Case Studies
Amylin Pharmaceuticals
Vice President, Business Development
Background:
Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the lives of people with diabetes and other metabolic disease through the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative, cost-effective medicines.
The Company’s two late-stage, first-in-class diabetes product candidates – SYMLIN ® (pramlintide acetate) injection and BYETTA® (exenatide) injection – were approved in 2005 to address the global epidemic of diabetes. Amylin has a strategic alliance with Eli Lilly and Company for the co-development and global commercialization of exenatide, and an extended release formulation, exenatide LAR.
Building on its experience in the diabetes field, the Company is developing candidates for cardiovascular disease and obesity by utilizing its research experience with the metabolic properties common to all three conditions.
Objective:
Retained by Amylin to recruit a Vice President of Business Development with both pharmaceutical and biotech experience. This senior executive needed to have significant transaction experience along with a M&A background.
Challenge:
Amylin is growing beyond 1000 people and is working hard to retain their unique corporate culture. Our goal was to attract a candidate with pharma and biotech experience who fit into a results-oriented environment and could bring a sense of urgency and leadership to the team.
Tactics:
We embarked on a national search focusing on both pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
Results:
Amylin has received positive results during the course of our search in gaining approval of both SYMLIN® and BYETTA®. As a result, there was no shortage of interested candidates. Our efforts went into a thorough screening of candidates prior to presenting them to Amylin and in order to do this, we had an in-depth understanding of the questions needed to be answered regarding their backgrounds. The successful candidate was one who had a pharma, device and biotech background, strategic and tactical experience and who fit well with the team. The key in this search was knowing the company and the culture and matching the two. Back to Top
Tercica, Inc.
Vice President of Commercial Operations
Background:
Tercica, Inc, based in South San Francisco, is a biopharmaceutical company committed to improving endocrine health. The company is helping patients by partnering with the endocrine community to develop and commercialize new therapeutics for endocrine system disorders, including short stature and diabetes, their initial market opportunities.
Their flagship product, recombinant human Insulin-like Growth Factor -1 is a hormone with a broad range of activity central to growth and metabolism.
Tercica licensed rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize rhLGF-1 from Genentech, Inc. Based on studies sponsored by Genentech, Tercica has Phase III clinical trail data for rhLGF-1 for the first short stature indication, Severe Pediatric IGFD, involving patients with extreme IGF-1 deficiency and short stature.
Objective:
To conduct a national search for a Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations.
Challenge:
The successful candidate would need to have had experience in both pharmaceutical and mature biotechnology companies with a proven track record of therapeutic product launches. Another key requirement was the ability to build a strong team and be able to point to success in that leadership area. The culture of Tercica demanded both strategic thinking and tactical capabilities.
Tactic:
Since Tercica is a small biotech company we did not recruit directly out of the pharmaceutical sector but looked for key leaders who had a commercialization track record at a biotech and then had the foundation of sales and marketing in pharma earlier in his/her career.
Result:
The leader who gained the trust and confidence of the Board and management team was someone who had commercialized therapeutics at both a biotech and pharma and came with a strong marketing and sales background. His previous P&L responsibility, cross functional experience and cultural fit was a great match. Back to Top
Daycom Systems
Board of Directors
Background:
Daycom Systems provides strategic planning, implementation and service of business telephone, CRM, VoIP and network services to medium and large commercial businesses in the United States.
Objective:
To attract 3-4 new board members who have the experience, business acumen and contacts to assist the CEO in growing the company and positioning it as an acquisition target.
Challenge:
The company is a relatively small player in a large space. The compensation will largely be in stock options so the company could not compete with large companies in compensation.
Tactic:
To use our contacts and network to identify potential board members whose desire is to assist small companies grow and prosper.
Result:
Three experienced individuals joined the Daycom Board of Directors. They enjoy assisting CEOs and small companies increase in market share, products, service and revenues. Each represents a unique aspect of high tech businesses and brings a specific contribution. An added element that we screened for was the ability of this group of individuals to work together. Back to Top
SAIC
Senior Project Manager
Background:
SAIC’s Biomedical Information Solutions Division focuses on bioinformatics, information technology and consulting to the pharmaceutical biotech, medical device and CRO industries. The parent company is a Fortune 500 company with revenues in excess of $7 billion.
Objective:
To find and attract a Senior Project Manager whose responsibility will be to obtain and successfully execute contracts within the core national biomedical industries.
Challenge:
To attract someone with strong experience as a consultant with experience in executing large biomedical deals and who also had a strong software knowledge.
Tactic:
Our head researcher came for a large technology firm so we had a strong foothold. We focused on SAIC’s competitors and found someone with a track record of business development.
Result:
The successful individual is a strong match in both performance and culture fit. Back to Top
Ligand Pharmaceuticals
Board of Directors
Background :
Ligand Pharmaceuticals discovers, develops and markets new drugs designed to treat medical conditions such as cancer, skin diseases, osteoporosis and metabolic disorders. Currently, Ligand has four approved drugs for the U.S. market and is actively collaborating with such global pharmaceutical companies as Pfizer, Glaxo Wellcome, SmithKline & Beecham.
Objective:
Retained by Ligand's CEO and Chairman of the Board, we began an intensely focused search for an individual to serve on Ligand's Board of Directors. The ideal candidate would have experience within the pharmaceutical industry plus a broad knowledge of finance, including mergers, acquisitions and corporate partner transactions.
Challenge:
At the time our search began in 1996, Ligand was a relatively young biotech company without a product on the market. They needed to attract a high caliber of talent to join the board and assist the company in its growth. We knew the perfect candidate would have the determination and the desire to assist this company through its formative years.
Tactics:
In an effort to seek out only those with strong backgrounds in the medical industry, we focused on well-respected pharmaceutical companies. We conducted hundreds of phone calls and completed many interviews. Our concentrated effort resulted in the identification and successful recruitment of a highly qualified and dedicated individual.
Results:
Our success is measured by the continued participation of this person on the Ligand Board since 1996. Back to Top
JABRA
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Background:
There are over 100 million mobile phone users today. And the number grows every 1.3 seconds. JABRA coupled that enormous customer base with the emergence of new technology and saw there was a ready market for hands-free devices. JABRA's visionary innovation would improve the safety and enhance the function of mobile phones.
Objective:
With a new product and a new market, JABRA needed a Vice President of Sales & Marketing. The ideal candidate would have a strong record of performance and product launches.
Challenge:
Although JABRA had a revolutionary product, it still had to battle through moderate sales and a virtually unknown market. The Vice President of Sales & Marketing was not going to be an easy role to assume. Similarly, it was not going to be an easy role to fill.
Tactics:
This position had two attractive features we could leverage. First was a respected CEO with a track record for success. Second was a patented technology that was ready to burst onto the national and international markets.
Results:
Our search led us to a number of strong candidates in San Francisco and San Diego. Our team, as well as the JABRA executive team, interviewed each candidate. We then narrowed it down from five individuals to one and offered the position. Attracted to the opportunity because of the strong CEO and management team, plus a previous partnership with our organization, the position was filled. Back to Top
Provasis Therapeutics Inc.
Vice President of Regulatory and QA
Background:
Provasis develops innovative products for use in the treatment of vascular disease. Serving as adjuncts or stand-alone implants, these novel compounds will significantly improve or eliminate current surgical alternatives.
Objective:
We were retained to identify a Vice President of Regulatory and QA. This individual had to have worked with a highly regarded bioscience company and be able to translate that experience to Provasis.
Challenge:
Because Provasis was new in the medical market, it needed someone who could thrive in a start-up environment. However, since Provasis would ultimately compete against large medical device and pharmaceutical companies, the candidate it needed would have to come from this environment. Add to that, a proven track record and deep understanding of biologics, medical devices and international markets, and we knew we had a complex search ahead of us.
Tactics:
After countless hours of searching and hundreds of phone calls within the bioscience industry, we had a select few candidates. Then after evaluations and interviews, we identified the top candidates with exactly the right combination of experience.
Results:
We located a highly talented and motivated individual from Johnson & Johnson. The candidate was experienced and extremely interested in working with the management team at Provasis, as well as relocating to San Diego.
Interestingly enough, while we were searching for the perfect candidate for the VP position, we came across a number of candidates well suited for the VP of Clinical Affairs position — a position we weren't even tasked with filling. But because of our extensive search, we were able to successfully place a candidate into the role of VP of Clinical Affairs, a position that complemented VP of Regulatory and QA extremely well. Back to Top
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