Career Transitions Outside of Academia... The Wonderful World of - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

• Dr. Murray Webb

Head, Pharmacology/Toxicology The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) 24 May 2015

Career Transitions Outside of Academia...

The Wonderful World of Drug Development

CONFIDENTIAL

Presentation Outline

• The Industry Landscape
• CDRD’s Place in the World
• CDRD Training Program
• My Own Career Path (lessons & advice)

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The Industry Landscape

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The Landscape....

Starting with Pharma: R&D Productivity has Declined

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Biotech Has Been Booming

NASDAQ Biotechnology Index

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*Drug approvals increasing *Novel technologies *Regulatory Incentives *M&A

Increasing Role of University R&D in Innovation

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Nature Biotechnology – Volume 32 Number 12 – December 2014

New Funds in Canada

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Bloom Burton

As a Result....Universities Increasing Their Focus on Startups

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CDRD’s Place in The World

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Vision

To transform the culture of scientific innovation and commercialization impacting human health

Mission

• To be a global leader in translating academic

discoveries into new medicines

• To bridge the commercialization gap between drug

discovery and private investment by creating partnerships between academia, industry, foundations and government

• To provide the next generation of uniquely-trained

highly qualified personnel to drive the development

• f the medicines of tomorrow

CDRD Vision and Mission

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CDRD’s Network of Affiliated and Partner Research Institutions

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Over 50 affiliated and partner Institutions around the world >10,000 Principal Investigators CDRD HQ & Nodes

CDRD’s Drug Development Platform

• Target Validation
• Screening
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Pharmacology/Toxicology
• Analytical
• Drug Delivery
• Biologics

(Antibody generation and immunotherapies)

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• 125+ FTEs
• 40,000 sq. ft. of dedicated translational research space

Location of PI Stage of Project

Alberta British Columbia Quebec Ontario Nova Scotia Newfoundland Saskatchewan

CDRD Project Portfolio

In Discussion Incubation Projects Approved Projects Commercialization

Last Updated 7 April 2015 Obesity Metabolic Cancer Stem Cells Anti-Bacterial Peritoneal Dialysis Schizophrenia Wound Healing Neuropathic Pain Epithelial Barrier Diseases Obesity Prostate Cancer

Oncology Neuroscience Infectious Diseases Other Indications Metabolic

ADCs Pancreatic Dyskinesia Gram Neg. Anti-Viral Gram Neg. Cancer Sepsis Parkinson’s Radiation- Induced GI Syndrome Metastatic Cancer Cystic Fibrosis Schizophrenia / Epilepsy / Depression Glioblastoma Cancer Anti-Bacterial Anti-Bacterial Parkinson’s Brain Edema ALS ALS Immunotherapy Anthelmintic Anti-Bacterial HPG Lung Bone Pain

International

MS

New Brunswick

Orphan Diseases Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Manitoba

Asthma Cardiac Fibrosis Myelofibrosis IBD Atherosclerosis Glomerulonephritis Asthma ADCs Anti-Bacterial Anti-Bacterial 12 Technologies Commercialized Anti-Bacterial Asthma Parkinson’s Cancer IBD Biomarkers Dry Eye IBD Organ Preservation Inflammation Chronic Airway Inflammation Peroxisome Biogenesis Disorder Aortic Valve Disease Glioblastoma Hematological Malignancies Seizures Peroxisome Biogenesis Disorder Cancer Respiratory

Our Track Record Thus Far….

1,052 Potential Projects/Technologies Reviewed (Over 1,300 Principal Investigators engaged – increasing their commercial focus) 209 Projects Undertaken (on 134 Distinct Technologies) 102 Projects -

milestone data not supportive of further development at this time

12 technologies commercialized including: 5 Spin-Off Companies 3 Out-Licenses 4 Under Development/Management of CVI (One product advanced into human trials)

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56 Projects Advanced Toward Commercialization and/or Commercialized (+ 51 Ongoing)

Mesentech Inc.

CDRD Training Program

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CDRD Training Program

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A new model to train Canada’s top future talent, ready to lead the building of the national life sciences industry, and take on the jobs of the 21st century

• Multi-disciplinary training in drug development
• A fusion of best practices from both industry

and academia

• Participation in collaborative project teams
• Professional development skills training
• Workshops and seminars
• Mentorship and coaching

Training Program Overview

• Currently 20 in-house Trainees
• Post-Doctoral Fellows (PDFs)
• Co-op Students
• Graduate Student Interns (GSIs)
• Business Development Interns (BDIs)
• Curriculum
• Lab/On-the Job (OTJ) training
• Workshop Series
• Seminar Series
• Mentorship Initiative
• Networking Opportunities

Training Outcomes

• 110 Trainees to-date
• 92% of our Trainees are in full time employment in their chosen field
• f life sciences or further education
• 71 Workshops
• 44 Seminars

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Sector

Employed in Life Sciences Further Study in Life Sciences Employed in Accounting / Banking Currently Seeking Employment

46% 46% 4% 4%

Recruiting Top International Talent

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Iranian American French Swedish Rwandan Indian Israeli German Irish Chinese British Since 2009, we have recruited over 30 international trainees to our innovative program. 80% have remained in British Columbia Peruvian

• Dr. Gesine Heuck
• Recruited to Drug Delivery and Formulations Division at CDRD
• Completed her PharmD at Universities of Regensburg and Kiel,

Germany, and the University of Michigan, US

• Ph.D. at U. of Geneva focused on photodynamic therapy and

fluorescent photodetection of cancer

• Worked on a collaborative project with the Insitut Pasteur in France
• As part of CDRD’s Training Program, she enhanced her knowledge of

project management and business development

• Following training at CDRD, Gesine has taken up a Research

Scientist role with Precision NanoSystems in Vancouver

Trainee Profiles

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“My training as a Post-Doc at CDRD was very different from that of an academic position. I

had the opportunity to work on different projects and had scientific training in drug development, project management, and scientific communications.” – Dr. Gesine Heuck, Former CDRD Post-Doctoral Fellow.

My Own Career Path (lessons & advice)

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My Career Path to CDRD

• Ph.D. at UBC; plant biochemistry/photosynthesis/electron transport
• PostDoc, Cornell, 4 years, membrane biochem/biophysics,

temperature stress

• Switch to Cancer AND switch to Industry – Inex Pharmaceuticals
• 1st project cancelled within 3 months!
• Switch to new project – within 6 months had invented/discovered Marqibo – FDA-

approved for ALL

• Switch to Clinical and Regulatory Affairs – Inex Pharmaceutical
• Major opportunity to learn Clinical/Regulatory, get FDA experience etc.
• Celator Pharmaceuticals, Panagin Pharmaceuticals & CDRD

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Lessons Learned and Concluding Advice….

• Relationships are the key to success
• Network beyond your immediate area of interest
• You never know when those relationships will prove valuable
• Never let your circumstances or environment limit your opportunities
• The importance of mentors
• Be better than your competitors
• Position yourself as the Gold Standard
• Be open to unique opportunities when they present themselves
• Be flexible – willing to do anything and learn everything
• Stretch your skill-set base into multiple functions
• Generalists vs. Specialists
• Have an entrepreneurial mind set
• Go global (and return) – everything is global!

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Resources

• University Professors – Outlook
• Service Canada
• http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/qc/job_futures/statistics/4121.shtml
• “Where Are Canada’s PhDs Employed?”
• Conference Board of Canada
• http://www.conferenceboard.ca/topics/education/commentaries/15-01-

06/where_are_canada_s_phds_employed.aspx

• University Affairs
• http://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/speculative-diction/stats/
• Universities Canada
• http://www.univcan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/trends-2011-vol1-enrolment-e.pdf

(skip to page 32).

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For additional information on The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), please visit us at…. www.cdrd.ca

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