Focus efforts and move quickly to ‘proof of relevancy’ milestone
Jack M. Anthony
Jack M. Anthony, CEO of Osprey Pharmaceuticals USA, has enjoyed a rich and varied career across a range of biotechnology start-ups thanks to a love of biology and a passion for dealmaking. He has concluded agreements valued over USD 3 billion to date.
Anthony will moderate a panel discussion at BioPharm America 2009 in San Francisco on “The Biotech Model: The End of the Beginning or the Beginning of the End?”
In this exclusive interview with partneringNEWS, Mr. Anthony explores the themes for the upcoming BioPharm America discussion while sharing insights on the challenges facing business developers in the shifting landscape of biotechnology.
“For the generation of business development people coming along, they may be living the ‘good old days’ right now,” he said. “Someone like me can look back on two decades of dealmaking, some deals that are no longer possible, and we might hear ourselves say ‘Those were the good old days’.”
“That’s fine. But the role of business development people is to always stay out in front and assist their companies in moving projects forward. And frankly, the potential I see is awesome.”
“Business development becomes more important moving forward as smaller biotech companies recognize they are not going to become FIBCOs, fully integrated biopharmaceutical companies. Now they need to think about what they can do best, which is to innovate, to move that product quickly to a point of relevance and find partners who can run with it as early as possible.”
“A top notch business development person is the one who puts on the cutting edge for this process and becomes a very important team member at the table.”
“The day of the ‘me too’ drug or creating incremental differences is fast coming to an end. Biotech now needs to aggressively take on the big problems like Alzheimer’s disease, or diabetes, or all the cancers out there. And big pharma needs to follow them, to be involved earlier with the biotech development.”
“More and more there will be a coming together, a gathering around the table of venture capitalists, big pharma and biotechs to discuss what is important, what is funded and to decide what needs to be done next.
“Earlier I talked about relevancy, and I would suggest that for biotechs today the milestone to reach is a proof of relevancy rather than a proof of concept.”
“My own company, Osprey Pharmaceutical USA, finds itself out in front of a developing need with a new class of drugs that target and neutralize chemokine-activated leukocytes underlying a variety of inflammatory and immune diseases. This can cover up to 150 diseases. It is the most elegant biology I have been involved with yet, and when we show safety and demonstrate relevancy, then we will have a world of opportunities.”
“It is thrilling to speak of a platform with the potential to yield a multitude of novel drugs for multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis or oncology in the same breath. But this is a big breath and there is a lot to talk about, way too much to talk about, in fact. So ‘focus’ becomes the word of the moment. Like other start-up companies, we are focusing on our best shot.”
“In this new context, a partnering meeting can be a key part of the process. EBD Group does a great job of creating the infrastructure to facilitate multiple contacts and discussions in a very short period of time. But business development people really need to prepare, to know what they need to accomplish going into this meeting. They absolutely must know what needs to be done, with whom and when, with a concise message in their pocket. Sometimes the simple exchange of business cards with a thirty second pitch to the right person is all it takes to start a deal process. Thinking fast on one’s feet is essential for a BD executive’s success and the success of their companies.”
“After enjoying 16 years during the go-go years at Baxter Healthcare I found my way to California and this new field called biotechnology. I have always loved biology and began working with Applied Immune Sciences (AIS), which allowed me to sit down with leading scientists like Nobel Prize winner Luc Montagnier. Once we sold the company to Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, I started moving around because I like to work with smaller companies doing deals and to get some momentum going until it becomes time to move on to new challenges.”
Anthony has been a senior executive at biotech companies that include Pharmix, Saegis, Tularik, FibroGen, Inhale (Nektar) and AIS. A favorite moment came in 2002 when he got a call from Dave Goeddel at Tularik which was across the parking lot from him. “He had been told I knew how to do deals and invited me to come over and chat” said Anthony.
“It turned out to be a short assignment once Amgen bought Tularik a year and a half later,” he said, having been a team member driving that agreement. “In a way it ended too soon for me.”
Today at Osprey, Anthony’s first moves have been to create a more flexible company while helping to sharpen the drug development focus. Administrative offices were opened in San Francisco at Mission Bay while research and laboratories continue to be housed in Montreal.
“There are different rules for different VC Limited Partners, so we needed to be flexible to attract funding,” he explained, adding he has learned more about international investment and cross-border agreements since joining Osprey than in the rest of his career combined.
A founder of the Bay Area Biotech Business Roundtable, Anthony is active with the Licensing Executives Society (LES) and is on the Board of Governors for the society’s Certified Licensing Professional program. He received the Frank Barnes Mentoring Award in 2004 from LES.
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