Everything you always wanted to know about creating a company (but were afraid to ask) - Joan Seoane (ICREA at VHIO) Why would you, decent and exemplary ICREA researchers, ever want to get involved in the creation of a spin-off company? In this colloquium we will take a stroll on the ‘dark side of science’: its commercial exploitation. The talk aims at covering both the practical and the institutional points of view. To that end, Joan Seoane, who started his own company ‘Mosaic Biomedicals’ in 2012, will share his experience with all of us. And Emilià Pola will present the vision and the position of ICREA as an institution, or in other words, why an institution like ICREA gets involved in such mundane activities.

1. Joan Seoane
Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO)
Vall d’Hebron University Hospital
Barcelona Vall d'Hebron
Hospital General
Everything you always wanted to know about
creating a company
(but were afraid to ask)

2. • The Idea
• The Company
• The Death Valley
• The TEAM, founders
• The TEAM, investors and advisors

3. The Idea,
The Science

4. Once upon a time…2008
A research group…publish or perish

5. LIF in Cancer
5
LIF
LIF
LIF
Glioma-initiatingcells
LIF

6. Let’s patent…”vols dir?” (is it really necessary…?)
Patent 1, the target
Patent 2, the product

7. • Cytokine of the IL6 family
• Crucial for embryonic stem cells
• Crucial for embryo implantation
• Induces neural stem cell self-renewal
• Induces glial differentiation
• Role in immune system
Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF)
LIF
Stat3
Stat3
JAK
LIFR GP130

8. The compound. A fully humanized antibody
MSC-1

9. PB
S
A
nti-LIF
D
3
0
10
20
30 * p=0.0175
0 10 20 30
0
5
10
15
Control
MSC-1
Days after
cell inoculation
MSC-1 (15mg/kg)
Control MSC-1
TumorVolume
(Flux[p/s]foldincrease)
MSC-1 Promotes Tumor Regression
Radiance
(p/sec/cm2/sr)

10. MSC-1: A personalized medicine approach
Developing a CDx to stratify patients
High LIF

11. • LIF KO mice are viable but infertile (no implantation of blastocysts)1
• Women with mutations in LIF gene are healthy although infertile
1 Stewart et al. Nature 1992; 359: 76-9; Escary et al. Nature 1993; 363: 361-4; Chen et al. Endocrinology
2000; 141: 4365-72.
Toxicity

12. It looks promising…
Will it work in patients?
Spin-off company

13. It’s the TEAM, stupid
The founders

14. Let’s talk about her

15. Biomedicals
Foundation

16. Josep Baselga, MD, PhD
Chair SAB, co-founder
Joan Seoane, PhD
Chairman, co-founder
Judit Anido, PhD, MBA
CEO, co-founder

17. The Institutions

18. The Death Valley

19. Financial support

20. Winner “Best
entrepreneurial project”
Winner
Recognition

21. The TEAM, The TEAM, The TEAM

22. Frank McCormick, PhD, FRS
Co-Chair of the SAB
David A. Wood Distinguished
Professor of Tumor Biology and
Cancer Research at the UCSF
School of Medicine.
Previously was the Founder and
CSO at Onyx Pharmaceuticals.
He also served as VP of
Research at Chiron Corporation
and Cetus Corporation.
Mosaic’s Team
Scientific Advisors

23. Mosaic’s Team
Business Angels

24. Mosaic’s Team
Investors

25. Mosaic’s Team
Investors
Guido Magni, MD, PhD
Member of the BoD
Gianni Gromo, MD, PhD
Member of the BoD
Partner at Versant Ventures.
Previously served as a Senior
Executive at Roche including
Research Head of Global
Cardiovascular and Metabolic
Research, Head of Discovery
Research (Basel site), Global Head
of the Metabolic and Vascular
Disease Business Unit, and Head of
the Roche China R&D center.
Partner at Versant Ventures.
Previously served as Managing
Director of EuroVentures, a
Versant incubator and Global
Head of the Medical Science
Department of Roche
Pharmaceuticals. Among others
oversaw the development and
the registration Mabthera,
Xeloda, Herceptin and Tarceva.

26. Mosaic’s Team
Consultants
Kent Iverson - Manufacturing - San Francisco, California, US
18 years experience in manufacturing including Genentech (Protropin™, Activase™); Immunex (9 years, Leukine™, Enbrel™);
Coulter (Bexxar-radiolabeled antibody for cancer treatment) and Corixa (VP of Process Development). Current advisor at Lonza.
Claire Barton - Clinical Development - London, UK
Medical oncologist/pharmaceutical physician specializing in the clinical development of products for oncology indications.
Former positions at Roche Products Ltd (Clinical Science Leader for Herceptin); Eli Lilly and Co. Ltd (European Clinical
Development Physician) and Glaxo Wellcome.
Karin Jorga - Clinical Development - Basel, Switzerland
More than 20 years experience at Roche in transitioning pre-clinical lead molecules to Clinical Proof-of-Concept and advancing
novel biomarkers to drive Personalized Healthcare of small and large molecules across all therapeutic areas.
Jennifer Sims - Pre-clinical and Tox Development - Basel, Switzerland
European Registered Toxicologist with 15 years experience in preclinical drug development including non-clinical
pharmacology, translational PK-PD and safety assessment for new medicinal products. Former positions at Novartis (Head of
Translational Sciences & Safety) and Astra Zeneca/MedImmune (Global Head Biopharma Safety Assessment)
NDA REG - Regulatory Drug Development - Zurich, Switzerland
Paul Chamberlain: 35 years of experience. Specialized on the design of IND enabling packages for antibodies for
oncology.
Klass Zuideveld - Companion Diagnostic Development - Basel, Switzerland
14 years experience in the development of companion diagnostics. Former positions at Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd Pharma
(Product Optimization Leader); F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. Diagnostics Providing strategic support to the Diagnostics COO and
at Roche NimbleGen as a Director of Personalized Healthcare among others.
Len Presta- Antibody Engineering- Palo Alto, California, US
30 years of experience in protein/antibody engineering. At Genentech: responsible for the protein engineering that led to
marketed therapeutic monoclonal antibodies Herceptin, Raptiva, Xolair, Avastin, Lucentis, Perjeta and therapeutic protein
Tenecteplase. At Merck (formerly Schering-Plough, DNAX): responsible for protein and antibody engineering of internal
therapeutic antibodies in the pipeline.

27. The Company
Work, Work, Work

28. First the patients!
Stupp et al. New Engl. J. Med. 2005

29. VALUE
CREATION
Stage: Pre-clinical
Stage: Phase I/II Clinical trial
Business strategy
Stage: Compound development
Regulatory toxicology

30. Sky is the limit,
enjoy the journey and
go for your dreams