The Biotech Startups Podcast 🧬 Doug Drysdale - Cybin - Part 2 | Deals Only Get Done in Person | Learning Financing Through a Company’s Hardship | Bureaucracy in the Workplace | How to Educate Yourself to Determine Good Licensing Deals
Aug 29, 2024
31:29
Part 2 of 4.
My guest for this week’s episode is Doug Drysdale, CEO at Cybin. Cybin is a clinical-stage biopharma company on a mission to create safe and effective psychedelic-based therapeutics. Their goal is to address the large unmet need for new and innovative treatment options for people who suffer from mental health conditions. Doug is an experienced investor, Corporate Director, and CEO, who has chaired the Board of a NASDAQ-listed company and, as a CEO for the past 12 years, has built and turned around 3 pharma companies. During Doug’s 30+ years of experience in the healthcare sector, he has formed cohesive management teams, recruited board members, completed 16 corporate acquisitions across three continents, and raised and invested around $4 billion of public and private capital.
Before Cybin, Doug was Commercial Products Manager at DuPont Merck, Director of BD at Elan, VP of M&A at Actavis Group, CEO of Norwich Pharmaceuticals and Alvogen, CEO of Pernix Therapeutics, and CEO of Tedor Pharma. Doug’s extensive background as a seasoned executive, investor, and turn-around specialist gives him a wide range of experiences that founders can learn from.
Join us this week and hear about:
- Doug’s experience in business development
- His move from crunching numbers to leading deals
- The challenges of global BD strategies
- Doug’s move from the UK to San Diego
- His intricacies of licensing and acquisitions in the pharma industry, and his experiences with Elan, Alpharma, and Actavis
Please enjoy my conversation with Doug Drysdale.
Timestamps:
00:28 Intro
01:48 Episode starts, Doug defines business development and how a scientist can break into BD
04:21 Global vs. Regional BD, Immersing in travels 3 months at a time, Moving to the US
08:09 Memorable deals at Elan, getting a crash course in financing while going through a layoff period
14:34 Determining when to move on from Elan and start Alkensa
18:33 Next journey after Alkensa to Forest Laboratories, Doug's first experience of bureaucracy in the workplace
22:31 Moving from big pharma to generics at Alpharma, becoming head of M&A
27:28 Doug's advice on identifying what you want to license and what makes for a good licensing deal, fundraising types at Alpharma
29:15 Sell side vs. acquisition side
30:23 Outro
Find Our Guest, Doug Drysdale, at these links:
Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Enriched Notes:
Topics Mentioned:
How to Fund an R&D Startup: First Steps a Founder Can Take https://www.excedr.com/resources/rd-startup-funding-first-steps
Biotech Funding for Startups: What Are Your Options? https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-startup-funding-options
Equipment Leasing vs. Financing: What's the Difference? https://www.excedr.com/blog/equipment-leasing-vs-financing
Top VC Firms for Biotech in 2024: Supporting Innovation & Growth https://www.excedr.com/blog/top-vc-firms-for-biotech
How VC-Backed Startups Win When They Lease https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-vc-backed-startups-win-when-they-lease
VC Term Sheets: Definition, Key Components & More https://www.excedr.com/resources/venture-capital-term-sheets
What Is Series A, B, & C Funding? Series Funding Explained https://www.excedr.com/resources/series-funding-explained
The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.