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The Nuts & Bolts of Licensing UCSF TechnologyHow UCSF, Third Rock, & Pliant Negotiated a Deal for a Potential Lung Fibrosis Therapy
Intellectual property is key to success in commercializing life science. When a startup wants to license university IP, how exactly does the process work? In this panel discussion we'll take a panoramic look at the negotiations by which Pliant Therapeutics, a company built by Third Rock Ventures, licensed a discovery made by UCSF professors.
Participants:
Bill DeGrado, PhD, Professor, UCSF School of Pharmacy; Scientific Co-Founder, Pliant
Dean Sheppard, MD, Professor, UCSF School of Medicine; Scientific Co-Founder, Pliant
Neil Exter, Partner, Third Rock Ventures; Board Member, Pliant
Gemma Rooney, PhD, Licensing Officer, Office of Technology Management, UCSF
Kaspar Mossman, PhD, Communications & Marketing Director, QB3 (Moderator)
Coffee & networking to follow.
Bill DeGrado, PhD, Professor, UCSF School of Pharmacy; Scientific Co-Founder, PliantBill DeGrado, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at UCSF, where he is also a member of the Cardiovascular Research Institute. Dr. DeGrado's work focuses on the design of small molecule drugs, peptides, proteins & peptide mimetics. Before joining UCSF in 2011, he was a member of DuPont Central Research & DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company & the George W. Raiziss Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. DeGrado is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, & a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is also a past President of the Protein Society & was the scientific founder of PolyMedix, which discovered brilacidin. Brilacidin, currently licensed to Cellceutix, is now in Phase 3 clinical trials for drug-resistant Staphylococcal aureus infections. Some of Dr. DeGrado's research interests include de novo design of proteins & peptides; peptide mimetics; structure/function of membrane proteins, including integrins & viral ion channels; small molecule drug design; & bioinorganic chemistry.Dr. DeGrado graduated from Kalamazoo College & holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Chicago. He joined DuPont Central Research without an intervening postdoctoral position.
Dean Sheppard, MD, Professor, UCSF School of Medicine; Scientific Co-Founder, PliantDean Sheppard, M.D., holds a variety of positions at UCSF, including Chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy & Sleep Medicine, Professor of Medicine & a member of the cell biology, biomedical sciences, immunology & pharmaceutical sciences, & pharmacogenomics graduate programs. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying pulmonary (and other organ) fibrosis, asthma & acute lung injury. One aim of his research is to identify new therapeutic targets to ultimately improve the treatment of each of these common diseases. The work begins with basic investigation of how cells use members of the integrin family to detect, modify & respond to spatially restricted extracellular clues & how these responses contribute to the development of common lung diseases. Utilizing mice with global or conditional knockouts of four integrins, the epithelial-restricted integrin, av6, & the widely expressed integrins a91, av1, av5 & av8, Dr. Sheppard's lab has identified important roles for these integrins in models of each common lung disease & key steps upstream & downstream of the integrins that provide potential therapeutic targets.Dr. Sheppard holds an A.B. in social studies from Harvard College & an M.D. from SUNY at Stony Brook. He trained in internal medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle & in pulmonary medicine at UCSF. He has been on the faculty of UCSF since 1980, & was appointed the Founding Director of the Lung Biology Research Center in 1986.
Neil Exter, Partner, Third Rock Ventures; Board Member, PliantNeil Exter brings to the company more than 20 years of business development, leadership & strategic experience facilitating the successful development & implementation of operations & collaborations across the spectrum of newly emerging & established biotechnology companies. As a Partner of Third Rock Ventures since 2007, Mr. Exter plays an integral role in the formation, development & business strategy for Third Rock's portfolio companies & has served in key leadership roles in several portfolio companies, including REVOLUTION Medicines, Cibiem, CytomX Therapeutics, Element Science, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, bluebird bio, Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Foundation Medicine, Lotus Tissue Repair (sold to Shire) & Seventh Sense Biosystems.Prior to joining Third Rock, Mr. Exter was Chief Business Officer of Alantos Pharmaceuticals, leading the sale of the company to Amgen, & earlier, served as Vice President for Millennium Pharmaceuticals, directing in-licensing & M&A. Earlier in his career, he held various executive & senior management roles within the high technology industry, including tenures at Hewlett Packard & Wang Laboratories. He is a member of the Research Committee of Children's Hospital Boston, a member of the Investment Committee of the Innovation Research Fund & Innovation Advisory Board at Partners Healthcare & the treasure & a member of the Board of Directors of the New England Venture Capital Association. In addition, Mr. Exter serves as a member of the Advisory Council of the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department at Cornell University & the board of visitors of Columbia College.Mr. Exter holds an MBA as a Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School, an M.S. from Stanford University & a B.S. from Cornell University.
Gemma Rooney, PhD, Licensing Officer, Office of Technology Management, OTMAs a Licensing Officer, Gemma has over 5 years of experience in licensing & business development. Gemma is responsible for evaluating & managing new technologies, determining the commercial & patenting strategy, engaging with faculty, building new relationships with industry partners & early stage investors, & negotiating license agreements, as well as the intellectual property terms in sponsored research agreements. Gemma & her colleague, Cathy Smith, manage the licensing internship program, which provides early career scientists a unique opportunity to learn about university technology commercialization & intellectual property management.Gemma holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience & Stem Cell Biology from the National University of Ireland, Galway, & a B.Sc. in Neuroscience from University College Cork, Ireland. She received postdoctoral training from the University of California, San Francisco & the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Her research focused on neurological applications of stem cell therapies.
Gemma is passionate about guiding UCSF investigators in realizing the fullest commercial potential of their innovations. She loves working at the interface between academia & industry, establishing partnerships that have the potential to benefit patients worldwide.
Kaspar Mossman, PhD, Communications & Marketing Director, QB3Kaspar Mossman engages internal & external stakeholders in QB3's mission to support research & commercialization in quantitative biosciences. He manages the QB3 website, newsletter, email & event marketing, multimedia, social media, & print publications. Previously, he worked on the media staff at Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences & held an AAAS mass media fellowship at Scientific American. He earned a PhD in biophysics from UC Berkeley.
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