Christoph Westphal Explained

Christoph Westphal
Nationality:American and German
Fields:Biomedicine
Alma Mater:Harvard Medical School
Columbia College

Christoph Westphal is an American biomedical businessman.

Background and training

Westphal graduated from Columbia College of Columbia University, summa cum laude, in 1990 and finished the MD–PhD program at Harvard University in six years.[1] [2]

Career

He worked at McKinsey & Company for two years after getting his degrees.

From 2000 to 2005 he was a partner at Polaris Venture Partners, a venture capital firm.[3]

VC and Serial Entrepreneur

In 2001, he worked with Robert Langer to found Mimeon based on work by Langer on glycoengineering; the company changed its name to Momenta Pharmaceuticals the next year and went public in 2004.[3] [4] [5] Westphal was the founding CEO.[5] Momenta brought to market the first generic, low-molecular-weight heparin.[4]

To expand the portfolio of treatments for autoimmune disorders, Johnson & Johnson acquired Momenta Pharmaceuticals for $6.5 billion in an all-cash deal in 2020,[6] after nipocalimab, a treatment developed by Momenta received a rare paediatric disease designation from the US Food and Drug Administration.[6] [7]

In 2002 he co-founded Alnylam Pharmaceuticals as CEO, which was built to discover and develop drugs and reagents based on RNA interference based on work done by scientists Phillip Sharp, Paul Schimmel, David Bartel, and Thomas Tuschl; John Maraganore was hired as CEO in 2002.[8] [9] The company held its IPO in 2004, one of the few biotech companies able to do so in a down market.[10] As of 2016 Alnylam remained the dominant company in the RNAi field.[11] [12] Alnylam has achieved approval for 5 medicines.

In 2003 he co-founded Acceleron Pharma as CEO with scientists Jasbir Seehra, Tom Maniatis, Mark Ptashne, Wylie Vale, and scientific advisor Joan Massague, and John Knopf.[13] [14] The company was founded to discover and develop drugs based on the scientific discoveries of the scientific founders in the field of growth factors and transforming growth factors in the fields of metabolic disorders like obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, and muscle-wasting conditions.[15] [16] The company went public in September 2013.[17] Acceleron was acquired for $11.5 billion on Sep 30, 2021 by Merck.

In 2004, he co-founded Sirtris Pharmaceuticals as CEO with Harvard biologist David Sinclair, serial entrepreneur Andrew Perlman, Richard Aldrich, Richard Pops, and Paul Schimmel.[18] [19] The company focused on resveratrol formulations and derivatives as activators of the SIRT1 enzyme.[18] [20] The company's initial product was called SRT501, and was a formulation of reservatrol. Westphal and Sinclair aggressively marketed investment in the company as an anti-aging opportunity, which was controversial[18] [21] but effective; Westphal raised $100 million in 2006.[21] In 2005 Westphal recruited Michelle Dipp to join the team at Sirtris; she would work with him in several subsequent ventures.

In 2006, Westphal worked with Aldrich and Roger Tung to found and get seed funding for Concert Pharmaceuticals based on Tung's ideas about using deuterium to make deuterated drugs.[22] Westphal was not involved in the company by the time it went public in 2014.[23]

Sirtris went public in 2007 and was subsequently purchased and made a subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline in 2008 for $720 million. GSK paid $22.50/share, when Sirtris's stock was trading at $12/share, down 45% from its highest price of the previous year.[24] Westphal was made CEO of the subsidiary and appointed Senior Vice President of GSK's Center of Excellence for External Drug Discovery (CEEDD) unit. Sirtris' science and claims were controversial; studies published in 2009 and early 2010 by scientists from Amgen and Pfizer cast doubt on whether SIRT1 was directly activated by resveratrol and showed that the apparent activity was actually due to a fluorescent reagent used in the experiments, and were widely discussed.[25] [26] [27] [28]

In 2008, Westphal worked with Dipp, Aldrich, and Alexey Margolin to found Alnara Pharmaceuticals, which was created to develop ways to formulate biopharmaceuticals so they could be taken by mouth, instead of by injection.[29] Margolin had been CEO of Altus Therapeutics, which had been developing liprotamase, which it had licensed from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, but ran out of money. Alnara acquired the license and focused its resources on further developing liprotamase; Eli Lilly and Company acquired Alnara in July 2010 on the promise of that data acquired by Alnara.[30] Lilly submitted a new drug application to the FDA in 2011, which the FDA rejected, finding no clear benefit over existing products and requiring an additional clinical trial.[31] Lilly took a $122.6 million write-down on the value of the asset, and then sold it to Anthera Pharmaceuticals in 2014.[31]

In February 2010, Westphal formed a new venture fund called Longwood Fund, together with Aldrich and Dipp.[32] [33]

In April 2010, Westphal stepped down as CEO of Sirtris and as Senior VP of GSK's CEEDD and Dipp took over those roles; Westphal took over leadership of GSK's venture unit, SR One.[34] [35]

In August 2010, a nonprofit called the Healthy Lifespan Institute, which had been formed the year before by Westphal and Dipp, began selling SRT501 as a dietary supplement online;[36] when this become public GSK required Westphal and Dipp, who were still GSK employees, to resign from the nonprofit.[37] [38] [39]

GSK/Sirtris terminated development of SRT501 in late 2010.[40] [41] In 2013 GSK shut down Sirtris and its development candidates were absorbed into GSK, where research and development continued.[42] [43] [44]

Also in August 2010, the Longwood team co-founded VeraStem by providing seed funding and office space in its own offices, with Westphal serving as CEO and chairman of the board; Verastem aimed to isolate cancer stem cells and then discover drugs that would selectively kill them.[45] [46] He brought the company public in 2012 and stepped down as CEO in 2013, as the company was getting ready to start a clinical trial of its lead product, a drug intended to treat mesothelioma.[46]

In April 2011, Westphal left SR One to focus on Longwood; news reports said that Dipp would soon leave GSK in order to focus on Longwood as well.[47]

In 2011, Westphal, Dipp. and Aldrich co-founded OvaScience with Jonathan Tilly and Sinclair, based on scientific work done by Tilly concerning mammalian oogonial stem cells and work on mitochondria by Sinclair.[48] [49] Tilly's work was controversial, with some groups unable to replicate it.[50] [51] The company's claims about its services were controversial from their first announcements.[52] The company's A financing round was $6 million and it raised a $37 million B round in early 2012; Longwood participated in both rounds.[53] OvaScience held its public offering in 2012, and part of its pitch to investors was that its services would probably not be regulated by the FDA so it would probably be able to start generating significant revenue in the US by the end of 2013, but in 2013 the FDA ruled that it would need to file an investigational new drug application before it could start marketing the service; OvaScience's shares fell 40% in response.[54] By September 2016 OvaScience had raised and spent around $228 million.[55] In early December its shares were trading at around $3; in mid-December 2016 the company's shares fell around 50% when it announced layoffs and the departure of its CEO and chief operating officer in the face of sales continuing to fall below expectations.[56]

In 2014, he co-founded Flex Pharma with Jennifer Cermak (from Sirtris) based on work by scientific co-founders Roderick MacKinnon of Rockefeller University and Bruce Bean of Harvard Medical School.[57] MacKinnon and Bean invented a dietary supplement for treating and preventing muscle cramps in athletes that contained ginger extract, cinnamon extract and capsicum, and tested it in clinical trials.[58] In 2014 the company described itself as a developer of drugs for neuromuscular disorders, pursuing treatments muscle cramping across a range of conditions including multiple sclerosis, ALS, and cramping in athletes, based on MacKinnon's Nobel Prize winning work on ion channels, and raised a $40 million Series A round.[57] [59] The company had a $86 million initial public offering in 2015 and revealed the dietary supplement product and its intent to go to market as a dietary supplement company at that time.[60] The similarities with Sirtris' emphasis on reservatrol were noted at the time.[60] In 2016, Flex Pharma released the consumer product "HotShot" as a dietary supplement for endurance athletes.[61] In October 2016 the company released data from a clinical trial of its lead drug candidate for nocturnal leg cramps FLX-787, in which FLX-787 failed to meet the primary endpoints.[62] In June 2017 Westphal stepped down as CEO. In June 2018 the company halted clinical development of the drug candidate due to tolerability issues, cut its workforce, and said it was considering its strategy.[63] [64] In July 2018 MacKinnon resigned from the board of directors.[65]

From 2017 to 2023, Westphal as Ceo founded TScan (now publicly traded $TCRX) with Lasker winner Steve Elledge (Harvard Med), Immunitas with Kai Wucherpfennig (Dana Farber / Harvard Med), DEM with Jonathan Weissman of MIT, and Solu Therapeutics (spin out of GSK). In addition he continued to run Longwood Fund, reaching $750 million of assets under management in a series of biotech venture capital funds.

Board positions

Westphal has served or serves on the Board of Fellows of Harvard Medical School, the Board of Overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the board of Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), and he is a member of the Boston Commercial Club. Westphal is a minority owner of the Boston Celtics.

Honors

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alumni Sons & Daughters. June 24, 2020. Columbia College Today.
  2. Web site: Christoph Westphal News, Articles and Opinions. 2020-06-24. Xconomy. en.
  3. News: Profile: Christoph Westphal, Sirtris. Pharmaceutical Executive. June 1, 2008. en.
  4. Langer. R. A personal account of translating discoveries in an academic lab.. Nature Biotechnology. June 2013. 31. 6. 487–9. 23752424. 10.1038/nbt.2609. 205278595.
  5. Web site: Momenta S-1. Momenta via SEC Edgar. March 11, 2004.
  6. News: Aliaj . Ortenca . Fontanella-Khan . James . Johnson and Johnson to buy biotech Momenta in $6.5bn deal . . 8 January 2022 . en . 19 August 2020.
  7. Web site: Momenta Pharmaceuticals Announces FDA Rare Pediatric Disease Designation for Nipocalimab in HDFN . GlobeNewswire . 8 January 2022 . en . 28 July 2020.
  8. News: Hollmer. Mark. Cambridge bio-startup Alnylam files for IPO. Boston Business Journal. March 8, 2004.
  9. Web site: Alnylam S-1. Alnylam via SEC Edgar. February 27, 2004.
  10. News: Fodor. Kate. Biotechs Put Initial Public Offerings on Hold. The Scientist. October 11, 2004.
  11. News: Reddy. Mike. Winning a Nobel can backfire: the roller coaster ride of RNAi. STAT. 29 September 2016.
  12. News: Bullis. Kevin. The Second Life of Alnylam and Its Nearly Discredited Gene Therapy. MIT Technology Review. en.
  13. Web site: Acceleron Pharma, Developing Drugs to Treat Musculoskeletal and Metabolic Disorders, Secures $25 Million in Series A Funding (NASDAQ:XLRN). investor.acceleronpharma.com. en. February 13, 2004. February 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170216140609/http://investor.acceleronpharma.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=785746. February 16, 2017. dead.
  14. Web site: Press Release: Acceleron Pharma Announces Departure of Jasbir Seehra, Ph.D. Chief Scientific Officer. Acceleron via FierceBiotech. en. November 24, 2010.
  15. Book: 2007 . Cooke, Philip . Regional Knowledge Economies . 79 . Local clusters and global networks . Google eBook . https://books.google.com/books?id=bkm-uW3TdP4C&q=Tom%20Maniatis%20founder%20of%20Acceleron%20Pharma&pg=PA76 . 9781847206930 . New horizons in regional science . Edward Elgar Publishing . United Kingdom .
  16. News: Wylie W. Vale Jr. dies at 70; researcher helped discover stress hormone . McLellan, Dennis . January 18, 2012 . .
  17. News: Burning Bright . Huggett, Brady . . December 2013 . 1068–71 . 31 . 12 .
  18. Couzin. J. Scientific community. Aging research's family feud.. Science . 27 February 2004. 303. 5662. 1276–9. 10.1126/science.303.5662.1276. 14988530. 161459205.
  19. Web site: Sirtris S-1 Registration for IPO. Sirtris via SEC Edgar. March 1, 2007.
  20. News: Wade. Nicholas. Tests Begin on Drugs That May Slow Aging. The New York Times. 17 August 2009.
  21. News: Davies. Kevin. Christoph Westphal Dishes on Aging and Pharmageddon. www.bio-itworld.com. April 26, 2010. en-us.
  22. News: Interview with the Scientific Founder, President and CEO: Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CNCE). The Wall Street Transcript. 2 April 2015.
  23. Web site: Concert S-1. Concert via SEC Edgar. January 13, 2014.
  24. News: Herper. Matthew. Why Glaxo Bought Sirtris. Forbes. 24 April 2008. en.
  25. News: Lowe. Derek. The Sirtris Compounds: Worthless? Really?. In the Pipeline. 12 January 2010.
  26. News: Herper. Matthew. Doubts Build On Glaxo's Antiaging Drugs. Forbes. 26 January 2010. en.
  27. News: Fitzpatrick Dimond. Patricia F.. Sirtuins: Antiaging Medicines or Marketing? . Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. February 16, 2010.
  28. Schmidt. C. GSK/Sirtris compounds dogged by assay artifacts.. Nature Biotechnology. March 2010. 28. 3. 185–6. 10.1038/nbt0310-185. 20212464. 1162439.
  29. News: Timmerman. Luke. Alnara Pharmaceuticals Aims to Make Biotech Drugs You Can Swallow, And That Go Right Where They Belong . Xconomy. 30 October 2008.
  30. News: Alnara's Late-Stage Pancreatic Enzyme Drives Lilly Acquisition. BioWorld. July 6, 2010. en.
  31. News: Anthera Buys Liprotamase from Lilly, Plans Phase III Trial. GEN Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. July 15, 2014.
  32. News: Timmerman. Luke. Sirtris Founders Build New Venture Capital Fund, Keep Mum. Xconomy. 12 February 2010.
  33. News: McBride. Ryan. Rich Aldrich, Biotech Powerbroker, Breaks Silence on New $87M Longwood Founders Fund. Xconomy. 6 January 2011.
  34. News: McBride. Ryan. Christoph Westphal Resigns as Sirtris CEO, Takes Over Glaxo's SR One Venture Arm. Xconomy. 21 April 2010.
  35. News: McBride. Ryan. Sirtris Vet Michelle Dipp Takes Over Key Role at Glaxo as Westphal Returns to VC. Xconomy. 22 April 2010.
  36. News: McBride. Ryan. Former Sirtris Execs' Nonprofit Starts Selling Resveratrol with Potential Anti-Aging Effects Online. Xconomy. 12 August 2010.
  37. News: Singer. Natasha. Glaxo Censures Sale of Supplements. New York Times. August 13, 2010. en.
  38. News: Feuerstein. Adam. Glaxo Slaps Former Sirtris Execs. TheStreet. 12 August 2010.
  39. News: Licking. Ellen. SR One Posts Help Wanted Ad, Again. The IN VIVO Blog. 5 April 2011.
  40. News: Wade. Nicholas. Doubt on Anti-Aging Molecule as Resveratrol Trial Is Halted. The New York Times. 10 January 2011.
  41. News: GlaxoSmithKline Halts All Further Development Of Resveratrol Drug SRT501. Myeloma Beacon. November 30, 2010.
  42. News: Carroll. John. McBride. Ryan. UPDATED: GSK moves to shutter Sirtris' Cambridge office, integrate R&D. FierceBiotech. Mar 12, 2013. en.
  43. Web site: GSK absorbs controversial 'longevity' company : News blog. Nature Blog. 2017-02-15. 2013-12-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20131217235120/http://blogs.nature.com/news/2013/03/gsk-absorbs-controversial-longevity-company.html. dead.
  44. News: Timmerman. Luke. GlaxoSmithKline Shuts Down Sirtris, Five Years After $720M Buyout. Xconomy. 12 March 2013.
  45. Web site: S-1, Amendment 3. Verastem via SEC EDGAR. 2012-01-13.
  46. News: Fidler. Ben. Verastem Switches CEOs as Westphal Steps Into Chairman Role. Xconomy. 6 June 2013.
  47. News: Huang. Gregory T.. Christoph Westphal Leaving GSK's SR One to Focus on Longwood Founders Fund. Xconomy. 4 April 2011.
  48. Web site: OvaScience S-1. OvaScience via SEC Edgar. August 29, 2012.
  49. News: Weintraub. Karen. Can fertility startup OvaScience really help women conceive late in life, as promised?. MIT Technology Review. December 9, 2016. en.
  50. Grieve. Kelsey M.. McLaughlin. Marie. Dunlop. Cheryl E.. Telfer. Evelyn E.. Evelyn Telfer. Anderson. Richard A.. The controversial existence and functional potential of oogonial stem cells. Maturitas. 82. 3. 278–281. 10.1016/j.maturitas.2015.07.017. 26278874. 2015. free.
  51. Powell. K. Born or made? Debate on mouse eggs reignites.. Nature. 15 June 2006. 441. 7095. 795. 10.1038/441795a. 16778853. 3111297. free.
  52. News: Boyd. Roddy. Irreproducible Results, Inc.. Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation. April 6, 2015.
  53. News: OvaScience grabs $37M B round for fertility treatments. FierceBiotech. April 3, 2012. en.
  54. News: Carroll. John. OvaScience shares blitzed after FDA steps in to supervise lead product. FierceBiotech. September 11, 2013. en.
  55. News: Weintraub. Karen. Fertility company Ovascience is struggling to survive. MIT Technology Review. December 29, 2016. en.
  56. News: Weisman. Robert. OvaScience shares plunge amid layoffs, abrupt departure of top executives. Boston Globe. December 22, 2016.
  57. News: Fidler. Ben. To Fight Cramps, Christoph Westphal Taps Boston All-Stars for $40M. Xconomy. 9 September 2014.
  58. News: A Scientific Solution to (Finally) Stop Muscle Cramps. 20 July 2016. Outside. 1 September 2015. 25 October 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161025060652/http://www.outsideonline.com/2007171/scientific-solution-muscle-cramps. dead.
  59. News: Carroll. John. Christoph Westphal launches another biotech, with the help of some wealthy friends. FierceBiotech. September 8, 2014. en.
  60. News: Garde. Damian. Flex Pharma pulls off an $86M IPO for its cramp-treating spice cocktail. 20 July 2016. Fierce Biotech. 28 January 2015.
  61. News: Fuel Buzz: New HotShot Drink Aimed at Preventing Cramps. 20 July 2016. Competitor. 2 June 2016.
  62. News: Adams. Ben. Tiny Flex Pharma's CEO Westphal steps down. FierceBiotech. June 6, 2017. en.
  63. News: Al Idrus . Amirah . Flex Pharma dumps midstage trials, cuts workforce, mulls a sale to stay alive . FierceBiotech . June 13, 2018 . en.
  64. Web site: 10Q Quarterly Report . www.sec.gov . Flex via SEC Edgar . 1 August 2018.
  65. Web site: Form 8K . Flex via SEC Edgar . 25 July 2018.
  66. News: Innovator Under 35: Christoph Westphal, 33. MIT Technology Review. 2002. Index page
  67. http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-16-2006/0004382056&EDATE= “Sirtris Pharmaceuticals CEO Christoph Westphal Wins Ernst & Young New England Entrepreneur of the Year Award,” Sirtris press release, June 6, 2006
  68. http://masshightech.bizjournals.com/masshightech/event/3589 List of Mass High Tech All-Stars 2007
  69. http://www.sirtrispharma.com/press/2008-101608.html “Sirtris CEO Christoph Westphal Selected by Biotech CEOs as Outstanding Individual,” Sirtris press release, October 16, 2008
  70. http://www.afar.org/pdfs/2008DinnerRelease.pdf “Corporate leaders Honored for their Contributions to Research on Aging and Diseases of Aging,” American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) press release, October 2, 2008
  71. Web site: "45 Under 45: The Change Generation," Pharmaceutical Executive, June 1, 2008 . October 27, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090713013530/http://pharmexec.findpharma.com/pharmexec/Rotating+Feature+Article/45-Under-45The-Change-Generation/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/524375 . July 13, 2009 . dead .
  72. http://www.pharmavoice.com/article/1376/ “Who’s on the List?” PharmaVOICE 100, PharmaVOICE, July/August 2008
  73. http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/awards/403_2617_19873.cfm American Business Awards, Management Categories – 2009 Honorees
  74. http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090206005030&newsLang=en “Corporate Leaders Receive Ninth Annual Emerald Asset Management ‘E-3 Awards,’” Emerald Asset Management press release, February 6, 2009
  75. https://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/fortune/1004/gallery.visionaries_gallery.fortune/ "The Fortune Visionaries" Fortune, April 2010

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