Elena Diez Cecilia
Company: Johnson & Johnson
Job title: Senior Director of External Innovation, DPDS
Bio:
Elena is Senior Director of External Innovation within Discovery, Product Development & Supply (DPDS) at Janssen R&D and part of the J&J Innovation East North America team, located at the Boston Innovation Center. She is responsible for scouting and evaluation of external opportunities across all synthetic drug modalities and disease areas. In addition, she supports Therapeutic Area Innovation Leads with scientific and technological expertise. Elena also partners with the JLABS organization to identify and foster start-up companies aligned with DPDS strategy.
Previously, she served as Director of Business Development and R&D Strategy for A2A Pharmaceuticals, consulted for pharmaceutical companies and served as a venture advisor for two VC firms on the West Coast, where she performed due diligences of biotech therapeutic and platform companies. She also serves as an expert evaluator for the European Commission Horizon 2020 grants and other initiatives. Additionally, she is a co-founder of the DealMak(HER)s organization to empower women in deal-making capacities in the Life Sciences in the Boston Ecosystem.
Elena obtained her Ph.D. from Trinity College Dublin in medicinal chemistry followed by research positions at University of Toronto and San Francisco State University, researching oncology and neurological diseases drug discovery. She also completed an executive MBA from EAE Business School.
Seminars:
Panel Discussion: Building Strategic Collaborations & Investment Pathways to Accelerate RNA-Targeted Drug Discovery Across Biotech & Pharma 8:45 am
• Discussing the importance of pharma-biotech-academic collaborations and what each sector can provide to successfully create RNA-targeted therapeutics • How are large pharma and biotech companies structuring risk-sharing partnerships to access innovation and accelerate RNA-targeted therapeutic pipelines • How can early-stage companies leverage academic collaborations, tool compound sharing and co development deals to validate targets…Read more
day: Conference Day Two