Reinventing Drug Discovery, from Retrospective to Perspectives

Dr. Claude Bertrand is graduated in pharmacy (Pharm.D.) from Strasbourg University, France, and has obtained his PhD in Strasbourg with research in the fields of immuno- pharmacology and neurogenic inflammation. After a 2-year post-doctoral appointment at University of California, San Francisco, Claude joined the allergy and asthma unit at Ciba- Geigy (later Novartis) in Basel. In 1996, he moved to the Inflammatory disease Unit at Roche Bioscience in Palo Alto, California where he became head of the in vivo pharmacology group and was responsible for supporting projects in rhumatology and respiratory diseases.
In 1999, he was recruited as Director of Biology for Inflammation, GI and Pain at Parke- Davies, which later became part of Pfizer where he was heading Drug Discovery. In 2004, Dr. Bertrand joined AstraZeneca as Vice-President Discovery for Respiratory & Inflammation Research at Alderley Park, UK and in 2005 was appointed Global Senior Vice President for Respiratory & Inflammation Research Area overseeing R&D activities at three sites in the UK and Sweden. In 2009, Dr. Bertrand joined Ipsen, France, as Executive Vice-President, Chief Scientific Officer and was since June 2011, Executive Vice-President for Research & Development, Chief Scientific Officer with a focus on Oncology, Neurology and Endocrinology. In March 2017, Claude was appointed General Director R&D, Chief Scientific Officer at Servier and recently promoted to EVP R&D. As such, he joined the EXCOM on November 1st, 2018.
Claude seats at the Board of Directors of Eclosion2, MAAT Pharma and he is also part of the Scientific Advisory Board of the “Institut du Médicament de Strasbourg”. He joined the “Académie Nationale de Pharmacie” as National Correspondent Member on September 30th 2019.
He was the President of ARIIS from 2011 to 2016.
Since Mai 2021, Dr. Claude BERTRAND is President of “Le Grand College des Grandes Entreprises and ETI”, member of the Board and executive Committee at MEDICEN. Claude has published more than 70 papers in peer-reviewed journals, has authored 20 chapters and has presented more than 100 communications at scientific meetings. Since 1996, he has been a visiting lecturer for Ph.D. student programs at Universities in London, Strasbourg, Nancy, Rennes, Orleans and Paris.

Harren Jhoti co-founded Astex in 1999 and was Chief Scientific Officer until November 2007 when he was appointed Chief Executive Officer. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Cancer Research and Drug Discovery in the King’s New Year Honours in 2023. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2018, the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2016, and of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2015. In January 2018 he was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA). He received the Prous Institute-Overton and Meyer Award for New Technologies in Drug Discovery from the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry in 2012 and was also named by the Royal Society of Chemistry as “Chemistry World Entrepreneur of the Year” for 2007. In September 2023, Dr. Jhoti won Business Person of the Year at the 21st annual Asian Achievers Awards.
He has published widely including in leading journals such as Nature and Science, and has also been featured in TIME magazine after being named by the World Economic Forum a Technology Pioneer in 2005. He has served on the board of the BIA, the UK BioIndustry Association and currently consults for life science venture capital firms. Before founding Astex in 1999, he was head of Structural Biology and Bioinformatics at GlaxoWellcome in the United Kingdom (1991-1999). Prior to Glaxo, Dr. Jhoti was a post-doctoral scientist at Oxford University. He received a B.Sc. (Hons) in Biochemistry in 1985 and a Ph.D. in Protein Crystallography from the University of London in 1989.

Frank Laukien is Chairman, President and CEO of Bruker Corporation (Nasdaq: BRKR; www.bruker.com). He is an innovation-focused second- generation biotech entrepreneur, who took Bruker public on the Nasdaq in August 2000, and has dramatically grown the company over 25+ years.
Since 2022, Frank Laukien is founder and executive chairman of Gauss Fusion (www.gauss-fusion.com), a European cleantech fusion venture.
Dr. Laukien is a Visiting Scholar in the Harvard Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology and in the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative (www.chemistry.harvard.edu/people/frank-laukien-0).
Frank is co-founder of the Galileo Project together with Professor Avi Loeb (projects.iq.harvard.edu/galileo/home). He also is co-founder and chairman of Copernicus Space Corporation (www.copernicus.space), a next-generation space exploration company focused on finding Life in our solar system, and eventually spreading terrestrial life in our galaxy.
Frank served on the Dean’s Advisory Committee of the MIT School of Science for many years until 2014, and presently serves on the Visiting Committee for the MIT Department of Chemistry.
Frank holds a Bachelor of Science in physics from MIT (1984), and a Ph.D. in chemical physics from Harvard University (1988).
Dr. Laukien is the author of two books:
- Active Biological Evolution (2022, bestseller - multiple categories)
- Origins & Evolution (available now, official launch in 2024)
Dr. Laukien is co-founder and former co-chair of the AACR Cancer Evolution Scientific Working Group (www.aacr.org/professionals/membership/scientific-working- groups/cancer-evolution-working-group/). He was a member of the Columbia University-hosted The Oncology Think Tank (TOTT), and he serves on Scientific Advisory Boards of the Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute’s Center of Excellence for Evolutionary Therapy, and of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Evolution.
In 2023, Frank was elected a trustee of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
In 2017, Dr. Laukien was elected a Senator of acatech, the German Academy of Natural & Technical Sciences.
Frank Laukien serves on the board of directors of the Analytical, Life Science and Diagnostic Association (ALDA), and was previously the Chairman of the ALDA industry association.
Dr. Laukien serves on several Scientific/Strategic Advisory Boards (SABs):
- Australian National Phenome Center (ANPC) – Perth, WA
- Berlin-Brandenburg Virchow 2.0 Innovation Cluster for Cell-based Medicine – Berlin, Germany
- Metabolomics company Sapient Bio – La Jolla, CA
- Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute’s Center of Excellence for Evolutionary Therapy, Tampa, FL
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Evolution – Boston, MA
- Board observer and science & technology committee of Mercy Bioanalytics – Natick, MA
Dr. Laukien has numerous publications and patents.
He is an Angel investor in two start-up companies in biotherapeutics and space exploration.
Frank was born and raised in Germany. In 1979, he was Valedictorian of Fanny-Leicht-Gymnasium (High School in Stuttgart, Germany with the best Abitur (high school diploma) GPA in prior school history. In 1980, Frank completed the German federal defense forces (Bundeswehr) paratrooper junior officers’ course with the highest score, as a draftee. In 1980, he came to the United States as a physics freshman at MIT. Frank has lived in New England ever since, became a US citizen in 2006, and a resident of New Hampshire in 2020.
Frank is a dedicated, proud father and husband. He enjoys hiking, swimming, skiing, tennis, and writing. Frank is passionate about contributing to major advancements in science and medicine, and about entrepreneurial ventures that innovate at scientific or medical inflection points in cancer, infectious disease and neurodegeneration. Over a long career, Frank has done well financially as a focused entrepreneur, but his focus remains on entrepreneurialism and science philanthropy, and he prefers a modest, low-key lifestyle with a life-long goal of making a positive difference and meaningful contribution.

Falko Busse is President of the Bruker BioSpin Group, and as such an Executive Officer of Bruker Corporation (Nasdaq: BRKR; www.bruker.com). He is a transformative leader in the life-science domain with a proven track record in reshaping established businesses, as well as growing new paradigm changing business concepts.
In 2018, Falko took the leadership role for Bruker BioSpin, the global leader in magnetic resonance-based products. He successfully drives Bruker BioSpin to provide comprehensive analytical solutions including automation and data management, serving an increasing portfolio of applications. Thereby, Bruker BioSpin enables science and industry developers to find answers to the vital questions facing our society.
Before Falko joined Bruker in 2015, he created the Radiology Solutions organization within Philips Healthcare. The entrepreneurial team designed and implemented solutions focusing on clinical decision making, practice improvement and quality metrics in a healthcare environment that transitions from volume to value of care.
Prior to leading Radiology Solutions, Falko established a Therapy business within Philips, with a focus on completely new image-guided therapeutic paradigms especially in Oncology.
In previous functions Falko served as the Chief Technology Officer of the Philips’ MRI business, as well as the Vice President for Medical Imaging Research.
Falko holds a Master of Science in physics (1991), and a Ph.D. in solid state physics from the University of Bonn, Germany (1994).
Falko received a Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and a PhD scholarship from the Konrad- Adenauer-Stiftung.

Dr. Paul Stoffels is a visionary leader who inspires and drives transformational innovation to bring years of life and quality of life to millions of people around the world.
As Chief Executive Officer (Acting via Stoffels IMC BV) and Chairman of biopharmaceutical company Galapagos, his mission is to help people live longer and better lives, focusing on adding years of life and quality of life.
Previously, Paul was Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer of Johnson & Johnson where he led teams across the organization to set the company-wide innovation agenda, discovering and developing transformational healthcare solutions.
Prior to that, he was Worldwide Chairman of Pharmaceuticals for Johnson & Johnson, where he significantly rejuvenated the product pipeline and implemented a transformational R&D operating model, resulting in the global launch of 25 innovative medicines, including 10 in oncology. Paul joined Johnson & Johnson in 2002, with the acquisition of Virco and Tibotec, where he was respectively CEO and Chairman and led the development of several breakthrough products for the treatment of HIV. Paul was a member of the Board of Directors of Galapagos NV from its incorporation until 2002. He is currently a member of the Supervisory Board of Philips Healthcare in the Netherlands.

Cheryl Arrowsmith is a Senior Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, and the Chief Scientist of the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the structural and chemical biology of chromatin and epigenetic regulatory factors especially as relates to cancer and drug discovery. In partnership with major pharmaceutical companies, she leads the SGC’s international open science program that is developing and distributing unencumbered Chemical Probes that support the discovery of new medicines. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto and carried out postdoctoral research at Stanford University, and was co-founder of Affinium Pharmaceuticals, which developed a new medicine for multidrug resistant bacteria. She has published over 300 research articles, and was recognized by Clarivate Analytics as being among the worlds top 1% of highly cited scientists in 2018 and 2019. She was elected a AAAS Fellow (2015), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2020).

Dr. Flocco is Vice President, Global Head of Mechanistic and Structural Biology at AstraZeneca. Maria has 25 years of pharmaceutical industry and drug discovery experience. Previous to joining AstraZeneca, she held various positions of increasing responsibility in Pfizer. She was Senior Director and Head of External R&D Innovation Europe, Sr Dir and Head of Internal Medicine Chemistry, Sr Dir and Head of Lead Discovery, and Director and Head of Structural Biology and Biophysics. Before joining Pfizer, Maria was Head of Structural Chemistry at Pharmacia.
Prior to her career in the pharmaceutical industry, Maria was a lecturer at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, and a researcher at the Uppsala Biomedical Centre, Sweden. Maria received a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the City University of New York, and postdoctoral training in X-ray crystallography at the Fox Chase Cancer Centre, Philadelphia, and the Uppsala Biomedical Centre.
Maria is currently a member of the Structural Biology Advisory Panel of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, Oxford. During her career, she has been a member of the MRC Molecular and Cellular Medicine Board, the SAB of the Chemical Biology Institute of Imperial College London, the SAB of INSTRUCT EU, and the SAB of INSERM Transfert Initiative, a seed funding body from INSERM in France. She is a co-founder and co-organiser of the Next Generation Biophysics Symposium, Cambridge UK.
Maria has a track record of successfully embracing innovative approaches and expanding capabilities that make an impact on drug discovery.

Dr Hallett joined Exscientia in 2020 with more than 20-years experience in drug discovery and alliance management. He is currently Chief Executive Officer (interim) & Chief Scientific Officer.
Prior to joining Exscientia, Dr Hallett was Executive Vice President at Evotec, where he held a number of positions including EVP of Alliance Management and Discovery Chemistry. At Evotec, he created and led the Alliance Management function, responsible for their strategic collaborations and human iPSC-based drug discovery efforts. Before Evotec, Dr Hallett trained as a medicinal chemist at Merck & Co. progressing to Research Fellow and leading teams who delivered preclinical candidates into Merck’s psychiatry portfolio.

Alessio Ciulli studied chemistry in Florence, Italy, and obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK, in 2006. After postdoctoral research in Cambridge and at Yale University, USA, he returned to Cambridge in 2009 to start his independent laboratory. In 2013, he moved to the University of Dundee, UK, where he was promoted to full professor in 2016. He has received numerous prizes and awards, including most recently the Prous Institute – Overton and Meyer Award for New Technologies in Drug Discovery. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He is the scientific founder of Amphista therapeutics, a targeted protein degradation company spin out of his laboratory, and the founder and director of Dundee’s new Centre for Targeted Protein Degradation which opened in January 2023.

Robert A. Copeland, Ph.D. founded Accent Therapeutics, Inc. in September 2017 and serves as its President and Chief Scientific Officer. He is also President of the independent consulting firm, Ki Consultant, LLC. He was formerly President of Research and Chief Scientific Officer of Epizyme, Inc. and before that, Vice President of Cancer Biology, Oncology Center of Excellence in Drug Discovery, GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Copeland serves on a number of advisory boards within industry, academia, professional societies and professional journals. He received his B.S. in chemistry from Seton Hall University, his doctorate in chemistry from Princeton University and did postdoctoral studies as the Chaim Weizmann Fellow at the California Institute of Technology. His research interest is in elucidating the determinants of drug recognition by their biological targets and the use of this information in the discovery and design of new medicines. He has contributed to drug discovery and development efforts leading to 19 investigational new drugs entering human clinical trials. These include the cancer drugs Tazverik™ (tazemetostat), Tafinlar™ (dabrafenib) and Mekinist™ (trametinib), the anemia drug Jesduvroq™ (daprodustat) and the antibiotic Altabax™ (retapamulin). Dr. Copeland has contributed more than 200 publications to the scientific literature, holds 14 issued U.S. patents and has authored six books in the areas of protein science and enzymology. In 2016 he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and in 2020 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Dr. Crews is the John C. Malone Professor of MCDB and professor of Chemistry and Pharmacology at Yale University. He graduated from the U. Virginia with a B.A. in Chemistry and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Biochemistry. On the faculty at Yale since 1995, his laboratory has developed the use of small molecules to control intracellular protein levels. In 2003, he co-founded Proteolix, Inc., whose proteasome inhibitor, Kyprolis™ received FDA approval for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Dr. Crews’ lab is also credited with founding the field of ‘Targeted Protein Degradation’ drug development technology, i.e., PROTACs, which has the potential to target currently ‘undruggable’ disease causing proteins. In 2013, Dr. Crews launched the New Haven-based biotech venture, Arvinas, Inc., which is testing the first PROTAC-based drugs in clinical trials for prostate and breast cancer. Since then he had founded two additional biopharmas, Halda Therapeutics and Siduma Therapeutics. Dr. Crews has received numerous awards and honors, including the Ehrlich Award for Medicinal Chemistry (2014), a NIH R35 Outstanding Investigator Award (2015), the AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research (2017), the Khorana Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry (2018), the Pierre Fabre Award for Therapeutic Innovation (2018), the Pharmacia-ASPET Award for Experimental Therapeutics (2019), the Heinrich Wieland Prize (2020), the Scheele Prize (2021), an honorary doctoral degree from the Technische Universität Dortmund, Germany (doctor rerum naturalium honoris causa) (2021), the Connecticut Medal of Technology (2022), the inaugural Bristol Myers Squibb Award in Enzyme Chemistry (2023) and the Gabbay Prize (2023).

Erin Duffy is the Chief of Research & Development at CARB-X. CARB-X is a global biopharmaceutical accelerator for the discovery and early development of products to prevent, diagnose and treat bacterial infections. Most of her professional growth was with Melinta Therapeutics (founded as Rib-X Pharmaceuticals) where over 17 years she became EVP, Chief Scientific Officer and R&D site head. Prior to Melinta, Erin led a structure-based design team at Achillion Pharmaceuticals and was a research scientist at Pfizer Central Research. Erin’s formal training was at Yale University, where she completed a PhD in physical-organic chemistry and an HHMI postdoctoral fellowship in computational structural biology.

Tobias Schmelzle earned an MSc from ETH Zurich, a PhD from the Biozentrum at University of Basel (TOR signaling, advisor Mike Hall) and completed his postdoctoral studies on 3D breast cancer models at Harvard Medical School (advisor Joan Brugge).
Having started in Novartis Biomedical Research Oncology in 2007 in the Target Identification and Validation (TIDVal) group, Tobias worked on several early programs and co-lead the global TIDVal group, which completed large-scale functional genomics campaigns, such as project DRIVE. Prior to embarking on his current role in 2021, Tobias was also a Drug Discovery Biology Group Leader serving on the local Oncology Leadership Team and a Project Team Leader of the YAP/TEAD LMW program (clinical development candidate NVP-IAG933). At current, Tobias is the Head of Oncology Drug Discovery in Basel and collaborates closely with the Oncology Radioligand Therapy group, while as a member of the global Novartis Biomedical Research Oncology Leadership Team contributing to the strategy and portfolio across multiple cancer indications and therapeutic modalities.

Magali has 15 years of experience in biotech, combining academia and industry. From 2009 to 2011 she was a Scientist at Biomarin (US biotech), in the rare diseases space. Subsequently, Magali spent 6 years at the Boston Consulting Group, member of the Healthcare practice, working with various large pharma, biotech companies and investors, notably around new value creation models for emerging technologies. She then joined the Executive Committee of DBV Technologies as Chief Strategy Officer between 2016 and 2019.
In 2020, she co-founded Home Biosciences, a Venture Builder dedicated to biotechnologies in Europe. Home Biosciences founded two biotech companies: One Biosciences in France and Sequantrix in Germany.
Home Biosciences is backed by two leading biotech funds, Redmile Group and Sofinnova Partners. Magali graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Mines de Paris, and holds a PhD in Molecular Biology.