About Your Speakers

Robert Bagdorf, M.D., MBA, is a board-certified neurologist who joined Pfizer in 1998 in CNS Clinical Development. For the past 8 years he has held positions of increasing responsibility within business development and currently oversees licensing and acquisition external search and evaluation activities for all therapeutic areas except Oncology.

Prior to joining Pfizer, Dr. Bagdorf had a large consultative general neurology practice and was the medical director for a community hospital neurodiagnostic center. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in behavioral biology from Johns Hopkins University, an M.D. degree from New York University School of Medicine, and a Healthcare MBA degree from George Washington University. He completed his neurology residency and electrophysiology/epilepsy fellowship at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

Ellen Lubman is currently a Group Director in the Strategic Transactions Group at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Ellen focuses on M&A strategy, identification of new transaction opportunities, and initiation of “String of Pearls” transactions, as well as spearheading novel business initiatives and venture capital strategies.

Prior to joining Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ellen worked with Celtic Pharma, L.P., a private equity fund that acquires direct ownership or controlling stakes in commercially attractive pharmaceutical products in the late stages of clinical and regulatory development, and VIA Pharmaceuticals, a start-up cardiovascular disease biotechnology company incubated at Bay City Capital in San Francisco.

During the heyday of the Human Genome Project, Ellen was a Biotechnology Equity Research Analyst at Robertson Stephens where she focused on Genomics, Proteomics, Drug Discovery and Technology Platform companies, and developed research pieces on Genetic Intellectual Property, Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and other discovery technologies.

Ellen holds a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from Rutgers College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, including a Certificate in Global Management.

Gregg Talbert is currently Managing Director of Mergers and Acquisitions in Eli Lilly’s Corporate Finance and Investment Banking (CFIB) Group, where he leads a team responsible for executing the company’s M&A strategy. Prior to this he was a Director of M&A in CFIB. During his tenure executing M&A transactions at Lilly, Gregg and his team have played a lead role in identifying, evaluating, and negotiating major transactions, such as Lilly’s acquisitions of ImClone, ICOS, Hypnion and SGX Pharmaceuticals. Previously, as a Senior Manager in the Corporate Business Development Group, he served as lead negotiator in the licensing of compounds and technologies for Lilly, and he has also served in a variety of management roles within Lilly’s Corporate Strategy and Business Development function and within Lilly Research Laboratories’ Decision Sciences Group during his twelve years with the company. Prior to entering the pharmaceutical industry, he held a number of sales and marketing roles within the semiconductor industry. Gregg received a Ph.D. in Decision Sciences from Duke University, where he had previously earned an MBA, and holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.

Mr. Barrett has 15 years of experience in business development, corporate strategy, and research in pharmaceutical and biotech companies and research institutions. Since 2002, he has been a member of Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical business development group with responsibility for leadership and execution of global transactions including commercial and clinical stage product and company acquisitions and R&D collaborations across therapeutic and technology areas. Mr. Barrett’s areas of expertise include commercial and strategic assessments, managing cross functional diligence and deal teams, and structuring and negotiating transactions. Mr. Barrett holds an MBA from UC Berkeley and a BS from Duke University.

Gordon Beck joined Roche Welwyn (UK) in 1995 within Drug Delivery Science working on the antisense collaboration with Hybridon. He then set up and led the strategic technologies team investigating key properties in oral drug absorption.

In 2000 Gordon moved to Pharmaceutical R&D at Roche Nutley (USA), subsequently joining Pharma Partnering in 2004 as a Global Alliance Director. In this role he managed commercial alliances with Trimeris and Aspreva, was a key member of the Pharmasset and InterMune deal teams and led the Tamiflu licensing team in support of the Pandemic Preparedness Taskforce, before moving to his current role in May 2008.

Gordon is a Pharmacist by training and has a PhD in cell biology, both from Aston University, UK.

Karen is an Executive Director of Strategic Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb focusing on biopharmaceutical collaborations, mergers and acquisitions. Since focusing on business development in 2000, she has worked extensively in support of BMS’ worldwide commercial and R&D operations executing strategic collaborations, out-licenses and M&A spanning the oncology, antiviral and cardiovascular areas. She has also lead post-execution alliance management on strategic partnerships. Karen joined BMS in 1993, holding successive positions in finance, business evaluation and business development.

Karen earned her B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. Karen currently serves on the business development board of New Jersey’s biotechnology council, BioNJ.

Durga Bobba joined Merck in 1996 and has worked in US pharmaceutical marketing, business development and international vaccine marketing. He has experience in executing the deal and making it work in a global organization. He is currently the head of Alliance Management for the Merck Vaccines Division which includes responsibility of 6 vaccine alliances on 4 continents. Two of the six alliances generated nearly $2 billion in revenue in 2008. Durga worked in sales for Parke-Davis from 1991-1994 and has an MBA from Georgetown University and a BBA from George Washington University. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and two children.

An accomplished Pharmaceutical Executive with 20 years of successful experience in a variety of key leadership capacities demonstrating diverse leadership skills to develop highly visible Health Care alliances resulting in multi billion dollar partnerships. As a long time employee with Boehringer Ingelheim, Mike has led multiple commercial functions including: Health Care Partnerships, Government Affairs, and the Managed Care/Trade Relations Team. In these positions, Mike has focused on building alliances and strategic partnerships which have helped Boehringer Ingelheim grow to a top 16 worldwide, pharmaceutical manufacturer. During his tenure in these positions, BI has enjoyed success ranking it among the fastest growing US pharmaceutical manufacturers.

In his current position as Head, Health Care Partnerships, Mike leads a dedicated team of Alliance management directors who work with key partners such as Abbott Labs, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Astellas, Ventiv Health and other key pharmaceutical and patient focused partners.

Mike’s education includes a Master’s degree earned in Labor and Industrial Relations Law and an undergraduate (BBA) in Marketing.

Mike currently serves as Chair of the Global Board of Directors for (ASAP) Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals and is chair of the Biopharmaceutical council within ASAP. He is Past Chair of the (NPC) National Pharmaceutical Council, State Audiences Section, and Past Board member of (NEHI) New England Health Institute.

Stefanie A. Hansen, JD is a Director in World Wide Business Development at Pfizer Inc. and is responsible for the design, implementation and management of a strategic portfolio of external investments which advances strategies and creates a sustainable competitive advantage. The portfolio spans the entire range of discovery and development activities, from gene and target discovery to enhancing the value of pipeline compounds through novel delivery and formulation. Stefanie is located in Groton, CT where she is head of the Metabolic Disease business group. She first joined Pfizer in 1989 as a Research Scientist and then moved into a business development role in 1997. Stefanie has negotiated hundreds of deals including multi-million dollar compound and technology platform licenses and complex R&D collaborations with biotechs, universities and corporate collaborators. Stefanie received her JD from the University of Connecticut and a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Vermont and. She is a member of LES and of the Connecticut State Bar Association.

Kevin started his career with Bayer in sales, in the Diagnostics Division, in 1975. In 1980 he joined the Pharmaceutical Division and held several sales positions as well as Division Sales Manager. He spent several years in both U.S. and Global headquarters. After returning to the U.S. he headed up Strategic Planning and Controlling. He also spent 2 years as Corporate Compliance Officer. In September 2002, Kevin was appointed VP Licensing. After Bayer’s acquisition of Schering AG in joined the Global Transactions Group. Kevin is a member of the Strategic Management Society and Licensing Executives Society.

Kevin has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Indiana University.

Anne Dollard leads the legal department for Takeda San Francisco (TSF), managing all facets of TSF's general legal and intellectual property matters. She is responsible for the global management of Takeda's antibody technology, including the company's in-licensing, out-licensing and research collaboration activities. Ms. Dollard also provides strategic advice on protection of assets and the life cycle management of the company's patent portfolio.

Ms. Dollard joined TSF in November 2008 with more than a decade of industry experience in the area of antibody technology and therapeutic antibody intellectual property. Prior to joining Takeda San Francisco, Ms. Dollard was the Associate General Counsel and Chief Patent Counsel at XOMA (US) LLC, where she headed the patent department and was responsible for the management and development of the patent portfolio. Her work included life cycle management, rendering opinions on the validity of patents and freedom to operate matters. She managed due diligence investigations and litigation matters, and negotiated several contracts advised senior management regarding patent strategies. In addition, Ms. Dollard drafted and negotiated agreements for the company.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Dollard was Corporate Patent Counsel at Chiron Corporation, where her responsibilities included serving as primary counsel for several biopharmaceutical R&D programs, managing a large patent portfolio and developing strategies for globally maximizing the company's assets. She began her legal career in New York City as an intellectual property litigation attorney in the biotechnology group with Clifford Chance (f/k/a/ Rogers & Wells).

Mr. Hattersley has over 23 years of successful leadership experience with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. During his first 10 years in industry, from 1986 to 1995, Jim was responsible for scientific and technical advancement at Alza and Abbott. From 1995 to present day 2009 Jim has lead the execution of several business development & licensing transactions of significant value at Anesta, Eurand and Antares. Positions held throughout his career include NCE drug research, program management, strategic marketing and corporate business development with attention to proprietary drug products.

In his current position, as Vice President of Business Development at Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Jim leads a dedicated team of experts working together to identify acquisition, licensing and partnership candidates who can help execute Sun’s targeted ROI of 20% in a relatively short time period of three years.

Prior to joining Sun in 2008, Jim held senior management positions at Antares, Eurand, and Anesta directly accountable for business growth. Highlights are the sourcing of fourth generation transdermal development and commercial partnerships, the execution of several technology and commercial licenses with sole responsibility for Amrix® and Innopran XL™ transactions, and the identification of key Actiq® partnerships leading to Cephalon’s acquisition of Anesta for $444 million, respectively. Before these management positions, Jim held staff research positions at Abbott and Alza developing innovative drug delivery technologies as basis for new formulations intended to improve product efficacy and safety.

Mr. Hattersley received a Bachelor of Arts in Neurobiology and Master of Science in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, both from University of California.

John Li is the Head of Biology and Biologics in NIBR Patents, a role that includes coordination and quality control of biologics patenting and freedom-to-operate analysis across all disease areas, platforms, and functions within NIBR. John joined NIBR as a US patent attorney in September 2006 from Therion Biologics Corp., where he served as Director of Intellectual Property. Prior to joining Therion, John was a Senior Patent Agent and Assistant General Counsel in the IP group of Biogen Idec and was formerly a Technology Specialist at the law firm of Fish & Richardson. He earned his Ph.D. in viral pathogenesis from Harvard University, an MBA from Cornell University, a J.D. from Suffolk University, and a B.A. in molecular biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Len holds a Juris Doctor from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Missouri, and a Masters of Environmental Science from Southern Illinois University. He is currently working towards obtaining additional graduate degrees in Bioinformatics and Information Sciences. Prior to joining Novo Nordisk in August 2003, Len was an associate with the law firms of Leydig, Voit & Mayer (Chicago, IL and Washington, DC) and Synnestvedt, Lechner & Woodbridge (Philadelphia, PA and Princeton, NJ). He also completed internships in the US District Court for the Southern District of Illinois and the US Patent and Trademark Office. Len’s academic laboratory research focused on the characterization of repetitive DNA sequences and non-Mendelian inheritance. At Novo Nordisk, Len’s practice primarily involves biotechnology-related and pharmaceutical-related patent matters as well as management of US trademark and copyright issues.

Jamsheed Banaji leads the International Business Development Team with responsibility for all Business Development deals that are ex-US – across Asia, Europe, Latin America & Africa Middle East. These deals span a wide spectrum across country, multi-country, regional & multi-regional deals – including licensing, co-promotion/co-marketing as well as JVs & acquisitions.

Jamsheed has two decades of Pharmaceutical Marketing & Commercial experience in markets across Asia, Latin America & Africa Middle East. He started his professional career in the Pharmaceutical Industry in India in 1989. After working in two US & European multinational companies in India, Jamsheed joined Pfizer India in Product Management in 1994, where he held several positions of increasing responsibility managing products / franchises across Cardiovascular, Pain & Inflammation and Nutritionals. His experience spans both IP protected products and Branded Generics. He led the Marketing Team for all of Chronic Therapy in India and successfully led several new product launches and key growth brands there before moving to the US to lead the development of an internal Marketing Training Program targeted at markets outside US.

After two years of successfully developing and rolling out a path-breaking internal Marketing Development Curriculum across Marketing teams in Europe, Asia, Africa / Middle East & Latin America, Jamsheed moved back to New Product Planning, with responsibility for all of Latin America. Jamsheed was responsible for setting up the Latin America New Product Planning Network across all key markets in the region. After 3 years of successfully planning & executing several new product launches across a range of Therapeutic Areas, he moved to the Japan / Asia area in 2006. His responsibilities ranged from New Product Planning for the Specialty products including Oncology, Ophthalmology, Gastro-intestinal & Genito-urinary, to leading the Established (Branded Generics) Products teams across markets in the Japan/Asia area and with a specific responsibility for Capability Development of the Japan Marketing Team.

Jamsheed joined Business Development in late 2007 and has been responsible for setting up the International Business Development Team here in NY, a network of Business Development team members across all markets outside US as well as led the International Business Development Team on over 100 deal assessments & negotiations.

Jamsheed holds a Masters in Management from the Bombay University in India and a Graduate degree in Statistics & Economics from the same university.

Mark Bowditch is an attorney with Sandoz Inc., specializing in intellectual property law. He is responsible for all intellectual property matters for Sandoz's U.S. biopharmaceuticals division. Mr. Bowditch has a Master of Science degree in Biology, a law degree from the George Washington University National Law Center, and over 25 years experience in the fields of generic drug, biotechnology, and biopharmaceutical law, with extensive experience in Hatch-Waxman litigation.

Kerry Flynn is Vice President for Intellectual Property at Shire. She has over 20 years of experience in the Intellectual Property and Licensing field, and has recently earned the newly released designation of Certified Licensing Professional from the Licensing Executives Society. Ms. Flynn was previously Vice President of Business Development and Intellectual Property at Transkaryotic Therapies, now known as Shire Human Genetic Therapies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shire. Prior to joining the company, Ms. Flynn was Chief Intellectual Property Counsel at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Associate General Counsel at Biogen, Inc. She was also an Intellectual Property Associate at the law firm of Testa, Hurwitz and Thibeault and the law firm of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner. She is the Past Chair of the Greater Boston Chapter of the Licensing Executives Society, and the Biotechnology Committee of the Boston Patent Law Association. Ms. Flynn is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Boston University Law School. She has a J.D. from Western New England College School of Law and a B.A. in Biology from Smith College.

Dr. Bigornia joined BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. in February 2003 and currently serves as the Vice President of Intellectual Property (IP). She is responsible for the management of all company IP matters, the development and implementation of patent strategy for all company programs, and the provision of IP-related support to Business Development, Commercial Planning, Regulatory, Clinical, Research, Legal Corporate and other groups within the company. Prior to joining BioMarin, Dr. Bigornia worked as Patent Counsel/Acting Director of IP for Hyseq Pharmaceutical (now Nuvelo) in Sunnyvale CA, and as a Patent Associate for Howrey, Simon, Arnold and White LLP in Menlo Park, CA. Dr. Bigornia received her doctoral degree in Pharmacology from the University of Manitoba in Canada and completed postdoctoral fellowships with the American Heart Association at the Albany Medical College in Albany, NY and with the National Institute of Health at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Bigornia has co-authored several scientific publications in the areas of pharmacology and molecular virology. Dr. Bigornia received a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law and is a member of the California State Bar Association. She is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Dr. Mehr's extensive experience in the life sciences spans both research and business development. Prior to joining Golden Pine Ventures Dr. Mehr served as Vice President of Business Development for Qualyst, Inc., a privately-held biotechnology company focused on novel and proprietary products that increase the efficiency and effectiveness of drug discovery and development. Dr. Mehr has also led business development at Paradigm Genetics and Laboratory Corporation of America, holding senior roles where he leveraged platform technologies for collaborative applications in drug discovery and development research. Dr. Mehr received his M.B.A. in strategy from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management, his Ph.D. in genetics, bacterial pathogenesis and immunology at Northwestern University's Medical Center, and his B.S. in microbiology with honors in genomics, molecular evolution and bioinformatics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Mehr is also involved with a number of local non-profit organizations, and in April 2007 was chosen among a select group of people to receive the Triangle Business Journal's 40 Under 40 Leadership Award, acknowledging his accomplishments in business and contributions to the community.

Grace Yee is a licensing officer from the University of California, Irvine. She is responsible for a portfolio of technologies related to medical devices and life sciences. Grace interfaces on behalf of University researchers with industrial partners in the areas of licensing, sponsored research, and other forms of academic and industrial partnerships. Prior to the University of California, Grace was a medicinal chemist at Pfizer Warner-Lambert with a research focus on the cardiovascular therapeutic area. Grace has an MBA from the University of Southern California and a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan.

As a Founder and executive Ira Weiss has primary responsibility for the financial operation including the contract negotiations, intellectual property transfer, grant development, audit requirements and general operations of the company. He has worked extensively with universities, non-profit foundations and research facilities, pharmaceutical companies and executives at both management and board levels. Mr. Weiss has extensive biotech/biomedical experience spanning more than 20 years in a variety of settings including, biotech incubation, basic research, clinical research, clinical laboratory, hospital management, laboratory automation and patient billing. He possesses a unique blend of first hand experience combined with extensive finance, legal and operation expertise.

Prior to joining InterWest, Dr. Fisher was a vice president at New Leaf Venture Partners where he spent three years focusing on biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics investments. He was involved with several investments, including: Pearl Therapeutics, Access Closure, and GluMetrics. Prior to joining New Leaf, Dr. Fisher was a project leader with The Boston Consulting Group where he was a member of the Health Care Practice Area and consulted for leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Previously, he worked for Centocor (a J&J operating company) in the Global Biologic Strategic Marketing Group where he developed product strategies in three new disease areas for Remicade.

Dr. Fisher received an A.B. in economics with honors and distinction and a B.S. in biology with distinction from Stanford where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He has an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and an M.B.A. from Wharton where he graduated with honors as a Siebel Scholar and Palmer Scholar.

Bill Lis has over 18 years of experience in biopharmaceutical and medical device sales & marketing, business development, and management. Currently he is Sr Vice President Business and Commercial Development, Portola Pharmaceuticals and is a member of the executive management team. His team recently executed a global license agreement for Portola’s Phase II antiplatelet agent Elinogrel with Novartis. Prior to joining Portola he was Vice President, Business and New Product Development, Scios, Inc. (A J&J Company) where he was responsible for cardiovascular business licensing strategies and commercial operations. He led in-licensing activities and post-deal commercial development on behalf of J&J in its deal with Bayer for Xarelto® (rivaroxaban) recently EMEA and FDA approved. Prior to joining Scios, he held several commercial positions at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc, COR Therapeutics, and Rhone Poulenc Rorer. He holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Maryland.

Markus L.E. Ewert is member of the Novartis Molecular Diagnostics leadership team and leading the strategy, global BD&L, and M&A activities. Prior to joining MDx, he was member of the CVM Franchise Board at Novartis Pharma AG and served as Global Head Search & Evaluation for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Markus earned a PhD in molecular biology in Heidelberg in 1991 and an MBA in Chicago in 1993. He joined The Boston Consulting Group in Munich and in 1995, Markus joined Schwarz Pharma as Head International Product Management and later as Director of Business and Corporate Development. In this function he launched two international lead products and orchestrated several business transactions. Markus transitioned 1998 into the biotech industry, becoming CEO of Axxima Pharmaceuticals AG (infectious diseases) and Xerion Pharmaceuticals AG (cancer), both in Munich, Germany. Mid 2005, Markus joined Novartis in Basel.

Sarah Holland is the CNS therapy area lead for Roche Pharma Partnering, based in Basel, Switzerland. Since joining Roche in 2005, Sarah has been responsible for evaluating licensing opportunities in a range of disease areas, including the Plexxikon deal on b-raf inhibitors, the Memory deal on Nicotinic alpha-7 agonists and the Evotec deal on NR2B NMDA antagonists.

Prior to joining Roche, Sarah was Global Brand Director at AstraZeneca for a hormonal agent for breast cancer during US and EU launch. She held various commercial and strategic roles over her ten years there, including Global Strategic Planning Manager for early compounds, Pricing Strategist and Health Economist.

Sarah’s interest in the CNS field dates back to the start of her industry career at Amersham International (now GE Healthcare), where she was Internatiomal Product Manager for an innovative agent for imaging brain blood flow.

Sarah gained her MBA from Manchester Business School, where she was a Visiting Fellow until 2004, and her DPhil and first degree at Oxford University.

Matthew Meyer is the General Counsel and Vice President of Business Development and Licensing. Mr. Meyer has 15 years’ experience in commercial law, business development, marketing and licensing with large pharmaceutical, medical device and early stage healthcare companies in the US and Europe. Before joining Cerimon, Mr. Meyer served as Vice President and General Counsel at Draeger Medical Systems, a global medical device company. Prior to Draeger, Mr. Meyer held several positions of increasing responsibility at Novartis Pharma AG in Basel, Switzerland, including serving as Head of Global Marketing Channel Innovations. While at Novartis, he also coordinated and implemented strategic commercial, marketing, research and development initiatives for the Arthritis, Bone, GI and Urology (ABGU) global marketing franchise. Previously, Mr. Meyer spent four years as Vice President, Global Business Development and Legal Affairs at Allscripts LLC and five years as a commercial attorney at Pfizer Inc in New York.

Mr. Meyer graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Villanova University School of Law.

Remis Bistras, Ph.D., Vice President, Business Development, is leading EyeGate worldwide business development and licensing activities. Remis Bistras was formerly Director of Business Development & Licensing at CIBA Vision, a division of Novartis, where he was responsible for managing worldwide business development and licensing in the eye care area. In addition, Remis managed a clinical trial for dry Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). He has also spent several years consulting and working in corporate, business development and M&A for manufacturing companies. Remis holds a MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and a PhD in Psychology from University of Moscow.

Edgardo Baracchini, Ph.D., M.B.A., Senior Vice President of Business Development - Dr. Baracchini has been the head of business development at Metabasis Therapeutics since May 2002. Initially he was the Vice President of Business Development and in April 2005 was promoted to Senior Vice President of Business Development. Dr. Baracchini has over 15 years' experience in structuring and negotiating research and development partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and in-licensing arrangements. To date, he has negotiated more than 60 business transactions with multinational and Asian pharmaceutical firms, biotechnology companies and leading universities. Prior to joining Metabasis, Dr. Baracchini was the Vice President of Business Development at Elitra Pharmaceuticals from 1999 to 2002. From 1996 to 1999, he served as the Director of Business Development at Agouron Pharmaceuticals, and as Assistant Director of Business Development at Isis Pharmaceuticals from 1992 to 1996. From 1988 to 1992 Dr. Baracchini performed postdoctoral research at UCSD and The Scripps Research Institute. Dr. Baracchini holds a Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology from the University of Texas at Dallas, an M.B.A. from the University of California, Irvine, and a B.S. in microbiology from the University of Notre Dame.

Martin Reeves has almost 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry in both Europe and in the U.S., in roles as varied as research, project management, alliance management, strategic planning, business development and general operations. He joined Cephalon as the head of Project Management in 1997 and has helped coordinate numerous activities important to the company’s success. Currently Martin leads Cephalon’s project management, strategic planning and business development functions.

Martin began his career in 1980 as a research biochemist with SmithKline & French Research, Ltd. in the United Kingdom. In 1989, he joined project management in the newly-merged SmithKline Beecham. Martin moved to the U.S. in 1993, to join Wyeth-Ayerst Research as Director, Cardiovascular/Metabolism Project Management.

Peter R. Joiner, CEO and President Madeira Therapeutics, has a 30-year history in sales, sales management, and marketing for pharmaceutical companies. These have included executive-level sales force management, pharmaceutical company strategic business planning/business analysis, and large customer account management. He has launched over 15 major pharmaceutical products and established significant partnerships and relationships with key organizations in the health care industry. He has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in Industrial Management from the University of Cincinnati.

Yan Lavrovsky has extensive experience in drug discovery with roles covering executive research positions, scientific and tutorial work. Dr. Lavrovsky is Vice President for Clinical Development at ChemDiv, where he oversees the development of several discovery platforms in CNS and oncology through the clinical phases.

Before joining ChemDiv in 2006 Dr. Lavrovsky held research positions at Serono, Inc. in Geneva, Switzerland and Boston, Massachusetts. At Serono Dr. Lavrovsky led several development programs in oncology and fibrotic diseases. During these years he earned his “Mini-MBA” in business of biopharmaceutical sciences from Babson School of Executive Education, Babson College, Boston, MA

From 1995 to 2001 Dr. Lavrovsky was a faculty member at the University of Texas, Health Science Center, in the Department of Cellular and Structural Biology. During his tenure at the University of Texas, Dr. Lavrovsky was a principal investigator on NIH-funded projects.

Dr. Lavrovsky is the author of more than 50 original reviews, original research articles, patents, and various book chapters. He is a trained physician with a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology and completed post-doctoral training at the Rockefeller University, New York, NY.

Dr. Dennis Kim is a board-certified endocrinologist and currently Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs and Communications. Prior to joining Orexigen in September of 2008, he was Vice President, Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer of EnteroMedics. He also held various management positions at Amylin Pharmaceuticals, including Executive Director of Corporate Strategy and program medical lead for development and commercialization of Byetta® (exenatide) for treatment of type 2 diabetes. Dr. Kim completed his fellowship in Endocrinology/Metabolism at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) focusing on pathophysiology of diabetes and metabolic syndrome and is extensively published in top peer-reviewed medical journals. Dr. Kim also received an M.B.A. degree from UCSD Rady School of Management with emphasis on biotech structure and strategy. Dr. Kim continues to stay active in educating medical students and physicians-in-training, as well as continuing to provide medical care to patients as Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at UCSD.

Dr. Mark Benedyk is Head of The Pfizer Incubator LLC, a company created by Pfizer to offer scientist-entrepreneurs an opportunity to bring their medical innovations to patients.

Prior to joining The Pfizer Incubator, Dr. Benedyk was Vice President of Business Development at Ascenta Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company developing pro-apoptotic small molecule drugs for the treatment of cancer. There he led contract and licensing negotiations for Ascenta, and was part of the executive team that secured $50 million for Ascenta's Series C financing.

Before coming to Ascenta, Dr. Benedyk was Vice President of Business Development and Director of Optimer Biotechnology, an international biotechnology subsidiary of Optimer Pharmaceuticals, with operations in the U.S., Singapore and Taiwan. At Optimer he led business development activities for Optimer Biotechnology in Singapore, and was part of the executive team that raised $22 million for the Series C&D financing rounds for Optimer prior to its successful IPO in February of 2007.

Previously, Dr. Benedyk has held business development positions at rila bioconsulting, Farmal Biomedicines, Aurora Biosciences (now Vertex Pharmaceuticals), lan Pharmaceuticals, and Argonex Corporation. During his tenure in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, Dr. Benedyk has personally led transactions worth over $300 million and participated in over $500 million worth of product licensing, corporate acquisition and fundraising transactions. Dr. Benedyk received his Ph.D. in Genetics and Developmental Biology from The Rockefeller University, where he was a Lucille P. Markey Graduate Fellow. He received his B.S. in Microbiology and Botany from the University of Michigan.

Daniel Curran joined Millennium Pharmaceuticals in 1999 as a Director of Business Development. From 1999 to 2003, he played a key role in Millennium’s business development activities and was a driving force for strategic business transactions in the inflammation and cardiovascular disease franchises. In 2003, he moved to Millennium’s research and development organization and assumed leadership for two inflammation development programs: MLN1202 and MLN0415. In this role, Dan led the programs through Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials in a number of auto-immune disease indications.

Dan rejoined the corporate development group in 2006 as vice president and is responsible for strategic business transactions for Millennium. He has served as the primary negotiator of numerous transactions with major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies during his nine year tenure at Millennium, including the recent acquisition of Millennium by Takeda Pharmaceuticals.

Prior to Millennium, Dan’s previous professional experiences include a business development role in the Product Planning and Acquisition group at DuPont Merck Pharmaceuticals. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and served as Chief Medical Resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Dan holds an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of Business, and a B.S. in Chemistry from King’s College. A native of Pennsylvania, Dan currently resides in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Dr. Myers has more than 20 years experience in the Pharma industry and has spent his career contributing to the discovery and development of new drugs. He has led drug discovery teams in the pursuit of innovative treatments for cancer, CNS, infectious and cardiovascular diseases. Across these areas of significant need, Dr. Myers has contributed as an inventor on more than 35 patents. Dr. Myers has also led efforts in evaluating new lead generation technologies, predictive ADME, tox and computational chemistry approaches and led a significant effort at Lilly to optimize Lead generation processes in early drug discovery. From 2005-08, Dr. Myers was Director - Project Management at Lilly and was engaged in project and portfolio management across Discovery and Development. Most recently, Dr. Myers assumed responsibility for LRL’s Due Diligence activities supporting all in-license, out-license and strategic partnering activities.

Yael completed her MSc and PhD in molecular genetics at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel and obtained her medical degree at Hadassah Medical Center, affiliated with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. After practicing medicine for a few years, Yael joined an Israeli venture capital firm as a vice president responsible for analyzing and maintaining deal flow, and then moved on to become a medical and business development director at Genzyme Israel. Yael joined MSD Israel as medical director in the beginning of 2004 and in 2007 she joined Merck's Licensing group in San Francisco as a scientific scout responsible for identification of licensing opportunities emanating from the West Coast.

Ms. Melincoff has over 20 years of leadership experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Her experience has spanned research operations, marketing, product management, project management, and licensing and business development.

From September 2004 to the present, Ms. Melincoff has been part of the Business Development team at Shire Pharmaceuticals, first as Vice President of Business Development, and recently as Senior Vice President of Business Development. During her tenure, she has been involved in numerous licenses, product divestments, co-promotion and collaboration agreements, and mergers and acquisitions. She was responsible for the collaboration with New River Pharmaceuticals that led to the $2.6 billion acquisition of the company within two years of the first transaction.

Prior to joining Shire, Ms. Melincoff was Vice President of Business Development at Adolor Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company focused in the development of pain management products. Over the five years that Ms. Melincoff worked at Adolor, the company grew from 22 employees to over 150 employees. She was involved in helping the company launch a successful IPO and in raising over $300 million. Ms. Melincoff was responsible for crafting the collaboration agreement with GlaxoSmithKline on Entereg. This transaction included a $50 million upfront payment and potential milestones of $210 million, and was nominated for the “Allicense Deal of the Year” in 2004.

Ms. Melincoff worked for Eastman Kodak for over ten years in a number of their health care companies, including Eastman Pharmaceuticals which acquired Sterling Drug. She was the Director of Business Development at NanoSystems, a spin-out from Kodak that specialized in nanotechnology drug delivery. She was a key member of the management team which successfully built the business from a start-up to cash flow positive in less than five years and then sold the company for $175 million.

Ms. Melincoff has a B.S in Biology, a Master’s of Science in Management and Health Care Administration, and has attained the designation of the Certified Licensing Professional (CLP™).

Robin M. Jackman joined the company as President and CEO in August 2009. Dr. Jackman is a biopharmaceutical executive with over 16 years of experience in business development, finance, clinical development, and scientific research. He has led or participated in over 80 life science partnership, financing, and M&A transactions collectively valued at over $11 billion.

From 2004 until joining Zacharon he was at the biotechnology company Vical, initially as Vice President of Business Development where he formed a partnership for the company’s lead drug, and later as Senior Vice President of Business Operations where he ran the oncology division including completing an early stage clinical trial and launching and enrolling a Phase 3 worldwide registration clinical trial encompassing over 120 clinical sites in 15 countries. Previously he was an executive with Sequenom, a company focused on developing genetic diagnostic and therapeutic products, where he worked primarily on business development and strategic initiatives. Earlier in his career he was an investment banker with the Robertson Stephens unit at Bank of America as Vice President of Corporate Finance, Life Sciences. While at Robertson Stephens, he worked closely with life science companies ranging from small venture-backed startups to large multinational pharmaceutical companies, providing strategic advice and managing private and public financings.

Dr. Jackman holds graduate degrees from Harvard Medical School and Harvard University, and an undergraduate degree from Stanford University.

Mr. Cayer has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and healthcare technology field. Before joining Otonomy, Mr. Cayer served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development for Verus Pharmaceuticals, a venture-backed specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of allergic and respiratory disorders in children. Verus raised over $150M from top-tier venture and private capital groups to build a national field sales force and fund the development of innovative products for this underserved patient segment. In support of this mission, Mr. Cayer was responsible for numerous corporate partnering and new product assessment projects. During his tenure, Verus completed three out-licensing/divestiture transactions with total potential consideration exceeding $350M.

Mr. Cayer joined Verus from Targeted Molecules Corporation where he served as the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, Business Development. TMC was a venture-backed biopharmaceutical company formed to exploit a proprietary drug discovery platform developed at The Burnham Institute. As the company’s only business executive, responsibilities encompassed all facets of daily operations including management of financial, legal and administrative matters, strategic planning, fund-raising, budgeting and forecasting, corporate promotion, and partnering. TMC was acquired in 2005.

Previously, Mr. Cayer worked in various commercial roles at Gensia Pharmaceuticals, product development marketing at Acuson, business planning and development with Castle & Cooke, and management consulting with Booz-Allen & Hamilton. Mr. Cayer received his B.A. in Biomechanical Engineering and M.B.A. from Harvard University.

Francois Martelet is a Senior Executive in the Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry where he brings about 20 years’ of medical, marketing, sales and business unit management experience. He is currently is now providing consulting services to Cegedim Dentrite, the world's leading CRM provider for the healthcare sector and developer of exclusive databases and high value-added software solutions.

Francois was recently President & CEO of Avax Technologies Inc., a biotechnology US based Co. specialized in the development of autologous cell vaccine for melanoma cancer patients (2007-2009). Previously he worked for Merck & Co as VP & Global Franchise Head Oncology at their worldwide headquarters in NJ (2005-2006). In this capacity he was responsible for building up the Oncology Division on the commercial side, overseeing global late phase development and the implementation of marketing strategies for the oncology portfolio.

From 2003 until 2005 Francois was the SVP & Region Pharma Head, Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) within Novartis Pharma AG, Basel with P&L responsibility of the entire Pharma portfolio of Novartis. In this role he oversaw a staff of approximately 3’000 associates within the CEMEA Region with a responsibility of a $1+ B sales turn over. These regions were among Novartis’ fastest growing, representing near and medium term significant sales potential.

Francois assumed a VP role with Novartis Pharmaceuticals, NJ InterContinental Region (ICR) (2001-2003). In this position, he was responsible for building up and leading the Oncology Business Units in Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. Under his leadership Novartis Oncology’ ICR was the fastest growing division within the Oncology Business Unit.

Francois received a Doctorate in Medicine and a Master's Degree in Business from Dijon University, France. He also holds a Degree in Legal Medicine from R. Descartes University School of Medicine, Paris, France. In addition he attended the Advanced General Management Program, at the INSEAD (France) as well as several Senior Executive Programs (Finance, Leadership and Negotiation) at Harvard Business School, Boston, MA (USA).

Prior to joining Synosia, Angie was CBO at Ren Pharmaceuticals where she oversaw operations, finance and corporate development. Angie also spent time as a Vice President at Venrock Associates where she worked primarily on new company building and corporate development activities for portfolio companies. During her tenure at Venrock, she served as the interim VP of Business Development for Anacor Pharmaceuticals, a Venrock portfolio company where she completed a worldwide licensing transaction with Schering Plough bringing in $40 million upfront payment, up to $575M in milestone payments and double digit royalties on sales for Anacor’s phase 2 product, AN2690. Before Venrock, Angie worked in business development at Exelixis, Inc, a cancer drug discovery company where she completed significant out-licensing transactions with Genentech and Helsinn Healthcare. She also worked as a management consultant in the San Francisco office of McKinsey & Co., working primarily with biotechnology and pharmaceutical clients. Angie You received an AB in Chemistry and PhD in Biochemistry from Harvard University.

Steve is the Executive Director, Corporate Development of Proteolix, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company focused on treating certain cancers and immunological conditions by discovering and developing products that inhibit the proteasome. From 2001 until 2007, Steve was with Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he served in business development, communications and corporate legal capacities. Prior to his tenure with Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Steve was a Vice President with Lazard Venture Advisors, a division of Lazard Frères & Co., LLC, and an associate in the New York and San Francisco offices of Morrison & Foerster LLP. He holds a B.A. in English, a J.D. and a LL.M. in Corporations.

Mr. Hollway manages Achaogen's financial and strategic operations, and is responsible for its non-dilutive financing efforts. He was most recently the Vice President of Operations, Strategy & Corporate Development, and Chief Privacy Officer for Acurian, Inc., a clinical services company. There he built the company's clinical data services and had responsibility for the overall management of client projects and the establishment and maintenance of industry-leading data management standards and procedures. Prior to joining Acurian, Mr. Hollway was the General Manager in charge of wireless strategy and product development for Shared Medical Systems Corp, now Siemens Medical Systems (SMS). Prior to his business career, Mr. Hollway was an attorney at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, where he managed numerous complex civil litigation cases, with special emphasis on contractual disputes and business planning to avoid future litigation.

Mr. Hollway holds a J.D. with honors from the George Washington University Law School, and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ben Bonifant 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 fourteen years and leads the Business Development Practice at Campbell Alliance. 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. He is the author of the chapter, “Market Segmentation and New Product Development” in the recent update to The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development. In addition, Mr. Bonifant has written case studies on the pharmaceutical industry used in graduate business programs. He has been a guest lecturer at the Fuqua School of Business, the Indiana University Kelly 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. in mechanical engineering from Duke University.

Mr. Totten is a Vice President of Dean & Company and head of its Life Sciences practice. At Dean, he assists clients ranging from small biotechs to large global pharmaceutical companies, in the areas of both business strategy and M&A due diligence. Prior to joining Dean in 1996, Mr. Totten was a Principal in the Washington, D.C. office of Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman). Previously, Mr. Totten worked in brand management at the Procter & Gamble Company.

Suzy Jones is Senior Director of Business Development at Genentech. Her group is responsible for identifying new external opportunities that will support the company’s short- and long-term business objectives and negotiating collaboration agreements to support the newly formed strategic alliances.

Suzy’s career includes 19 years of biotech experience. She spent 7 years conducting basic immunology research, 4 years in Product Development where she managed several products at various stages of their lifecycles, including Rituxan, Avastin, and Raptiva, and 8 years in business development overseeing Genentech’s licensing efforts in immunology, infectious diseases, neurobiology, ophthalmology, metabolism, cardiovascular diseases as well as technology licensing.

Suzy also serves as the chairperson for The Genentech Foundation Community Committee.

Alison Shurell is vice president of Life Sciences Product Marketing. She is responsible for building on IntraLinks position as the leading software as a service solution for critical information exchange in the Life Sciences industry. In this role, she partners with industry leaders in corporate development, clinical studies and regulatory affairs to help ensure the secure and efficient exchange of critical information to support industry success. Shurell’s background includes more than 15 years of experience in corporate marketing roles in the B2B software and financial services markets. She holds an undergraduate degree from Miami University and an MBA from Baldwin-Wallace College.

Carole Nuechterlein has headed the Roche Venture Fund since 2001. Prior to her current position, she worked in the pharmaceutical/biotech as an attorney for ten years. She joined Roche from SangStat in Fremont California where she was General Counsel. Carole began her career working at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom in the M&A group. From there, she worked at Syntex/Roche in Palo Alto, California focusing on M&A, research collaborations and licensing deals. She has a BA from Valparaiso University and a JD from University of Michigan. She serves as a board observer at Alios, Ambit, Ambrx, Conatus, Inimex, Intradigm, Idaho Technology and Nereus. Recent transactions include investments in Aileron and Alios. More information on the Roche Venture Fund can be found at www.venturefund.roche.com.

Constantine Chinoporos joined Genzyme Corporation in December 2001. He leads a team charged with the identification, evaluation, and transaction of opportunities that fit within Genzyme’s strategic intent. Prior to joining Genzyme, Constantine served in various capacities at Eli Lilly and Company over a twelve year period, including roles in Corporate Finance & Investment Banking as well as the Office of Alliance Management. Constantine’s deal experience includes both in-licensing and out-licensing transactions, M&A, and specific transactions have ranged from technology platform to marketed products. Constantine received an undergraduate degree in History as well as an MBA from Cornell University.

Paul Darling is a Principal in ZS Associates' San Mateo, CA office. Paul works with emerging pharmaceutical and biotech companies as well as companies evaluating new markets for acquisition, merger, or in-licensing opportunities. He has expertise in forecasting, market opportunity assessment, commercialization, sales force strategy, incentive compensation, and operations. Paul currrently heads ZS's Business Development and Licensing practice.

Prior to joining ZS in 2001, Paul was a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biophysics from Washington University and a BS in Biochemistry from Boston College.

Paul Grayson is the President and CEO of Fate Therapeutics. Grayson was previously managing director of Sanderling Ventures. Over the last ten years he has completed both private and public capital fundraising, delivering more than $200 million for emerging companies. Transactions completed under Grayson’s watch produced more than $150 million in recognizable revenue with an announceable value in excess of $1 billion dollars, and included agreements with BMS, Lilly, Warner Lambert, Merck, F. Hoffmann La Roche, Pharmacia Upjohn, Kraft Foods, Campbell's Soup, Nestle and the Coca Cola Company. Grayson was a founding member of the management team of Aurora Biosciences and the founding chairman, CEO and president of Senomyx, Inc. He was previously chairman of the board of directors for Naviscan PET Systems and CalciMedica, and active on the board of directors for Taligen Therapeutics and REN Pharmaceuticals. Grayson received his MBA from the University of California, Irvine and his B.A. in computer science and biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles.

As Director of Corporate Development at Emergent BioSolutions in Rockville, MD, Jacob’s responsibilities include overseeing strategic planning; identifying and evaluating licensing and acquisition opportunities; and negotiating transactions. Since joining Emergent Jacob has identified and negotiated several transactions supporting the company’s biodefense and commercial efforts.

Prior to joining Emergent three years ago, Jacob served in strategy and business development roles at large and small life sciences companies, including Monsanto Corporation (when they owned Searle Pharmaceuticals), GenVec Corporation, and at a boutique CRO and opinion leadership company focused on CNS drug development.

Jacob holds a BA from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis.