Piramed Pharma - The Benefit of Focus
October 2007
Piramed Pharma - The Benefit of Focus
Interview with Khatereh Ahmadi
Piramed Pharma - The Benefit of Focus
In this exclusive interview, Fintan Walton talks to Khatereh Ahmadi, Business Development Director at the UK biotech Piramed Pharma, about the company’s formation following a collaboration between Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical (now Astellas Pharma), Cancer Research UK, the Institute of Cancer Research and the Ludwig Institute. Khatereh discusses the IP in PI 3-kinases (phosphoinositide 3-kinases) that Piramed gained from that collaboration, and goes on to detail the nature and extent of the company’s collaboration with Genentech. She also outlines the company’s strategy going forward and the challenges faced by early-stage biotechs such as Piramed.
About Khatereh Ahmadi
Khatereh was a post-doctoral scientist in the laboratory of Mike Waterfield and subsequently branch Scientific Programme Manager at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University College, London. In the latter capacity, Khatereh managed a 7-year collaboration between the Institute and a major pharmaceutical company which subsequently licensed IP to Piramed, and she played a significant role in setting up the company with the founders. She managed the PI 3-kinase drug discovery project within Piramed until December 2004, after which she took on a full-time role in Business Development with responsibility for licensing, commercial contracts and IP management. Khatereh received her higher education at King’s College, London where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology and a PhD in Immunology following an interim period in scientific publishing.
About Piramed Pharma
Piramed is a young biotech discovering and developing new medicines primarily for the treatment of cancer and immune inflammatory disorders such as arthritis and asthma. The company was founded in 2003 by Professors Mike Waterfield FRS, Peter Parker FRS and Paul Workman, and has strong IP in the use of highly selective drugs that inhibit different isoforms of PI 3-kinase, enzymes that are increasingly recognised as key players in a wide variety of disease processes.
