PharmaVentures Podcast Series, Edition 18

Fintan Walton, founder and CEO of PharmaVentures chairs a round table discussion on this pressing issue.

Featuring;

Jim Gale. Managing Partner, Signet Healthcare Partners. A New York based Private equity firm with a wide portfolio including API medchem, Pharma Services and CDMO businesses.

Andreas Raabe: Founder & CEO of Adragos Pharma, a CDMO manufacturing in the EU and Japan.

Frank Dollard: 45 years of experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing, including GSK, BMS and Teva.

Soren Demin: Managing Director & Head of M&A at PharmaVentures and formerly senior commercial positions in multiple pharma business and a qualified medical practitioner.

In a wide-ranging discussion, hear the panelist’s views on;

1. What is meant by “drug shortages” and where has the system failed?
2. Where are the pinch points; manufacture, supply chains, pharma-centric influences, geopolitical events?
3. The impact on manufacturers of the US Biosecure Act.
4. The knock-on effects of pricing pressure on raw material sourcing.
5. Increasing capacity & the role of M&A
6. Can technology and innovation solve the problems?
7. Where are the opportunities emerging from that will provide the solutions?

PharmaVentures Podcast Series, Edition 17

Adrian Dawkes talks to PharmaVentures Founder and CEO Fintan Walton about his experience from over 30 years of dealmaking. In particular, why innovator biotechs and their investors are weaker when they underestimate the significance of both understanding and communicating their commercial strategy for their lead assets in negotiations.

Hear about:

• Failing to understand the inherent risks at the commercial stage is a failure of investment logic.
• Why you shouldn’t expect a potential partner to have any answers to the commercial path and success of your asset
• Why you should know where your assets fit in the market landscape and what differentiates it commercially.
• How to apply commercial strategic thinking to very early-stage assets.
• How planning to avoid commercial risk reduces investment risk.

About the Presenter:

Adrian Dawkes is a Managing Director at PharmaVentures and has been with the company since 2007. Adrian has led multiple consultancy, licensing and M&A mandates.

During his professional career, Adrian has significant multi-discipline expertise spanning research and development through to sales, marketing and business development. Adrian has over 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consultancy services sectors. Adrian holds a BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD in Immunochemistry.

PharmaVentures Podcast Series, Edition 16

Listen as Adrian Dawkes talks to Kurt Herpel, CEO and Klaus Kratochwill, CSO of Delta 4, an Austrian /Swiss based AI tech company. Hear how their AI journey began more than 20 years ago and how the company developed into a key player in AI drug discovery. Hear how their clients are already benefiting from AI. You will hear their insights into;

• Where AI is benefiting drug discovery processes today?
• How will it be used in the future, will we get better drugs faster?
• Can it replace the need for human involvement?
• Will AI impact on the discovery and use of new biomarkers?

About the Presenter:

Adrian Dawkes is a Managing Director at PharmaVentures and has been with the company since 2007. Adrian has led multiple consultancy, licensing and M&A mandates.

During his professional career, Adrian has significant multi-discipline expertise spanning research and development through to sales, marketing and business development. Adrian has over 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consultancy services sectors. Adrian holds a BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD in Immunochemistry.

PharmaVentures Podcast Series, Edition 15

Listen as Soren Demin draws on his 20 years of M&A experience to provide insight into the current Pharma/Biotech M&A landscape. Key topics include;

• Is the M&A landscape recovering and will we see record activity again?
• How has the big pharma model changed and what is the impact on deal making?
• What is the direction of travel for deal volumes and values?
• How do biotechs position themselves to get the best deals?
• Who holds the upper hand, buyers or sellers?
• What does M&A look like for hot and emerging sectors such as AI drug discovery and Advanced Therapies?

To find out what the diagnostics deal making landscape looks like for you, you can request an initial complimentary consultation with the experts in this podcast via email: enquiries@pharmaventures.com

About the Interviewees:

Soren Demin is a Managing Director at PharmaVentures, where he excels in creating and unlocking value for clients through M&A, business development, and licensing. He joined PharmaVentures in 2024, bringing over 15 years of global experience in the biopharma industry.

Soren’s successful industry and investment banking career, combined with his advisory and medical background, is crucial for understanding clients’ needs and providing optimized solutions.

Before this role, Soren served as Chief Business Officer at the private equity-backed Essential Pharma. He also held the position of Commercial Director at the UK government’s biological manufacturing unit, Porton BioPharma, where he established new strategic collaborations and directed product development and manufacturing. Previously, Soren was part of Mitsubishi Tanabe and the Piramal Group

Soren began his M&A career at Goldman Sachs, focusing on cross-border deal origination across the US, MENA, Europe, and Asia, before which he studied for a Bachelor of Medicine at the University of Sheffield and a PhD in Biotechnology from the University of Cambridge.

About the Presenter:

Adrian Dawkes is a Managing Director at PharmaVentures and has been with the company since 2007. Adrian has led multiple consultancy, licensing and M&A mandates.

During his professional career, Adrian has significant multi-discipline expertise spanning research and development through to sales, marketing and business development. Adrian has over 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consultancy services sectors. Adrian holds a BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD in Immunochemistry.

PharmaVentures Podcast Series, Edition 14

Listen as Andreas Katsiamides talks with Adrian Dawkes about the future of diagnostics and the impact on deals. They discuss:

• Technological advances in diagnostics, such as artificial intelligence (AI), next-generation sequencing (NGS) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing
• Its application to specific medical models and therapy areas – including personalised medicine, oncology, and Alzheimer’s
• Key players in the area, and their commercial models
• The importance of diagnostics working hand-in-hand with therapeutics
• Licensing and M&A transactions, and the potential deal values in the future

To find out what the diagnostics deal making landscape looks like for you, you can request an initial complimentary consultation with the experts in this podcast via email: enquiries@pharmaventures.com

About the Interviewees:

Andreas Katsiamides is an Associate at PharmaVentures.

He has experience in Molecular Biology and Medical Diagnostics. Prior to joining PharmaVentures, Andreas worked in competitive intelligence consulting firms, supporting with commercial/competitor due diligence and opportunity and threat assessments across a range of therapy areas including oncology, personalised healthcare, and infectious and rare diseases.

Andreas holds a BSc in Molecular Genetics and Pharmacology and a PhD in Molecular Neurobiology, both from the University of King’s College London (UK).

About the Presenter:

Adrian Dawkes is a Managing Director at PharmaVentures and has been with the company since 2007. Adrian has led multiple consultancy, licensing and M&A mandates.

During his professional career, Adrian has significant multi-discipline expertise spanning research and development through to sales, marketing and business development. Adrian has over 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consultancy services sectors. Adrian holds a BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD in Immunochemistry.

PharmaVentures Podcast Series, Edition 13

Listen as Colin McCall, Partner – Life Sciences and Deep Tech at Taylor Wessing, and Oliver Pumfrey, Managing Director at FTI Consulting, talk with Adrian Dawkes about law and tax during the licensing and M&A deal making process. They discuss a range of topics where different advisors use their expertise to help you achieve the best deal and avoid pitfalls in the future:

• The deal stages when expert advice can save you time and money.
• 5 key areas relating to tax in a licensing deal, and the risk of a “dry tax charge”.
• The importance of obtaining legal advice before you sign a term sheet.

To find out what the deal making landscape looks like for you, you can request an initial complimentary consultation with the experts in this podcast:

FTI Consulting for Tax advice – oliver.pumfrey@fticonsulting.com

Taylor Wessing for Legal advice – C.McCall@taylorwessing.com

PharmaVentures for Deal Making and Strategic Planning advice – enquiries@pharmaventures.com

About the Interviewees:

Colin McCall is a partner in Taylor Wessing‘s market leading life sciences team and is one of the UK’s leading life sciences licensing and commercialisation lawyers having more than 20 years’ experience of acting almost exclusively in the sector.

He advises clients throughout their lifecycle (all the way from start-up/spin-out to multinational listed companies) on the commercialisation of their intellectual property rights. In particular, advising on licensing deals, collaborations and R&D projects, distribution and manufacturing arrangements and has a particular focus on the biotech sector with a strong therapeutics, synbio and agbio client following.

Colin has a 1st class degree in cell biology and a masters in environmental technology.  Colin also sits on the BIA’s Engineering Biology Advisory Committee.

Oliver Pumfrey is a Managing Director at FTI Consulting. He manages the Life Sciences Tax team and is based in London.

Oliver has over 17 years’ experience but prior to joining FTI Consulting, he worked in an industry where he was responsible for all taxes across the EMEA region for a multinational US-listed group. Prior to that, Oliver spent 10 years with PWC, working across a number of tax areas including corporate tax, employment taxes and the tax technical knowledge team.

Having joined FTI Consulting in 2016, Oliver supports Life Sciences clients across a range of tax matters including R&D incentive claims for large enterprises and SMEs and related transactional advice and planning. He also advises on the Enterprise Investment Scheme, licensing of intellectual property rights and Patent Box elections in regard to optimal timing and the potential benefits.

Oliver holds a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from Imperial College, London and is an Associate of the Royal College of Science. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ACA) in 2010 and became a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 2020.

About the Presenter:

Adrian Dawkes is a Managing Director at PharmaVentures and has been with the company since 2007. Adrian has led multiple consultancy, licensing and M&A mandates.

During his professional career, Adrian has significant multi-discipline expertise spanning research and development through to sales, marketing and business development. Adrian has over 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consultancy services sectors. Adrian holds a BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD in Immunochemistry.