This post is sponsored by Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation.
Satish Chandran looked at Fargo, N.D., three years ago and saw opportunity. The potential was so enticing, in fact, that he left pharma giant Pfizer in 2010 to build it.
Today, as the director of the North Dakota Center for Biopharmaceutical Research and Production (CBRP), Satish is offering the same kind of opportunity to new and established biopharmaceutical companies around the world. At the center of the offer is the combination of his scientific, strategic and entrepreneurial expertise.
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It’s expertise that Satish has built over a long, successful career in the international biopharmaceutical industry. At Pfizer, Satish was the chief technology officer of the Nucleic Acid-Based Therapeutics Unit of the Biotherapeutics Division. As such, he was engaged in nucleic acid-based programs being advanced for indications in cancer and metabolic diseases. But his experience goes much deeper. Satish also has launched six successful biopharmaceutical companies, developed 18 product candidates on his own and contributed to the development of hundreds more as part of larger teams.
In Fargo, he saw a chance to combine and channel it all into creating something that would make a difference in the critical early stages of a fledgling biopharmaceutical company’s life.
As its name implies, the CBRP specializes in taking biopharmaceutical discoveries, developing them and moving them from concept to clinic. In addition to helping entrepreneurs and start-ups in developing ideas, it partners with existing companies in pushing their concepts further along the development path.
For new biopharmaceuticals, the major benefits are the expertise of the CBRP team and their global connections. Satish specializes in strategy development and brings together the right experts for every project in all the areas needed to take a biopharmaceutical from concept to clinic. His team includes experts in the regulatory, clinical, formulation, quality assurance, drug delivery and packaging arenas.
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With the CBRP, companies have access to the same high level of expertise delivered by senior strategists in large biopharmaceutical companies, but without the high cost. They also can avoid many costly mistakes that litter the product development pathway.
“My team knows all the roadblocks, all the hurdles,” Satish said. “We can’t make product development happen any faster, but we can make it easier by helping companies pursue the right strategies and avoid missteps in getting their concepts into clinical trials.”
Another benefit is what Satish calls the “built-in support network” within the community. Fargo’s colleges and universities educate 28,000 students, from undergraduate through the doctoral levels; the community has extensive, state-of-the-art research facilities and capabilities; and there is an impressive biopharmaceutical cluster already operating here. Fargo companies are doing everything from generating plasmid DNA for researchers around the world to conducting Phase I –IV clinical trials to providing on-demand packaging.
“Fargo has the educational, research and industry assets one needs to be successful in taking biopharmaceuticals from concept to clinic,” Satish said. “The difference between Fargo and other places is the people. They want me to succeed, they want the CBRP to succeed and they want our partners to succeed. And they’re willing to roll up their sleeves and do whatever it takes to make that success possible.”
To partner with the CBRP, contact Satish.
