. Gary joined the Northbrook, Illinois-based company in 2001, and is responsible for supporting the growth of Astellas’ therapeutic area franchises in the Americas through a variety of strategic partnering initiatives.
Astellas is dedicated to becoming a “Global Category Leader” in select therapeutic areas. This approach is supported by employing a business model of supplying to the world drugs with high added value in therapeutic fields where there is a high degree of unmet medical need. Building on its significant historical achievements in the fields of urology and transplantation, Astellas has been growing its global presence in oncology through a series of strategic licensing and M&A activities, as well as continuing to actively seek opportunities in additional areas of current and future potential, such as infectious disease, immunology/inflammation, and neuroscience, among others.
Prior to joining his current employer, Gary spent 10 years with Abbott Laboratories, with positions in strategic marketing, business development, product management and pharmacoeconomics. He has earned an MBA from the University of Chicago as well as a BS in Pharmacy from the University of Illinois.
John M. Gill
President and Chief Executive Officer
TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals
John Gill is a co-founder and has been a member of TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals Corporation’s board of directors since inception and served as President and Chief Executive Officer from October 2003 through August 2013. Prior to TetraLogic, John was a member of the board of directors and Chief Operating Officer of 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals, Inc., after having served 1979 until 2001 in several positions at SmithKline Beecham Corporation, now GlaxoSmithKline plc.
Glen Giovannetti
Global Life Sciences Leader
EY
Glen has over 28 years of experience with Ernst & Young, the majority serving clients in the Life Sciences industry including biotech and medtech firms. He Leads a global team focused on understanding the evolving needs of clients in the life sciences industry, monitoring trends and business drivers, networking and informing E&Y professionals serving the life sciences industry globally, and creating industry focused thought leadership including the annual reports Progressions, Beyond Borders and Pulse of the Industry. He is a frequent speaker at life sciences industry events around the globe.
An Assurance professional by background, Glen has extensive experience assisting clients with strategic transactions including equity and debt offerings, technology licensing and R&D collaborations, joint ventures and acquisitions. Before relocating to Boston, Glen was a partner in the firm’s Silicon Valley practice and spent three years in the firm’s Milan, Italy office. He is a member of the board of directors of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. He chairs New England Funding the Next Discovery, an event that raises money for early cancer research, He is a member of the Leadership Council of The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Care at Massachusetts General Hospital. Glen graduated from Linfield College with a BA in Accounting.
Jeffrey R. Greene
Partner, EY Transaction Advisory Services
EY
Mr. Greene is a principal in Ernst & Young’s transaction advisory services practice and the global transactions leader for life sciences. With more than 25 years of transaction experience, he supports global companies with their due diligence, tax, integration, carve-out and valuation needs in North America, Europe and Asia. He provides strategic valuation advice in mergers and acquisitions, financings and restructurings, and is a recognized expert witness in federal, district, bankruptcy and tax courts on valuation, fairness and solvency matters. Mr. Greene has authored articles and book chapters on valuation, solvency, due diligence and performance measurement, including: Optimizing the corporate portfolio in a buyer’s market, The Valuation-Savvy Pharma Enterprise and Toward World-Class Divestitures. He is a member of the editorial advisory board of the journal Valuation Strategies, and has served as a guest faculty member at seminars held by the Practicing Law Institute and National Investor Relations Institute. As a member of the board of trustees of Adelphi University, he sits on the executive, finance and academic affairs committees. Mr. Greene received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School with a concentration in finance and international business and a B.A. in physics from Dartmouth College.
Kimberly Ha
Global Editor
BioPharm Insight
Kimberly is an award-winning biopharmaceutical industry journalist and editor. She launched BioPharm Insight’s editorial team in 2007. She began her career as a financial journalist in Hong Kong specializing in healthcare M&A, and previously was the lead sector specialist at Mergermarket, a division of the Financial Times Group.
She is a sought-after panelist and moderator at major healthcare investor conferences and events, including the Prix Galien Awards. In 2011, based on her extensive coverage of Alzheimer’s disease, she was nominated by the Alzheimer’s Association and was ultimately selected to be a National Press Foundation Fellow. Kimberly also is a recipient of the 2012 National Press Foundation and UN Foundation Global Vaccines Press Fellowship. In 2012, she was awarded the Association of Health Care Journalists Fellowship Award, which was supported by the New York State Health Foundation as well as the National Press Foundation Cancer Issues Fellowship.
Kimberly has a BA in psychology from New York University. She is fluent in Cantonese, Shanghainese and Mandarin.
Haroon Hashmi
Independent Consultant
Haroon Hashmi is currently working as an independent consultant in the areas of global integrated drug development strategies and program management. Previously, Haroon was Biogen Idec’s Senior Director of Clinical Development focusing on the Asia Pacific region. In this position, he assessed the market potential of Biogen Idec’s products in Asia-Pacific, prioritized the development pipeline, created development strategies, and oversaw the implementation of these strategies in the region. Haroon has a combined 17 years of biotechnology experience in the areas of analytical development, regulatory (US, EU, Canada, Japan, China, and SEA), program management, government affairs, and strategic initiatives. His previous positions at Biogen Idec also included Director of Regulatory Affairs, where he was responsible for three early stage and two late stage programs, and Program Manager within the Program and Alliance Management, where he drove the drug development program in Japan.
Prior to joining Biogen Idec in 2002, he worked for Biomira Inc., a biotech company focusing on cancer vaccines, in Edmonton, Canada. Haroon is working on his PhD in Public Health – Epidemiology and currently holds an MPH in Epidemiology, an MSc in Experimental Medicine (Oncology), and an MSc in Microbiology.
Hingge Hsu, MD
Partner
Fidelity Biosciences
Hingge joined Fidelity Biosciences as a Venture Partner in April 2009. Most recently he was a Managing Director at Lehman Brothers in their Private Equity Group, responsible for their principal investment activities in the private and public sectors of the healthcare industry. Prior to that, he was a Partner at Schroder Ventures Life Sciences from 1998 to 2001 and directed their US investment activities in the life sciences and therapeutics sectors. Hingge was also a Principal at Robertson Stephens in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group and worked at Chiron Corporation and Gensia, Inc in the areas of business development and strategic planning. Hingge received an MD degree from Yale University School of Medicine and was trained in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He also received an MBA degree from Harvard Business School.
Dr. Hsu serves on the Board of Directors of NextWave Pharmaceuticals and Fluidnet.
Yuji Iizawa
Senior Investment Director
Takeda Ventures, Inc.
Yuji Iizawa joined TVI as Senior Investment Director in April 2011 with more than 28 years R&D experience at Takeda. Yuji is focusing on investments in early stage bio-ventures with therapeutics and platform technologies. Prior to joining TVI, Yuji was Senior Director of Strategic Research Planning Department and Global Research Management Department in Pharmaceutical Research Division, with responsibility for the strategic oversight of Takeda research affiliates Worldwide. Prior to this, Yuji spent 2 years with TVI when it was Takeda Research Investment, Inc.. During his tenure in Takeda’s Pharmacology Research Laboratories, he assumed responsibility for anti-infectives drug discovery, and spent one year on sabbatical in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences, University of Wisconsin. Yuji joined Takeda in 1983 with a D.V.M. from Tokyo University, obtaining his Ph.D. from the same institution in 1990.
Brian Johnson
Senior Director / Pfizer Supply Chain Security
Pfizer Global Supply
Brian Johnson is the Sr. Director Supply Chain Security at Pfizer. He is responsible for Pfizer’s corporate supply chain security program. This program was developed to combat growing supply chain threats related to product theft, product diversion, economic adulteration, and counterfeit goods.
Brian has been with Pfizer for 30 years and has held a number of leadership positions in manufacturing and quality assurance. He started in the Kalamazoo manufacturing plant and held various QA leadership positions supporting sterile manufacturing. In 2000 Brian was appointed Sr. Director Quality Assurance Global External Supply responsible for global contract manufacturing. Brian also relocated to Brussels Belgium in 2000 where he added QA responsibility for several manufacturing plants in Europe. Brian returned to New Jersey in 2003 to lead the America’s Contract Manufacturing QA organization until moving into his current role in 2010.
Brian has been actively involved in a number of external professional/trade organizations working on quality assurance and supply chain security initiatives including PhRMA, ISPE, PDA, and Rx360. Brian is currently Chair of Rx360. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Central Michigan University.
Lynn D. Kramer, MD, FAAN
President, Neuroscience PCU
Eisai, Inc.
Lynn D. Kramer, MD, has served as president of the Neuroscience & General Medicine Product Creation Unit since its inception in 2009. In this role, he oversees the full product creation cycle from discovery through regulatory approval of innovative projects in the neuroscience area.
Dr. Kramer, who has been with Eisai since 2007, started as the executive vice president of Global Clinical Research, and was soon promoted to the additional role of COO of Eisai Medical Research. In early 2009, he was named president of the Scientific and Operational Clinical Support Core Function Unit (SOCS CFU), a position he held in addition to his current role until mid-2010. Most recently he was named Chief Clinical Officer and a member of the Executive Committee, Eisai Company, Ltd.
During his career at Eisai, Dr. Kramer has supervised and contributed to the development of products Fycompa, Halaven (late stage breast cancer), Innovelon/Banzel, Lusedra, Aciphex adolescent indication, Aricept 23mg (High Dose), Dacogen 5-day dosing, and supported approval for Belviq in conjunction with our partner Arena Pharmaceuticals.
Prior to joining Eisai, Dr. Kramer oversaw clinical development, pharmacovigilance, drug safety and medical affairs for PAR Pharmaceutical, Inc. Earlier in his career, he held clinical research positions in a variety of therapeutic areas at Purdue Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, the R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute and Carter-Wallace, Inc.
Dr. Kramer is a Fellow of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (1987) and the Philadelphia College of Physicians (1987). He currently serves as the industry representative on the Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and on the Board of Directors American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics (ASENT).
Dr. Kramer received his MD from Hahnemann Medical College. He completed his internship in internal medicine at the University of California at Irvine, and his residency in neurology at the University of Virginia. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College, where he has since been named to the Board of Trustees.
Kiyoshi Kurokawa, MD, MACP
Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
Former Science Advisor, National Diet, Japan
Chairman, Global Health Innovative Technology Fund
Dr. Kurokawa, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo, has been Academic Fellow of National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (2009.11-); Chairman, Health and Global Policy Institute (2005-); Commissioner on the WHO Commission for Social Determinants of Health (2005-2008); Chair and Founder, IMPACT Foundation Japan; Representative Director and Chair, Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (2013-); Adjunct Senior Research Scientist of the Earth Institute of Columbia University (2011-); Distinguished Research Affiliate, the MIT Media Lab (2011-).
Dr. Kurokawa received a MD degree from the University of Tokyo. Following clinical training in internal medicine, then in nephrology at the Department of Medicine of the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Medicine, he spent 15 years in USA; professor of medicine, Department of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine (1979-84). After returning from USA; he was professor of medicine of the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Medicine (1989-96); Dean and Professor of Tokai University School of Medicine and Director of the Institute of Medical Sciences (1996-2002), Research Institute of Science and Technology (2002-04), Tokai University; Adjunct Professor, the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo (2003-06).
Dr. Kurokawa has served as president and/or executive officer to many prestigious national and international professional societies in medicine, nephrology, science academies and science policy organizations. He is Master of the American College of Physicians, and Founding Governor of the Japan Chapter of American College of Physicians (2004-2011). He is an elected member of many prestigious professional societies including Science Council of Japan (President, 2003-06), Member of InterAcademy Panel (2001-06), and InterAcademy Council (2001- 06), Association of American Physicians, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of the USA. He is also Board Member of Biobliotheca Alexandria, Egypt (2006-2010) , Khalifa University of Science and Technology of Abu Dhabi Government (2008-) , Okinawa Institute of Science Technology Graduate University and Advisory Board to the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Dr. Kurokawa, Special Advisor to the Cabinet (2006-08), has served and serves many committees of the Ministries and Cabinet Office of Japan, eg, Committee for Science and Technology Policy and as Science Advisor for the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Chairperson of the Hideyo Noguchi Prize Committee, and He chaired the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission by the National Diet of Japan (NAIIC)(2011.12-2012.7).
He is a recipient of Order of Purple from the Government of Japan for Excellence in Academic Achievements (1999), Order Legiion de Honour of the Government of France (2009), Person of the Year of the American Chamber of Commerce of Japan (2010), the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star (2011 Spring), “Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award” of AAAS (2012) and of “100 Top Global Thinkers 2012” of ‘Foreign Policy’.
His website: http://www.kiyoshikurokawa.com/en
David Lilley
Board Member
SFJ Pharmaceuticals
David graduated with an Honors Degree in Medicinal Chemistry at the University of London in the UK, David joined Johnson & Johnson as a medical sales representative and over the subsequent seven years held a number of marketing and sales positions with that company.
In 1987 he joined Innovex and was appointed to the Board of that company in 1989. At that time under David’s leadership, Innovex moved into the clinical research arena initially providing CRA’s and monitors on a contract basis before becoming a full service CRO in 1991.
In 1992 David left the UK to set up Innovex’s first overseas subsidiary in Germany. In 1995 he returned to lead Innovex in the home market in the UK.
In 1996 Innovex, was acquired by Quintiles Transnational a Global CRO.
In 1999 he transferred to Quintiles’ Corporate Headquarters in North Carolina to establish a Global Business development structure for the company.
In 2003 he was appointed as the Global President of Innovex. This involved responsibility for over 7000 contract sales representatives in 17 countries.
David was asked to lead the Commercial arm of NovaQuest in 2005 – which is the investment arm of Quintiles Transnational – managing deals providing services “at risk” around the launch and subsequent support of products on a global basis. This also involved the coordination of multiple sales and marketing services not just associated with Innovex but across the whole company through the Quintiles’ Alliance Management function which also reported to Lilley.
In June 2008, after 21 years service with Innovex and Quintiles, David opted to leave the company to search for new challenges. In the following November he joined Campbell Alliance as an Executive Vice-President and will work closely with the Executive Team and Consulting Practice heads to help expand the client base of the company. In December 2011 he left Campbell to concentrate on his work at SFJ and other Independanrt ventures.
Stephen P. Mahinka
Partner
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
Stephen Paul Mahinka is a partner and chair of Morgan Lewis’ Life Sciences and Healthcare interdisciplinary group, resident in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He is the founder of the firm’s FDA practice and a prior leader of its Antitrust practice. His practice focuses on both FDA regulatory and antitrust issues throughout the product lifecycle concerning pharmaceuticals, biologics, biosimilars, food and food additives, and medical devices, including product development, distribution, marketing, advertising, pricing and price discrimination, mergers, joint ventures and other collaboration agreements, and FDA, FTC, DOJ, and state investigations and enforcement. Mr. Mahinka is a co-author of FDLI’s Food and Drug Law and Regulation (2nd ed. 2011), Life Sciences Mergers and Acquisitions (Aspatore, 2008), and Winning Antitrust Strategies (Aspatore, 2004), a contributing author of the ABA Antitrust Section’s Pharmaceutical Industry Antitrust Handbook (2009), and author of nearly 60 articles on FDA regulatory and competition issues. He is a member of the editorial board of Life Sciences Law360, and a past member of the editorial board of the Food and Drug Law Journal. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Phi Beta Kappa, and of the Harvard Law School.
Tadashi Matsumoto, PhD MBA
President & Chief Executive Officer
ReqMed Company Ltd.
Before founding ReqMed Company, Ltd. In 1998, he served Kyowa Hakko (now Kyowa Hakko Kirin) as various positions including basic research, clinical study, strategic planning and business development. Since 2004, he has been educating “Entrepreneurship” at Yokohama City University, Tokyo Institute of Technology and Osaka University of Economics. He is a chief facilitator of “Bio-Leaders Program” supported by Japan Bio-industry Association (JBA), and more than 150 talented people mastered the program. He is one of deal makers in Japan. When he was at Kyowa Hakko, he coordinated the collaborations with COR, LeukoSite and Cephalon. At ReqMed, he supported the deal between FibroGen and Astellas with FibroGen’s HIF program. He received Ph.D. from University of Tokyo (1981) and MBA from Tsukuba University (1992). He is also Alumni Member of Stanford Business School (#8096).
Joseph S. McCracken
Vice President & Global Head, Business Development & Licensing (retired)
Roche
Joseph McCracken advises small and large biopharmaceutical companies on corporate strategy and business development initiatives. Dr. McCracken was formerly the Global Head for Business Development & Licensing for Roche Pharma, where he was responsible for Roche Pharma’s global in-licensing and out-licensing activities and was based in Nutley, New Jersey.
Prior to joining the Roche Pharma, Dr. McCracken held the position of Vice President, Business Development at Genentech for more than 10 years. At Genentech Joe was responsible for all business development activities at the Company, including the identification and negotiation of collaboration and licensing agreements with academic institutions, biotechnology companies and pharmaceutical companies throughout the world. Dr. McCracken returned to Genentech in 2000 after a seven-year absence, during which he held positions as President of Technology Licensing and Alliances at Aventis, and Vice President of Worldwide Business and Technology Development at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer S.A. During his earlier time with Genentech, Dr. McCracken served in many capacities, culminating in positions as Director of Business Development and Representative Director of Genentech Ltd., Genentech’s wholly owned subsidiary in Japan.
McCracken has more than 25 years of experience in technical, business development and market development roles with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology, a Master of Science in Pharmacology and a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from The Ohio State University.
David B. Nash, MD, MBA
Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor of Health Policy
Thomas Jefferson University
David Nash is the Founding Dean of the Jefferson School of Population Health (JSPH) of Thomas Jefferson University and the Dr. Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor of Health Policy in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Nash is a board certified internist who is internationally recognized for his work in outcomes management, medical staff development and quality-of-care improvement. He consults in the public and private sectors, chairing the Technical Advisory Group of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, serving on the Board of Directors for Humana Inc. since December 2009; on the Board of Directors of Endo Health Solutions since March 2011, and recently joining the Board of Main Line Health. He writes a column on MedPage Today, has authored more than 100 articles in major journals, edited 21 books, and is Editor-in-Chief of four major national journals including American Journal of Medical Quality, Population Health Management, P&T, and American Health & Drug Benefits. Dr. Nash lives in Lafayette Hill, PA, with his wife of more than thirty years, Esther J. Nash, MD. They have fraternal twin 26-year-old daughters and a 22-year-old son.
Keiko Oishi
Senior Managing Director
CMIC Co., Ltd. (Japan)
After gaining her MS degree from the University of Tokyo, Keiko started her career at Nikkei McGraw-Hill, Inc. in Japan (now renamed Nikkei Business Publications), as a staff writer for Nikkei Biotech, the first Japanese newsletter specializing in biotechnology. She accumulated her biotechnology industry career through working in Genzyme Japan, Ltd., and Genentech, Ltd., a Japanese Branch of Genentech, Inc. in the U.S.
In 1996, Keiko joined CMIC Co., Ltd., the first CRO (Clinical Research Organization) in Japan, as Manager of the Strategy Development Department. In her current position as Senior Managing Director of CMIC HOLDINGS, Co., Ltd., she is responsible for International Business and Corporate Development, covering Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, Taiwan and other regions in Asia Pacific. She also acts as a Board Member of the company.
Grace Pan
Attorney
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
Grace Pan is an intellectual property counselor and litigator, with particular strength in polymer chemistry, recombinant technology, herbicides, pharmaceutical compositions and formulations, vaccines, organic and inorganic compounds, medical devices, semiconductor-related technology, consumer electronics and mechanical devices. She also focuses her practice mainly in patents, trademark, trade dress, trade secret, copyright, and unfair competition law. Grace represents clients from the United States, Japan, Taiwan and China and also defends foreign patents in U.S., Taiwan and Japan. In addition to various courts in the U.S., she has also argued before the Trial Examiners at the Japan Patent Office, Tokyo IP High Court and Taiwan Taipei District Court. Grace is fluent in Japanese, Mandarin and Taiwanese and is a Partner at Kaye Scholer LLP.
Daniel Paterson
Chief Business Officer
Verastem Inc
Mr. Paterson has over 20 years of experience in management roles at healthcare and biotechnology companies, including as COO and CEO, and specific expertise in oncology drug and diagnostic product development. Mr. Paterson was the founding CEO of The DNA Repair Company (acquired by On-Q-ity) which develops oncology-focused molecular diagnostics. Mr. Paterson was Head of Global Strategy for Specialty Market and Patient-Level Data at IMS Health after playing a key role in the acquisition of PharMetrics by IMS Health as VP, Marketing and Corporate Development. Mr. Paterson was on the founding management team of CareTools, a healthcare information systems company, OnCare, an oncology physician practice management company with $100 million in annual revenue, and Axion, a oncology pharmaceutical and clinical service firm with an annual revenue of over $250 million when acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb. Mr. Paterson has designed and managed clinical trials in both industry and academic settings and holds a B.A. in Biology from Boston University.
Ben Perkins
Partner & Senior Managing Director, Life Sciences Mergers & Acquisitions
EY
Ben has 14 years of lead-, co- and exclusive advisory experience in the Pharma, Biotech, Device and Diagnostic sectors. He has worked with clients on equity and debt financings, merger and acquisition transactions and partnership structuring.
Ben joined Ernst & Young from Merrill Lynch, where he served as a Managing Director leading the West Coast Life Sciences practice.
Ben has over $5 billion in completed financing work and over $4 billion in completed M&A work in Life Sciences investment banking. Previously, he served as the Head of Healthcare Investment banking and as a member of the Executive committee for Pacific Growth Equities, a privately held investment bank.
Ben holds a BS from Babson College
Jurij Petrin MD
President and CEO
Pharmaceutical Regulatory Services, Inc.
He spent 10 years with Bristol-Myers Squibb in Europe and the US, first as Medical Director for Eastern Europe and later as Executive Director and finally Vice President for Intercontinental Regulatory Science. Before leaving BMS to start his own company in 2001, he was responsible for Bristol-Myers Squibb’s regulatory affairs in markets outside of the US and Europe. He organized and supervised international filings and approvals of new and supplemental submissions of (among others): paclitaxel (Taxol), stavudine (Zerit), cefprozil (Cefzil), cefepime (Maxipime), didanosine (Videx), pravastatin (Pravachol), irbesartan (Aprovel), butorphanol (Stadol), nefazodone (Serzone), fosinopril (Monopril), gatifloxacin (Tequin), eflornithine (Vaniqa), etc.
During his twelve years of consulting, he worked on numerous projects for pharmaceutical and biotech companies, ranging from developing regulatory strategies for new drugs to providing worldwide regulatory support and services of all phases of drug development in various therapeutic areas. The two companies he founded, Pharmaceutical Regulatory Services, Inc. and PRS Clinical Ltd, together with their extensive network of local drug development experts provide drug development consulting and services in around 90 countries on all continents. He serves as a consultant to the Thai FDA and numerous pharmaceutical companies, was member of PhRMA’s Asia Pacific Technical Committee, and represented PhRMA at EFPIA and IFPMA.
Terence Porter
Vice President, Search & Evaluation, Global Business Development
Takeda Pharmaceuticals International
Terry Porter joined Takeda’s Global Business Development & Licensing group in December 2011 where he heads the Search and Evaluation (S&E) team responsible for identifying and evaluating in-licensing opportunities across Takeda’s four therapeutic areas (Cardiovascular-Metabolic, CNS, Inflammation-Respiratory, General Medicine) outside of Oncology and Vaccines.
Terry has over 25 years experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry; prior to Takeda, he was Managing Director at Aqua Partners, which provided strategic advisory services to life science companies and investors. Before that he had a long and successful career at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), first as a research investigator, then as an integral member of GSK’s global business development group where he held various leadership positions responsible, in partnership with key R&D stakeholder groups, for delivering upon GSK’s global external science and technology strategy.
Starting out in Biotech at Seragen Inc., Terry has a broad knowledge across multiple aspects of business development including compound and technology assessment and licensing transactions, M&A and his licensing experience covers protein-based agents and conventional small molecules across multiple therapeutic areas.
Terry holds a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Manchester, UK.
Dennis Purcell
Senior Managing Director
Aisling Capital LLC
Mr. Purcell has served as the Senior Managing Director of Aisling Capital since February 2000 and is responsible for the management of the Partnership. The fund has approximately $1.7 billion of assets under management.
Prior to joining Aisling Capital, Mr. Purcell served as Managing Director of the Life Sciences Investment Banking Group at Chase H&Q (formerly Hambrecht & Quist, “H&Q”) for over five years. While at Hambrecht & Quist, he was directly involved with over two hundred completed transactions and supervised over $10 billion of financing and advisory assignments in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical products industries.
During his tenure, BioWorld and other industry publications cited H&Q as the leading underwriter of life sciences securities. Mr. Purcell is a frequent commentator on the industry and has been honored in the “Biotech Hall of Fame” by Genetic Engineering News, named to the Biotechnology All-Stars list by Forbes ASAP and honored as one of the top 50 Irish- American businessmen and cited as the top 100 contributors to the biotechnology industry. Prior to joining H&Q, Mr. Purcell was a Managing Director in the Healthcare Group at PaineWebber, Inc.
Mr. Purcell currently serves as a director of Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Previously he served as a director of Aton Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Bridge Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cengent Therapeutics, Inc., Dynova Laboratories, Inc., and Valentis, Inc.
He has served as a member of the Advisory Council at Harvard Medical School, the Board of Directors of the Biotechnology Industry Association, as well as the New York Biotechnology Association and the Irvington Institute. He also serves on the Board of L.E.K. consulting.
Mr. Purcell received his M.B.A. from Harvard University and his B.S. in Accounting from the University of Delaware.
Richard Russell
Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Richard Russell has more than 20 years of experience leading commercial operations and in developing and implementing sales and marketing activities for major pharmaceutical brands.
Mr. Russell joined Sunovion in September 2011 as Chief Commercial Officer. In his role, Mr. Russell has broad responsibility for sales, marketing, commercial operations and managed markets group activities, for a portfolio of eight products generating $1.4 billion in revenue. In addition, he provides leadership for the company in development and execution of commercial plans to support both in-line products and late-stage pipeline candidates.
Prior to joining Sunovion, Mr. Russell held the position of U.S. Executive Vice President, Neurodegenerative Diseases and Rheumatology at EMD Serono, where he managed all sales and marketing activities for the multiple sclerosis franchise. Prior to his role at EMD Serono, Mr. Russell was Vice President Marketing at Sanofi-Aventis leading one of the largest pharmaceutical products in the United States. Earlier in his career, Mr. Russell held several roles in sales and marketing leadership. His pharmaceutical experience spans many therapeutic areas ranging from central nervous system (CNS) disorders, women’s health, cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disorders.
Mr. Russell holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Bates College and a M.S. in Organic Chemistry from the University of New Hampshire.
Kathleen M. Sanzo
Partner
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
KATHLEEN M. SANZO is a Partner and leader of the FDA Practice Group at the Washington, DC office of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP. Her practice focuses on all regulatory and compliance matters of FDA relating to bulk and finished prescription and over-the-counter drug manufacture, approval, marketing, and distribution; cosmetic regulation and advertising: biotechnology drug regulation, pre-clinical and clinical testing, drug and device promotional and labeling issues, food additive and dietary supplement matters. Before joining the firm, she clerked in the FDA’s Office of General Counsel and was a Fellow of the Food and Drug Law Institute. Ms. Sanzo is vice-chair of the Consumer Product Regulation Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice. She has been listed in Chambers from 2009-2013. Ms. Sanzo received her AB from Duke University, her JD from Emory University Law School, and her LL.M in Administrative Law from the National Law Center at George Washington University.
Kathleen M. Shay
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
Kathleen M. Shay, a partner at the law firm of Duane Morris LLP, is a corporate and securities lawyer who focuses her practice on the life science industry, representing public and private biopharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostic companies, healthcare information technology and services companies, venture capital funds and other investors in the life science and healthcare industries, academic and research institutions, and life science industry collaborators and service providers. Kate represents both established and emerging businesses in a wide range of legal transactions and issues, including debt and equity financings, structuring transactions, licenses and strategic relationships, mergers and acquisitions, governance matters, and employment and compensation issues.
Kate also serves on the Board of Directors of Pennsylvania Biotechnology Association, the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT) and the Board of Consultors of Villanova Law School and is a Trustee Emeritus of the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur. She is an Advisory Board member and former director of the Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) and has served as AWE’s counsel since its inception. Kate previously served as a director of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth and Chair of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association and is a past-Chair of the Securities Regulation Committee.
Scott Siegel
Managing Director
Milestone Life Sciences, LLC
Dr. Scott Siegel recently became Managing Director at Milestone Life Sciences, LLC. Before that, he was Chief Operating Officer of Ezose Sciences Inc., a start-up biotech company focused on glycomics research. His career spans over 25 years in the biotech and pharma industry, with a history of providing strategic vision and leadership in executive management, business development and R&D. Before joining Ezose he was VP Corporate Development for Redpoint Bio, a public biotech, which followed 8 years in various business development roles with Johnson & Johnson. He spent his early career in various discovery and development R&D roles at Phytera, Inc., Centocor, Inc., and Becton Dickinson & Co. Dr. Siegel is co-inventor of the blockbuster anti-TNF drug Remicade®, and overall has more than 60 patents and publications. He earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from SUNY Downstate Medical Center, completed postdoctoral studies in Pharmacology at Yale University School of Medicine and served as adjunct Associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Craig Skenes
Senior Director, Business Development
Santen Inc.
Craig Skenes is Senior Director, Business Development at Santen Inc., the North American affiliate of Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Santen is a specialty pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Japan focused on the areas of ophthalmology and rheumatology.
In his current role, Craig has responsibility for managing Santen’s partnering efforts in the America’s region. Prior to joining Santen, Craig held business development positions at ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Gilead Sciences and Watson Pharmaceuticals. Craig received a MBA and a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from California State University, Fullerton.
Howard Sklamberg
Director, Office of Compliance, Centre for Drug Evaluation and Research
FDA
Howard Sklamberg leads the Office of Compliance in its efforts to protect the American public from unsafe and ineffective drug products by ensuring that companies comply with federal standards for quality and safety. Mr. Sklamberg served as the deputy associate commissioner for regulatory affairs in the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) from July 2011 until he joined CDER in January 2013. Prior to that, he was director of ORA’s Office of Enforcement.
Before coming to FDA, Mr. Sklamberg was a federal prosecutor serving as deputy chief of the Fraud and Public Corruption Section in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, as an assistant U.S. attorney in that office and as a trial attorney in the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section. He specialized in the prosecution of white collar crime, including public corruption, health-care fraud and violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
He is an adjunct professor at American University’s Washington College of Law, where he teaches courses on congressional investigations and white collar crime.
Mr. Sklamberg graduated from Harvard Law School, received a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Yale University, and earned a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Goro Takeda
Venture Partner
Sofinnova
Goro Takeda joined Sofinnova Ventures in 2007 as a Kauffman Venture Fellow with a focus on identifying Life Science spin-out opportunities in Asia. Goro holds the honor of being the first person from Japan to be selected as a Kauffman Venture Fellow. He is also a co-founder of FinTech Global Capital, an early stage venture capital firm in Tokyo, where he currently serves as Managing Partner.
Before arriving at Sofinnova Ventures, Goro was the Deputy General Manager of NIF SMBC Ventures, a Japanese venture capital firm with $2 billion under management. Goro was responsible for life science investments across multiple geographic regions. Goro was involved with investments in biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies including Arrow Therapeutics, Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, and Orexigen Therapeutics. Prior to launching his career in venture capital, Goro spent nine years in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently as Corporate Officer of the U.S. subsidiary of Tanabe Pharmaceuticals. While in this position, Goro worked on global business development and marketing assignments.
Goro holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Waseda University and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School at Northwestern University.
Tamao Watanabe
Managing Officer, Head of Global Business Development and Licensing
Kyowa Hakko Kirin (KHK)
Mr. Watanabe is currently Managing Officer and Head of Global Business Development and Licensing at Kyowa Hakko Kirin, and has completed over fifty business arrangements both globally and locally and is now driving over sixty partnerships worldwide, including M&A, joint venture as well as licensing deals, with pharmas, biotech ventures and big corporations in other industries. Mr. Watanabe served as a board member from 2004 through 2009 to Argos Therapeutics, a venture-backed cellular therapy company located in North Carolina, USA and Kirin Pharma’s partner at that time. He brought Argos’s Series C financing to a successful closing of $35M, and led decision making for a considerable investment in manufacturing-process automation. In the early 90s, he was instrumental in creating and implementing a plan for establishing from the scratch Kirin Pharma’s own sales and marketing force and distribution network for the Japanese market. His career started with human resources management at Kirin Brewery. Mr. Watanabe studied with Kirin’s full sponsorship at Sloan School of Management of MIT (Cambridge, MA, USA) from which he received his MBA. He received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo, Japan).
Gunther Winkler, PhD
Principal
ASPB Consulting LLC
(previously Senior Vice President – Asia Pacific, Biogen Idec)
Gunther Winkler is a global Biotechnology Executive, Consultant, and Board Member. He has a 25-year career in biotechnology with expertise in Asia Pacific, commercial, global clinical operations, R&D, and government affairs. Additionally, he has strong leadership competencies in general management, strategic planning, M&A, and registration of new products.
He recently founded ASPB Consulting which provides advisory / consulting services to global biotechnology and pharma companies. Specializations include commercial assessment, strategy development, geographic expansion with emphasis on Asia, government affairs, R&D, and program management.
Dr. Winkler’s career includes 23 years at Biogen and Biogen Idec in several senior executive roles. Most recently, he was the Senior Vice President of Asia Pacific and Global Government Strategy. The role allowed him to focus on commercial and R&D activities, along with P&L responsibility for Asia Pacific.
His prior role as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives came at the request of the CEO. Concurrently, he also served as the Chief of Staff for the CEO and the Board. In this position, he was able to play an important leadership role in the merger of Biogen and Idec. In addition, he successfully built an industry leading US and international Government Affairs function for Biogen Idec.
Prior roles included being named as the Program Executive for AmeviveTM and Director of Medical Operations where he focused on clinical therapeutic areas such as immunology, neurology, hemophilia, rheumatology, cardiovascular, dermatology and infectious diseases. In addition, he served as a Scientist on research and product development for treatment of HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Winkler is also currently a Member of the Board of Trustees and Scientific Advisor of the Beth Israel Medical Center which is a Harvard teaching hospital.
He has over 30 publications on virological research in peer-reviewed journal and on the management of clinical operations.
Dr. Winkler was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He completed his Doctoral thesis and Master’s thesis at the Department of Virology at the Medical School of Vienna.
Chihiro Yokota
Corporate Executive, Corporate Vice President,
Global Head of Business Development / Licensing & Alliances
Astellas Pharma Inc.
Chihiro Yokota is a Corporate Executive of Astellas Pharma Inc. and the Global Head of Business Development / Licensing & Alliances of the Astellas Group. He has more than 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience with Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Astellas Pharma Inc. He currently leads Astellas’ Global Business Development / Licensing & Alliances activities, including deals such as the acquisition of OSI Pharmaceuticals, and alliances with Medivation, AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Vical, UCB, Amgen and others.
Prior to his current position, he served as Global Head of Project Management at Astellas Pharma Global Development. He also previously held the position of Vice President of Clinical Research at Fujisawa Research Institute of America, Inc.
He is a Registered Pharmacist in Japan.
Wei Zhang
Head of Corporate Development
GoodStart Genetics
Wei is currently the head of corporate development at Good Start Genetics, a portfolio company of Safeguard Scientifics. Wei applies his broad life sciences knowledge and industry experience to identify partnership opportunities, conduct due diligence, structure and close transactions. While at Safeguard, Wei completed the Kauffman Fellows Program. Prior to joining Safeguard, Wei worked at BioAdvance, a state initiative committed to funding early-stage life sciences companies. Wei has also interned at or consulted for several venture capital and life sciences firms in the US and Asia. Before becoming a venture capitalist, Wei had worked in the biotech industry developing antibody and protein biologics in various therapeutic areas.