Lead Bank & BIO Helix Sponsor


Host Bank & BIO Helix Sponsor


Supporting Bank Sponsor



BIO Double Helix Sponsors




BIO Helix Sponsors






Conference Sponsors














R&D Strategy: Times, They Are A-Changin'

Monday, February 9th
4:30 pm - 5:45 pm
Jade Room (Opening Plenary Session)

One thing is evident about Pharma’s R&D strategies – they’re changing. The focus is now more heavily on D than R, and what’s left of R has been concentrated into fewer therapeutic areas of priority. Add to that pervasive personnel cutbacks and reorganization of research teams, and many in our industry are left wondering where biotech fits into Pharma’s R&D strategy now and in the future. Kick off the BIOCEO event with an opening plenary session comprised of the senior executives from Big Pharma who are tasked with analyzing, recommending and executing on the decisions that affect the future of R&D for pharma…and biotech.  

Moderator

Panelists

Who's Who

Ben Perkins; Mr. Perkins is a Managing Director in the Life Sciences group at Pacific Growth Equities and serves on the Firm's Committment Committee. Ben has been actively involved in the Life Sciences sector for more than 10 years working on both the buy-side and the sell-side. Since joining Pacific Growth in 1999, Ben has advised clients in raising more than $4 billion dollars through public and private equity transactions. In addition to fundraising, Ben has served as a strategic advisor to clients in the medical device, biotech, specialty pharmaceutical and diagnostics/ tools sectors. Prior to Pacific Growth Equities, Ben focused on medical device, healthcare service and healthcare software/ internet companies at Advest Group.

Damien McDevitt, PhD; Dr. McDevitt is currently VP and Head of Drug Discovery Transactions within Worldwide Business Development at GSK.  In this role his team is responsible for negotiation of global deals (e.g. in-licensing, co-development, options based collaborations) with other pharmaceutical and biotech companies.  Recent collaborations from late 2008 include deals with Dynavax, Archemix, Cellzome, and the Genelabs acquisition.  GSK’s new R&D structure, now made up of “mini-business units”, is hungry for a diverse range of collaboration types and absolutely committed to furthering GSK R&D through Externalization.  Damien’s team works closely with these business units to find collaborators to meet their strategic needs. 

Jeremy Levin PhD; Prior to joining Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dr. Levin served as Global Head of Business Development and Strategic Alliances at the Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research. In that capacity, he and his team secured hundreds of collaborations in more than 20 countries since 2003. Prior to his tenure at Novartis, Dr. Levin held leadership positions in several biotechnology companies, including Physiome Sciences, Inc. and Cadus Pharmaceutical Corporation. He also was managing director of Perseus Capital LLC, a life sciences venture fund. He has served on the executive committees and boards of several public biosciences companies, as well as the Executive Committee of BIO and the boards of the Biotechnology Institute and the New York Biotechnology Association.

Dr. Levin received a B.A. (First Class Honors) in Zoology, and M.A. and Doctorate (D.Phil.) in Cell Biology and Chromatin Structure from the University of Oxford, as well as a Medical Degree (MB BChir) from the University of Cambridge. He practiced as a physician in internal medicine in several university hospitals, including Hammersmith Hospital in London. In 2005, Dr. Levin was awarded the Albert Einstein Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Life Sciences.

William Ringo; Prior to joining Pfizer in April 2008, Mr. Ringo served as an executive in residence at Warburg Pincus and Sofinnova Ventures. From 2004 to 2006, he was President and CEO of Abgenix, Inc., a biotechnology firm focused on developing human antibodies as agents to treat cancer and other serious diseases. At Abgenix, he led efforts to transform the organization into a more focused product company by strengthening the senior management team and enhancing an existing partnership with Amgen, which purchased Abgenix in 2006.

From 2001 to 2004, he served on various boards - including the board of Encysive Pharmaceuticals, which Pfizer recently acquired – and was associated with Intermune, where he was appointed interim chief executive officer to help restructure the company and recruit new operational leadership.

Mr. Ringo began his career at Eli Lilly & Company in 1973 and during his 28-year tenure there he held a number of senior positions, including Product Group President for Oncology and Critical Care, President of Internal Medicine Products, President of the Infectious Diseases Business Unit, and Vice President of Sales and Marketing for U.S. Pharmaceuticals. He retired from Lilly in 2001.

Mr. Ringo, who holds a B.S. in Business Administration and an M.B.A. form the University of Dayton, serves on the Board of Directors of BioCrossroads, a public-private collaboration of corporate, university, government and entrepreneurial leaders that supports Indiana's life sciences research and corporate strengths in life sciences while encouraging business development in the region.