Executive Interviews
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From Professor To Regenerative Medicine Company CEO
8/2/2021
Though she cofounded the company in 2004 and played an active role throughout its growth, until November 2020, Laura Niklason, M.D., Ph.D., had never held a c-level title within it.
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How A First-Time CEO Transformed Retrophin Into Travere Therapeutics
7/1/2021
Eric Dube, Ph.D., was dubious when an executive recruiter pitched him the CEO position at previously embattled Retrophin (remember Martin Shkreli?). But he took the job in January 2019 and now has guided the $1.5 billion biopharma as it has increased sales, implemented a new diverse and inclusive culture, advanced its pipeline, and adopted a new name (Travere).
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First-Time CEOs: Firsthand Tales Of The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
6/24/2021
Since the CEO position comes with such high expectations and stress, we thought it would be interesting to speak with three first-time CEOs to hear their tales of the good, the bad, and the ugly. In this executive virtual roundtable (EVR), perspectives are provided by Roger Crystal, CEO, Opiant Pharmaceuticals; Frank Lee, CEO, Forma Therapeutics; and Ivana Magovcevic-Liebisch, Ph.D., J.D., CEO, Vigil Neuroscience.
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Digital Technologies Will Continue To Drive Patient Outcomes
6/1/2021
While other companies scrambled to implement clinical trial-related technology to deal with the pandemic, Otsuka was an early adopter of tools such as eCRF and eConsent. Christoph Koenen, EVP and chief medical officer at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Companies (U.S.) explains how digital technologies will continue to drive patient outcomes.
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Building A COVID-19 Vaccine Company In A Few Months
6/1/2021
Mei Mei Hu, J.D., and her husband Lou Reese know what it’s like to develop a drug during a pandemic. Nearly 20 years ago they helped develop a vaccine and antibody test for the SARS outbreak. But now they were considering starting a COVID-19 vaccine company — during 2020.
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An All-Canada COVID-19 Vaccine Solution
6/1/2021
The story of how Providence Therapeutics, a Calgary, Ontario-based, emerging mRNA biopharma, came to achieve such notoriety is an interesting one that includes a pivot from its core therapeutic focus, the hiring of an American as company president, and the creation of a CDMO.
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The Placental Stem Cell Advantage
5/11/2021
As Celularity makes its most significant clinical progress to date, the company is putting theories born of 20 years of postpartum placental stem cell research into practice. Could the production platform it’s building be the key to accessible, affordable allogeneic cell therapy?
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SPACs, Opioids, and COVID: Ensysce Biosciences Making “Virtual” History
5/10/2021
If Ensysce Biosciences were a ball of yarn, we’d be unwinding it for hundreds of miles from its location in La Jolla, California. We’d unravel solid oral dose programs – new opioids and a COVID treatment, an all-outsourced model, and now one of the first biotechs to go public via a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company).
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From Aha Moment To $10 Billion Biopharma
5/3/2021
In 2012 Neil Kumar, Ph.D. read an article in Nature Biotechnology and was so inspired by the paper’s theories on drug discovery and development, that he eventually decided to quit his job and start his own biopharma called BridgeBio.
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A Q&A With A COVID-Era New CEO
5/3/2021
David Horn Solomon, Ph.D., took on the role of CEO of Pharnext in April 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic and just after the company had seen it’s Phase 3 trial data rejected by the FDA.