Reimagining the Board of Director Construct in Life Sciences Companies

June 15th - 11am-12pm EST

Join Steve Hochberg of Caliber Associates on June 15th for an interactive webinar supported by Hunt Scanlon Media. The session will focus on a discussion of current trends in the construct of Life Science Boards: Achieving Functional Diversity. We will examine current Board structure and opportunities to expand and attract value added expertise in key functional areas.

This a great opportunity to hear first-hand from some key leaders in the Biopharmaceutical industry that have been actively engaged on several Boards, and have led both public and private companies.

We will be joined by David Kabakoff, Ph.D., Executive Partner at Sofinnova Investments, Bill Newell, Chief Executive Officer of Sutro Biopharma, and Rebecca Sunshine, Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Coherus Biosciences.

Topics to be discussed include:

• Exploring the merit of adding functional expertise currently underrepresented on Life Science Boards

• Timing and alignment of functional expertise with corporate objectives

• Key attributes to assess in the selection of Board members

There will be an opportunity for audience members to ask their questions to panel members. Join the conversation.

Speakers

Steve started Caliber Associates in 1988 and is recognized as one of the leading recruiters in the Life Science sector. Steve’s focus has been on recruiting CEOs, Board members, C-level and strategic teams for emerging Life Science companies and global biopharmaceutical companies. Steve has assembled a small team of highly experienced, results driven search professionals. Collectively they have contributed to the growth of more than 150 leading companies representing a track record of more than 700 searches completed.

Prior to his search career, Steve held strategic human resources roles with Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, FMC Corporation and Shell Oil Company. Steve has an M.S. in Organizational Development from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. from Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

David Kabakoff is a medicinal chemist and drug manufacturing expert, with over 30 years of experience in leading technology and product development programs in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and drug delivery fields. He is currently the Chairman of NextCure (NXTC), and director of Antiva, Rainier and Neurana. Previously he served as the Chairman of Trius and Amplimmune, and as a director of InterMune and Principia.

Prior to joining Sofinnova in 2007, David co-founded Salmedix, a developer of cancer drug treatments, and served as the company’s Chairman and chief executive officer until its acquisition of Salmedix by Cephalon. David also held the positions of executive vice president of Dura, a specialty pharmaceutical and pulmonary drug delivery company, and president and chief executive officer of Spiros Development. Earlier, David was chief executive officer of Corvas International and held senior executive positions with Hybritech.

William J. Newell has served as Sutro Biopharma’s chief executive officer and a member of the firm’s Board of Directors since January 2009. Previously, he served as the president of Aerovance, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on respiratory diseases, from 2006 to 2007. Mr. Newell has also served as the chief business officer and senior vice president at QLT Inc., in several senior management positions at Axys Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and has experience as a corporate lawyer. He currently serves on the boards of directors of a private biotechnology company, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s Health Section and Emerging Company Section and the California Life Sciences Association, where he also serves as a member of the executive committee.

Rebecca Sunshine has over 30 years of experience in the biotechnology industry. She joined Coherus in 2014 as vice president, human resources. Ms. Sunshine was promoted to senior vice president and then executive vice president, human resources. Prior to joining Coherus, she was a human resources consultant for small, growing public and private biotechnology companies for 7 years. She left Connetics after 12 years, holding her last position as senior vice president, human resources and organizational dynamics. She also previously held positions in human resources and research administration at COR Therapeutics, Genelabs, Inc., and Genentech. She also has hospital administration experience from Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center, Upjohn Healthcare Services and Stanford Hospital.