OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. has appointed Sunil Patel to the new position of
senior vice president of corporate development. OncoMed is a clinical-stage company that develops therapeutics targeting cancer stem cells.
Patel joins from BiPar Sciences, which was
acquired by Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE:SNY) in April. As BiPar's VP of corporate development, Patel played a lead role in negotiating and executing the sale. He's also held senior corp dev and strategy roles at Allos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALTH), Connetics Corp., Abgenix and Gilead Sciences Inc. (NADAQ:GILD).
OncoMed hasn't been busy on the deal front. It landed a key
R&D partnership with GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE:GSK) in December 2007, with the potential to reportedly deliver OncoMed up to $1.4 billion in milestone payments and double-digit royalties in the future. Since then, OncoMed has focused on further filling its wallet, raising $93 million in venture capital in November and another $15 million a month later. Its venture backers include Nomura Phase4 Ventures, US Venture Partners, Delphi Ventures and De Novo Ventures.
Considering OncoMed has no marketable products and a handful of drugs in development, pursuing additional alliances with strategic partners like GSK may be high on Patel's agenda. In that regard, Patel's deep network of industry contacts, was surely a big part of the attraction.
- Suzanne Stevens
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