Dr Ross Breckenridge, chief executive officer, Silver Creek Pharmaceuticals, San Francisco, USA
What do you do? and what is a typical week for you?
I am CEO of a biotech based in Mission Bay, San Francisco.
Happily, there is no “typical” week!
My job is to co-ordinate the science, fund-raising, communications, regulatory and commercial parts of the business.
We are currently conducting pre-IND toxicology studies on our lead drug and applying to the FDA for authorization to conduct our first-in-human studies next year. At the same time, I’m starting negotiations with pharma partners to pay for further clinical development.
So typically in a week, I will have conversations/meetings with my scientific team, directors, investors, commercial partners and CROs (who conduct a lot of the technical work). As we are an early-stage company, a big part of my job is to raise money from investors, which entails presentation at meetings and travelling to meet potential pharma partners.
What qualifications and experience do you have?
I have a BM BCh from Oxford, and a PhD in developmental biology from Cambridge (after my SHO rotation and MRCP). I carried out my CPT/GIM training at UCL with Patrick Vallance and Raymond MacAllister. I was eventually a senior lecturer/consultant physician at UCL/UCLH, chaired the UCLH Use of Medicines Committee and was the TPD for London CPT.
What’s the most interesting aspect of your job?
Making decisions relating to research and commercial strategy. I’ve found my years of acute medicine incredibly valuable in understanding unmet medical needs and what patients actually need in a new medicine (I think that this is something the pharma industry in general is lacking somewhat). I’ve found looking at drug pricing from the “opposite end of the argument” compared with NHS formulary committees very stimulating, and I’ve met some very interesting people along the way. Learning about the commercial aspects of the industry has also been fascinating.
As we are a small company means that I’m responsible for the full range of activities that go into drug discovery and development, so I’m constantly being challenged. I love the feeling of being on a steep learning curve, however uncomfortable it may be at times!
What are your research interests?
Cardiovascular biology in general and heart failure in particular. I spent several years doing research in mouse models of cardiac disease. The animal modelling experience has proved very valuable, as this is the starting point for most of, if not all of, drug development.
One of the key benefits of CPT is that we are not organ-specific, so I was encouraged throughout my training to be interested in areas outside my own particular area of interest. This is very valuable now, as my company’s technology is applicable to many areas of medicine, and I’m quite happy to think about any disease or organ system.
What one piece of advice would you give to someone seeking a career in clinical pharmacology?
Apart from choosing a mentor carefully (which I hope goes without saying), I’d say that developing one’s own interest is the key. CPT is unlike any other medical specialty, in that it gives trainees a huge amount of flexibility in what research and medicine they can be trained in. I think it is a mistake to simply try to be trained to be your boss; following your own unique interests and following where it may lead you is a recipe for staying on a learning curve for your whole career.