PharmaTelevision - Roche Partnering: Shafique Virani on CNS Deals and Strategy

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Video title: Roche Partnering: Shafique Virani on CNS Deals and Strategy

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In this episode of PharmaTelevision News Review, Fintan Walton talks to Shafique Virani, Global Head of CNS Partnering, about the partnering strategy of Roche and key focus areas of CNS for deals. They discuss:

• How does Roche balance and differentiate between late stage vs Early stage?

• Approach to CNS from a functional domain perspective

• Partnering strategy and prioritisations

• Importance of deal with ReMynd for Roche

• Drivers and preferences for M&A

• Shafique Virani Perspective: Opportunities for CNS deals and future of Biotech

Full video transcripts are available with PharmaTelevision Premium Content. Click here to buy a subscription or sign up for a 14 day free trial.

Partnering strategy of Roche and key focus areas of CNS for deals

Fintan Walton:

Hello and welcome to PharmaTelevision News Review here at BioPharm America in Boston. On this show I have Shafique Virani, who is Global Head of CNS Partnering at Roche, welcome to the show.

Shafique Virani:

Thank you Fintan Walton, pleasure to be here.

Fintan Walton:

Shafique Virani, CNS is obviously your remit tell us about what your partnering strategy is for Roche? What sort of products you are looking for?

Shafique Virani:

Sure, so my group basically is responsible for the whole spectrum of CNS partnering and by that I mean we are interested in early stage collaborations especially in areas that are of key focus to us, and I will go into that in a minute, but also the more traditional product licensing and further to that we also look at companies that have fairly CNS centric portfolios and of course we are open to deal structures that encompass M&A for example as well, so it's across the whole spectrum of partnering.

Fintan Walton:

Right, so across the spectrum where within CNS are you specifically looking for deals?

Full video transcripts are available with PharmaTelevision Premium Content. Click here to buy a subscription or sign up for a 14 day free trial.

Fintan Walton

Dr Fintan Walton is the Founder and CEO of PharmaVentures . After completing his doctoral research on the genetics of cell proliferation at the University of Michigan(US)and Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland), Dr Walton gained broad commercial experience in biotechnology in management positions at Bass and Celltech plc (1982-1992).

Shafique Virani

Global Head

As Head of CNS Partnering, Shafique Virani leads Roche's search for external innovation in the Central Nervous System disease area. His team is responsible for driving forward the CNS deals that hold the most promise for patients and their careers coping with devastating diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and schizophrenia. Having been Director of Global Business Development for CNS in Nutley since 2006, Shafique has played a leading role in many CNS partnering evaluations, including platform technologies, research agreements, as well as product licensing and M&As. Shafique joined Roche Welwyn in 2004 and worked as Senior Medical Advisor for the hepatitis franchise, where he was recognised with several awards for his contribution to the business in the UK. His commercial career began in 2002 at PPD Development in Cambridge, UK, where he was a consultant for neuroscience development. Prior to that Shafique Virani's medical experience was in neurosurgery, which was gained from 1994 at Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, UK, and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA. He has a medical degree from the University of Nottingham Medical School, UK, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in England.

PharmaVentures

PharmaVentures is a corporate finance and transactions advisory firm that has served hundreds of clients worldwide in relation to their strategic deal making in the pharmaceutical, life science and healthcare sectors. Our key offerings include: Transactions / deal negotiations; Product / technology valuations; Deal term advice; Due diligence & expert reports; Strategy formulation; Alliance management; and Expert opinion for litigation/arbitration cases. PharmaVentures provides the global expertise to ensure our clients generate the highest possible return on investment from all their deal making activities. We have experience of all therapeutic areas and can offer advice on both product and technology commercialisation.

F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd

The F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd is a Swiss global health-care company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The company headquarters are located in Basel and the company has many sites around the world including: Nutley, NJ, Palo Alto, California, Pleasanton, Branchburg, Fishers, Indiana, Florence, South Carolina, Boulder, Colorado and Ponce, Puerto Rico in the US, Welwyn Garden City and Burgess Hill in the UK, Clarecastle in Ireland, Mannheim and Penzberg in Germany, and Shanghai in China. The company also owns the American biotechnology company Genentech, which is a wholly owned subsidiary, and the Japanese biotechnology company Chugai Pharmaceuticals.