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Center for the Business of Life Sciences

Bloomington Area Life Sciences Companies Visit Kelley Life Sciences Students

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Representatives from the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation, Baxter, Boston Scientific, Catalent, Cook Medical, Singota and Kelley Center for the Business of Life Sciences.

On Thursday March 31st, the Center for the Business of Life Sciences at the Kelley School of Business hosted the Spring Life Sciences Networking reception with the purpose of connecting students with internship and job opportunities in Bloomington. The networking event was attended by over 60 students, ranging from MBAs, Masters in Sciences, MSHSMs, and undergraduate business and science students.

Alyssa Woolard of Singota shares with Kelley Life Sciences students

We would like to thank our partners at the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation for assembling an impressive lineup of staple Bloomington companies in the life sciences industry who were eager to share numerous employment opportunities with IU students.

The students were joined by representatives from Baxter, Boston Scientific, Catalent, Cook Medical, and Singota Solutions, who each provided engaging presentations to introduce themselves and invite students to connect with them at their respective tables to discuss summer and post-graduation opportunities.

Arturo Lopez of Catalent speaks with students

This networking event, thus, aimed to encourage IU students from a variety of academic departments and programs to consider pursuing a career not only in the life sciences industry, but also in Bloomington, IN. Each of the speakers spoke highly of working and residing in Bloomington after graduation and emphasized the steady growth of jobs that would be available for students once they begin looking for full-time employment. With the majority of our guests being IU alum, the students could connect and resonate with their passion for the city, which resulted in a strong engagement with our guests at their respective tables.

On behalf of the Center for the Business of Life Sciences, we would like to thank the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation for inviting our five Bloomington companies to connect with students at this event, as well as each of the engaging presenters representing:

Kelley CBLS Director George Telthorst with Moriah Sowders, Duane Meyer and Adi Poulsen of Boston Scientific.

Baxter-Jennifer Kelley, Sr. Manger of Human Resources and George James. Director of Engineering & Maintenance

Jennifer Kelley answers questions from students and shares opportunities with Baxter.Boston Scientific- Moriah Sowders, Communications Manager; Adi Poulsen, Internship Director and Duane Meyer Sr. Manager of Manufacturing Engineering

Catalent- Alyson Norrick, Sr. Director of Operations; Kelly Callahan, Human Resources Manager; Gradley Jones, Sr. Human Resources Manager and Andrew Espejo General Manager.

Cook Medical- Kelsey Sloan, Sales Representative; Lisa Kale, Account Representative and Rich Florey, Human Resources Director

Singota- Alyssa Woolard, Associate Director of Business Development and Melanie Lewis, Sr. Human Resources Manager

Thank you to all of our remaining guests for attending the event and taking the time to connect with our students afterward.

Summary by Chris Anderson, MBA ’22

*At the Center for the Business of Life Sciences, we believe in the power of student talent. Undergraduate students and graduate students, Kelley School of Business students and people from across campus—we invite anyone passionate about a career in the life sciences and a desire for an understanding of how business and science interact to produce health-related outcomes to apply to be part of our program. After successful completion of your program, you will be granted the CBLS Certificate in the Business of Life Sciences. LEARN MORE

Impact of the New Administration: HHS, FDA, CMS, Et. Al.

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Summary by Chris Anderson, MBA Candidate, Class of 2022

On Friday February 18th, the Kelley School of Business’ Center for the Business of Life Sciences hosted the Indiana Life Sciences Collaboration Conference, with the theme being the Impact of the New Administration. Attendees heard from a pair of keynote speakers who provided their perspectives from the Executive and Legislative Branches, as well as two groups of panelists that discussed the outlook for providers and payers and the various products and services transforming healthcare.

Jonathan Blum, Principal Deputy Administrator & COO –  The Executive Branch Perspective

The Kelley Center for the Business of Life Sciences was honored to host Principal Deputy Administrator & COO Jonathan Blum (U.S Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) for opening Friday’s Life Sciences Collaboration Conference on the Impact of the New Administration on Healthcare by sharing how the CMS is different under the Biden administration versus his first stint ten years ago and elaborated on Build Back Better Legislation. The CMS’ scope, size, and mission have rapidly changed as a result of the pandemic, as they are now acting as a public health response organization and covering much more people with their growing Medicare population. To accommodate these transformations in healthcare, Mr. Blum identified four core pillars aimed to improve the coverage and quality of care in the United States:

  1. Have more people covered through Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance
  2. Ensure that CMS programs are actually reaching the targeted populations to make healthcare more equitable
  3. Challenge CMS partners and teams to build operations, policies, and programs from the perspective of the user rather than politicians.
  4. Be seen by the public as a vision and moral force in healthcare with best in-class operations that reduces costs and waste and increases quality of care.

Ultimately, Blum expressed a strong devotion to continue making CMS an excellent value-based purchasing system that can empower programs to creatively and intuitively design systems and processes that maximize the level of care for all populations in the United States.

Outlook for Providers and Payers Panel

Claire Boozer Cruse, Chief of Staff, Deloitte Center for Health Solutions & Equity Institute

Elizabeth Hall, Vice President, Public Policy and Issues Management, Anthem

Kim Irwin, Administrator, Indiana Public Health Association

Brian Tabor, President, Indiana Hospital Association

Moderator: Gregory Daniel, PhD, Global Head of Public Policy, Global Corporate Affairs, Eli Lilly & Company

The “Outlook for Providers and Payers” panel delved into how public health should be re-framed- Who is “Public Health”? The possible solution included welcoming a wider range of fields and backgrounds to address workforce shortages. In essence, it was asserted that companies should embrace their opportunity and responsibility to make choices that fundamentally affect all the health of the stakeholders that their organization engage with.

Regarding the issues of equity in coverage across all demographics, Greg Daniels identified that the current administration has a “much-needed opportunity to advance health equity through reforms that address social determinants of health, improve health outcomes, support community-based initiatives, and enable access to high quality healthcare, including innovative medicines, particularly for chronic conditions that disproportionally affect underserved populations.”

Claire Boozer Cruse stressed how “the drivers of health – or the non-medical social, environmental, and economic factors that impact a person’s health outcomes – must drive health care organization’s strategies in all areas going forward”.

Elizabeth Hall shared that at Anthem, “we are working to improve health outcomes by removing barriers to access, creating connections to resources, and driving health equity and are working to advance policy that supports this essential work.  It is an honor to share our perspective with this important forum created by the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.”

Though the opportunity for this administration for increased equity in healthcare coverage was agreed upon by the panelists, it was Brian Tabor who identified some of the significant challenges stakeholders face that would hinder this target, such as “a depleted health care workforce, uncertainty over coverage for millions of Americans on Medicaid, and a strained public health system.” In order to reduce the effects of these challenges, Tabor argued that it would require a “a deeper level of collaboration between the public and private sectors to succeed, and hospitals are committed to the work ahead.”

In addition to workforce issues, the panel deemed it imperative to address all social determinants of health from the policy level and beyond. Kim Irwin provided a poignant statement of the current climate of fighting for equity in healthcare coverage when she pointed to the fact that “our zip code is more important than our genetic code in determining how well and how long we live,” and that “in order to address the community conditions known to improve health and reduce inequities, we must take a Health in All Policies approach.” Irwin implored that in order for this to be accomplished, we must “address the legacy of racism in topics like voting rights and police violence and ensure that decisions and investments in transportation, housing, education, and jobs aren’t actively undermining public health.”

Thanks to Elizabeth Hall (Anthem), Brian Tabor (IN Hosp Assoc.) Kim Irwin (IN Public Health Assoc.) and Claire Boozer Cruse (Deloitte) for their rich and impactful discussion.

Larry Buschon, MD, U.S. House of Representatives, Indiana 8th District –  Legislative Branch Perspective

U.S. House Representative, 8th District Indiana, Dr. Larry Bucshon who is on the Health Subcommittee gave his legislative perspective to advance patient-centered health care reforms. Dr. Buschon believes that Congress spends too much time debating about how to pay for healthcare and not enough time discussing how to drive the costs of healthcare down. Finally, he spoke about the burdens frontline workers faced during the Covid-19 pandemic that brought to light a dire need for the nation to be ready to adequately supply them with necessary equipment to administer proper care as quickly as possible.

Products & Services Transforming Healthcare Panel Discussion

Michael Capaldi, Executive Director, Institute for Gene Therapies

Clayton Hall, Executive VP, Government Affairs, Medical Device Manufacturers Association

Rene Quashie, VP of Policy & Regulatory Affairs, Digital Health, Consumer Technology Association

Karyn Schwartz, VP of Policy & Research PhRMA

Moderator: Gretchen Gutman, VP of Public Policy, Cook Group

The panel broke down some of the costs associated with legislation and connected the dots between innovation, policymakers and how the aging population and workforce issues factor in.

Clayton Hall shared key dates to watch for in 2022 including the expiration of government funding and other extensions, State of the Union address, deadlines to enact new FDA user fees for drugs & medical products and the midterm elections. He also outlined “Top Priorities for Congress” – government funding, filling the SCOTUS seat, competition from China and reviving/revising Build Back Better, pandemic response (PREVENT Act in Senate) and FDA user fees in addition to managing ongoing supply chain and reimbursement issues.

Karyn Schwartz expanded on the current status of “Build Back Better”. She added that “misinformation and high-profile bad actors contribute to public focus”. Schwartz added that the industry is the number one funding source for biomedical R&D and warned of the dangers of government price setting proposals. Consumers in America are more impacted by drug costs than any other health care cost.  Schwartz outlined seven ways the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA VII) aimed at modernizing U.S. regulatory & drug development will impact the industry. She also touched on other issues such as the proposed CED policy by CMS and how it would affect access to Alzheimer’s treatments.

From a healthcare consumer technology standpoint, Rene Quashie shared how the CTA represents its constituents in five key areas- research, advocacy, technology & standards, industry collaboration and promotion. As an example of consumer technologies impact, Quashie compiled Medicare telehealth stats from 2020 and how congress responded with over 70 telehealth bills and COVID-19 telehealth waivers. He outlined arguments against making waivers permanent. Mr. Quashie concluded with other non-telehealth issues facing the FDA, CMS, ONC and the FTC.

One solution to reducing the costs of care, according to Michael Capaldi, was through the innovation of gene therapies, which “fundamentally transforms the way thousands of genetic diseases are treated.” By addressing the underlying cause of the disease, Capaldi asserted that gene therapies “offer the potential of lifelong benefits for patients who currently depend on frequent medications, surgeries, and comprehensive multidisciplinary care for disease management.” His Institute for Gene Therapies is bringing together “experts from across the healthcare ecosystem to advocate for a modernized policy framework that encourages innovations and promotes patient access to the treatments they need.” As one method to bring together businesses and government policymakers, each of the panelists engaged in a fruitful discussion with the students regarding the complications of healthcare costs and how the two entities are joining together to address this issue.

Thank you to Clayton Hall (MDMA), Karyn Schwartz (PhRMA), Rene Quashie (CTA) and Michael Capaldi (Institute for Gene Therapies) for sharing their perspectives.

We want to thank all of our participants who took the time to speak at the conference, as well as our Series sponsors- Anthem, LabCorp, Reckitt and Primary sponsors- Cook Medical, Deloitte, Lilly, Pearl Pathways and Taft for their support of this event!

* ABOUT

Kelley School’s Center for the Business of Life Sciences was started with the belief that life sciences companies are essential economic drivers for growth and employment. To ensure the success of the industry as a whole, however, requires a broad collaboration of science and business acumen. CBLS brings together students, faculty, life science companies, and other corporate partners.

Since 2006, the Center for the Business of Life Sciences has provided a forum for various players in healthcare and life sciences to consider, discuss, and debate key business strategy issues. In presenting the Indiana Life Sciences Collaboration Conference Series, CBLS brings together key players from industry, academia, government, and economic development communities to share ideas and expertise.

Events & More about the Indiana Life Sciences Collaboration Conference Series

Students in Fall Life Sciences Industry From Research to Patient Course Work on Healthcare Start-Up Project

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Summary by Chris Anderson, MBA Candidate 2022

Over the last seven weeks of the Fall 2021, the Master’s in Business Administration and Master’s in Health Administration students collaborated on a project for the Business of Life Sciences: Value Chain course. Teams consisted of six to seven members – two MBAs and the rest being either MHAs or Master’s students from the College of Arts and Sciences  – where each team was tasked with providing a strategic recommendation for OpalGenix.

OpalGenix is a healthcare technology startup based in Indianapolis led by licensed anesthesiologist and preoperative genomics researcher Senthil Sadhasivam, and highly experienced MedTech business executive Steve Plump. Together, they have over 15 years of preoperative opioid preoperative treatment clinical research and 40 years of MedTech and startup experience. OpalGenix has created a clinical decision support system algorithm called GPS-Opioid, an opioid risk prediction and decision support tool that aims to guide clinicians to personalize opioid selection, dosing, and prescribing, while maximizing pain relief. Its precision to predict patient risk factors from potential opioid prescriptions post-surgery offers a unique combination of minimizing opioid-related risks while maximizing surgical pain relief, reducing the annual cost of the opioid epidemic in the United States.

Teams were asked to provide OpalGenix with an optimal clinical path to pursue, considering the timing of the regulatory process, patent approval, and financial barriers in place, particularly in the pediatric tonsillectomy market. Not only so, but teams were encouraged to create a competitive analysis, provide a net value proposition to stakeholders, and develop a timeline to commercialize the product that was both reasonable and timely. The demand space for this market is very high, as the opioid epidemic costs the United States $180 billion each year, and there isn’t a clinical decision support system that is as comprehensive and precise as the one that OpalGenix has provided. With just seven weeks to present a deliverable that would underscore the strategic benefits/risks of their recommendations, construct robust financial analysis of the options, and firmly address the needs of consumers within this market, each team promptly began investigating the case by getting to work.

MBA, Masters in Healthcare Management and Graduate Science team

MBA, Masters in Healthcare Management and Graduate Science students  (from left, clockwise): Ray Martinez, Yongchan Lee,  Gabby Nenedjian, Brinkley Gary, Max Fruasto, Staphany Santana, Darien Pipken. . *Photo by Yongchan Lee

Soon after the project launch, my team of six quickly arose to a recommendation and quickly began working on the strategic summary to substantiate our position. We were confident that not only our decision would be most simple to execute, but also provide OpalGenix with a conservative but timely plan to reach the market with the highest return on investment. Nevertheless, we were faced with challenges in other areas. For instance, the team had little experience with constructing a convincing financial analysis, as none of us were finance majors or had a background in this area, even the MBAs. We also were unaware of many of the regulatory processes involved in getting FDA approval, working through clinical trials and patents, and commercializing a clinical product to market. However, we conducted as much research and investigation as we could to, ultimately learning that every successful team asks for help and tackles problems with determination and grit even when they are unsure how to initially solve them.

The presentation included 20 minutes of delivering our final recommendation to the OpalGenix team and three guest judges, as well as a 5-minute Q&A session to deeply investigate a few sections that solicited clarification or further elaboration. Our team felt very confident that we supplied ample amounts of information to defend our recommendation, and the judges provided us with a nice combination of positive and constructive feedback.

Senthilkumar Sadhasivam, MD, MPH, MBA Founder & Chief Medical Officer, OpalGenix

Steven Plump Chief Executive Officer, OpalGenix

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We greatly appreciate the interaction with IU students. The insight from a talented group of individuals both confirmed and challenged our strategy.”

All in all, our team learned how challenging it is for companies to make strategic recommendations pushing for growth with imperfect information. This is what makes competition such an exciting aspect of business, but there are many risks that come into play and are critical factors when making these decisions. We also were able to learn more about how complicated the regulatory process can be for new products and technologies waiting to hit the market. Nevertheless, my team is excited for the day that OpalGenix’s GPS-Opioid will be a tool that hospital clinicians can use to assess opioid prescription decisions that will not only minimize the post-surgical pain of patients, but also protect them from the adverse risk factors and side effects that contribute to a widespread epidemic in the United States. We were privileged to learn more about this great company and look forward to seeing how our recommendations will contribute to their eventually launch!

About the Kelley Life Sciences Courses:

As a Graduate or Undergraduate in the Certificate in the Business of Life Sciences program, students gain hands-on experience with life sciences companies and organizations while working with fellow students in interdisciplinary teams solving real problems.

Guest speakers are a vital component of classroom learning. We bring in a range of successful leaders in the life sciences industry. The courses feature a variety of guest speakers, most of whom are successful leaders in the life sciences industry in addition to a semester long project from either a life sciences start-up or established company.

Kelley MBA Alumni Return to Campus Representing Eli Lilly

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Left to Right: Bryan Smith MBA ’01; Stephen Schenk MBA & Academy PLUS Life Sciences ’21; Adam Phipps MBA & Life Sciences Academy ’09; PLUS Life Sciences ’21; Max Kim, MBA Candidate ’22 interned at Lilly

 

The Center for the Business of Life Sciences would like to thank Eli Lilly for sponsoring an information and networking reception so students prospective students could learn about the Certificate in the Business of Life Science as well as learn more about the industry and Eli Lilly specifically along with students current in the Kelley Life Sciences program.

Forty undergraduate and graduate students from business, healthcare management and the sciences were in attendance. Stephen Schenk, Associate Brand Manager – US Incretin Strategy; Brian Smith, Director – Health Strategy & External Innovation and Execution and Adam Phipps, US Government Payer Strategy Lead – Alzheimer’s Disease Development Unit shared experience in their former and current roles.  Stephen Schenk gave an overview which included the company’s history, product pipelines, community & DEI initiatives, employee development and information on internships. Max Kim, MBA candidate class of ’22 shared his experience this past summer interning for Eli Lilly.

Bryan Smith, Stephen Schenk, Max Kim and Adam Phipps answer questions from students about Eli Lilly.

 

Students also benefitted from hearing Adam, Bryan and Stephen’s path prior to coming to Kelley for their MBA, skills and lessons learned while in the program and philosophies on how they navigate their own personal career paths at Lilly. Following the presentation students had time to ask questions in small groups and meet one on one.

Adam Phipps of Eli Lilly networks with students.

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At the Center for the Business of Life Sciences, we believe in the power of student talent. Undergraduate students and graduate students, Kelley School of Business students and people from across campus—we invite anyone passionate about a career in the life sciences and a desire for an understanding of how business and science interact to produce health-related outcomes to apply to be part of our program. After successful completion of your program, you will be granted the CBLS Certificate in the Business of Life Sciences. Learn more- Kelley Certificate in the Business of Life Sciences

Don’t Rule Out A Career in the Life Sciences Industry

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Elena Rodriguez Rand, MBA Candidate ’22

Cardinal Health, Marketing Intern (Specialty Devices)

*Interview by Chris Anderson, MBA ’22

 

 

 

 

What project(s) did you work on?

I worked on a project called “Mini Genesis” – it was a project that had previously not worked out and they wanted to see if I could find the variables that would allow it to succeed.

Essentially, Kendall DL (cables and lead wires product used to connect patients to AEDs/ECGs/EKGs) has been getting reprocessed – picked up after a single use by hospitals, cleaned, checked over, and sold back – but can only be reprocessed 5 times before a product gets retired. Other companies (like Stryker) are also able to pick up this product, reprocess it themselves, and if they get the first turn, that product then becomes theirs (and they get all the reprocessing revenue for the next 4 turns).

I needed to find a way to increase Cardinal’s reprocessing options while also blocking product from competitors.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome, and what did you learn from it?

The biggest challenge I had was diving deep into the finances. $0.01 could make a significant difference – and a different difference if that came from R&D or labor costs. Having to put together a financial model laying out both a “Do Nothing” vs a “Do Something” scenario was a challenge coming in with no financial background.

How was your experience networking with different colleagues at your company?

It was much harder than I anticipated it being, but I also attribute a big piece of that to being virtual. People were willing to speak to me but because of more formalized call times, it didn’t allow for the same types of meaningful relationships to happen.

Has this experience changed your overall career goals? Did you identify any particular skills that you would like to develop as you return back for the second year of the MBA program?

It helped me identify that I didn’t want to cut out the entire industry of healthcare as an option. Coming back to my second year, it also helped me learn that I need to invest in finance and analytics courses in order to be successful at whatever I’m going to do.

Are there any other suggestions you would give to future students that are about to begin their summer internship?

Healthcare was my “hard no” going into recruiting. I would say not to rule anything out. At this point in recruiting, cast the widest net you can and see what sticks. Who do you like to speak with? Who is going to challenge you and make you think? Who is going to give you the best opportunity to show your creative problem-solving skills?

I would also say to look at the core competency of a company. Even if they bill themselves as a “sustainable company” ask what they are at their core.

Former Kelley Life Sciences Course Project Receives Funding

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Last fall nine teams of business and sciences students spent the semester as a part of their “Life Sciences Industry from Research to Patient” course developing a “reasonable best case” commercialization path for Kovina Therapeutics. They began by weighing the incidence and treatment alternatives of several different types of HPV infections and then recommended from a business perspective the order of opportunities the firm should pursue prior to committing valuable limited resources to further development. Then they made assumptions related to the commercialization steps to generate best, worst and “middle of the road” case scenarios. At the end of the course,  the students presented their findings and recommendations to a team of industry judges including Dr. Elliot Androphy, the founder of Kovina. A year later Kovina has received funding to help take it’s therapy to the next level!
Wednesday, October 20th 2021
By Wes Mills, Content Manager
Inside INdiana Business e-newsletter

 

Indianapolis-based Kovina Therapeutics says it recently closed on a $2 million seed round of financing led by Indy-based Elevate Ventures. The pre-clinical biotechnology company aims to discover a non-surigcal, medical treatment for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infections and cancers.

Elevate Ventures says it was joined by investors from BioCrossroads, IU Ventures, and other un-named individual members from the Indiana life science community.

Co-founders Dr. Elliot Androphy, Dr. Zhijian Lu and Dr. Samy Meroueh have been successful in producing novel compounds that selectively target and kill HPV infected cells.

“While the HPV vaccine effectively prevents new infections, it does not treat existing infections that can progress to malignancy,” said Androphy. “An estimated 630,000 women and men worldwide are diagnosed with HPV induced cancers annually and millions more are at risk for progression of existing HPV infections.”

Kovina has licensed the intellectual property from Indiana University.

The company says it will use the seed funding to complete the necessary preclinical testing, eventually advancing to human trials. HPV is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world and causes nearly all cervical cancers.

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About the Kelley Certificate in the Life Sciences Program

As a part of the Certificate in the Business of Life Sciences program students complete coursework and attend events about the industry.  Students gain plenty of hands-on experience with life sciences companies and organizations as they work with fellow students in interdisciplinary teams solving real problems. Guest speakers are a vital component of classroom learning. We bring in a range of successful leaders in the life sciences industry. The courses feature a variety of guest speakers, most of whom are successful leaders in the life sciences industry.

See the Kelley Center for the Business of Life Sciences website for more information.

Indiana Life Sciences Collaboration Conference: Cybersecurity in Healthcare and the Life Sciences

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MBA Summer Internship with Novartis

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Novartis Logo

Novartis Logo

Chris Anderson, MBA Candidate Class of 2022

Whether you are a student or a working professional, it is common to use the phrase “time is of the essence” to convey urgency with an assignment or project. During my summer internship at Novartis Gene Therapies, we coined the same term but with a few adjustments – “time is neurons” – to demonstrate the urgency we acted upon with all of our work. The mission, thus, is ultimately what should drive all decisions and job functions that support a high-performing and supportive culture.

Prior to pursuing my MBA, I was a graduate student at Indiana University’s Mental Health Counseling Program. Outside of my studies, I completed my clinical hours at a substance abuse treatment center, where the “why” behind my work was reinforced on a daily occurrence. I witnessed the 3-month journey of clients sharing their story at the initial pre-treatment screening, participating in our group and individual sessions, and making visible progress to experience long-term recovery and sobriety from substances that previously controlled their lives. They put in the work to show up every day, share their challenges and victories, attend sessions with a willingness to get better, and work through a 12-Step Program aimed at providing community and support they had never experienced before. Every day, I was reminded by the mission of our organization, and it led me to give my best effort and do my part to serve my clients by helping them walk through their journeys. Even with the mundane tasks such as filing papers and writing progress reports, I understood that everything I did would contribute to another client experiencing long-term sobriety for the first time in their life, as well as the tools needed to live in long-term recovery from their addiction.

SMN Protein Graphic by Novartis

SMN Protein Graphic Courtesy of Novartis

In similar vein, “time is neurons” consistently reinforced an attitude to always give my best by never losing sight of the why behind my work. Novartis Gene Therapies produces and provides a single drug Zolgensma to young children who suffer from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a progressive neuromuscular disease that is devastatingly fatal for infants. As time goes on, a baby’s chances of living a normal life exponentially decrease, as motor neurons quickly die as time passes. With the average lifespan for a child diagnosed with SMA being two years old, it is vital to quickly diagnose and provide treatment as soon as possible. Throughout the summer, I was tasked to explore the steps our Field Commercial Team takes in identifying which preborn babies may have the genetic mutation that causes SMA, but also making the case to healthcare providers, payors, and patients for them to view our product as a viable option.
My project that contributed to our mission to save baby’s lives was coordinating the design and execution of an leadership development and training intranet site for our US and Global Field Commercial Teams to build on their talents to advocate for SMA patents by presenting Zolgensma as a helpful treatment option. New information about SMA and Zolgensma comes out every day, so it is critical that our team continue to build on that knowledge, as well as develop skills that they find valuable for their position, giving much value to the training site. I served as the project manager for all activities related to the design, development, and implementation of this new site, frequently acting as a liaison between my managers as well as the 3rd party vendors we used to build the site.

Zolgensma, SMA logo by Novartis

Novartis SMA Treatment, Zolgensma

The biggest challenge in coordinating this three-month project was bringing the requests of my managers – capabilities, features, etc. – to life by communicating their desires to the vendor we used. What my managers had pictured in their head for the site to look like, they attempted to communicate that to me, to where I needed to deliver that message over to our website designers. It meant that I had to carefully listen and practice many of my counseling skills I acquired before my MBA pursuit, such as paraphrasing and restating. I also had to make sure the requests being made were within scope of this website by frequently reverting back to what the main purpose of the site is. While there were other challenges along the way, I made sure to always keep in mind how this work would contribute to saving the lives of children diagnosed with SMA, reinforcing the mantra “time is neurons.” At the end of my 10-week internship, I finally got to see the website fully launch so that hundreds of our Field Commercial team members from 30 different countries could use it to hone in on their skills to deliver Zolgensma to babies with SMA and save their lives.

*Chis Anderson is a 2nd year Kelley MBA student majoring in Supply Chain and Operations with a concentration in the life sciences industry. To learn more about the Student Business of Life Sciences program at Kelley visit the CBLS website.

Startups – at the Heart of Indiana Life Sciences

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By Diana Caldwell, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Amplified Sciences

Feature by Inside Indiana E-Newsletter

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I spent the first 15 years of my career at a great company that has over 100 years of legacy in delivering life-changing and life-saving pharmaceuticals to patients – Eli Lilly. For most of my career there, I honestly had no idea that there was a rich ecosystem of startups in Indiana.

Lilly, like many of the other large life science companies in our state, has an abundance of resources to develop and commercialize therapeutics and diagnostics. I am respectful and thankful for their role as the anchor of the Indiana life science ecosystem.  When I began to explore and attend industry events towards the end of my career at Lilly, I discovered that there was a network of industry associations, academic institutions, startup accelerators, economic development teams, and investors that were focused on birthing and supporting early-stage startups.

That was almost 15 years ago, and the state’s startup ecosystem has continued to grow and flourish. For example, we have more mature startup programs at all of our major academic institutions, several independent accelerators and incubators, a life science entrepreneur mentoring program called AXIS, and a growing number of investors, including Elevate Ventures that not only provide early-stage capital but are focused on building sustainable entrepreneurship culture for the state.

My in-vitro diagnostic startup, Amplified Sciences, has benefitted from many of these entrepreneurship-focused efforts and organizations. The Purdue Foundry was instrumental in supporting my co-founder, Jo Davisson, Ph.D., in launching the company in its earliest days, and created the Entrepreneur-in-Residence program that made it possible for me to meet Jo. We recently announced the close of our $1.8 million seed round. Raising money is never easy. Our journey was long and particularly challenging, as we raised funds during a pandemic. Although we had to venture way beyond Indiana to close the round, I am truly appreciative of the support of our Indiana investors: IU Ventures, Purdue Ventures, Elevate Ventures, Gravity Ventures and many angel investors including the IU Angels. Without their early belief in us, we would have had a much harder time closing the round coast to coast.

I believe that the entrepreneurial spirit found in startups is at the heart of a healthy life science ecosystem. Without new business models, truly game-changing novel technology, and the risk takers willing to start something out of nothing, our industry would stagnate and take too long to deliver solutions to patients. Innovation is at the heart of all we do in life sciences, and startups are critical fuel for that innovation. I encourage all of us involved in life sciences to do more to support startups.  It is a long and risky journey, but well worth the ride. Take some time to learn about and maybe even advise, mentor and invest in the startups of Indiana who are at the heart of our vibrant life science ecosystem.

Diana Caldwell is Co-Founder and CEO of Amplified Sciences, an in-vitro diagnostics start up focused on earlier detection of devastating disease. Diana is also a member of the Kelley Center for the Business of Life Sciences Industry Advisory Board.

 

Congratulations to CBLS Industry Advisory Board Member & CEO of Amplified Sciences Diana Caldwell

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Purdue Startup Closes Seed Funding Round

Thursday, August 26th 2021, 11:48 AM EDT

By Alex Brown, Assistant Managing Editor, the Inside Edge E-Newsletter

Grow Indiana Media Ventures, LLC
CEO Diana Caldwell and Rajesh Ummadisetti of Amplified Sciences prepare for an experiment of the company's diagnostics test. (Purdue Research Foundation Photo/Liz Mogan)
CEO Diana Caldwell and Rajesh Ummadisetti of Amplified Sciences prepare for an experiment of the company’s diagnostics test. (Purdue Research Foundation Photo/Liz Mogan)

WEST LAFAYETTE – A West Lafayette-based life sciences diagnostic startup has closed on a $1.8 million seed round of funding. Amplified Sciences, which is developing diagnostics designed to detect debilitating diseases more quickly, says the round was completed by an investment from Chicago-based OCA Ventures. Amplified Sciences Chief Executive Officer Diana Caldwell says the funding will help validate the company’s lead diagnostic test for pancreatic cancer and bring it closer to commercialization.

In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Caldwell said the company’s leadership team decided to increase the funding round’s maximum, particularly to bring on OCA as an investor.

“[OCA] brings way more than just capital. They’ve got a track record in life sciences, specifically a diagnostics portfolio and our partnership has been phenomenal, both through the discussions on consideration for them to come into the round, the due diligence and now joining us,” said Caldwell. “So, it really made sense. It was the right partner at the right time…enabling, I think, a lot of potential deliverables for us that are critical as we complete this technical and clinical validation of our lead assay.”

Amplified Sciences is based on technology invented by co-founder Dr. Jo Davisson, a professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Purdue University. The company is focused on earlier detection of some of the deadliest diseases.

“We know that with many of the most devastating diseases, whether it’s cancer or others, early detection is critical for good treatment and our lead assay is focused on earlier detection of pancreatic cancer,” Caldwell said. “So that’s where we’re focused first, but we’ve got a platform of chemistry that enables us to not just do this assay, but to hopefully do many more in the future that will all be focused on earlier detection.”

Caldwell says the funding will allow accelerate hiring efforts, including its recent hire of Dan Sheik as director of research and technology. Additionally, the funding will help the company with its clinical sample procurement as it moves toward toward clinical validation testing of the diagnostic technology.

Just over a year ago, Amplified Sciences won the Judge’s Choice and People’s Choice awards at the MedCity INVEST pitch competition. At the time, Caldwell said while the competition didn’t come with a monetary prize, coming out on top put the company in front of potential investors.

“Amplified Sciences appeared on our radar by winning the MedCity News diagnostics track pitch competition in 2020. After substantial diligence, we determined that the company’s novel technology was very promising and fit our investment theme in precision diagnostics,” Bob Saunders, general partner at OCA Ventures, said in a news release. “Of the 95-plus companies in our portfolio, 23 are in the health care sector. We believe Amplified Sciences complements our portfolio as it strives to detect pancreatic cancer sooner and help patients begin treatments earlier.”

Caldwell says the company hopes to reach commercialization of its pancreatic cancer diagnostic test by early 2023.

The seed funding round lasted more than a year, with additional investments from Purdue Ventures, Indiana University Ventures, the IU Angel Network, New York-based Golden Seeds, Houston Angel Network, Chemical Angel Network in California, and Gravity Ventures in Indianapolis.

The company is based in the Purdue Research Park and its diagnostic technology was developed at the College of Pharmacy at Purdue and licensed through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization.

About the Kelley Center for the Business of  Life Sciences Industry Advisory Board:

At CBLS, we are taking advantage of the wealth of real-world life sciences knowledge all around us through our Industry Advisory Board. The board directly advises the school through its meetings and other communications with the CBLS director.

This volunteer board is composed of executives and leaders working in life sciences companies willing to share their experiences across the broad life sciences value chain. Their input is vital as the Kelley School positions itself to become a leader in the business education of people involved with the life sciences. CBLS Industry Advisory Board Member List.

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