MOHAMEDI (MO) KAGALWALA, Ph.D.
Cell: 858-***-**** ***********@*****.*** http://www.linkedin.com/in/mohamedikagalwala/ SCIENTIST, ENTREPRENEUR, & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL Life Sciences PhD MBA with over 15 years of experience working in pharmaceuticals/biotechnology companies, and global non-profit R&D in Scientific R&D, Corporate and Business Development. MBA in Marketing and Finance to apply my skillset into Business/Corporate Development role. CORE COMPETENCIES
• Business Development
• Collaboration/Partnering
• Negotiations/Licensing
• Term sheets/Contracts
• Drug Discovery
• Market Research/SWOT
• Competitive Intelligence
• Finance/Valuation
• R&D Operations
• Team Leadership
• Cross-functional Teamwork
• Communication Skills
EDUCATION
MBA, Rady School of Management, University of California, San Diego 2013-2015
• Fosters Rady Fellowship
• Rady Innovation Fellow
Specialization: Marketing and Finance
PhD, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Southern Illinois University- Carbondale (IL) 2005
• Graduate Research Fellowship
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
CSO, Siragen Pharmaceuticals Inc. San Diego, CA 2014-present Siragen is in early stage pre-clinical development with Sira-9, a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Business Development
• Developed business plan, attended investor showcases, successfully raised private equity investment
• Experience in product and portfolio management, developed business case (finance/valuation of assets/technology for in- and out-license), IP strategy
• Lead the preparation, structuring, negotiation and execution of agreements and partnerships
(Academic Institutions, Contract Research Organizations, and Pharmaceuticals),
• Performed market research to explore opportunity/current trends, SWOT analysis, competitor profile, financial forecasting, and market size
• Partnered with various internal and external stakeholders in preparing and execution of transactions
• Structuring, drafting and executing agreements in alignment with the legal and patent counsel to prepare and execute on agreements such as non-disclosure agreements, term sheets, option-, licensing -, R&D- and collaboration agreements, etc.
• Lead and manage strategic initiatives with academia, biotech, and pharma partners, to build long term growth
• Communicate and deliver presentations to leadership summarizing scientific, strategic, financial and market information.
R&D Operations
• Led Drug Discovery Program with high capital efficiency - validated target, hit screening, in vitro and in vivo safety and efficacy studies, medicinal chemistry, SAR studies, hit to lead optimization
• Proven track record in designing, planning and executing scientific experiments, able to independently analyze, interpret scientific data and suggest new strategy and direction for the company
• Managed R&D programs from concept through late stage pre-clinical and advance product portfolio
• Highly knowledgeable about cell biology and biochemical assays, in vitro and in vivo pre-clinical study
• Prepared and managed multiple large (2M$) NIH, ACS grants and fellowships, SBIR/STTR grants
• At least 7 years of experience in managing budgets, timelines & deliverables CSO/Senior Scientist, Neurogeneration Inc., San Diego, CA 2012-2014 NeuroGeneration is a clinical stage biotherapeutics company that develops new treatments and products
• Led the patient derived cell therapy program for Parkinson’s Disease, developed patient iPSc models
• Managed all collaborations, internal and external, technology transfer to execute various R&D projects
• Raised capital funding, Respond to RFPs for SBIR/STTR and funding from foundations Post-Doctoral Fellow (Prof. Fred Gage’s Lab), Salk Institute, San Diego, CA 2007-2012 A premier independent scientific research institute that consistently stands among the top institutes in US
• Team leader of 5 interdisciplinary members that initiated, led and managed a project to identify novel targets affecting neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s
• Collaborated with external and internal cross-functional teams for project management
• Successfully applied for multi-million-dollar grants from NIH as part of a team, published papers BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT / START UP PROJECTS
Director, Business Development, Precision Prognostics, San Diego, CA
• Developed business plan (key partners, activities, resources, value proposition), identified market size and competition, conducted customer and market research, product positioning, developed go to market strategy: roadmap, customer relationships, channels, customer segments, pricing and revenue Business Development Intern, Von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center, UCSD San Diego, CA
• Evaluated technologies and inventions for scientific merit, commercial potential and risks
• Performed due diligence and reports (market research, competitive analysis) and recommended technologies from UCSD and Korea for patent and/or commercial potential
• Evaluated UCSD patent portfolio, startup companies and recommended strategies for licensing Analyst, San Diego Tech Coast Angels (TCA), San Diego, CA TCA is one of the nation’s largest Angel investing networks, with over 300 members
• Performed due-diligence, patents, market, competitive landscape, valuation, financial forecast & business plan
Analyst, Rady Venture Fund, (Skylit, Curemetrix, Nanomedical Diagnostics, Mobile ODT, Hush, Naloo)
• Performed overall due-diligence and market size analysis including competitive intelligence gathering to analyze market segment, market opportunity, product positioning, and financial forecasting. MANAGEMENT
Project management and Team management
• Successfully launched and led a biotech start up and set up business operations in JLABS incubator
• Planned research projects from conception, provided project leadership and led a research team in small molecule drug discovery from target identification to lead optimization
• Mentored graduate students, technicians and scientists both in academia and industry Publications
• High impact publications in Nature, J. Neuroscience, EMBO J, Mol. Cell, PLOS One, MCB LEADERSHIP AND INTERESTS
• Member - CONNECT 2012 - present
• Member – SDEE 2012 - present
• BIO 2012 - present
PUBLICATIONS AND BOOK CHAPTERS
Hyung Joon Kim, Ahmet M. Denli, Rebecca Wright, Tithi D. Baul, Gregory D. Clemenson, Ari S. Morcos, Chunmei Zhao, Simon T. Schafer, Fred H. Gage, Mohamedi N. Kagalwala. REST Regulates Non–Cell-Autonomous Neuronal Differentiation and Maturation of Neural Progenitor Cells via Secretogranin II J Neurosci. 2015 Sanjay K. Singh, Bethany L. Veo, Mohamedi N. Kagalwala, Weiwei Shi, Shoudan Liang, Sadhan Majumder. Dynamic Status of REST in the Mouse ESC Pluripotency Network. PLoS One. 2012 Kuwabara, T., Kagalwala, M.N., Warashina, M., Sanosaka, T., Nakashima, K., Gage,F.H., Asashima, M. Insulin biosynthesis in newborn neurons in adult hippocampus. EMBO Mol Med. 2011 Oct 10. Kagalwala, M.N., Denli A., Morcos A., Baul T., Zhao C.Z., Clemonson G.D., and Gage, F.H. REST regulates neurogenesis and dendritic spine development in the adult hippocampus. Adult Neurogenesis meeting abstract book, January 2011:81 Gangaraju,V.K., Prasad, P.,Srour A.,Kagalwala M.N. and Bartholmew B. Conformational Changes Associated with Template Commitment in ATP-Dependent Chromatin Remodeling by ISW2. Mol.Cell. 2009 July10;35(1):58-70 Singh, S.K.,Kagalwala, M.N. and Majumder, S. MicroRNAs in Stem Cells and Cancer Stem Cells. 2009 (Book chapter) Stem cells and Cancer. Springer Publication
Kagalwala M.N., Singh SK, Majumder S. Stemness is only a state of the cell. (Book chapter) Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 2008;73:227-34.
Singh, S.K. #, Kagalwala, MN#, Parker-Thornburg J, Adams H and Majumder, S. #Equal contribution REST maintains self- renewal and pluripotency of embryonic stem cells Nature. 2008 May 8;453(7192):223-7 F1000 Factor 8.0 Dang, W., Kagalwala, M. N. and Bartholomew, B. Role of histone fold subunits of yeast ISW2 in nucleosome binding and mobilization. J Biol Chem. 2007 Jul 6;282(27):19418-25 Dang, W#, Kagalwala, MN#, and Bartholomew B. Regulation of ISW2 by concerted action of histone H4 tail and extranucleosomal DNA. Mol Cell Biol. 2006 Oct; 26(20):7388-96. #Equal contribution Kagalwala, M. N.; Glaus, B. J.; Dang, W.; Zofall, M. and Bartholomew, B. Topography of ISW2-Nucleosome Complex: Insights into nucleosome spacing and chromatin remodeling. EMBO J. 2004 May 19; 23(10): 2092-104. Accompanying Research notes in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology
Kagalwala, M. N., Glaus, B.J., Dang, W., and Bartholomew, B. ISW2 interaction with the linker DNA dictates the direction and extent of nucleosome sliding and spacing. 22nd Summer symposium in molecular biology at Penn State abstract book. 2003 August: 189.
Kagalwala, M.N., Glaus, B.J., and Bartholomew, B. Affinity of ISW2-Nucleosome interaction varies with Linker DNA length: Implications in nucleosome sliding and spacing. The enzymology of chromatin and transcription abstract book. 2003 March 10:73 Kagalwala, M.N., Glaus, B.J., Zofall, M., and Bartholomew, B. yISW2: Mechanism of directional nucleosome mobilization. Chromatin structure and activity symposium abstract book. 2002 Jan 26:61