An Exclusive Interview with Dr Jan-Anders Karlsson

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "An Exclusive Interview with Dr Jan-Anders Karlsson"

Neal Lewis
7 years ago
Views:

1 Dr Jan-Anders Karlsson took over the helm as the CEO of S*BIO from January He has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with many proven successes in the drug discovery area. Dr Karlsson will combine his exceptional technical knowledge with his strong An Exclusive Interview with Dr Jan-Anders Karlsson CEO of S*BIO business acumen and ability to build entrepreneurial drug discovery cultures, to help S*BIO achieve its vision of becoming an internationally competitive drug discovery and development company. Dr Karlsson is also a member of S*BIO s Board of Directors. Prior to joining S*BIO, Dr Karlsson was the Executive Vice President, Global Research of Bayer Pharma, where he was a member of the Executive Management Committee and responsible for the company s global drug discovery organization. 44 Volume 12 > Number 01 >

2 [ Leading Biotech Companies in Asia Pacific ] Can we have an insight into the background and history of S*BIO? Why did Chiron (a large pharma company) choose Singapore as its base? Established in 2000 as a joint venture between the Singapore Economic Development Board Investments and Chiron Corporation, S*BIO is Singapore s first fully integrated drug discovery company. With a focus on cancer therapeutics we are consolidating our position as one of the leaders of Singapore s biotechnology industry. S*BIO is focused on the discovery and development of innovative, best-inclass small molecule anti-cancer drugs, targeting defined molecular pathways. Our strategic objective is to progress promising drug candidates into clinical development for proof-of-concept studies in patients with cancer, before seeking partnerships and alliances. I was not with S*BIO when S*BIO was formed but presumably Chiron was attracted to Singapore by the science at the local universities, the access to scientists with different scientific and cultural background and the proximity to the Asian pharmaceutical markets. What are your main areas of focus/core business? Discovery and development of novel small molecule drugs to treat cancer. What is your staff strength? About 50. Does S*BIO use the technologies from Chiron? What are the technologies that your company has patented? S*BIO has independently from Chiron developed a fully integrated drug discovery platform. We have all relevant scientific and research tools for novel target identification and validation, a library of >250,000 compounds, high throughput screening as well as medicinal chemistry, pharmacology and PK/ADMET resources as required to optimize lead compounds into best-in-class and first-in-class compounds. A large number of patent applications have been filed based on our biology and chemistry discoveries. Volume 12 > Number 01 >

3 What is in the pipeline for S*BIO? Our pipeline consists of: SB939, a potential best-in-class HDAC inhibitor in Phase 1; SB1518, a potent and selective JAK2 inhibitor is planned to start Phase 1 in Q1 2008; and SB1317, a potent and selective Flt3/CDK inhibitor in pre-clinical development. Are any of your products in clinical trials now? SB939, a potential best-in-class HDAC inhibitor in Phase 1 and SB1518, a potent and selective JAK2 inhibitor is planned to start Phase 1 in Q Has S*BIO launched any drug products onto the market yet? No. Who are your end-users or clients? Cancer patients. Where does S*BIO obtain its funding from? Who are your investors? Bio*One Capital and Novartis Bioventures. Does S*BIO have any collaborations with local or foreign institutes? What are your more significant collaborations? In 2007, S*BIO announced collaborations with both local and foreign research institutions. These include Sweden-based Karolinska Institute (evaluating role of our HDAC inhibitors in colorectal cancers) as well as Singapore-based Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) (discovery of new anti-cancer agents) and National University Hospital National University of Singapore (NUH-NUS) Tissue Repository (tumor biomarker research). 46 Volume 12 > Number 01 >

4 [ Leading Biotech Companies in Asia Pacific ] What is the company s five-year plan/goals/aims and strategies? We aim for an IPO at the most appropriate stock market within the next five years. How does S*BIO ensure excellence in output and production of quality products? We have recruited key staff (both scientists and management) who not only have extensive experience in the relevant areas but are highly motivated and committed to the success of S*BIO. We have Scientific Advisory Boards that support the discovery and development work that we are conducting. Members of the Board include top names like: Dr Simon Campbell, Dr Randall K Johnson, Professor Edison Liu, Professor John Wong, and Professor Alan List. We follow industry benchmarks and best practices to ensure that we stay at the forefront of the biotech industry. For quality measures, we are following international guidelines such as Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Good Laboratory Practice (GLP). What specific areas does S*BIO plan to invest on in the future? We are focused on the discovery and development of novel oncology compounds that can potentially address areas of high unmet medical needs. The number of patients with cancer is increasing worldwide and in Asia over the next ten to 20 years and novel and more effective treatments are needed. It is our ambition to find new treatments that will improve the quality and prolong the life of patients with cancer. In addition to anti-cancer effects, some of the drugs we are working on may have additional beneficial activities in inflammatory conditions which we intend to explore over the next few years. Volume 12 > Number 01 >

5 What is your view on the local biotechnology scene here in Singapore? Since I started at S*BIO, I have seen significant growth in this sector and I strongly believe that the Singapore biotechnology industry is coming of age. I am proud to say that one such example is S*BIO, having discovered three unique anti-cancer compounds internally and advanced two into the clinic in the short space of three years. Other local biotech, med tech, diagnostics and vaccine companies have established themselves in Singapore which is evident by the steady growth in numbers of companies and employees. Is it growing as fast as it should and comparable to the US and Europe? The local biotechnology scene is demonstrating steady growth with an increasing number of companies and employees. The growth rate could always be higher but it is healthy as compared to many biotech clusters in Europe and the US. Which are the main areas of focus for the biomed industry in Singapore? This information is available in detail at the Economic Development Board website: Contact Details: S*BIO Pte Ltd Address: 1 Science Park Road #05-09 The Capricorn Singapore Science Park II Singapore Tel: Fax: talk2us@sbio.com URL: 48 Volume 12 > Number 01 >

The Commercialization of Technology Concepts into Medical Products

The Commercialization of Technology Concepts into Medical Products Kevin J. Scanlon, Ph.D. New Zealand 2006 International BioScience Overview Pharmaceutical Industry Biotechnology Startups Investment Community