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Networking Mixer and Keynote Address: Drug Discovery, Herceptin and Money

by UC Davis Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Back Jun 26, 2018 @ 5 pm

Join us for a compelling keynote address given by cancer researcher H. Michael Shepard at this special networking event on the opening night of the 2018 Biomedical + Engineering Entrepreneurship Academy.

  • 5 p.m. | Networking
  • 6 p.m. | Keynote address

This event is generously sponsored by Anpac Bio.

About H. Michael Shepard

H. Michael Shepard has an extensive background in product research and therapeutics development, and more than 25 years of experience in the biotechnology industry. He currently consults with several biopharmaceutical companies, primarily on cancer therapeutics discovery and early clinical development.

Shepard joined Genentech in 1980, participating in projects that resulted in cloning human interferons, plasminogen activators and tumor necrosis factors. Later he managed an extramural research program that brought academic know-how into the the company, and provided reagents for research that benefited both Genentech and the academic community. Shepard also initiated the first biomarker-driven drug discovery effort in biotechnology: Herceptin/trastuzumab, an antibody now used to treat breast cancer patients characterized by the overexpression of the HER2 proto-oncogene. He later shared the Warren Alpert Prize from Harvard Medical School for this breakthrough.

Shepard joined Canji in 1992, and brought the first adenovirus gene therapy into clinical trials (for ovarian cancer). He founded NewBiotics Inc., where his team invented an new class of therapeutics, called Enzyme Catalyzed Therapeutic Agents. Other programs included the first pan-HER antagonist, now being pursued by Symphogen.

As vice president and chief science officer at Halozyme Therapeutics, Shepard participated in multiple ENHANZE partnerships and drug approvals, and in recruiting collaborations with academic and pharma entities. He was scientific program leader for Halozyme’s Phase 3 candidate for pancreatic cancer.

Shepard is a founder of Receptor BioLogix, a California-based biopharmaceutical company focused on developing a newly discovered class of protein therapeutics called Intron Fusion Proteins to treat cancer, autoimmune, metabolic and other diseases.

Shepard holds a bachelor’s degree from UC Davis. He earned his Ph.D. in cellular and developmental biology and genetics at Indiana University, where he was a Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Fellow.

To register, click here.