Tell us more about your role with ACM BioSciences.
When approached by a board member of ACM BioSciences in spring with the idea of supporting them with their partnering activities, after several meetings and reflecting on the requests, I convinced the management that there was another gap in their organisation. At the end I agreed to accept the roles of Chief Business Officer and Chief Development Officer.
ACM BioSciences is a spin-off of ACM Biolabs in Singapore which was founded in Basel in 2020. At that time there was no SARS-CoV-2 vaccine available and the idea that mRNA vaccines could be so successful was far from certain. The management expected great interest in our vaccine product and that after a Phase 1 study there could be an early exit.
When I joined the company in May 2021 the situation had dramatically changed and I worked from the beginning with the management and the board to reposition the company and sharpen the strategy. Ultimately we decided to unite the Singapore and the Basel entities, build a competitive pipeline and go out as one company to investors and potential big pharma partners.
It was a rollercoaster for a couple of months in an ever-changing Corona environment. However, we believe it paid off to stay determined with our lead product, a SARS-CoV-2 beta variant protein vaccine, to move into clinics. The current numbers of (re-)infections, hospitalizations and emerging variants of concern encourages our course to move into clinics in Q1/22. This is still a pretty remarkable achievement for a small biotech to reach to Phase 1 within 18 months from the start.
Tell us about Argo Therapeutics.
I left Roche in 2019 after 16 fantastic years. At that time, I was contemplating whether I should stay or try something new. I felt that outside a big corporation there must be so many opportunities where a seasoned pharma executive could add a lot of value.
I co-founded a company and searched for assets to bring in, find investors and then work on the team to develop that asset. What I learned during the first months was that there was a rich biotech ecosystem in Basel which in a big pharma you are only marginally exposed to. What I also learned from the beginning was that for the first steps to create a biotech there is a lot of expertise needed to do it right.
It happened that our office was in the same building of BaseLaunch, the Swiss Area incubator. They provide grants to new companies to get them from the founding to the stage of finding institutional investors. One company has an asset for Parkinson’s disease, an area where I had quite some expertise in.
While the owner of the asset had a strong scientific background, he was looking for support on the development and partnering side. We both teamed up, co-founded Argo Therapeutics in Allschwil and got the company started with a medicinal chemistry program to identify potent molecules for the treatment of Parkinson’s patients.
This all happened before I joined ACM BioSciences and I agreed with the ACM management to reduce the percentage of my employment to be able to also continue supporting Argo Therapeutics. I am transparent about this because fairness is important for me.
What is it like to work in such a small environment after so long in a big pharma?
I was surprised by how easy the transition was for me. It was very interesting to see how skeptical my new environment reacted to me. Investors for example couldn’t gauge what a VP from big pharma can actually still do himself.
It is a legitimate concern if you have only managed people for the last years and project discussions were on such a high level that all the details that matter do not surface to you. Here it paid off that I had my own projects until I left Roche.
I understand R&D and BD from hands-on for more than 20 years now. People recognized that quickly and I learned how valuable this skill set is outside big pharma.
How did you make this shift into Business Development?
As so often it was not planned, and I didn’t consider such a move until I got a phone call one day between Christmas and New Year. While I was very happy being the Head of Safety Pharmacology at Roche with a very successful track record of over 6 years, I sensed that it was a good time to change and explore something new.
I applied for the role and started as a Global Due Diligence Director. I worked with cross-functional teams around the globe to assess in-licensing and acquisition opportunities for the Roche pipeline. It was exciting: seeing a constant flow of innovation, analyzing the projects from the chemistry to the market, making recommendations to senior management at very short timelines was like traveling at lightspeed.
I saw many opportunities across all disease areas at Roche, learned to quickly see the challenges and how to mitigate or not. However, I also realized within a year that while my R&D competence was robust, my business know-how was rudimentary.
I was very grateful that my management supported me to enroll in an executive MBA. Over the 10 years in Partnering at Roche, I became Project Leader and at the end was the Global Head and VP of Neuroscience, Ophthalmology and Rare Disease Partnering.
What drives you?
I love good science! And I love to see this translate into medicines. When I can have impact, I am at my best. I need a good atmosphere with brilliant people that are not spending 80% of their time with politics.
Working hard towards a great goal and having fun motivates me. I have now spent more than 20 years in pharma and biotech and I still don’t get tired of good science and imagining how it gets translated to medicines in a biotech setting.
What has been some highlights in your career?
Ultimately, my dream when I started in pharma was to see medicines that I worked on, get to patients, even if my role was small. I am glad that there a couple of therapeutics on the market now that I had in my hands.
I would say that my journey so far was a highlight. Rather unplanned opportunities emerged and turned out to be exciting, rewarding and fulfilling. I am humble enough to acknowledge that not everyone can say this. I am grateful for all the people around me who supported my career path.
What do you think are some important qualities you have that have made you successful in your career?
When I started my career there was no handbook with instructions. I am a veterinarian by training and when I started my studies, I wanted to become a practitioner as most of my classmates. Well, my path took some other turns as you now know.
But when I got more experience and somewhen started to manage people, I wanted to not only be a boss but a resource to my team. I remembered how hard it was in the beginning and I wanted to ease it for the people I worked with. I believed this was just fair.
Resilience is one of my strengths and sticking to my ground rules. Being fair to everyone, being a resource to everyone. Being able to network with many people, not just network up, but network all around yourself is important. Never lose the ground where you’re standing on, your basis. That I think were success factors in my life.
What has been some lessons learned?
When making people decisions, I tend to listen more to my heart and less to my brain. Having the right team around you is indispensable for your success but also for your well-being.
What is your view on failure?
I hate failures! We all do, despite knowing that without failures, there is no personal growth. But take the learning of a failure and move on! Don’t ruminate on it.
Take time to celebrate your successes, even when small. I started to do this between Christmas and New Year. It is already a routine for me. I carve out one or two days and think about my successes. Enjoy the reflection and memory and trust that more of those are ahead of you.
Failure is important, but it is equally important to celebrate your successes.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I can only encourage people who would consider leaving big pharma to give it a serious try. Of course there is risk but there is a rich biotech ecosystem with a lot of opportunities here in Basel and beyond.
People from multinational companies are talented. Unfortunately, in big pharma these excellent people don’t get that feedback. In contrast at our year end performance conversations, we only hear about our development opportunities.
A wider exchange of talent in both directions would enrich the biotech ecosystem and the big pharmas would benefit from a strong biotech culture. Other countries are wonderful examples of this cross pollination.