William Abajian, Senior Executive Advisor, Global Strategic Alliances & Business Development, Generex

As Senior Executive Advisor, Mr. Abajian is responsible for all business development activities globally from the development, management and expansion of new and current partnerships for the company.  Mr. Abajian has served in Senior Management and Executive positions throughout the past twenty-five years where he played pivotal roles in the development and launches of a number of pharmaceutical and device products.   In 1988 he founded CPG Inc. in Lincoln Park, New Jersey where he served as Chief Executive Officer until 2002.  CPG Inc. invented, manufactured and sold DNA Synthesis products, chromatography media’s and molecular biology kits to researchers in over 40 countries worldwide.  This privately-held company was sold to Millipore Corporation in 2002.  

Pierre Anhoury, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Vice President and Business Leader, MattsonJack Europe

Pierre Anhoury, M.D., M.P.H., is Senior Vice President and Business Leader of MattsonJack Europe. Dr. Anhoury has deep expertise in strategic planning, reimbursement and pricing, and market access, with nearly 20 years’ experience as a management consultant to providers, governmental organizations, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. In addition to consulting, Dr. Anhoury’s experience includes a year with the ECRI Institute, a not-for-profit collaborating center affiliated with the World Health Organization, and multiple teaching roles in public health, health economics, and healthcare management. Dr. Anhoury’s academic credentials include an M.D. and an M.P.H. from Nancy University in France and an M.S. in Risk Management from the University of Health Sciences in Chicago.

Mark Barbato, Vice President, Alliance Management, Eli Lilly and Company

Mr. Barbato, the leader of Lilly’s Office of Alliance Management, has been the Global Product Team Leader implementing two successful, global development and commercialization alliances:  with Centocor for ReoPro ® and with ICOS for Cialis ®.  His 16 years of experience with these and other alliances is part of his 35 years at Lilly, including executive leadership roles in U.S. and global marketing, sales, sales operations, new drug development, and alliance management.

Ann C. Barry, Senior Director of Worldwide Business Development, Pfizer Inc.

Ann C. Barry is a Senior Director of Worldwide Business Development, Pfizer Inc. whose primary responsibility is the in-licensing of compounds in the Cardiovascular and Atherosclerosis therapeutic area. That role involves development of therapeutic area strategies, external search activities and leading multi-disciplinary teams that conduct technical and financial evaluations and working with a negotiating team to develop deal terms/structures and to negotiate deal terms and contracts.  The most recent Pfizer agreement in the Cardiovascular area was the co-development/co-promotion agreement with BMS for the oral factor Xa-inhibitor, apixaban.

Robert. Becker, Vice President, Business Development, VaxInnate Corporation

Robert. Becker joined VaxInnate in 2005 after fifteen years of business development and vaccine development experience at sanofi pasteur, leaving as a Vice President of Corporate Development.   He now has ten years of business development experience in securing and managing collaborative product development relationships. Prior to his business responsibilities, he headed the immunology section and a vaccine development project at sanofi pasteur. His academic experience includes junior facility positions at Loyola University Chicago and University of Illinois Chicago.  Dr. Becker received his PhD from in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Kansas and his MBA from Columbia University.

Katrine Bosley, Vice President, Strategic Operations, Adnexus

Ms. Bosley is part of the leadership team at Adnexus where she led business development through its 2007 alliance with BMS and subsequent acquisition and is currently responsible for strategic operations.  She spent over eight years with Biogen Idec in a variety of strategic, business development, and commercial roles in both the U.S. and Europe and completed numerous transactions there, including leading the deal between Biogen and Elan Pharmaceuticals for TysabriTM (natalizumab). Prior to joining Biogen, Ms. Bosley was part of the healthcare team at the venture firm Highland Capital Partners.

Woody Bryan, Vice President, business development, licensing and project management, Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

In 1991, Dr. Bryan joined the pharmaceutical industry as a Senior Scientist with Schering Plough and then worked in Business Development at AAI from 1994 – 2000 where he was Global Product Director for Pharmaceutics. He joined Shire in January 2000 where he served as Vice President Business Development for Shire Laboratories, the Advanced Drug Delivery Division of Shire Pharmaceuticals Group, based in Rockville, Maryland. Dr. Bryan's responsibilities at Shire included business development, licensing, and Project Management for Shire's bioavailability enhancement and oral controlled release drug delivery technologies as well as Management Team member. Dr. Bryan now serves as Vice President of Business Development, Licensing and Project Management of Supernus Pharmaceuticals following the Management Team led acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Shire Laboratories to form a specialty pharmaceutical company.

Fred Chereau, Vice President and General Manager, Genzyme

Frederic Chereau is the Vice President and General Manager of Genzyme Cardiovascular, a business unit of Genzyme Corporation. In his role, Frederic leads teams focusing on commercialization of a hypercholesterolemia product (Cholestagel), development of a late clinical stage gene therapy program in Peripheral Arterial Disease, and a broad range of business development activities.  In addition, Frederic also serves as the Chief Operating Officer of MG Biotherapeutics LLC, a Genzyme and Medtronic joint-venture formed to develop cellular therapies for cardiac repair.

Kirk Christoffersen, Senior Director Corporate Development, GlobeImmune

Mr. Christoffersen is Senior Director, Corporate Development at GlobeImmune responsible for business development, public relations and strategic marketing. Mr. Christoffersen has over 15 years of management experience including 12 years experience in biotechnology-related corporate development and marketing. Prior to joining GlobeImmune, he held positions with OSI Pharmaceuticals, Gilead Sciences and Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Christoffersen has completed numerous transactions including product in- and out-licensing, research and commercial alliances as well as corporate acquisitions. In addition, Mr. Christoffersen was the brand leader for Gelclair at OSI Pharmaceuticals, launching the product to its sales team.

Steven Damon, Vice President, Business Development, Altea Therapeutics

Steven Damon leads the Business Development Team for Altea Therapeutics.  Steve has over 17 years of experience with various business roles in the medical and pharmaceutical industries.  Prior to joining Altea Therapeutics, Steven Damon was at Durect Corporation in Cupertino, Ca, where he completed several product partnership agreements with major pharmaceutical companies, was responsible for other commercial activities including the Alzet brand drug delivery pumps, and was President of a wholly owned subsidiary - Absorbable Polymers International. He was previously at Kimberly-Clark Healthcare, with lead responsibilities for commercial development of the healthcare business in Europe and key responsibilities for a number of major acquisition deals.

Nils Debus, Senior Director Global Business Development & Licensing, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals (USA)

Nils Debus has more then thirteen years experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including more than eight years in licensing and business development roles. He has been responsible for identifying, negotiating and closing numerous deals, including product and technology licenses, patent licenses and alliances. In his current role he is responsible for the licensing of new opportunities for the Research Departments of Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals in the United States. Nils studied microbiology and biochemistry and holds a PhD in embryonic stem cell research from the Humboldt University Berlin.

Jag Dosanjh, Vice President, Adult Vaccines, GlaxoSmithKline

Over 15 years experience in the development and commercialization of vaccines and pharmaceuticals in both the U.S. and Europe. Jag is Vice President, Adult Vaccines for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in the U.S., leading the development and commercialization of Vaccines for Adults, including new Vaccines for the prevention of Cervical Cancer, Seasonal influenza and Pandemic Influenza. Prior to working in the U.S. Jag worked for GSK in the U.K. in a range of different commercial roles including leading the development of the diabetes and respiratory businesses. His interests outside of work include photography, travel and coaching soccer.

Francois-Xavier Frapaise MD, President and CEO, ASPHELIA

Dr. Frapaise joined ASPHELIA as its President and Chief Executive Officer, and a member of its board of directors, in august 2007. Prior thereto, from April 2006 to July 2007, Dr. Frapaise was Chief Medical Officer at Ocera Therapeutics Inc, where he led the development of a small molecule in different indications including Inflammatory Bowel Disease. From October 2001 to April 2006, Dr. Frapaise was the Corporate Officer and Vice-President R&D at TAP Pharmaceuticals, where he led the clinical development of different compounds with a main focus on Gastroenterology. Prior thereto, Dr. Frapaise was Vice-President Scientific Affairs at Abbott International Division based in Abbott Park, Illinois, from January 1999 to October 2001.Previous positions include Head of Medical Affairs at Bayer Europe, Medical Director at Bayer France, Vice President of R&D at Delagrange, Head of Anti-thrombotics Strategic Marketing at Sanofi, Medical Director at Choay. His development and regulatory experience include gastroenterology, anti-thrombotics, anti-infectives, diabetes, cardio-vascular products.

Mauro Gibellini, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Emergent BioSolutions

Mr. Gibellini currently serves as senior vice president corporate affairs at Emergent BioSolutions. Prior to this role, Mr. Gibellini was senior vice president corporate development from March 2007 to January 2008, vice president corporate development from January 2006 to April 2007, and vice president business development from January 2004 to January 2006. From June 1998 to January 2004, Mr. Gibellini held a number of positions including director of business development, finance and IS section, director of financial and information services section and controller at Emergent BioDefense Operations Lansing. Before joining Emergent, Mr. Gibellini held various positions with Accuma SPA (Italy), Goldman Sachs oHG (Germany) and Goldman Sachs International (England). Mr. Gibellini received an MBA from the Thunderbird-American Graduate School of International Management and a B.A. in Business Administration from Marymount University.

Markus Goebel, Managing Director, Novartis Venture Fund

Markus Goebel joined as Managing Director of the Novartis Venture Fund in September 2004. Prior he worked as Global Head Pharma Corporate M&A and Global Head Nervous System BD&L Pharma. A MD by training and certified, amongst others, in Haematology/Oncology he worked for Farmitalia Germany and later held several positions in R&D, Marketing and Strategy at Roche headquarters before joining Novartis. Markus received a M. D. and a Ph. D. from the Ludwig Maximilian’s University in Munich and a MBA from Henley Management College.

Seth Goldblum, Vice President, Business Development, BrainCells

Mr. Goldblum joined BCI in April, 2007 and is responsible for partnering and licensing activities for the Company. Mr. Goldblum brings over 17 years of diverse business development, strategic analysis, and operations experience from the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry including assignments at Eli Lilly, Senomyx, and Vical. Mr. Goldblum earned an MBA from Indiana University, an MS in Chemical Engineering from The Ohio State University, and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of California at San Diego. He is also a licensed Professional Engineer.

Eric Hagestad, Senior Director Licensing, Bristol Myers Squibb

Eric is head of scientific licensing at Bristol-Myers Squibb.  Based in Princeton, NJ, he and his team are responsible for the identification and scientific assessment of licensing and M&A opportunities. Eric received a B.A. in Biology at UCLA, and a  Ph.D. in Physiology / Biophysics from Harvard Medical School.  After completing a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard, he joined Bristol-Myers Squibb.  Prior to joining Corporate and Business Development, he headed the group responsible for planning and management of development projects within the BMS Research and Development division.

Rekha Hemrajani, Senior Director, Business Development, Exelexis

Rekha Hemrajani has had a twelve year career focused in the health care and biotech industries. She is currently the Senior Director of Business Development at Exelixis, Inc., which is a development stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing small molecule drugs for cancer and metabolic diseases. Exelixis has eight compounds in clinical development with many more advancing into the clinic. At Exelixis, Rekha’s focus is creating corporate partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, as well as reviewing opportunities for in-licensing and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to Exelixis, she spent several years in investment banking (at Credit Suisse First Boston and at Lehman Brothers) helping large, small and mid-sized companies in the biopharmaceutical and healthcare industries raise capital in the public and private markets, as well as with mergers and acquisitions. Prior to her career in investment banking, she has worked for pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the areas of business development and marketing both in the US and in India. Rekha has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Satbir Kaur, Global Alliance Director, Roche

Satbir Kaur is Global Alliance Director in the Alliance Management group at Roche. She has extensive experience managing multi party partnering relationships at different stages of pharmaceutical development and commercialization.

Prior to joining Roche Pharma Partnering in 2002, Satbir was Senior Director, Research Planning and Business Development at Xenogen Biosciences where she was responsible for establishing and managing research partnerships with academic, biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

Satbir has a Ph.D. in Developmental Biology from the Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati. Her research interests focused on using genetically modified animal models to understand gene function.

Shabdam Kazmi, Vice President, Business Development, Sanofi-Aventis

Shabnam Kazmi is Vice President, U.S. Business Development for sanofi-aventis, the third largest pharmaceutical company in the world.  Shabnam joined sanofi-aventis in 2003 and held positions of increasing responsibility in oncology marketing, product launch and new product planning.  Previously, Shabnam worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb in oncology, HIV and anti-infectives marketing, including leading launch activities for the colorectal cancer drug Erbitux.  Earlier in her career, Shabnam was a management consultant with Booz-Allen and Hamilton, specializing in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector.  Shabnam started her career in clinical trials management with Parexel International, which was ranked as the 11th fastest growing private company in the U.S. in 1991.

Stephen F. Keane, President and COO, Femta Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Stephen F. Keane brings to Ambit more than 20 years of experience in the biotechnology industry, during which he has negotiated numerous strategic corporate alliances, established joint ventures and assisted in public and private financings to support product development. Prior to joining Ambit, Keane held senior corporate development positions with Dendreon Corporation, Corvas International, Epimmune Inc., SIBIA Neurosciences, Inc. and Molecular Biosystems, Inc. In these positions, he was responsible for negotiating significant alliances including licenses, distributions agreements, technology acquisitions and research agreements with large pharmaceutical companies and government agencies. He served as the principal negotiator for the acquisition of Corvas by Dendreon and SIBIA by Merck & Co. Keane received a B.A. from San Diego State University.

Ciara A. Kennedy, Ph.D., MBA. Senior Director, Business Development Cypress Bioscience Inc.

Dr. Ciara Kennedy is Senior Director of Business Development at Cypress Bioscience Inc., having joined the company in September 2006.  In this role, she is responsible for business and corporate development activities including in-licensing and strategic planning. She also plays a key role in alliance management, particularly for Cypress’ lead program milnacipran, a partnership with Forest Laboratories and Pierre Fabre. Prior to joining Cypress Bioscience Dr. Kennedy held several positions in the Program and Alliance department of Biogen Idec, managing multiple projects spanning the drug discovery and development continuum. Program teams were cross-functional, bi-coastal and often multi-company.

Paul Kinnon, CEO, Zygem

Paul Kinnon was appointed President and CEO in October 2007. A life science industry veteran, he brings ZyGEM more than 18 years of management experience in developing and marketing innovative products and solutions to diverse customers. Paul joined ZyGEM from Invitrogen Corp., where he held the positions of Vice President of Global Strategic Alliances and Vice President and General Manager of the Applied Markets Business Unit. Previously, he was Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Guava Technologies and Vice President of Sales at Cellomics. Earlier in his career, he held marketing and management positions at leading companies including Porvair, Caliper, Whatman and Thermo Instrumentation. Paul was awarded a Bachelor of Applied Chemistry from Coventry University in the UK and a Diploma of Marketing from Chartered Institute Of Marketing He is a member of the Chartered Institute Marketing and Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals (ASAP). Paul is based at ZyGEM’s U.S. headquarters near San Diego, California.

Gayle Kirkpatrick, Divisional Vice President, Global Pharmaceutical Licensing and New Business Development, Abbott

Dr. Kirkpatrick is a Divisional Vice President and head of the Scientific Assessment group within the Global Pharmaceutical Licensing and New Business Development organization at Abbott.   During her 19 years at Abbott, Dr. Kirkpatrick has held a variety of roles in R&D, program management, licensing and business development. Prior to joining Abbott, Dr. Kirkpatrick was a clinical pharmacist.  In addition, she was a Licensing Associate at WARF and played a key role in the initial establishment of the WiCell Research Institute. Dr. Kirkpatrick has been an active member of the LES Healthcare Executive Committee and is a Certified Licensing Professional.  She received her B.S.in Pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin, her MBA from the Kellogg - Northwestern University and Pharm.D. from the University of Florida. 

Michael Leonetti, Head of Healthcare Partnerships, Boehringer Ingelheim

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.

Jason Levin, Vice President, Corporate Development, Jazz Pharmaceuticals

Jason Levin joined Jazz Pharmaceuticals in 2003 and is currently responsible for Corporate Strategy, Licensing & Acquisitions, and Strategic Alliances. From 2004 to 2007 he was Jazz Pharmaceuticals’ Executive Director of Licensing & Acquisitions. Prior to joining Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Levin served as Director, Business Development at ALZA Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson.  He received an M.B.A. from the University of Texas, McCombs Graduate School of Business, and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego. He has been a member of LES since 2000 and advises several early stage biopharmaceutical companies.

Albine Martin, Vice President, Strategic Alliances and Licensing, Compugen USA Inc.

Dr. Albine Martin holds the position of Vice President Strategic Alliances and Licensing at Compugen Inc, a therapeutic/diagnostic discovery company.   She served as the first member of management during the start-up of Digene Diagnostics, Inc and she led the organization towards building its first revenue base and commercial operation. Subsequently, Dr. Martin led the commercialization of the first DNA diagnostic test for HPV. She also worked with CBER to create the first regulatory framework for management of ancillary products during her role as Director of the Cell and Gene Therapy business with Life Technologies Inc/Invitrogen. . Finally, she held the position of Senior Business Director and launched over 15 new products and services in the area of drug discovery, gene expression and small instrumentation. She holds a BS in Chemistry from Trinity College and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and completed a Staff Fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. She is also a graduate of the Program of Leadership and Strategy in Pharmaceuticals and Biotech at the Harvard Business School.

Matthew Meyer, Vice President, Business Development and Licensing, Cerimon

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. 

Lauren Miller, Ph.D., Director of Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Licensing, Bausch & Lomb

Lauren Miller, Ph.D., is director of Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Licensing at Bausch & Lomb.  Recent deals include Galapagos (undisclosed program) and Schering-Bayer's SEGRA compound. Prior to joining Bausch & Lomb she was an associate director in BioPharma Business Development at Chiron Corporation in Emeryville, California, where she led a team responsible for the licensing of oncology products, technologies and intellectual property.  She also has worked in business development for Bayer, Pfizer Inc. and Onyx Pharmaceuticals.

John Mohr, Senior Vice President of Business Development, CV Therapeutics

Mr. John Mohr is Senior Vice President of Business Development. He has over 20 years of industry experience in the life-science area. Previously, he held senior executive positions in corporate development with several bio-pharma companies. He was former Head of US Operations for Fournier Pharma responsible for US commercial and development activities, including the successful partnering and introduction of TriCor®, a billion dollar cardiovascular agent. Prior experience includes executive management positions at Merck, including worldwide responsibility for marketing for Pepcid®. He is currently a member of the Business Development Roundtable for the Biotechnology Council of New Jersey and the Licensing Executive Society.

Dr. Jacques-Pierre Moreau, Executive Vice-President and Chief Scientific Officer, Ipsen Group

Dr Jacques-Pierre Moreau was educated in France and in the USA; he holds a masters degree in physical chemistry and was awarded a D.Sc followed by post-doctoral studies at the École Polytechnique in Paris. Dr Moreau is presently Ipsen Group Vice-President and Chief Scientific Officer overseeing Ipsen discovery and innovation programs in the area of Oncology, Endocrinology and Neurology with centres in Paris, London, Barcelona and Boston. Dr Moreau has been a member of Ipsen’s Executive Committee since 1994 and is also a member of the scientific advisory board of Nitto Denko (Osaka) and a board member of Dr Reddy’s Laboratory (India).

Christian Pangratz, Head of Strategic Alliances, Nektar Therapeutics

Christian Pangratz joined Nektar Therapeutics in 2004 and is currently the Head of Strategic Alliances. From 2004 to 2007 he held positions in Marketing, New Product Planning and Business Development. Mr. Pangratz has over 17 years of experience in the life sciences industry. Prior to joining Nektar, Christian served as Managing Partner at the Vienna Business Development Group primarily mastering commercial challenges for start-ups. Previously, he held national and international marketing positions at Pfizer and Bayer. Christian started his career as an International Product Manager in the medical device arena. He received his Master’s degree in International Business and B.A. in Business Administration from Webster University, St. Louis where he also served as an Adjunct Professor. In addition, Mr. Pangratz completed course work at Stanford University, UC Berkeley and INSEAD.

Dr. Meeta Patnaik was most recently the Chief Medical Officer of Lipomics Technologies where she was responsible for developing a diagnostic program to enable and support all phases of pharmaceutical drug development programs and diagnostic commercialization of proprietary assets. Dr. Patnaik was a founder of Pathway Diagnostics where she was the Senior Vice President and Chief Science and Technology Officer, and was responsible for the development and commercialization of new diagnostic assays. Prior to Pathway Diagnostics, Dr. Patnaik held various senior scientific and leadership positions worldwide at Specialty Labs and established laboratories in India, Egypt, Malaysia and Singapore. She received her MD from SCB Medical College in India and has held academic positions at various universities, including California State University, Dominguez Hills and the Department of Biotechnology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Patnaik is also the author of over 70 published scientific papers and journal articles and has presented at a number of professional and academic institutions worldwide.

Martin Reeves, Vice President, Business Development and Strategic Planning, Cephalon

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 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.

James Schaeffer, Executive Director, Licensing And External Research Merck Research Laboratories, West Coast, Merck

Dr. Jim Schaeffer joined Merck Research Laboratories (MRL) in 1986. During his first 16 years at MRL, he directed research groups focusing primarily on neuroendocrine-related projects. Jim joined the Department of External Scientific Affairs in 2003 with primary responsibility for all neuroscience licensing opportunities and during the next 18 months, he was directly involved in the signing of four major agreements. Jim moved to San Diego in 2004 to assume the role of Merck’s “Science Scout” on the West Coast, with the responsibility to identify new opportunities across all therapeutic areas at all stages of development including enabling technologies.

Alex Scott, Vice President, Business Development, Eisai Corporation of North America

Alex Scott, Vice President, Business Development at Eisai Corporation of North America, oversees business development activities for all Eisai companies in the United States, specifically targeting opportunities in Eisai’s three areas of therapeutic focus – neurology, gastrointestinal disorders, and oncology/critical care.   

Mr. Scott joined Eisai in 1992 as Manager of Corporate Affairs at Eisai Corporation of North America.  Before assuming his current role, he held several positions of increasing responsibility in Corporate Affairs, Planning and Business Development within Eisai U.S. operations.  During this time, Mr. Scott helped craft Eisai's U.S. globalization strategy and establish a commercial infrastructure, negotiating global alliances with Pfizer and Janssen for Aricept® (donepezil hydrochloride tablets) and Aciphex®/Pariet® (rabeprazole sodium) tablets, respectively.  Both products, discovered and developed by Eisai, have realized billion-dollar status in the United States. 

Vik Seoni, Vice President, Business Development, Endo Pharmaceuticals

Vik’s responsibilities in business development at Endo span in-licensing, product acquisition, and M&A opportunities.  His accomplishments include the recent Voltaren® Gel license with Novartis Consumer Health, the development and commercialization agreement with Alexza for inhaled fentanyl, the acquisition of RxKinetix, and the in-licensing of the North American rights to Frova®. Vik previously held the positions of Senior Director, Business Development and Director, Strategic Marketing and Commercial Development at Endo.  Prior to joining Endo, Vik was with Johnson and Johnson in a variety of sales & marketing roles, in both the US diagnostics business and the worldwide pharmaceutical group.  His experience at J&J includes several new product launches. Vik earned an MBA in Marketing and Finance from Columbia Business School and a DDS from the University of Western Ontario. 

Jeff Southerton, Executive Director, World Wide Business Development, Pfizer

Jeff Southerton began his career in the pharmaceutical industry in 1988 as a cardiac electrophysiologist at Syntex, in Edinburgh.  Prior to this he had studied pharmacology at the University of Manchester, gaining his PhD through the study of smooth muscle potassium channels.  He joined Pfizer’s Discovery Biology group (in Sandwich, England) in 1991 and after working on a number of preclinical cardiovascular projects joined Pfizer’s Strategic Alliances group in 1995 – where he was responsible for a number of deals on behalf of Pfizer’s Discovery Research organization.  Between May 2002 and February 2006 he was responsible for building and leading Pfizer’s Strategic Alliances group in La Jolla.  In2006 he became responsible for Pfizer’s Therapeutic Area Strategic Alliances globally.  Since February 2008, he has led a team within Pfizer’s Worldwide Business Development organization with responsibility for Biotherapeutic Technology Alliances.  His group works closely with Pfizer R&D colleagues to identify potential collaborative opportunities with academic groups and biotechnology companies worldwide; negotiate the terms of such interactions; manage ongoing business aspects; and ensure that collaboration goals are met.

Jeremy Springhorn, Vice President, Business Development, Alexion

Jeremy P. Springhorn, PhD is currently Head of Global Business Development for Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  He comes to this position after 14 years of service to Alexion within the Research Group.  He has broad experience in the discovery and development of antibody based drugs, cumulating in the recent approval of Soliris® (Eculizumab).  During the past 8 years Jeremy has led the Business Development activities for Alexion.   Jeremy received his BA degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry from Colby College and received his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from LSUMC in New Orleans.  Prior to Alexion, he worked for three years at Harvard Medical School as a Fellow/Instructor.

Bryan Stuart, Vice President, Corporate Development and M&A, Ovation Pharmaceuticals

Vice President of Corporate Development and Mergers & Acquisitions
Bryan joined Ovation Pharmaceuticals in 2001, immediately following the founding of the company. He has been responsible for the company’s Corporate Development and M&A activities, which includes identifying, structuring, negotiating and closing product and company acquisitions. Ovation has consummated 10 separate transactions with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, resulting in the Company’s portfolio of commercialized and late stage-development products focused on specialty therapeutic markets.

Prior to joining Ovation Pharmaceuticals, Bryan gained significant experience in company and product acquisitions as a healthcare investment banker with William Blair & Company where he focused on private and public equity financings, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic advisory assignments for emerging healthcare companies. Bryan has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Teri Swift, Vice President, Business Development, Xcovery

Teri has been with Xcovery since its inception 2006. Xcovery is a small molecule kinase therapeutic company currently developing 4 programs in oncology and inflammation. At Xcovery Teri is developing partnerships and collaborations with Pharmaceutical Companies and Biotech as well as leading academic institutions to bring the compounds into the clinic/marketplace as quickly and efficiently as possible. Xcovery is founded by Sheridan “Sherry Snyder” founder of Genzyme, Upstate, Biotage to name a few and Dr. Chris Liang a developer of Pfizer’s drug “Sutent” as well as Director of Chemistry, Scripps Florida. Teri is also with Biocatalyst International the funding /management arm of the two companies -Xcovery and Molecular MD, since inception in 2004.Prior to Biocatalyst, Ms. Swift was at Upstate Biotechnology for two years as Senior Project Manager specializing in business development and marketing. Before Biotech, Ms. Swift was a founder of Ardleigh Associates a Graphic Design/ Sales Marketing company with clients throughout the US. Ms. Swift was an alternate member of the United States Olympic Equestrian Team.

Kevin Taylor, Vice President, Business Development, Adolor

Kevin Taylor is Vice President Business Development at Adolor and was previously Vice President, Business Development of Codexis, Inc., a privately held biosciences company, where Mr. Taylor built a business development team with strategic hires in Europe, and the United States. For the last 18 years, Mr. Taylor has worked in the life sciences industry, where he held senior positions in business development and commercial operations at companies including Elan Corporation, and Zeneca, Inc.

Joy Thomas, Vice President, Corporate Development, BioSante

Joy A. Thomas has served as BioSante Pharmaceutical’s Vice President of Corporate Development since August, 2007. Before joining BioSante, Ms. Thomas was with Baxter Healthcare Corporation for 13 years where she was most recently Senior Director, Global Strategy & Business Development.  Throughout her tenure at Baxter, Ms. Thomas held various finance, marketing and business development positions of increasing responsibility.  Ms. Thomas holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Russian from the University of Illinois, and a Master of Business Administration in International Business and Finance from the University of Chicago.

John R. Tupman, Jr. (Jack) Senior Director, Corporate Business Development, Eli Lilly and Company

Jack Tupman became Senior Director of Corporate Business Development for Eli Lilly and Company in December 2001. He currently leads a team responsible for Lilly’s U.S. Pharmaceutical, West Coast Biotech and Asia Pacific partnerships. His experience includes technology collaborations, discovery collaborations, clinical and late stage in-licensing. He has also executed out-partnering projects in Japan where he has significant business development experience. He and his team have executed some of Lilly’s most important business development partnerships. His 25 years with Lilly includes a variety of management roles including Sales, Market Research, New Product Planning, and Director of Marketing. Mr. Tupman is a member of the Licensing Executive Society and is also a member of the LES Healthcare Committee.

Robert Ward, Vice President, Alliance Management and Business Development, NPS Pharmaceuticals

Robert Ward is the Vice President, for Alliance Management and Business Development at the NPS Pharmaceuticals headquarters in Bedminster, New Jersey. In this role Mr. Ward is responsible for emerging and established Global/ Regional partnerships that include both commercial brands and pipeline compounds. NPS is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of specialty therapeutics. Today NPS has a global presence through our discovery compounds currently marketed by Amgen (Sensipar/Mimpara); Kyowa Hakko Kirin (REGPARA) and Nycomed (PREOTACT). Prior to joining NPS in 2006, Mr. Ward was the Executive Director, Commercial Development for Biologics & Small Molecules at Schering-Plough Corporation. His two decades of biopharmaceutical experience has come from a broad range of roles from discovery research at Genentech to business development and brand marketing with Bristol-Myers Squibb. Bob received a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a B.A. in Physiological Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara; an M.A. in Immunology from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; and an M.S. in the Management of Technology from the School of Business at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Mark Wiggins, Head of Business Development, Biogen Idec

Mr. Wiggins’ career in healthcare began twenty-five years ago with Pfizer in marketing research, followed by Johnson & Johnson’s Ortho Pharmaceutical division and ten years with Schering Plough where Mr. Wiggins held positions including Manager of Marketing Research and New Product Planning, Senior Product Manager and Director of U.S. Business Development. In addition to extensive experiences in pharmaceutical marketing and deal making, Mr. Wiggins has significant biotechnology company experience at the senior management level. In 1996 Mr. Wiggins transitioned to the biotech sector when he joined Hybridon as Vice President, Marketing and Business Development. In 1998 Mr. Wiggins joined IDEC Pharmaceuticals in San Diego as Vice President, Business Development. At IDEC Mr. Wiggins helped grow the organization through deals successfully negotiated with Schering AG, Genentech, Roche and Biogen. Mr. Wiggins was promoted to head Marketing as well as Business Development in 2000, and following the Biogen and IDEC merger was promoted to his current role as Executive Vice President Corporate and Business Development.

In his current role based in Cambridge, Mr. Wiggins reports to the CEO and is responsible for worldwide partnering, licensing and corporate acquisitions.  Recent deals of note include the acquisition of Conforma, Syntonix, Fumapharm and Fumedica, as well as significant partnerships with PDLI and UCB.

David Wurtman, Vice President, Business Development, NexBio

As Vice President, Corporate Development of NexBio, Inc, David Wurtman is in charge of corporate strategy, business development & licensing, portfolio development, and intellectual property strategy. Prior to joining NexBio, he was founder and President of the Albion Consulting Group, where, during a two-year period, he provided business and corporate development services to over 15 early-stage, private biotechnology companies. He has held Senior Director positions in both Business and Commercial Development at PDL Biopharma, was Director of Business Development at Eos Biotechnology, where he did work that led to the acquisition of Eos by PDL, and worked in the Corporate Development group at Genzyme. Earlier, he was part of the pharmaceutical analyst group at SG Cowen. He holds an MBA from the Sloan School of Management and an MD from Harvard Medical School, and is a Board-Certified Internist.

Gonul Velicelebi, CEO, Calcimedica

Dr. Gonul Velicelebi is Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of CalciMedica. Dr. Velicelebi has 24 years of research and management experience in biotechnology. Most recently, she founded CalciMedica in December 2006 based on the acquisition of exclusive rights to STIM1 from TorreyPines Therapeutics and Orai1 from the CBR Institute/Harvard Medical School. Using these novel targets, CalciMedica is pursuing the discovery of novel CRAC channel inhibitors for treating autoimmune diseases and organ transplant rejection. Prior to founding CalciMedica, Dr. Velicelebi was Vice President of Research and Drug Discovery at TorreyPines Therapeutics. During her tenure at TorreyPines, Dr. Velicelebi was a member of the executive team and played a key role in its maturation from a start-up to a public company. Her responsibilities included oversight and direction of the entire discovery staff and discovery programs, including the discovery of CRAC channel modulators and the identification of the role of STIM1 in the ICRAC pathway.