Stephen Farr and Jonathan Rigby, two members of Zogenix's founding team, talk to Fintan Walton about setting up the company and the novel, needle-free injection technology platform on which it is based. They discuss Zogenix's business model for becoming a speciality pharmaceutical company and outline their plan to drive their lead product to an NDA filing. Stephen and Jonathan provide an overview of the Intraject® technology and of the company's plan to form strategic partnerships in order to produce novel products and add value to existing therapies. Zogenix's plan to develop its own specialist sales force for the US market as well as its intention to seek a co-promotion partner for entrance into Europe are also covered.
Dr Stephen Farr has over 20 years experience in drug delivery science and drug/device product development. Prior to the founding of Zogenix, he served most recently as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer for Aradigm Corporation (NASDAQ: ARDM). There, he was head of Research and Development, a department of clinicians, scientists and engineers engaged in the design and development of drug/device systems for pulmonary administration and needle-free injection. Stephen was Scientific Director for Aradigm and Novo Nordisk's inhaled insulin programme from its inception to the start of Phase 3. In 2003, he played a key role in identifying and acquiring the Intraject® technology and became Technical Director and executive sponsor for the development of Intraject® sumatriptan. Stephen joined Aradigm in 1995 from the Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University, UK where he spent 10 years as a tenured professor. He is a registered pharmacist in the UK and obtained his PhD degree in Pharmaceutics from the University of Wales. Stephen is the author of over 170 scientific publications and patents, a fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Prior to joining the founding team of Zogenix, Jonathan co-led the management buyout, and associated venture financing, of the Intraject® assets from Aradigm (NASDAQ: ARDM) where he worked as Vice President Business Development. Jonathan joined Aradigm in 2002 and has over 16 years of experience working directly in the pharmaceutical/biotech and drug delivery industry. At Aradigm, Jonathan was responsible for the strategic acquisition of the Intraject® technology in 2003. Before joining Aradigm, Jonathan served as Head of Business Development and Head of UK Sales for Profile Therapeutics UK. Earlier in his career, Jonathan held various sales, marketing and managerial positions in cardiovascular and respiratory pharmaceuticals with Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck. Jonathan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences in the drug delivery sector and serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of the Association of Needle Free Injection Manufacturers (ANFIM). He earned his undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences with Honours from Sheffield University, UK. He also holds a first class advanced degree in Applied Biology and an MBA from Portsmouth University, UK.