Over the past year, we’ve witnessed the biotech bull market expand, deflate and expand again—specifically in relation to RNA-based therapeutic companies. The innovators in the space have increased and decreased their investment levels in the technology, leaving investors, the media, and some in the scientific community wondering which way the pendulum will ultimately swing. In … Continue reading “RNA Therapeutics Are Here to Stay”
Author: Kleanthis Xanthopoulos
Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos, Ph.D., is a serial entrepreneur whose passion is building healthcare companies focused on innovation. He has over two decades of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical research industries as an executive, company founder, chief executive officer, investor, and board member. Xanthopoulos has founded three companies, introduced two life science companies to NASDAQ, and financed and brokered numerous creative strategic alliances and significant partnership deals with large pharmaceutical partners.
Xanthopoulos is currently the executive chairman of IRRAS AB, a medical device and drug delivery company, and a principal at the Vandel-Group, focusing on investing and building innovative biotechnology companies. Xanthopoulos served as president and CEO of Regulus Therapeutics from the time of its formation in 2007 until June of 2015. Prior to that, he was a managing director of Enterprise Partners Venture Capital. Xanthopoulos co-founded and served as president and CEO of Anadys Pharmaceuticals, from 2000 to 2006, and remained a director until Roche acquired the company in 2011. He was vice president at Aurora Biosciences (acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals) from 1997 to 2000. Xanthopoulos participated in The Human Genome Project as a Section Head of the National Human Genome Research Institute from 1995 to 1997. Prior to this, he was an Associate Professor at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden after completing a postdoctoral research fellowship at The Rockefeller University, New York. An Onassis Foundation scholar, he was named the E&Y Entrepreneur of the year in 2006 in San Diego. Dr. Xanthopoulos received his B.Sc. in Biology with honors from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and received both his M.Sc. in Microbiology and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Stockholm, Sweden.
RNA Therapeutics Are Coming of Age
RNA therapeutics are new, innovative high-impact medicines. The combined efforts of pioneering biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical and academic institutions have helped these treatments, which act on ribonucleic acids in the cell, to evolve and come of age. For those unfamiliar, these medicines are designed to target RNA and can ultimately affect many cellular components. They can … Continue reading “RNA Therapeutics Are Coming of Age”
Me-Too Drugs
[Editor’s Note: We asked selected Xconomists a series of questions designed to zero in on the big issues of the year, including “What would you be willing to throw a punch over?”] The FDA is the easy target for those of us who are in drug development. But what I am most mad about is … Continue reading “Me-Too Drugs”
Some Prognostications on Biotechnology in 2011
After consulting with the Oracle at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, here are a few of the trends I was told to watch for in 2011… Two revolutionizing pharmaceutical frontiers are on the horizon—RNA therapeutics and stem cell therapies: —RNA therapeutics will become a big reality in 2011. Mipomersen, a LDL lowering drug from … Continue reading “Some Prognostications on Biotechnology in 2011”