Christoph Westphal
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Christoph Westphal is an American biomedical businessman.


Background and training

Westphal graduated from Columbia College of
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, summa cum laude, in 1990 and finished the MD–PhD program at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in six years.


Career

He worked at
McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...
for two years after getting his degrees. From 2000 to 2005 he was a partner at Polaris Venture Partners, a
venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...
firm.


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. Westphal was the founding CEO. Momenta brought to market the first generic, low-molecular-weight
heparin Heparin, also known as unfractionated heparin (UFH), is a medication and naturally occurring glycosaminoglycan. Heparin is a blood anticoagulant that increases the activity of antithrombin. It is used in the treatment of myocardial infarction, ...
. To expand the portfolio of treatments for
autoimmune disorders An autoimmune disease is a condition that results from an anomalous response of the adaptive immune system, wherein it mistakenly targets and attacks healthy, functioning parts of the body as if they were foreign organisms. It is estimated tha ...
,
Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...
acquired Momenta Pharmaceuticals for $6.5 billion in an all-cash deal in 2020, after nipocalimab, a treatment developed by Momenta received a rare paediatric disease designation from the US
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...
. In 2002 he co-founded Alnylam Pharmaceuticals as CEO, which was built to discover and develop drugs and
reagents In chemistry, a reagent ( ) or analytical reagent is a substance or compound added to a system to cause a chemical reaction, or test if one occurs. The terms ''reactant'' and ''reagent'' are often used interchangeably, but reactant specifies a ...
based on
RNA interference RNA interference (RNAi) is a biological process in which RNA molecules are involved in sequence-specific suppression of gene expression by double-stranded RNA, through translational or transcriptional repression. Historically, RNAi was known by ...
based on work done by scientists Phillip Sharp, Paul Schimmel, David Bartel, and Thomas Tuschl; John Maraganore was hired as CEO in 2002. The company held its IPO in 2004, one of the few biotech companies able to do so in a down market. As of 2016 Alnylam remained the dominant company in the RNAi field. Alnylam has achieved approval for 5 medicines. In 2003 he co-founded
Acceleron Pharma Acceleron Pharma, Inc. is an American clinical stage biopharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, Massachusetts with a broad focus on developing medicines that regulate the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) superf ...
as CEO with scientists Jasbir Seehra, Tom Maniatis, Mark Ptashne, Wylie Vale, and scientific advisor Joan Massague, and John Knopf. The company was founded to discover and develop drugs based on the scientific discoveries of the scientific founders in the field of
growth factors A growth factor is a naturally occurring substance capable of stimulating cell proliferation, wound healing, and occasionally cellular differentiation. Usually it is a secreted protein or a steroid hormone. Growth factors are important for regu ...
and transforming growth factors in the fields of metabolic disorders like obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, and muscle-wasting conditions. The company went public in September 2013. 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. The company focused on
resveratrol Resveratrol (3,5,4′-trihydroxy-''trans''-stilbene) is a stilbenoid, a type of natural phenol or polyphenol and a phytoalexin produced by several plants in response to injury or when the plant is under attack by pathogens, such as bacterium, ba ...
formulations and derivatives as activators of the SIRT1 enzyme. 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 but effective; Westphal raised $100 million in 2006. 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 Deuterium (hydrogen-2, symbol H or D, also known as heavy hydrogen) is one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen; the other is protium, or hydrogen-1, H. The deuterium nucleus (deuteron) contains one proton and one neutron, whereas the far more c ...
to make deuterated drugs. Westphal was not involved in the company by the time it went public in 2014. Sirtris went public in 2007 and was subsequently purchased and made a subsidiary of
GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...
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. 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 Amgen Inc. (formerly Applied Molecular Genetics Inc.) is an American multinational biopharmaceutical Corporation, company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. As one of the world's largest independent biotechnology companies, Amgen has a ...
and
Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...
cast doubt on whether SIRT1 was directly activated by resveratrol and showed that the apparent activity was actually due to a fluorescent
reagent In chemistry, a reagent ( ) or analytical reagent is a substance or compound added to a system to cause a chemical reaction, or test if one occurs. The terms ''reactant'' and ''reagent'' are often used interchangeably, but reactant specifies a ...
used in the experiments, and were widely discussed. 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. 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 Eli Lilly and Company, Trade name, doing business as Lilly, is an American multinational Medication, pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with offices in 18 countries. Its products are sold in approximately 125 count ...
acquired Alnara in July 2010 on the promise of that data acquired by Alnara. 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. Lilly took a $122.6 million write-down on the value of the asset, and then sold it to Anthera Pharmaceuticals in 2014. In February 2010, Westphal formed a new venture fund called Longwood Fund, together with Aldrich and Dipp. 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. 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 A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill (pharmacy), pill, capsule (pharmacy), capsule, tablet (pharmacy), tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients eithe ...
online; when this become public GSK required Westphal and Dipp, who were still GSK employees, to resign from the nonprofit. GSK/Sirtris terminated development of SRT501 in late 2010. In 2013 GSK shut down Sirtris and its development candidates were absorbed into GSK, where research and development continued. 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. 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 Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The area most commonly affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lini ...
. 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. 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 A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is us ...
by Sinclair. Tilly's work was controversial, with some groups unable to replicate it. The company's claims about its services were controversial from their first announcements. 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. 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 The United States Food and Drug Administration's Investigational New Drug (IND) program is the means by which a pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical company obtains permission to start human clinical trials and to ship an experimental drug inte ...
application before it could start marketing the service; OvaScience's shares fell 40% in response. By September 2016 OvaScience had raised and spent around $228 million. 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. In 2014, he co-founded Flex Pharma with Jennifer Cermak (from Sirtris) based on work by scientific co-founders Roderick MacKinnon of
Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a Private university, private Medical research, biomedical Research university, research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and pro ...
and Bruce Bean of
Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...
. MacKinnon and Bean invented a
dietary supplement A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill (pharmacy), pill, capsule (pharmacy), capsule, tablet (pharmacy), tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients eithe ...
for treating and preventing muscle cramps in athletes that contained ginger extract, cinnamon extract and capsicum, and tested it in clinical trials. 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 The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
winning work on
ion channel Ion channels are pore-forming membrane proteins that allow ions to pass through the channel pore. Their functions include establishing a resting membrane potential, shaping action potentials and other electrical signals by Gating (electrophysiol ...
s, and raised a $40 million Series A round. The company had a $86 million
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
in 2015 and revealed the dietary supplement product and its intent to go to market as a dietary supplement company at that time. The similarities with Sirtris' emphasis on reservatrol were noted at the time. In 2016, Flex Pharma released the consumer product "HotShot" as a dietary supplement for endurance athletes. 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. 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. In July 2018 MacKinnon resigned from the board of directors. 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 Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...
, 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

* 2002 – Listed as one of the Top Innovators Under 35 in the annual
MIT Technology Review ''MIT Technology Review'' is a bimonthly magazine wholly owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as ''The Technology Review'', and was re-launched without "''The''" in its name on April 23, 1998, under then pu ...
Index page
/ref> * 2006 – Ernst & Young’s New England Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Biopharmaceutical category * 2007 – ''Mass High Tech'' All Star Award * 2008 – Outstanding Individual of the Year Award at the annual Laguna Biotech CEO Meeting * 2008 – Corporate Leader Award of Distinction from the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) * 2008 – Recognition in the ''Pharmaceutical Executive “45 Under 45,”'' * 2008 – Recognition in the ''PharmaVOICE 100'', a list of the 100 most inspiring people in the life-sciences industry * 2009 – Stevie Award for Executive of the Year from The 2009 American Business Awards * 2009 – E-3 Public Company Science & Technology Company Executive Award at the annual Emerald Investment Forum * 2010 – Named one of Fortune's Fortune Visionaries"The Fortune Visionaries" Fortune, April 2010
/ref>


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westphal, Christoph American chief executives Living people Harvard Medical School alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Columbia College (New York) alumni