Cambridge Healthtech Institute’s 16th Annual
Strategic Alliance Management Congress
Advancing Pharmaceuticals Through Collaborations & Partnerships
May 13-15, 2019
The development and successful approval of new drugs and therapies increasingly relies on the strategic partnerships forged across pharma, biotech, academia, and beyond, along various points in the pipeline. In order for these partnerships to be successful
and mutually beneficial, partners on both sides must manage the process and people efficiently and effectively. The quantity, scope, and complexity of these alliances has ushered in new strategies, innovative approaches, and best practices to maximize
value and to leverage partnerships above and beyond the deal.
Cambridge Healthtech Institute’s 16th Annual Strategic Alliance Management Congress will bring together senior alliance management, business development, project management, technology transfer, and licensing professionals to network and share experiences,
best practices, tools, insights, and perspectives in the art of alliance management.
Final Agenda
MONDAY, MAY 13
8:30 am Workshop Registration and Morning Coffee
9:00 am - 12:00 pm Pre-Conference Workshop*
Monday, May 13 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
The Alliance Manager as Interventionist
Adam Kornetsky, Senior Consultant, Vantage Partners
Mai-Tal
Kennedy, Senior Consultant, Vantage Partners
A key aspect of the Alliance Management role is that of “interventionist” – Alliance Managers need to spot and then intervene in challenging moments, including conflicts, re-negotiations, interpersonal dislocations, team dysfunction,
and the like. That said, most Alliance Mangers do not have any formal training on this aspect of the role or indeed have any frameworks or tools for their use. This both lowers their effectiveness and indeed can undermine the recognition of the Alliance
Management organization and its role and value. In this interactive, experiential session Vantage will share and the participants will have the opportunity to discuss and consider just such a set of frameworks and tools, in this way both elevating
their ability to play their role and enhancing their clarity and purposefulness in designing effective and ultimately value creating interventions.
*Separate registration required.
12:00 pm Conference Registration
1:05 pm Welcome by Conference Organizer
Kaitlin Kelleher, Conference Producer, Cambridge Healthtech Institute
1:10 Chairperson’s Opening Remarks
Dana Hughes, Vice President & Global Head, Integration and Alliance Management, Worldwide Business Development Group, Pfizer
1:15 Building an Alliance Management Community: Pfizer’s Story
Dana Hughes,
Vice President & Global Head, Integration and Alliance Management, Worldwide Business Development Group, Pfizer
Alliances involve so much more than just those with the title of alliance manager – numerous departments and colleagues get involved, and it’s not always clear how to set up partnership capabilities, keep abreast of changes, and develop good
working relationships. In this talk, we will discuss how the alliance management community has been set up at Pfizer, what has worked so far, and challenges ahead.
1:45 Is Your Alliance Out of Alignment?
Michael
Kennedy, PhD, MBA, Director, Alliance Management, Business Development & Licensing, Bayer Healthcare
This presentation will detail why alignment is critical to alliance success. Moreover, it will demonstrate through real-world examples how alliance managers can build alignment in a way that maximizes the chance of attaining desired business outcomes
in their collaborative ventures. Methodologies will be described that, when applied, will help mitigate misalignment within an organization and between that organization and its alliance partner.
2:15 The Role and Importance of Alliance Management as your company Transforms to an External Innovation Model
Michael Lebel, AM/CAM, Vice President, Strategic Alliance Management, Alliance Management & Business Development, Ipsen
As many companies focus on an external innovation model, Alliance Management plays a critical role in helping organizations achieve long-term business success. One important aspect of the Alliance duties is the ability to build internal knowledge of its
value to an externally facing organization. How do we educate our internal stakeholders as to the role and value of Alliance Management as well as training them on the ability to navigate and often actively leverage significant differences between
partner’s strength, culture and operating models.
2:45 Own Your Transformation: Creating a Collaborative Leadership System for the Partnering Everywhere World
Jan Twombly, CSAP,
President, The Rhythm of Business
The speed of business, science, and technology demands collaboration like never before. It is rewiring organizations and redefining what it means to be a leader. Alliance professionals — the tip of the spear of collaborative leadership—are
orchestrating the partnering ecosystem, evolving organization culture, and delivering the experience partners seek. Use this five-point transformation agenda to guide creating the systems, incentives, structures, accountabilities, and essential mindset,
skillset, toolset to realize the value of the partnering-everywhere world.
3:15 Refreshment Break with Exhibit Viewing
3:55 Chairperson’s Remarks
Michael Kennedy, PhD, MBA, Director, Alliance Management, Business Development & Licensing, Bayer Healthcare
4:00 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: ACE (Alliance Center of Excellence) in the Hole, Maybe?
Anna Maroney, PhD, Vice President & Head, Alliance Management, AbbVie, Inc.
AbbVie has developed an Alliance Center of Excellence (ACE) where everyone who works with alliance partners can leverage existing tools and training, share best practices, identify and resolve systemic alliance management needs or challenges, and establish
cross-functional connections to offer a consistent approach to partnering. Discussion will include how AbbVie created the ACE to fit the needs of the organization and reflections on the impact the community has delivered to our partnerships and the
AbbVie organization.
4:30 PANEL DISCUSSION: M&A Integration: A New Role in Alliance Management
Moderator: MaryAnne McCarthy, Senior Director, Alliance Management, Genmab, Inc.
Panelists: 
Brent
Harvey, Director, Alliance Management, Eli Lilly
Debby Concavage, Director, Global Alliance and Integration Management, AstraZeneca
Mergers & acquisitions are a key part of any large pharma company. While they are different from a traditional alliance, alliance managers can play a key role in this process. This panel discussion will discuss the skills alliance managers bring to
the table, how M&A can be integrated into the alliance department’s scope of responsibilities, and the benefits and challenges unique to M&A.
5:30 Welcome Reception with Exhibit Viewing
6:45 Close of Day
TUESDAY, MAY 14
8:00 am Morning Coffee
8:25 Chairperson’s Remarks
Anna Maroney, PhD, Vice President & Head, Alliance Management, AbbVie, Inc.
8:30 CO-PRESENTATION: Building a Long Term Academic-Industry Partnership
Mark Ralph, Executive Director & Global Head, Contracts & Alliance Management, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Joy Dicker, Director, Alliance Management, Mount Sinai Innovation Partners
Together we will present on the evolving relationship between Boehringer Ingelheim and Mount Sinai, with a focus on strategic benefits and associated challenges.
9:00 CO-PRESENTATION: The Evolution of an Alliance in Changing times
Mary Jo Struttmann, Executive Director, Alliance Management, Astellas
Judy
Baselice, Director, Alliance Management, Worldwide Business Development, Pfizer
As Alliance Managers, we are responsible for ensuring an alliance delivers value through its lifecycle even if the alliance goes through a major chance in the midst of its lifecycle. This case study will highlight how two seasoned alliance professionals
took control of the collaborative work of the alliance, ensuring the alliance continued to deliver and follow its “North Star.”
9:30 CO-PRESENTATION: Successfully Delivering on Each Aspect of the "Magic Triangle" in a Dual Contract Research Organization Alliance – Quality, Speed and Value
Elspeth
Carnan, Vice President Supplier Performance Management, Global Clinical Operations, EMD Serono
Richard Butterworth, Senior Director, Alliance Management, Global Clinical Operations, Merck KGaA
Quality is the essential component of clinical development, but can often be compromised by demands of cost-reduction and increased speed. How then can these factors be optimized for the Pharmaceutical Sponsor in a dual CRO alliance? This presentation
will highlight the principles of a Pay for Performance alliance model that incentivizes top-quartile industry-benchmarked performance, while delivering the mandated level of quality for clinical product development and ensuring that value generation
is incentivized as a core component for innovation, improvement and measurable efficiency gains.
10:00 Coffee Break with Exhibit Viewing
10:45 CO-PRESENTATION: Why Is a Spin-Off a Win-Win? Lessons Learned from Planning for Success
Aida Bendt, Head,
Alliance Management, MedImmune
Yaminah Leggett-Wells, Senior Director, Project Management, Viela Bio
When a large pharma company decides to spin off some of its assets into a standalone company, what does that transition look like? How is the alliance management team involved? This case study will take a look at how AstraZeneca/MedImmune successfully
spun off Viela Bio, strategies that worked, and unique challenges they faced.
11:30 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: The Changing BioPharma Partnering Landscape: Implication for Alliance Management
Stuart Kliman,
Partner, Vantage Partners
Ben Siddall, Partner,
Vantage Partners
The life sciences partnering landscape is rapidly changing, leading to markedly different types of alliances and relationships across the value chain and drug development lifecycle. These show up in a multitude arena and are all appropriately tagged with
different names – “beyond the pill” partnerships, digital trial alliances, external innovation, real world evidence, and the like. In this discussion Vantage will share latest thinking about how the landscape is indeed evolving and
the implications of that on partner choice making, partnership business models and, of course, on the focus and necessary new capabilities of alliance management organizations.
12:15 pm Networking Lunch
1:25 Chairperson’s Remarks
Thomas Krucker, PhD, Director, Alliance Management and Partnering, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR)
1:30 Industry Alliances with Advocacy: A Catalyst for Drug Development & Alliance Managers
Beth Aselage, Senior Patient Advocacy & Alliance Development Specialist, Retrophin
Patients as partners is an pioneering concept across the healthcare industry. Alliances between industry and advocacy organizations are gaining momentum and opening new opportunities to maximize resources to support early-stage development efforts. Highlights
from the second year of a case study following a research partnership between Retrophin, the National Institutes of Health, and advocacy organization, NGLY1.org, will explore how the value of bridging alliances with advocacy partners can catalyze
successful drug development efforts.
2:00 CO-PRESENTATION: Learnings from an International, Multifaceted, Pharmaceutical/Platform/Technology Alliance
Doug Wilson, PharmD, Director, Alliance Management, Business Development, GSK
Bernhard Gerstmayer, PhD, Director, Program and Alliance Management, Business Development, Miltenyi Biotec
Alliance managers from Miltenyi Biotec and GlaxoSmithKline will discuss and review their experiences in managing a highly complex and multifaceted alliance. This alliance actually involves 4 separate but interconnected agreements that are managed under
an umbrella strategic alliance agreement, across 3 countries and multiple stakeholders. The alliance managers will share their successes and challenges encountered along the way.
2:30 PANEL DISCUSSION: Changing the Innovation Ecosystem: Alliance Management in the Celgene Research Consortium
Moderator: Joy Dicker,
Director, Alliance Management, Mount Sinai Innovation Partners
Sean L. Evans, PhD,
Associate Director, Business Development & Corporate Partnerships, Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures
Andrew Hall, Executive
Director, Global Alliances & Business Development, Celgene
Pat J. Morin, PhD, Executive
Director, Strategic Alliances, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania
Emer Smyth, PhD, Director,
Cancer Research Alliances, Assistant Dean for Cancer Research, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University
In 2016, four major academic institutions and Celgene formed a landmark partnership to accelerate the discovery and development of novel cancer therapeutics and diagnostics for the benefit of patients. This session will highlight the tools and processes
that have been developed to manage this complex collaboration between industry and academia.
3:30 Refreshment Break with Exhibit Viewing
4:00 Interactive Breakout Discussion Groups
Table 1: Alliance Management at the Forefront of Deal-Making
Moderators: Sean L. Evans, PhD, Associate Director, Business Development & Corporate Partnerships, Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures
Brent Harvey, Director, Alliance Management, Eli Lilly
Anna Maroney, PhD, Vice President & Head, Alliance Management, AbbVie, Inc.
One of the principal roles of an alliance manager is to manage the collaboration based on an agreed-upon contract. Ahead of the contract signing, during the negotiation process, alliance managers are in a unique position to provide input based on the
management of past deals. This group will explore ways in which Alliance Management can get involved earlier in the deal-making process, transferring the knowledge and experience of managing other partnerships.
- At what point should Alliance Management get involved in the deal-making process?
- What contributions can an alliance manager make to the negotiation process?
- How would a partner perceive Alliance Management at the table? What message would that deliver about your company's approach to partnership?
- What steps are required to gain alignment in your own organization about the role of Alliance Management in the deal-making process?
Table 2: Alliance Launch
Moderators: Joy Dicker, Director, Alliance Management, Mount Sinai Innovation Partners
Julia Gershkovich, Head, North America R&D Alliance Management, Sanofi Group
Judy Baselice, Director, Alliance Management, Worldwide Business Development, Pfizer
Pat J. Morin, PhD, Executive Director, Strategic Alliances, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania
Organizations commit significant resources to alliance deals that are central components of the organization’s long-term strategy. Too often, however, such deals get “thrown over the fence” from those who identify the asset, to those
responsible for negotiating and closing the deal, to those finally responsible for managing the working relationship with the partner organization. This group will explore some of the challenges and some best practices for launching an alliance for
success.
- 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?
Table 3: Alliance Management & Project Management – Managing the Divide
Moderators: Jonathon Bell, Director, Alliance and Integration Management, AstraZeneca
Tim Hammonds, PhD, Deputy Director Drug Discovery, Therapeutic Discovery Labs, Cancer Research UK
Aida Bendt, Head, Alliance Management, MedImmune
Alliance Management (AM) and Project/Program Management (PM) 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 4: Introducing Alliance Management to a Growing Biotech Company
Moderators: Michael Lebel, AM/CAM, Vice President, Strategic Alliance Management, Alliance Management & Business Development, Ipsen
Thomas Krucker, PhD, Director, Alliance Management and Partnering, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR)
A larger percentage of alliance deals in the life sciences space involve a Big Pharma – Biotech partnership. This group will discuss the key aspects to consider before introducing alliance management to biotech companies.
- What types of alliances should innovative enterprises form?
- Which alliance management skills and tools do companies need to possess?
- How can organizations develop a culture of open innovation?
- What are the ways to create value and share it among stakeholders involved?
- How do you get CEO & senior management engagement?
- What questions should senior management ask as they implement policies, processes, and SOPs that will apply to (and possibly conflict with) partners?
Table 5: A Review of Best Practices for Collaborations between Pharmaceutical Companies and Companion Diagnostic Providers
At some point, most pharmaceutical companies look for a diagnostic partner. This group will discuss issues surrounding selecting a partner and avoiding challenges in managing these types of partnerships.
- What factors do you consider in selection of a companion diagnostics partner?
- What are the key milestones and associated decision points moving forward in diagnostic development?
- How long does it take to complete an agreement with a CoDx partner?
- Is it a fee for service, pay as you go or broader alliance?
5:00 Breakout Discussion Report Out
5:30 Close of Day
WEDNESDAY, MAY 15
8:00 am Morning Coffee
8:25 Chairperson’s Remarks
Tim Hammonds, PhD, Deputy Director Drug Discovery, Therapeutic Discovery Labs, Cancer Research UK
8:30 Translating Oncology in the Valley of Death - Academics, Industry and Alliance Management
Tim Hammonds, PhD, Deputy Director Drug Discovery, Therapeutic Discovery Labs, Cancer Research UK
CRUK-TDL is a 90 FTE biotech that leverages unique access to academia and industry to build and run themed drug discovery alliances. These involve select dream teams of up to 6 academics linked to Pharma to generate project portfolios around a specific
oncology area. We will describe with examples the skills we have acquired to keep such multi-party industry-academia alliances afloat and on track.
9:00 CO-PRESENTATION: 18 Months into a Strategic Oncology Alliance
Jonathon
Bell, Director, Alliance and Integration Management, AstraZeneca
Timothy Salfi,
Director, Corporate Alliance Management, Merck
AstraZeneca and Merck established one of the largest and most complex alliances in the field of oncology, deploying a short 18 months ago. This copresentation will discuss the initial launch, its startup strategies, and where it stands now.
10:00 Coffee Break with Exhibit Viewing
10:30 Alliance Management in Deal Making and Potential Outcomes
Julia Gershkovich, Head, North America R&D Alliance Management, Sanofi Group
Effective management of an alliance supports its success, but some deal terms can add challenges to its management. This talk will discuss: How alliance management is or should be involved in deal making. What issues we face as alliance managers and what
we can do to improve outcomes. Participate in sharing some best practices and lessons learned from the group.
11:15 Can We Still Be Friends? Relationships Are Messy, But It’s Easier to Terminate a Healthy One!
Christopher Salvatore, Director, Strategic Alliances, Global Project & Alliance Management, Merck
Even highly effective and successful collaborations encounter unforeseen challenges which need to be managed. In this talk we will discuss the value of being open about the impact of termination early in the relationship and lessons learned from
challenging situations.
12:00 pm Close of Day