Monday, February 17, 2014 10:19:42 AM
A biotech legend goes back to square one
February 12, 2014
Name: Art Levinson
Title: CEO, Calico
Art Levinson's heyday could well have ended in 2009. After 14 years at the helm of Genentech, a company that helped make biotechnology a household term, Levinson accepted a $47 billion buyout from Roche ($RHHBY), leading to an early retirement from the top post. What followed were a string of board memberships, including high-profile posts at Roche and Apple ($AAPL), and Levinson seemed content to help steer some already gargantuan ships instead of embarking on another early-stage bet of his own.
And then Google ($GOOG) came calling. Specifically, back in September, co-founder and CEO Larry Page hinted at some sort of therapeutic Manhattan Project called Calico, talking big about attacking the problems beneath the problems we've learned to attack and, broadly, working to extend human life. Amid all the vaguery, two facts resonated in the biotech community: The deep-pocketed Google was going to be signing the checks, and Page had recruited Levinson to serve as Calico's CEO.
There is perhaps no better testament to Levinson's clout in the drug development world than the fact that his involvement in Calico gave it instant credibility in an industry quick to snicker at any and all billionaires parachuting into biotech with lofty rhetoric. If Page and partner Sergey Brin convinced Levinson, the thinking went, they must be onto something.
Nearly 6 months later, Calico's mission isn't much clearer (Levinson termed its target as "the challenge of staying youthful, healthy and disease-free for a longer time"), but its CEO's vision is apparently ever more convincing. By November, Levinson had successfully lured Hal Barron, his one-time Genentech employee who rose to lead Roche's R&D efforts and preside over the development of some of the world's most successful cancer drugs. Barron (who made this list last year) left the driver's seat of one of the most well-respected development operations in the industry to serve as Calico's R&D boss and do a bit of what Page described as "longer-term, moonshot thinking."
Rounding out Calico's 5-member team is decorated Princeton genomics professor David Botstein, who will serve as chief scientific officer; Genentech researcher Bob Cohen, who will be a "Calico fellow;" and University of California, San Francisco oncology professor Cynthia Kenyon, who will join as a senior scientific adviser on a part-time basis.
And now Levinson, 34 years removed from his first day as a researcher at Genentech, is back at square one, leading a company with no stated therapeutic targets, no physical address and no website. But, considering his influence, he's nearly guaranteed the industry's rapt attention and the pick of its top talent, and, using Page's logic, that might be enough to change the world with Calico.
http://www.fiercebiotech.com/special-reports/art-levinson-calico-2014-influentials
"Bavituximab is a first-in-class phosphatidylserine (PS)-targeting monoclonal antibody that is the cornerstone of a broad clinical
pipeline." -- Big Pharmas nightmare... unless they are fortunate enough to have The Bavi Edge!
Recent CDMO News
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 07/16/2024 11:50:20 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 07/16/2024 11:48:19 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 07/15/2024 08:40:04 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 07/12/2024 08:30:04 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 07/11/2024 09:02:39 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 07/11/2024 09:02:27 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 07/11/2024 09:01:22 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 07/11/2024 09:01:05 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 07/11/2024 09:00:54 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 07/11/2024 09:00:45 PM
- Form 144 - Report of proposed sale of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 07/11/2024 12:23:26 AM
- Avid Bioservices Reports Financial Results for Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2024 • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 07/02/2024 08:05:04 PM
- Avid Bioservices to Report Financial Results for Quarter and Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2024, After Market Close on July 2, 2024 • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 07/01/2024 11:00:21 AM
- Avid Bioservices Earns Committed Badge from EcoVadis for Sustainability Performance • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 05/23/2024 12:05:46 PM
- Avid Bioservices to Participate at Upcoming Investor Conferences • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 05/07/2024 08:05:11 PM
- Avid Bioservices Reports Financial Results for Third Quarter Ended January 31, 2024 • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 04/24/2024 09:25:33 PM
- Avid Bioservices Announces Receipt of Deficiency Notice from Nasdaq Regarding Late Form 10-Q • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 03/20/2024 11:00:10 AM
- Form 8-K - Current report • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 03/07/2024 11:30:11 AM
- Avid Bioservices Announces Pricing of Private Placement of Convertible Notes • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 03/07/2024 04:58:48 AM
- Avid Bioservices Announces Proposed Private Placement of Convertible Notes • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 03/06/2024 09:32:07 PM
- Avid Bioservices Announces Certain Preliminary Financial Results for Third Quarter Ended January 31, 2024 • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 03/06/2024 09:31:28 PM
- Form 8-K - Current report • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 03/06/2024 09:30:18 PM
- Form SC 13G/A - Statement of acquisition of beneficial ownership by individuals: [Amend] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 01/26/2024 09:57:52 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 01/13/2024 12:34:35 AM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 01/12/2024 12:39:18 AM
Maybacks Global Entertainment and ZEASN Technology Private Ltd. Sign Global Licensing Agreement • AHRO • Aug 8, 2024 7:00 AM
SANUWAVE Will Host a Conference Call on August 13, 2024 at 8:30 AM (ET) to Present Q2 Financial Results • SNWV • Aug 8, 2024 6:59 AM
Kona Gold Beverage Inc. Signs Letter of Intent with Bemax, Inc. to Sell Kona Gold, LLC • BMXC • Aug 7, 2024 10:00 AM
Btab Ecommerce Group, Inc. Launches Investor Connect AI Chatbot for Enhanced Investor Engagement and Lead Generation • BBTT • Aug 7, 2024 9:00 AM
Hydromer, Inc. Announces Preliminary Unaudited Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results and Provides Business Update • HYDI • Aug 7, 2024 8:52 AM
North Bay Resources Announces Mt. Vernon Gold Mine Startup, Sierra County, California • NBRI • Aug 5, 2024 9:00 AM