WEBINAR: Giving medicines a second chance

The potential value of repurposed medicines
Developing IP strategies to enable best-practice protection
Potential enforcement challenges
Key commercial considerations regarding the interplay of patenting strategies with regulatory and marketing exclusivity
Commercial examples of successful medicine repurposing

Speakers

Declan McKeveney

Senior Counsel | FB Rice

Declan is an intellectual property attorney and senior counsel in FB Rice’s Brisbane chemistry team.

He has a PhD in chemistry and research experience in the fields of organic, biological and medicinal chemistry and pharmacology, with particular expertise during his PhD in the design, synthesis and screening of combinatorial compound libraries. Declan practices in all areas of chemistry, with a focus on pharmaceutical compounds and drug technologies.

Declan spends a lot of his time preparing and filing new patent applications for local clients and managing the prosecution of the ensuing portfolio in key international jurisdictions including the U.S., Europe, China, and Japan, as well as Australia. His clients also benefit from advice around protection strategies, freedom to operate and validity issues.

Prior to joining the patent attorney profession, Declan worked as a research scientist for a Brisbane-based biotechnology company in lead compound library synthesis employing carbohydrate scaffolds.

Declan is committed to the on-going education and development of emerging attorneys and STEM graduates. He is an Industry Mentoring Network in STEM (IMNIS) mentor, has presented seminars and workshops for undergraduate and postgraduate students, and taught in the Queensland University of Technology Master of Laws in IP course in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organisation.

Kathy Harrison

CEO | HAVAH Therapeutics

Kathy is a biotechnology Company Director and CEO with more than 25 years of experience in Australian biotechnology, including nine years of patent attorney practice. Scientist and Patent Attorney by training, Kathy has successfully delivered pre-clinical assets through phase 2, and transitioned companies through critical drug development stages. With a track record in creating value in life sciences companies, both in strategic guidance and operational success in drug development programs and corporate transactions, Kathy has the skills and experience to build teams and execute on commercial timelines.

Kathy is currently the CEO of HAVAH Therapeutics Pty Ltd, developing a novel subcutaneous implant for rare women’s health indications. Kathy is also a Director of Disruptive Nutrition Pty Ltd, and has previously had leading roles in Australian companies Phosphagenics and Cytopia Research and AMRAD.

Dr Craig Rayner

President – Integrated Drug Development | Certara

Craig is the global lead of Certara’s drug development consulting division and Global Health practice area and previously was co-founder and CEO of d3 Medicine until its acquisition by Certara. Past leadership roles include Clinical Pharmacology and early development (Roche), Clinical Development (CSL-Behring), and business development/licensing as Global Due Diligence Director (Roche) and as an academic researcher in clinical pharmacology and infectious disease research (Monash University).

Craig has extensive experience in developing new therapeutics, wide-ranging global regulatory interaction experience, has made significant contributions to hundreds of clinical trials, numerous drug approvals and due diligences, and provided active support of negotiations, deal making and integration activities. He has specialised in infectious diseases, medical countermeasures and global health with over 100 publications/book chapters, advising various Australian government departments, including as lead author of the 2012 and 2017 Medical Countermeasures National Capability Audits and for a decade has supported capability building against biothreats. Craig has been engaged in COVID-19 activities globally since the WHO Research and Innovation Forum in Geneva in February and is a member of the WHO COVID-19 working group for therapeutics.

He has numerous COVID-19-related peer reviewed publications including in the Lancet Global Health, Medical Journal of Australia, British Medical Journal, Antiviral Research, British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, and Clinical Translational Science and has been a prolific scientific presenter and commentator on drug and vaccine development including Sydney Morning Herald, ABC Radio and international Healthcare Professional Radio. Craig’s qualifications include BPharm and BPharm Sc(Hons), Monash University, PharmD, State University of New York, MBA, and Melbourne University.

BiotechTalks Facilitator

Lorraine Chiroiu

CEO | AusBiotech

Lorraine leads AusBiotech as its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director and has worked as a dedicated advocate for the biotechnology sector since joining AusBiotech over a decade ago. In this role she works closely with public policy impacting the life sciences sector at state and federal levels, including economic development, tax incentives, patent protection, medical research and its commercialisation.

Lorraine works with the broad biotechnology community and AusBiotech’s 3,000+ members to inform and support industry development.