Monday, May 9
12:00 pm Main Conference Registration
1:00 pm Welcome by Conference Organizer
Bridget Kotelly, Senior Conference Producer, Cambridge Innovation Institute
1:05 pm Chairperson's Remarks
Anna Maroney, PhD, Vice President & Head, Alliance Management, AbbVie, Inc.
1:15 pm PANEL DISCUSSION: Partnering in a Changing Capital Environment
Panel Moderator:
Anna Maroney, PhD, Vice President & Head, Alliance Management, AbbVie, Inc.
Emerging biotech companies have frequently relied on pharma partnerships to access expertise and leverage their equity capital with non-dilutive partner dollars to extend cash runways. However, these partnerships do come with a cost – they typically require significant management attention and may be perceived to diminish the value of the company in the minds of future investors and partners. Despite recent market volatility, there has never been more equity capital available for biotech companies. Given this unprecedented capital supply surplus, what is the role of partnering in today’s biopharma ecosystem?
Panelists:
Michael Diem, Chief Business Officer, Century Therapeutics
Ali Behbahani, General Partner, New Enterprise Associates
Caroline Stark Beer, Chief Business Officer, Jnana Therapeutics
2:00 pm Approaches to Support Big Pharma/Small Start-Up Partnerships
Dan Bushell, Executive Director, Alliance Management, Nektar Therapeutics, Inc.
Communicating expectations on how you can best align with your alliance partner is often a function of company culture, established processes, and supporting infrastructure. However, approaches can be vastly different based on a company’s size, maturity, and core competencies. Assessing and understanding these factors for your company and your alliance partner is critical for success. Examples from small start-ups, mid-size biotechs, and large pharma companies will be shared to illustrate different approaches to optimizing different types of alliances (development, supply, commercialization).
2:30 pm Post-Merger: How AbbVie Alliance Management Supported the Integration of Allergan to Build a More Diversified Company
Anna Maroney, PhD, Vice President & Head, Alliance Management, AbbVie, Inc.
This presentation will focus on what AbbVie Alliance Management did to prepare for the Allergan acquisition; its role in executing on the prioritization of programs and assets; and lastly, integration of people and culture, leading to a more diversified AbbVie company.
Operational excellence in the fundamentals of alliance management is something every professional strives for—every day. Drawing upon two years of assessments, evaluations, and roundtables, this presentation shares the top five core practices that tend to get overlooked amidst the urgencies of the day. Focusing on getting a little bit better in their execution helps alliance teams be more agile, make better decisions, and have more valuable and productive partnerships.
3:30 pm Networking Refreshment Break
4:00 pm IN PERSON ONLY: Breakout Discussions
Breakout Discussions are informal, moderated, small-group discussions, allowing participants to exchange ideas and experiences and develop future collaborations around a focused topic. Each discussion will be led by a facilitator who keeps the discussion on track and the group engaged. For in-person events, the facilitator will lead while sitting with delegates around a table. For virtual attendees, the format will be in an online networking platform. To get the most out of this format, please come prepared to share examples from your work, be a part of a collective, problem-solving session, and participate in active idea sharing. Please visit the Breakout Discussion page on the conference website for a complete listing of topics and descriptions.
TABLE 1: Best Practices for Managing Large Alliances with Many Programs
Anna Maroney, PhD, Vice President & Head, Alliance Management, AbbVie, Inc.
Jan Twombly, President, The Rhythm of Business
Annlouise Goodermuth, Senior Director, Alliance Management, Everest Medicines
Managing large partnerships with multiple internal and external stakeholders is challenging and requires governance, clear roles and responsibilities and aligned business/operational guidance. This group will explore strategies to overcome the challenges and complexities of such alliances.
- Creating and managing complex governance systems
- Aligning internal stakeholders
- Information sharing across the organization
TABLE 2: Navigating your Career as an Alliance Manager
Steven Twait, Vice President, Alliance & Integration Management, AstraZeneca
Cindy Warren, Vice President, Business Development, Global Neuroscience and Japan Region, Janssen Business Development, Johnson & Johnson
This group will discuss some of the characteristics of effective alliance managers, career path options, shifting needs of the alliance manager skill set, and future state of the alliance management, among other topics. Exchange ideas and make new connections to guide your future as an Alliance Manager.
- Explore the skills to be gaining today, as well as development opportunities and resources
- Discuss the future of alliance management and emerging areas of importance for alliance managers
- Share strategies for building a path to senior executive ranks
TABLE 3: Establishing Alliance Management as a Strategic Brand in Your Organization
Aida Bendt, Senior Director, Head of Alliance Management Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca
Bill Zeruld, Head of Strategic Operations and Alliance Management, Otsuka
Building your Alliance Management function so that it is viewed as a strategic and value-adding partner within your organization is a difficult task. This roundtable looks at how Alliance Management can build up its brand.
- Strategies to demonstrate value throughout alliance lifecycles
- Effectively communicating the value of Alliance Management as a strategic partner in the organization
5:00 pm Close of Day
Tuesday, May 10
8:15 am Morning Coffee
8:25 am Chairperson's Remarks
Cindy Warren, Vice President, Business Development, Global Neuroscience and Japan Region, Janssen Business Development, Johnson & Johnson
8:30 am Alliance Management Team Structure: Centralized vs. Decentralized, Therapeutic Focused vs. across Therapeutic Areas
Cindy Warren, Vice President, Business Development, Global Neuroscience and Japan Region, Janssen Business Development, Johnson & Johnson
While the role of the Alliance Management function and the Alliance Manager has been thoughtfully adopted and integrated into most company’s infrastructure and strategy today, questions still emerge on the optimal structure that may facilitate the greatest value. This session will explore differing structures, and how to navigate them to optimize the value that the Alliance function and manager brings.
9:00 am FIRESIDE CHAT: Hiring and Training an Effective Alliance Management Team
Stefan Walke, Global Head of Alliance Management, Boehringer Ingelheim
Katherine Kendrick, Head of Alliance Management, Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Frank Grams, PhD, Senior Vice President Alliance Management & Head, Business Development Europe, Everest Medicines
Learn from three highly experienced Alliance Management team leads what it takes to build a successful Alliance Management team -- and how you can be a successful Alliance Manager. First, hear from each how they have built/are building and training (initial and ongoing) their teams. Then gain insight from an interactive discussion to hear perspectives on key questions such as: What are the needs of new versus established AMs? What is the profile of AMs in Biotech and Big Pharma? What are the challenges in recruiting, hiring, and retaining AMs, and how to address them? What is your view on credentials such as CSAP as a proof of training? What value can it deliver? Where does it have its weaknesses?
10:00 am Networking Coffee Break
10:30 am PANEL DISCUSSION: Implementing Operating Models in the Alliance Function
Panel Moderator:
Nancy Griffin, Vice President, Alliance Management, Dicerna Pharmaceuticals
Many organizations strive to create a flexible, fit for purpose Operational Framework across the Alliances Portfolio to effectively apply resources to drive value creation. This panel discussion will look at, among other elements, the level of strategic importance of Alliances to an organization and the complexity of collaborations as key drivers within Operating Model development.
Panelists:
Aida Bendt, Senior Director, Head of Alliance Management Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca
Jessica Goodman, CA-AM, PhD, Senior Director, Alliance Management, Dicerna Pharmaceuticals
Petra Sansom, Vice President, Alliance Management, Beam Therapeutics
11:10 am Alliance Management and Asset Transitions: Cross-Functional Capabilities as the Foundation for Great Partnering
Steven Twait, Vice President, Alliance & Integration Management, AstraZeneca
While the central alliance management team may drive the overall alliance, acquisition, and divestment transition processes, there are several key functions in every company that significantly impact your company’s partnering reputation and integration/transition success (e.g.; regulatory/patient safety, clinical, finance, operations & supply, IT/IS). What are leadership characteristics of the best functional alliance management experts, and why should you spend time building and supporting functional AM capabilities.
11:40 am Career Planning for the Alliance Manager: Goals to Action
Katherine Kendrick, Head of Alliance Management, Jazz Pharmaceuticals
This session is designed to focus you on your career goals, begin assessing development needs, and consider facets of experiences, responsibilities, and relationships you want to build into your professional skill set. Who do you need a relationship with to sponsor your next step? How do you identify and approach them? Is your next opportunity achievable at your current company? Explore the process, questions, and considerations you should keep in mind when navigating your career as an alliance manager. Take home simple self-use tools to help you get from ideas to action in your alliance management career development.
12:10 pm Session Break – Transition to Lunch
12:20 pm Networking Luncheon Hosted by Conference Organizer's
1:15 pm Chairperson's Remarks
Annlouise Goodermuth, Senior Director, Alliance Management, Everest Medicines
1:20 pm PANEL DISUCUSSION: Navigating Cross-Cultural Alliances between the U.S. and China
Panel Moderator:
Biren Shah, Vice President, Alliance Management, EQRx
Alliances between companies based in China and the U.S. have proliferated due to rapid advances in China’s clinical development, regulatory, quality, and compliance standards. However, post-deal-closure collaboration between eastern and western counterparts has not had the same rate of advancement. Differences in operational style, business culture, and communication have left Alliance Managers to bridge the gaps. This session aims to share commonly experienced challenges in east-west alliances and strategies to help overcome them.
Panelists:
Annlouise Goodermuth, Senior Director, Alliance Management, Everest Medicines
Tatyana Abyzov, Senior Director, Alliance Management, EQRx
2:05 pm CASE STUDY: Launching for Success, United as One Team
Donna Taneja, Executive Director, Alliance Management, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals
Bill Zeruld, Head of Strategic Operations and Alliance Management, Otsuka
The alliance start-up process is intense and fast-paced. This case study of a complex, multi-asset, global collaboration describes why it is essential to get alliance managers involved before the deal is done. The presenters share how the parties united as one team to educate the organizations about the collaboration and its assets, stand up comprehensive governance in a few weeks, and establish collaborative shared IT platforms.
2:35 pm How an Alliance Manager Can Improve Your Deal Terms
Biren Shah, Vice President, Alliance Management, EQRx
The typical business development deal flow process ends with a signed contract being sent “over the wall” to an Alliance Manager. To incorporate learnings from prior deals, when is the right time for an Alliance Manager to engage with the internal Business Development team on an active deal? This session aims to explore too early vs. too late and how Alliance Managers can add value to improving deal terms.
3:05 pm Networking Refreshment Break
3:35 pm IN PERSON ONLY: Breakout Discussions
Breakout Discussions are informal, moderated, small-group discussions, allowing participants to exchange ideas and experiences and develop future collaborations around a focused topic. Each discussion will be led by a facilitator who keeps the discussion on track and the group engaged. For in-person events, the facilitator will lead while sitting with delegates around a table. For virtual attendees, the format will be in an online networking platform. To get the most out of this format, please come prepared to share examples from your work, be a part of a collective, problem-solving session, and participate in active idea sharing. Please visit the Breakout Discussion page on the conference website for a complete listing of topics and descriptions.
TABLE 4: Alliance Governance Today: Making it Agile
Jan Twombly, President, The Rhythm of Business
Nathan Sanburn, Vice President and Head of Business Development, Verastem Oncology
Good governance is one of the most important elements to ensuring alliance success and effective partnerships. This group will discuss strategies to create an effective governance structure and lessons from governing virtually during the pandemic.
- What learnings from governing virtually during the pandemic can be carried forward?
- When should you consider adjusting a governance structure?
- What are the characteristics of an agile governance process?
TABLE 5: Alliance Management & Project Management – Managing the Divide
Annlouise Goodermuth, Senior Director, Alliance Management, Everest Medicines
Alliance Management and Project/Program Management can be similar enough that many companies struggle to manage the divide between the functions, or debate if the two functions need to be separate. This roundtable will tackle the issues of whether alliance management and project management should be treated separately or as a combined function, including the following topics:
- Benefits of separate functions versus single function
- Assigning roles and responsibilities
- Ensuring responsibilities of both functions are managed adequately
TABLE 6: Alliance Startup Process
Donna Taneja, Executive Director, Alliance Management, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals
A robust launch is the most efficient way to set up a relationship for success. This group will explore some of the challenges and best practices for launching an alliance for success.
- Lessons from virtual launches during the pandemic that can be used in a post-Covid world
- How, if at all, does your organization employ a systematic approach to launch alliances?
- What are the initial challenges, necessities and opportunities during an alliance launch?
4:35 pm Close of Day
Wednesday, May 11
8:15 am Morning Coffee
9:00 am Chairperson's Remarks
Joy Dicker, Senior Director, Strategic Alliances and Program Management, Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, Mount Sinai Health System
9:05 am Industry and Academic Institutions Joining Forces in Creating Federally Funded “Antiviral Drug Discovery Centers” to Address Current and Future Pandemics
Shankar Subramanian, PhD, Head Academic Collaborations, Alliance Management, AbbVie, Inc.
Mark Namchuk, PhD, Executive Director of Therapeutics Translation, Harvard Medical School
To address the ongoing pandemic, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), as part of the Antiviral Program for Pandemics issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement, for establishing Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern. Harvard Medical School (HMS) and AbbVie leveraged their already established partnership in COVID-19 discovery to submit a proposal to NIAID for an AViDD Center. The proposed center will bring together investigators from six different academic institutions, with HMS acting as the lead academic institution and AbbVie as the industry partner. The joint presentation will address the advantages and benefits of combining expertise from Academic Institutions and Industry partners under an NIH grant and highlight the challenges of navigating through process of establishing such centers from both the academic and industry perspective. The learnings from this model could ultimately be applied to address unmet medical needs of other underfunded or underrepresented diseases.
9:35 am Multi-University Collaborations in Ophthalmology – The Santen Experience
Najam Sharif, PhD, DSc, Vice President & Head, Global Alliances & External Research, Santen, Inc. USA
Santen Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. /Santen, Inc. have a rich enduring 130-year-long history in serving the needs of patients suffering from many different ocular diseases/disorders worldwide. We have utilized a number of strategies to seek, triage, and establish collaborations with universities, and enduring alliances and partnerships with selected companies. These activities help add early-stage assets to the R&D pipeline and will lead to new products in due course. Suitable examples will be presented in the context of gaining a better understanding of eye diseases and the therapeutic strategies for their treatment.
10:05 am Networking Coffee Break
10:25 am Alliance Management in Academia – The Importance of Research Operations Expertise in Scientific Alliance Management
Andrew Acevedo, PhD, Research Alliance Manager, Mass General Hospital Research Institute
The ever-increasing complexity of today’s healthcare challenges requires collaborations all along the path from novel discoveries to practical solutions. In academia, internal and external collaborations benefit from institutional support provided by translational scientists, a management position anchored in science and informed by research strategy. We will describe this new type of research operations role and its implementation within the Mass General Research Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital. This talk will demonstrate the importance of research operations expertise in scientific alliance management at an academic institution and highlight the role that translational scientists play in helping biomedical and clinical investigators collaborate internally and externally, leverage institutional scientific strategy, and connect with their technology transfer colleagues.
10:55 am PANEL DISCUSSION: Medical Research Alliances – Managing Cultural, Structural and Organizational Differences
Panel Moderator:
Joy Dicker, Senior Director, Strategic Alliances and Program Management, Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, Mount Sinai Health System
When managing the intricacies of alliances involving medical research, academic, and pharma/biotech partners, there are cultural differences between these institutions, plus the principal investigators that must be addressed. Gain insight into best practices for start-up and ongoing management of these challenging partnerships.
Panelists:
Shankar Subramanian, PhD, Head Academic Collaborations, Alliance Management, AbbVie, Inc.
Najam Sharif, PhD, DSc, Vice President & Head, Global Alliances & External Research, Santen, Inc. USA
Gabriela Apiou, PhD, Director Strategic Alliances, Mass General Research Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital
11:40 am Organizer's Closing Remarks
Bridget Kotelly, Senior Conference Producer, Cambridge Innovation Institute
11:45 pm Close of Summit