Founded in 2002, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals is dedicated to making a meaningful impact in the lives of those suffering from rare diseases. With exceptional patient focus, we are committed to developing a robust pipeline of cutting-edge, best-in-class medicines for rare diseases. We are focused on our efforts to broaden and diversify our product portfolio through acquisitions of both early and late-stage products or companies or technology platforms in the rare disease space.

 

To support us in these efforts, Catalyst is seeking a highly talented, experienced Alliance Management/Business Development & Portfolio Management executive.  This position will report to the Chief Strategy Officer and will be tasked with executing on important corporate strategic objectives for Catalyst. Working directly with the entire Senior Management team, this role plays an integral part in the new business development and current alliance management activities and in our focused efforts around portfolio expansion.  This position sources opportunities and builds and leads deal and diligence teams to evaluate opportunities and negotiate agreements to access promising therapeutic candidates and technologies in the Rare Disease space. In addition, the role will be considered the project lead for all due diligence activities for any such opportunities. 

Responsibilities:

·        Closely collaborating with Senior Management to define areas of interest and to develop and execute the partnering strategy for those areas.

·        Is point person for all alliance management activities for the company with respect to Catalyst’s relationship and communication with Licensors, Licensees, and Sublicensees and other future alliances.

·        Identifies, evaluates, and performs initial business analysis for all potential licensing/acquisition activities related to new business opportunities, products, markets, and technologies for the company;

·        Performs economic analyses and risk-analyses of new opportunities in order to facilitate executive management review and decision-making;

·        Conducts market assessments, asset valuations, and intellectual property analyses of potential target opportunities;

·        Leads and/or supports contract negotiations with external parties with regard to licenses, acquisitions, and partnerships;

·        Collaborates with the legal department to prepare term sheets, non-disclosure agreements, and contracts with regard to external deals;

·        Interface with other functions/departments for input on potential opportunities and on business impacts.

·        Preparing in-depth opportunity landscapes, attending scientific and partnering conferences, and networking with biotechs, venture capitalists, life sciences incubators and academia

·        Provides thought leadership on current market and technology trends and identifies trendsetting ideas by researching industry and related events, publications, and announcements;

·        Deliver analytical insights to support strategy, investment decisions, and prioritization of product portfolio, spanning Research, Development, Technical Operations, and Commercial

·        Responsible for leading the development and implementation of portfolio metrics and quantitative / qualitative methodologies to reflect portfolio disposition

·        Responsible for portfolio data quality to ensure precise portfolio reporting and drive single source of truth

·        Define key performance indicators and facilitate portfolio reviews and strategic planning meetings in collaboration with the senior management team

·        Develop models for near- and long-term portfolio spend to enable in-licensing / partnering decision making and maximizing portfolio value

·        Prepares and delivers presentations to both internal and external partners relative to business development strategies and activities including business development activity reports and presents to executive management.

 

Qualifications and Strongly Preferred Skill Requirements: 

 

Education / Experience:

·        Advanced degree in life sciences, medicine or data science, i.e. a PhD, MBA, JD, or equivalent combination of scientific and business education/experience is helpful, such as strategy consulting experience

·        Extensive experience in the Pharmaceutical/Biotech Industry

·        Previous experience with M&A management and/or product licensing and/or portfolio/alliance management within the biotech/pharmaceutical sector.

·        Energetic, results-driven self-starter with a strong executive presence, collaborative mindset, and ability to think strategically and analytically

·        Proven ability to build and lead teams, drive business decisions, and manage multiple projects effectively in a fast-paced environment

·        Experience in creating financial models for potential Business Development opportunities.

·        Demonstrated understanding of drug/technology/diagnostic discovery, development and commercialization processes with the ability to effectively collaborate with R&D and Commercial leadership

·        Possesses a verifiable reputation of integrity, resilience, fairness, collegiality and passion for supporting difficult and complex, data-driven decisions

·        Demonstrated ability to establish working relationships with key opinion leaders and other relevant external influencers to assist in the evaluation of potential opportunities is required;

·        Must possess the demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and effectively with all internal, external partners and stakeholders.

·        Should have global experience in Partnerships and Business Development or Extensive experience managing alliances and negotiating licensing and collaboration agreements required.  

·        Good business instincts with fluency in business analytics and valuation methodologies

·        Superb oral and written communication, interpersonal, influencing and negotiation skills

·        Skillful presenter of scientific and business information to executives

·        Comfortable managing all aspects of business development in a pharma environment.

·        Outstanding verbal, written, multi-tasking and presentation skills required.

·        Sustained high performance in current and past positions.