Download Christoph Pittius, Ph.D.

Executive Résumé
Christoph Pittius, Ph.D.
39 Ovation Court White Plains, NY 10603
Phone: (914) 433-6000 Email: [email protected]
Leadership Profile
Senior Executive Leadership, International Business Development, Pharma and Biotech Licensing,
M&A and Strategic Partnering, Assessment and Negotiation, Team Empowerment, Multilingual Skills
High-energy, innovative licensing executive with extensive hands-on experience in international corporate and
business development in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and investment banking industries. Results-driven self-starter
with proficient skills and track record in developing, maintaining and executing strategic licensing transactions.
Global proactive scouting, evaluation and negotiation of licensing deals, covering the entire spectrum from enabling
technologies to late-clinical-stage and marketed product opportunities, both biologics and small molecules. Flexible
team player who functions well in both global, complex environments and in smaller organizations; skillful at
bringing people together, influencing and motivating them to meet and exceed expectations. Solid scientific training
as Ph.D. molecular biologist; adept at translating novel scientific and medical concepts into business needs. Crosscultural understanding, fluent in six languages, dual citizen EU/US, flexible to relocate.
Professional Experience
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Executive Director, Oncology Business Development and Licensing
Florham Park, New Jersey
2010 to 2011
Provided leadership for this division that focuses on late-clinical-stage product in- and outlicensing. Conducted
search and evaluation, championed internal opportunities, drafted term sheets and contracts, negotiated and closed
deals, managed alliances for phase 2 and beyond product opportunities. Served as liaison to Novartis Institute of
Biomedical Research (Cambridge, MA) and served as member of the deal team for earlier-stage partnerships.
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Closed two early-stage deals on antibody-drug conjugates with an undisclosed company and with Immunogen,
a six-target alliance with significant financial commitment.
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In negotiations with biotech licensors on three separate late-stage NCE and NBE product licenses in oncology.
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Led the outlicensing process of two Phase 3 and one Phase 1 asset.
Jubilant Biosys Ltd./Jubilant Chemsys Ltd.,
Bangalore and Delhi, India
Vice President, Global Business Development (based in Bedminster, NJ)
2008 to 2009
Was recruited to Jubilant (a preclinical drug discovery and development service provider) to provide leadership for
the global business development strategy for Jubilant’s drug discovery collaborations as well as preclinical drug
discovery and development services for pharma and biotech.
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Built up and strengthened the business development organization with six global reports – recruited, managed,
trained, motivated, and retained staff.
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Drove new strategic and licensing initiatives to increase the company’s capabilities and offerings. Segregated
strategic and operational business opportunities, identified champions and worked with teams to ensure business
objectives on both ends were met.
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Built company brand and led marketing initiatives in global markets (North America, Europe and Asia).
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Expanded customer count through sustained deployment of strategic initiatives and processes based on
“customer first” approach across various customer segments.
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and GmbH
Executive Director, Global Discovery Alliances
Project Leader Licensing (Team Leader Respiratory)
Ridgefield, Connecticut, 2004 to 2008
Ingelheim, Germany, 2002 to 2004
Began tenure with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH in Germany heading the respiratory licensing advisory team within
business and corporate development. Directed global scouting, evaluation and negotiation of licensing deals in the
respiratory field, covering the entire spectrum from enabling technologies to late-clinical-stage product
opportunities. Served as a key member in strategic corporate initiatives, coordinating the direction of internal
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research and in-licensing of complementary technologies and products. Promoted to executive director within two
years and called back to the U.S. in 2004, to perform corporate development for the R&D organization: to
proactively identify, coordinate, and execute strategic R&D partnerships in all 7 therapeutic areas of BI’s global
R&D organization: anti-infectives, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology/inflammation, central nervous system, respiratory, and metabolic diseases. Permanent member of BI’s international research committee, reviewing and
approving the global drug pipeline.
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Due to history of performance, was entrusted to act as the company’s global center point for early-stage deal
identification, negotiation, and execution that contributed significant value to the company bottom line.
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Identified and evaluated scientific quality and commercial potential in major strategic collaborations that would
provide more biologics and small molecule compounds for BI’s revenue pipeline, recommended approval,
structured, negotiated, and closed numerous deals with partners in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
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Landed a $305 million Alzheimer and $1.9 billion R&D and commercialization alliance with Ablynx (Ghent,
Belgium) directed against ten protein targets and involving multiple global departments at BI.
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Mastered a challenging relationship- and trust-building process and overcame intellectual property, financial
and royalty issues to successfully close a partnership with FivePrime Therapeutics (San Francisco, CA)
centered on novel secreted proteins.
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The making of the Ablynx alliance: Spearheaded corporate development strategy for biologics in-licensing;
strategically surveyed and analyzed non-antibody biologics with antibody-like properties. Ran scientific,
intellectual property, medical, financial, and commercial due diligence and initiated negotiations with several
biotech companies. Built internal coalitions within the global BI R&D organization to align diverting priorities,
and brought the key stakeholders together to support the choice of final selected partner for a multi-protein,
multi-therapeutic-area, multi-research-site global deal.
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Overcame and negotiated challenging issues on allocation of resources both internally at BI and at Ablynx, on
therapeutic target prioritization, definition of suitable milestones, financials, intellectual property rights, and
multiple other sticking points. Financial aspects of the final deal included an upfront payment, R&D funding,
milestones, royalties, and an equity investment.
Ferghana Partners, Inc.
Director
New York, New York
2000 to 2002
Was recruited to this healthcare boutique investment bank focusing on M&A, corporate partnering, and equity
financing, representing pharma and biotech in the U.S. and Europe, in order to provide Ferghana with a blend of
business development and technical expertise as a senior member of their “outsourced” business development
services team.
Work at this investment bank was transformational for my career in that it put me on the other side of the
negotiation table, representing the biotech “sell-side” as opposed to the pharma “buy-side”. Understanding how
biotech thinks and acts, on top of the corresponding knowledge for pharma, has proven to be invaluable for
culturally relating to and obtaining the trust of negotiation partners and consequently brokering win-win agreements
ever since.
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Performed scientific assessment of potential M&A opportunities, in- and out-licensing of products and
technologies, and venture financing for clients.
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Worked with the CEOs of client companies to develop their strategy, position their technology and products,
performed scientific and medical assessment, financial modeling, identified target partners, and established
rigorous deal transaction procedures. Ran due diligence, spearheaded contract negotiation, and achieved
successful deal closure.
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Successful divestiture of Refludan™, Aventis’ marketed recombinant thrombin inhibitor, to Schering AG,
complying with a consent decree by the Federal Trade and European Commissions. Tightly managed a highly
structured rigorous divestiture process as follows:
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Authored a comprehensive, concise information memorandum outlining the scientific, clinical, regulatory,
marketing and sales aspects of the drug. Identified potential buyers and analyzed their business plans in
regard to capability to grow and market the product, financial sustainability, and management excellence.
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Transformed complex product data into succinct due diligence presentations and data room reviews.
Christoph Pittius, Ph.D.
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Negotiated and completed external intellectual property licenses to provide complete Freedom to Operate
for the Refludan™ buyer. Structured deal terms including financials, manufacturing and supply issues.
Established positions of trust with the seller, the buyer and the Commissions that allowed a successfully
closed transaction involving multiple “clients” and external licensors.
Involved in licensing of the European rights of Leuprogel™, Atrix’s phase III LHRH agonist, to Medigene
(Munich, Germany). This drug was subsequently approved in Europe as Eligard ®, making Medigene the first
German biotech with a drug on the market. Eligard ® in 2009 had global sales of $225 million.
Aventis/Hoechst AG/Hoechst Marion Roussel (HMR)
Director, New Technologies Licensing
Laboratory Head
Germany and New Jersey
1994 to 2000
1990 to 1994
Began tenure as molecular biology research laboratory head and, for the next four years, led molecular biology
research in the fields of diabetes, atherosclerosis and liver fibrosis. Promoted to assistant director of the new
technologies licensing unit within the corporate development division in 1994 and was promoted again to director
within one year. Primary focus was corporate development: global early-stage inlicensing, including identification,
assessment, negotiation, and deal closure. Served as the principal liaison between outside opportunities and internal
experts determining strategy of the internal business units/disease groups.
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Conducted research that contributed to Aventis’ successful launch of Lantus ® (insulin glargine), a once-daily
long-acting insulin with multi-billion dollar sales.
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Identified, negotiated and completed close to two dozen partnerships crucial for the R&D organization, e.g.:
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Conducted extensive market research and opinion leader polls, and assessed technical feasibility, to
persuade internal decision makers at Hoechst to embark on a radical departure from traditional treatment
modalities, resulting in an R&D collaboration and commercialization, stock purchase, cross-license and
patent interference settlement procedure agreement in gene therapy of AIDS with the biotech company Cell
Genesys.
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Made HMR an early adopter by spearheading its entry into genomics: Conceived, assessed, negotiated, and
closed Incyte Pharmaceuticals’ third ever genomics partnership.
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Took HMR deeper into genomics by taking up a financial stake in this novel field: Conceived, negotiated,
and closed Lynx Therapeutics’ first ever genomics alliance and equity investment agreement.
Education
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Post-Doctoral Fellow and Scientist at the NIH (Bethesda, MD) and American Red Cross (Rockville, MD).
Led research on protein expression in milk of transgenic mice and pigs.
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Ph.D., “Dr. rer. nat.”, summa cum laude, University of Hannover, Germany.
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Ph.D. Thesis, Max-Planck-Institute for Psychiatry (now MPI for Neurobiology), Munich, Germany.
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Graduate studies in Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.
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B.S. and M.S., “Dipl. Biochem.”, Biochemistry, University of Hannover, Germany.
Continued Education/Professional Development
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Member of the Licensing Executives Society for many years.
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National Association of Securities Dealers: Series 7 and 63 NASD certifications.
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HMR, Boehringer Ingelheim and Novartis economics, leadership and management training programs.
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Program on negotiation at Harvard Law School.
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In frequent demand as conference speaker on licensing strategies and on deal transaction processes.
Languages
Native German, fluent English, French, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Russian, basics in Japanese and Portuguese.