34 BioExecutive International
M
AY
2005
recruitment, and so on. Peltz explains
why and how the company turns to
outside help.
"Though we built the core func-
tions internally, outsourcing gives
us access to expertise and financial
flexibility. We have used consultants
in commercialization, formulation,
toxicology, recruitment, accounting,
as well as outsourced some chemistry
efforts. We believe smart outsourcing
is critical to the flexibility and speed
required in building a business, but
you must understand that you can
only extract from consultants what you
are able to absorb, so you are always
learning new things, trying to stay
ahead so your programs can have the
required resources."
Since its founding in 1998, PTC
Therapeutics has gained notice for its
extraordinary growth. It now has 97
employees and a full complement of
functions and departments, all assembled
in those seven years. It won the Early
Stage Company of the Year award from
the State of New Jersey in 2004. It has
also made and published additional sci-
entific discoveries since its founding
4.
M
ANY
H
ATS
In due respect of corporate tradition,
everyone in PTC's management has a
title. But also in keeping with the com-
pany's size, everyone carries more than
a single responsibility limited to the
position. Though PTC has expanded
into a total of 41,000 square feet, its
growing formality has not yet con-
tained the people in silos, and perhaps
it never will. Not these people.
Peltz and the others believe the
science that drives the company also
demands the integration of all its dis-
ciplines. "You can't be just chemistry
driven or biology driven; you must be
data driven," he says. "If you bring the
right people in who are data driven,
you get to where you need to go as a
team. You have to get people who buy
in to that approach."
Ju observes that no other condi-
tion has existed at PTC since it began.
"The other thing that happens is that
you mix people up by bringing them
together in one space," he says, "We're
small enough. In the early days, the
such as personal style, motivation, risk toler-
ance, drive, grace, and potential. I learned to
listen to my instincts, I learned that a resume
cannot summarize a person, and I learned
that the greatest people you meet are often
the most generous with their knowledge.
In 2000, PTC Therapeutics hired
LedbetterStevens to find a head of chemistry,
and I was assigned the project because I had
recently conducted similar efforts. Stu [CEO
Stuart Peltz] was not the type of scientific
founder who always seem to stroll in from
a lobbying trip to Sweden, all covered in ivy
and making groundbreaking scientific prom-
ises. But he was definitely onto something.
Within two months we had six finalists, all
excellent chemists. I watched Stu go through
the scientific due-diligence with these candi-
dates, and he was always understated and
solid. Every other week someone came in
trying to engage us on a project for a new
company with the "cure" for something, or
just "the tool" that was missing all these
years to speed up drug discovery. I am not
a scientist, but I am a very practical person.
I would pay attention closely but still did
not see how identifying a gene would give
us a new drug. Even science-groupies get
skeptical after a while, but mostly I was tired
of hearing all these new companies make
big claims about things they had never
done. Stu did not sound like everyone else.
Because Stu was a first-time CEO, we pre-
pared a comparison document to help him
with his decision, contrasting candidates in
detail. I had not yet sent it to him when he
called me and said he was sure "Neil is the
right guy." This was our recommendation
to him, based not just on experience, but
on fit. We had watched CEOs and boards
make decisions--sometimes well, some-
times not as well. This was Stu's first execu-
tive search, and not only did he know the
answer, but he knew to trust his instincts.
Shortly after we wrapped up the chemistry
search, Stu called and said he needed some
help on the business side. Although I had just
accepted a job with a large pharmaceutical
company , the conversation with Stu got me
thinking. I thought I could help him figure
out what or who he needed, and I could help
him get the person/department/function.
Meanwhile I did my homework on PTC. The
positive response from highly sought-after
chemists was a good tip. Stu was focusing
on addressing biological systems where he
was an expert, but he wanted to do that
through chemistry, the old-fashioned way.
He had a theory of a new way to search for
drugs, different from anything I had heard
before. I thought it was brilliant. Stu had
a solid business concept, strong investors;
the science was innovative yet pragmatic.
Bye-bye to safe job at pharma company,
bye-bye to New York City--I signed on the
dotted line without a job title or descrip-
tion. The next thing I knew I was working
out of a sofa at UMDNJ (he was already
sharing his desk with someone else), while
we waited for our site to be ready. But I had
a feeling, just a clear and strong feeling
that this was special. Something clicked.
So off we went to build our company.
The most challenging aspect of the PTC expe-
rience has been that our pipeline is so broad.
In a regular day, we discuss cystic fibrosis,
muscular dystrophy, multiple types of cancer,
and hepatitis C. Each project is treated as the
only project, and the decision to pursue or
not pursue something is made collectively,
balancing risk and opportunity, informa-
tion and innovation. We have to make
hard decisions, but the balance between
enough and too much has to be assessed
daily. Measured, planned, justified; each day
is expensive, it has to be put to good use.
Within business development, investor
relations, and public relations, we manage
our relationships with other companies,
investors, potential investors, the overall
finance and life-sciences communities,
patients and their families, patient and
professional advocacy groups, the media,
key opinion leaders, investigators, academic
collaborators--the list goes on and on.
It's been five years, and I've had the
chance to contribute to something that
has a life of its own. I always say that it is a
marathon of sprints, but somehow, every
time I have a particularly hard day I think
about the potential impact of what we
are doing. Though I am a very impatient
and skeptical person, on a daily basis I
think about the impact we are having:
creating jobs, challenging science, dem-
onstrating ethics. And once in a while, I
think about the dream of treating diseases
in ways that currently do not exist, and I
hold my breath with confidence and hope,
because I know how a dream is built.
Continued
