July 8, 2015
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor
Ali Fattaey is the president and chief executive officer of Curis since 2014, having joined the company as president and chief operating officer in February 2013. Prior to Curis, Fattaey was president and CEO of ACT Biotech, Inc., an oncology-focused privately-held biotechnology company he co-founded in 2008.
Lexington, Mass.-based Curis is a biotechnology company seeking to develop and commercialize innovative drug candidates for the treatment of human cancers. Curis’ most advanced drug candidate is CUDC-907, an oral, small molecule inhibitor of histone deacetylase (HDAC) and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) enzymes, which has completed the dose escalation stage of a Phase 1 clinical study. Curis is also engaged in a broad collaboration with Aurigene in the areas of immuno-oncology and precision oncology. As part of this collaboration, Curis expects to exercise options to exclusively license oral small molecules antagonists of programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) and interleukin-1 receptor association kinase-4 (IRAK4) and file IND applications for both molecules. Curis is also party to a collaboration agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group.
BioSpace chatted with Fattaey about how hiring is booming in biotech’s wildest stock market performance yet.
1. How has biotech’s bull run in 2015 affected your hiring?
The last two years have been a healthy growth period for hiring, which is terrific given the recent reductions in pharma R&D numbers. This reflects a convergence of three different factors, the first being pure technological advancement. I have seen that in cancer, the area that we are in, as well as in infectious disease and neurodegenerative disorders. Some examples are recent advancements in cancer immunotherapy, Gilead Sciences, Inc. ’s contributions towards curing infectious disease, and the promise of Biogen, Inc. in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. We haven’t seen this advancement in multiple therapeutic areas in the recent past. Second is the demonstration that technology can translate into products and treatment for patients. There is a belief that this will continue to further opportunities for companies in terms of revenue. That leads to the third factor: capital access– a result of the first two factors.
What sets the trend in 2015 is that the convergence of these factors has created the opportunity for new business models. Biotech now really does believe that it can actually sell its own products. Although biotech started with the Genentech , Amgen and Gilead model of being able to sell products, small biotech now has the confidence that it is possible to take our candidates and translate them into products.
The biggest trend in 2015 is the range of hiring from technology all the way to commercial. Biotech is hiring in all disciplines: technology, product development and commercialization. In the biotech sector, it’s rare to see hiring of both scientists and salespeople during the same year.
2. Has that affected how many people you see looking to join Curis? Does that mean more top talent?
At Curis, we are a team of about 50 people. We see three to four times that number of candidates on a yearly basis, but that number is going down this year. We have to be competitive in order to land top talent. The top talent out there is looking as much at the future of the company and the potential of their technology as they are at the compensation package or the culture of the organization. For the top talent it’s no longer the question of is there a position, it’s the question of what does my future look like if I come into your organization.
3. Where are you looking to add staff?
Curis is an oncology-focused company and we have encouraging drug candidates at all stages of development. That includes mid-stage and early-stage clinical development. We are focusing on recruiting individuals who have a product development focus at all levels, including mid-level and VP level. And because we intend to commercialize our own drugs, I would say we also look at C-level hiring particularly in product development and potentially in building commercialization capabilities within Curis.
4. What do you think makes an applicant stand out?
First and foremost, we look for individuals that are bold and not afraid to go into new areas. The job of biotech is to chart uncharted territory, and we want the oncology drugs that will be disruptive. Part of what we’ve seen is new drugs coming from left field. The advent of immunotherapy was unheard of, but now that is predominantly what we focus on. Second, we want people who are data-driven. This is no longer an area where we have to rely on intuition and gut senses. Our decisions are made based on data and scientific hypotheses. At the scientific, development and commercial levels decisions all have to be based on data.
5. How important is it to find a cultural fit for your applicants?
Culturally we want people to be bold and data-driven. We want them to take their jobs seriously but not themselves. That’s one of the cultural aspects that I like about Curis. There’s a healthy balance of scientifically minded people who are confident, not afraid of trying new things, and yet data-driven and enjoying what they do. That’s the type of culture that we’re trying to put in place and that’s the type of candidates that we love to recruit to come into Curis.
As New Jersey Biotech Booms, Will It Overtake Other States As Prime Location?
A week after Celgene Corporation announced it is officially the mystery buyer of Merck & Co. ’s former 1 million-square-foot R&D site in Summit, N.J., it quickly became our most popular story last week.
The company announced last Wednesday that it is buying the space, ending months of speculation about what Big Pharma company might move into the neighborhood.
The Summit, N.J. site is zoned research/office. The New Jersey site would put operations closer to some of the major biotech and pharmaceutical hubs on the East Coast.
But, by far, the most tempting part of doing business in the state remains New Jersey’s operating tax credit, which allows companies to sell their net operating losses to the New Jersey Treasury. One of the state’s most recognizable biotechs, Celgene, used the program until it became profitable, which was key to it staying in the state, said local officials.
That has BioSpace is wondering if New Jersey is becoming the new face of biotech. What do you think? Can the Garden State compete with other longtime stalwarts like California or Boston?