Inhaling Success: An Interview with John Patton, CSO and Co-founder of Nektar Therapeutics.
February 2007
Inhaling Success: An Interview with John Patton, CSO and Co-founder of Nektar Therapeutics.
Interview with John Patton
Inhaling Success: An Interview with John Patton, CSO and Co-founder of Nektar Therapeutics.
Fintan Walton talks to John Patton, CSO and Co-founder of Nektar Therapeutics about the challenges he faced in setting up the firm and the company’s success to date. John describes how his research at Genentech on inhaled proteins prompted him to set up Nektar (then Inhale Therapeutic Systems), and discusses the resistance he faced from traditional players in the diabetes market when seeking partners.
Since its deals with GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer in 2004 - both for Nektar’s PEGylation technology - and its subsequent acquisition of Aerogen, the 1.3billion-dollar company has gone from strength to strength. John outlines the business strategy for Nektar going forward and also discusses the company’s product pipeline.
About John Patton
John S. Patton is a world-renowned expert in the delivery of peptides and proteins. Before co-founding Inhale Therapeutic Systems, he led the drug delivery group at Genentech, where he demonstrated the feasibility of systemic delivery of large molecules through the lungs.
Prior to joining Genentech, Dr Patton was a tenured professor at the University of Georgia. He has published a wide range of scientific articles and has presented his work in national and international arenas. Dr Patton received his PhD in biology from the University of California, San Diego, and held post-doctoral positions in biomedicine at Harvard Medical School and the University of Lund in Sweden.
About Nektar Therapeutics
Nektar is a biopharmaceutical company with a different approach to medicine. The company develops drugs that are easier to take, safer to use, longer lasting and more effective. This is achieved by looking closely at existing therapies and leveraging the company’s knowledge and extensive development expertise to evaluate how it can impact more effectively patients’ lives.
Nektar’s development programmes focus on products that fill unmet needs in diabetes, anti-infectives and, eventually, other areas.
The company is active in collaboration with partners who recognise the value Nektar can bring to product development. By sharing its assets and intellectual resources, the company increases the therapeutic value of proven drugs and creates new products that redefine what medicines are capable of doing.
