안녕하세요 보스턴 임박사입니다.
George A. Scangos 박사 (75세) 는 현재 Infectious Disease Biotech인 Vir Biotechnology의 이사로 계시는 분입니다. 40년의 Biotech career 동안 동부와 서부를 넘나들면서 CEO로 Biotech들을 일군 분이시죠. 작년 1월에 CEO에서는 완전히 은퇴하신다고 선언하셨습니다. 74세때입니다.
미국에는 Greece 출신 이민자들 중에서 성공한 Pharma/Biotech CEO들이 꽤 있습니다. 예를 들면 Merck CEO였더 Roy Vagelos 박사님이 계시죠.
부러우면 지는거다 (8) – Dr. Roy Vagelos
George Scangos 박사님도 Greece 출신 이민자 3세이십니다. 할아버지가 이민자로 오시고 아버지는 보스턴에서 Exxon의 회계업무를 하셨다고 합니다.
Scangos, who grew up in Lynn, Massachusetts before moving to Connecticut, is of direct Greek descent on his father’s side, as his grandparents came to the United States from Greece.
Apart from a successful career in several of the top biotech companies in the US, Dr. Scangos has also served as a Professor of Biology at Johns Hopkins University. He is currently serving on the Board of Trustees of Cornell University and the Board of Overseers of the University of California at San Francisco.
The Greek-American scientist received his B.A. in Biology from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Massachusetts.
Harvard Business School에 있는 Scangos 박사의 소개를 올립니다.
박사학위 취득후 Yale University에서 Postdoc을 하시고 1987년까지 7년간 Johns Hopkins University 교수가 되셨습니다. Johns Hopkins University 겸임교수로 여전히 후학을 가르치고 계십니다.
George Scangos, Ph.D. – Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University에서 Connecticut에 있는 Bayer으로 옮기셔서 10년간 계시면서 1993-1996년에는 President로 계셨죠.
그리고 San Francisco로 넘어가서 Exelixis의 CEO로 1996년부터 2010년까지 CEO로서 14년간 Exelixis의 성장을 이끌었고요 보스턴으로 오셔서 Biogen Idec으로 옮기셔서 2010년부터 2016년까지 회사의 Business Model을 Oncology에서 Neurology로 바꾸셨습니다. Exelixis의 성공을 이끈 George Scangos박사님의 중요성은 Forbes에서 취재한 일이 있습니다. Exelixis의 기반기술보다 George Scangos의 역할이 더 중요하다는 언급이 인상깊습니다.
A Formula For Biotech Success – Forbes 9/26/2000
How does Formela pick them? “I’m looking at four big components: What they’re doing, why they’re doing it, how they’re doing it, and who’s doing it.“
Sometimes “the who” can be incredibly important. For example, Formela says that if Craig Venter Craig Venter , the founder of Celera Genomics , were to walk into his office wanting to start a new company, he might jump at the chance before Venter even explained what he was going to do. But for mere mortals, Formela feels that to start a hot biotech firm, one has to find a way to match top scientists who have a cutting edge technique with an important use for the new technology.
That was the case when he first met with CEO George Scangos George Scangos of San Francisco’s Exelixis, which was originally just going to use fruit flies to look at a few particular proteins. “The what and the why did not impress me that much,” Formela says. “But the who were the brightest in the world.”
2017년에 보스턴 VC인 Arch Venture Partners와 세운 Vir Biotechnology에서 2023년까지 Scangos 박사님이 보여주신 Leadership은 정말 대단했습니다. Scangos박사님의 Biotech Network의 결정체라 할 수 있을까요?
Less than a year after its launch, Vir Biotechnology today disclosed it has secured more than $500 million in financing toward an acquisition and a series of collaborations launched with two companies—each of which could generate over $1 billion—and four top-tier academic research institutions.
The collaborations, acquisition, and financing are aimed at building the company’s pipeline, technology, and global footprint, all with the goal of developing treatments for infectious diseases, Vir said.
Vir has pinpointed three areas of initial focus: chronic infectious diseases including hepatitis B (HBV), tuberculosis (TB), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); respiratory diseases that include influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and metapneumovirus (MPV); and health-care acquired infections.
“We expect to move several compounds into clinical development in the next 18 months and we have an option to acquire a portion of a Phase 2 compound targeting flu. We also continue to evaluate several near-term opportunities to acquire additional mid- and late-stage clinical compounds, as well as expand our technology base even further,” Vir CEO George A. Scangos, Ph.D., said in a statement.
Dr. Scangos previously served as Biogen CEO before joining executives with research and industry experience to launch Vir in January with a $150 million commitment from ARCH Venture Partners alone, and additional funds from another prominent lead investor, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“I am pleased that in our first year we have been able to align leading ideas, technology, and expertise focused on transforming the care of people with serious infectious diseases and providing a return to our investors,” Dr. Scangos added.
Vir has acquired Humabs BioMed, a Swiss discoverer and developer of fully human monoclonal antibodies to treat serious infections, for an undisclosed price. Humabs’ technology is designed to enable rapid isolation and development of antibodies that have passed natural selection by the human immune system in response to viral and bacterial diseases.
In acquiring Humabs, Vir has added to its portfolio more than 15 antibody development candidates—including preclinical antibodies designed to treat HBV, RSV/MPV, Zika, and dengue—as well as a proprietary antibody discovery platform and antibody engineering capabilities. Vir said Humabs and its employees will continue to operate the acquired company’s facilities in Bellinzona, Switzerland, and maintain its research collaboration with the Institute for Research in Biomedicine.
Vir also agreed to partner with Visterra on developing up to six antibodies to treat infectious diseases and with Alnylam on up to five RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics programs for the treatment of infectious diseases.
Visterra could gain from Vir more than $1 billion in payments tied to achieving development, regulatory, and sales milestones, plus royalties from future product sales, under an exclusive research collaboration, license, and option agreement signed by the companies.
Vir and Visterra also agreed to advance three infectious disease antibodies developed with Visterra’s novel HierotopeTM technology, including antibodies against influenza, RSV, and fungal infections. Vir has the right to launch two additional research programs to develop antibodies against pathogens of its choosing.
With Alnylam, Vir has signed an exclusive license and collaboration agreement covering up to five RNAi therapeutics programs to treat infectious diseases. The companies have agreed to advance ALN-HBV02 for the treatment of HBV jointly, with Alnylam retaining an option to participate in commercialization of the product.
Vir also announced agreements of undisclosed value with four academic research institutions:
- Stanford University—Vir has licensed artificial intelligence technology designed to mine gene expression data for early diagnostic predictions and target discovery.
- Harvard University—Under a five-year strategic research alliance, Vir agreed to foster scientific collaboration with Harvard and provide financial support for innovative research projects in infectious diseases, to which Vir will have exclusive access to negotiate licenses.
- Oregon Health & Science University—Vir expanded an existing relationship with OHSU to include additional sponsored research. OHSU remains a key partner, Vir said, in the development of its cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine platform.
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center—Vir and Fred Hutch have inked a sponsored research agreement focused on cell therapy.
2년만에 Scangos 박사님은 Vir Biotechnology를 Nasdaq에 IPO합니다. 이 결정이 정말 신의 한수인 게 COVID-19이 2019년 11월경부터 알려졌는데 바로 직전에 IPO를 한 것입니다.
Scangos’ Vir heading to Wall Street with $100M IPO – Fierce Biotech 9/4/2019
Exelixis의 CEO로 1996년부터 2010년까지 CEO로서 14년간 Exelixis의 성장을 이끌었고 이후에도 이사회 멤버로 일하시다가 COVID-19 pandemic에 대응하기 위한 BIO에서의 역할을 맡으시기 위해 2020년 3월에 이사회직을 사퇴하셨습니다. 아래는 Scangos 박사님의 이사회 퇴직에 대한 창업자인 Stelios Papadopoulos 박사의 변과 Scangos 박사님의 말씀입니다.
“George’s relationship with Exelixis reaches back to the earliest days of the company,” said Stelios Papadopoulos, Ph.D., co-founder of Exelixis and chairman of the Exelixis Board of Directors. “He was instrumental in getting Exelixis off the ground and establishing the scientific, technological, and business foundations that helped to pave the way for Exelixis to mature into the successful commercial oncology company it is today. Our Board of Directors is deeply grateful for his long-term service to Exelixis.”
Dr. Scangos cited his multiple professional and philanthropic commitments as principal reasons for his decision to retire from the Exelixis Board. Since January 2017, he has served as chief executive officer and board member of Vir Biotechnology, Inc., a clinical-stage immunology company focused on treating and preventing serious infectious diseases, including COVID-19.
“I consider myself extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve Exelixis for more than two decades, first as CEO and then in an advisory role as a member of the company’s Board,” said Dr. Scangos. “Since stepping down as CEO almost 10 years ago, it has been tremendously exciting to see Exelixis persevere and prosper. With four marketed products, an expansive clinical development program for cabozantinib, and a reenergized discovery organization, Exelixis’ future is indeed very bright.”
그리고 때를 만난 Vir Biotechnology는 COVID-19 pandemic 동안 중요한 획을 긋게 됩니다.
Former Biogen CEO Scangos to be BIO’S COVID-19 czar: report – Fierce Biotech 3/1/2020
The chief executive of infectious disease biotech Vir, George Scangos, has been handed the reins to lead the biotech industry’s battle against the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is heading up the government’s response to the coronavirus, but Scangos has been tapped by BIO to help lead its efforts to research therapeutics and diagnostics to stave off the spread of the virus.
“The role is still evolving, but it is clear someone needs to pick up the reins. It is only natural for us here at Vir to take on a leadership role,” Scangos said in an interview with Reuters.
This comes as the first deaths from the disease were registered in the U.S. over the weekend. The country is now stepping up its response to the disease with wider testing, which had been fairly limited over the past two months.
BIO의 수장으로서 뿐만 아니라 Vir Biotechnology의 CEO로서도 COVID-19 pandemic을 종식시키기 위해 애쓰셨고 Vir Biotechnology의 Antibody “Sotrovimab“는 GSK와의 협력으로 FDA 승인을 받게 됩니다.
GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (Nasdaq: VIR) today announced that the US Government will purchase an additional 600,000 doses of sotrovimab, an investigational monoclonal antibody for the early treatment of COVID-19, enabling further nationwide access to sotrovimab for patients. The additional 600,000 doses will be delivered throughout the first quarter of 2022. This agreement is an amendment to earlier commitments announced with the US Government in November 2021
Including the commitments announced today, GSK and Vir have received binding agreements for the sale of approximately 1.7 million doses of sotrovimab worldwide. In addition, today’s agreement also includes the option for the US government to purchase further additional doses in the second quarter of 2022.
Sotrovimab, which was granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2021, is an investigational single-dose intravenous (IV) infusion SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody. Under the EUA, sotrovimab can be used for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults and paediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg) with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalisation or death.
GSK and Vir expect to manufacture approximately 2 million doses globally in the first half of 2022 and additional doses in the second half of the year.
George Scangos, PhD, chief executive officer of Vir, said: “As the Omicron variant continues its rapid spread alongside the still prevalent Delta variant, we are pleased to once again work with the US government to provide more access to sotrovimab for people in the US at high risk of progression to severe COVID-19. Data from multiple pseudo-virus and live virus preclinical studies, generated by industry and academia, continue to demonstrate that sotrovimab retains activity against all tested variants of concern and interest. We are proud of our ongoing contributions to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic here in the US and around the world.”
안타깝게도 이후에 변종에 대한 약효 미달로 인해 승인은 취소되었지만 그래도 이 노력은 높이 사야한다고 생각합니다.
FDA pulls authorization for GSK-Vir’s COVID therapy as BA.2 cases rise – Reuters 4/5/2022
Biogen에서 Scangos 박사님의 CEO로서의 업적은 Medical Marketing and Media에서 잘 정리가 되었습니다.
Scangos, a biotech lifer, is perhaps best known for previously serving as CEO at Biogen for six years starting in 2010, where he helped steer the company in a new direction. Under Scango’s leadership, Biogen dropped programs in cancer and instead focused its efforts on neuroscience – including the ALS drug Spinraza.
Scangos also bet $2.5 million on the now controversial Alzheimer’s treatment, Aduhelm, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2021 under the accelerated approval pathway.
Scangos left Biogen in 2016 and joined Vir in 2017, where he guided the company through the tumultuous years of the COVID-19 pandemic. A crowning achievement was Vir’s COVID-19 monoclonal antibody, sotrovimab, which was granted emergency use authorization by the FDA in 2021.
“George led the company through a period of significant transformation, accelerated its growth and established a broad pipeline and strategy that we believe will support our long-term success,” Vicki Sato, chairman of the board at Vir, said in a statement. Before his stint at Biogen, Scangos also served as president and CEO of Exelixis for 14 years, as well as chair of lobbying group PhRMA in 2016.
“[Vir] is operating from a position of strength with significant cash, an impressive pipeline and critical near-term catalysts that have the potential to support multiple important therapies,” Scangos said in a statement. “[W]e have laid out a vision for the company that gives me great confidence in Vir’s ability to transform the infectious disease landscape.”
이제 CEO 역할에서는 은퇴를 공식적으로 하신 상태이지만 일을 완전히 그만두신 건 아닙니다. 현재 George Scangos 박사님은 Arch Venture Partners의 Venture Partner로 계십니다.
George Scangos, Venture Partner at Arch Venture Partners
He is a former Chair of PhRMA, and the California Healthcare Institute. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development.
Dr. Scangos currently serves on the boards of Agilent Technologies, Inc., Voyager Therapeutics, Inc., Octave Bioscience, Rezo Therapeutics and Life Sciences Cares. Dr. Scangos is currently a venture partner at ARCH Venture Partners.
Goerge Scangos, Director at Vir Biotechnology
George Scangos 박사님이 지금도 새로운 Biotech Platform을 만드는데 중요한 역할을 하시고 Global Biotech, Pharma, Academia 등과의 Networking을 통해서 이 분야의 발전에 조력하시는 모습은 저에게 큰 귀감이 되어서 이렇게 글을 남깁니다.
BOSTON DR LIM 