How Halozyme's First-Time CEO Financed Drug Development

By Rob Wright, Chief Editor, Life Science Leader
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ANYONE WHO HAS TAKEN ON THE ROLE OF PRESIDENT AND CEO OF A PUBLICLY TRADED BIOPHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY WILL TELL YOU IT'S CHALLENGING. DOING SO AS A FIRST-TIME CEO, WELL, THAT CERTAINLY ADDS TO THE DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY.

How about taking on the role as a first-time CEO in early January knowing you’ll be presenting later that same month at the industry’s biggest annual gathering, the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference (JPM)? This was the prospect facing Helen Torley, M.B. Ch.B., M.R.C.P., who was announced as the future president, CEO, and a member of Halozyme (pronounced halo-zyme) Therapeutics’ board of directors on Dec. 17, 2013. “It’s a bit like cramming for an anatomy test, as I needed to be capable of understanding and recalling a significant amount of factual information to be credible when answering investor and analyst questions,” she analogized.