Shop Talk: Q&A With Noah Beerman, RXi Pharmaceuticals
Photo/Christina H. Davis
Noah Beerman, President and CEO, RXi Pharmaceuticals
Worcester-based RXi Pharmaceuticals has a rather impressive pedigree. It was co-founded in 2007 by Nobel Prize Winner Craig Mello and its goal is to help commercialize ground- breaking research into an area of microbiology called RNAi. RXi recently brought on Noah Beerman, former chief business officer of Indevus Pharmaceuticals (a Lexington biotech that was acquired for $370 million in 2009), to help lead the 30-person company during a pivotal transition period. Here, Beerman talks about that transition as well as his take on how to lead a good meeting.
>> What was it about this company that made it an attractive opportunity for you?
What I found very attractive was that the pieces of the pie were here, they just needed to be pulled together in a meaningful way to get the company to the next level. RXi is a 3-year-old company. There’s a lot of potential, but they needed some direction. I’ve been here for five and a half months now and we’re making a lot of progress. We’ve been able to articulate very clear goals and we’re starting to evolve the message from being purely about our technology to include the business strategy, as well.
>> What’s the size of the operation and what type of people are on staff? Are they mostly researchers?
We have about 30 people here in Worcester. There’s the business office and senior management. But the bulk of the company, about 20 people, is on the research and development side. We’re looking at a growth plan right now. We did a recent financing that gives us some additional resources that will allow us to get to the next level. One of the things that I see is that this year, 2010, is the transformational year for the company. We ended last year as a research house and I’d like to end this year as a therapeutically-oriented biotechnology company.
>> It sounds like an exciting time.
We’re putting the pieces together. We have the benefit and the challenge of being in an area that gets press. RNAi is a revolutionary area in medical development. It’s an area that’s high science and it’s interesting when developments happen. It’s got a lot of challenges, though. No one has come up with all the solutions yet, which is an opportunity for us. The bottom line is that people are interested in what we’re doing. But, they can sometimes be very critical of what we’re doing, as well.
>> Is there a difference between running a business and running a life sciences business?
One of the things that people forget about in biotech, despite the importance of the technology, is that it is still about the people — and that’s fundamental. In other industries where they are not so technology- centric, you realize that it’s really important to have good management and smart people that are aggressive and work together. In biotech, people sometimes throw up their hands and say, ‘Well, it’s the science.’ And yes, it is, but what I tell people is that you can have really good science and still not go anywhere. It is about the people and the leadership.
>> What’s the toughest lesson you’ve had to learn as a manager?
I’ll give you two. The first one, which was something that I felt was an area that I could improve upon, was delegating and empowering. Early in my career, I tended to want to stay very close to things, but as complexities of life and responsibilities become broader you have to recognize that it’s important to empower people. The one other lesson that I would mention is a skill that all teams should strive to get to, which is the understanding that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The idea is that by the end of the meeting you can honestly say that the team got to a place where it could not have gotten to had everyone not been actively participating.
>> Are there things that you’ve learned that help you make meetings more valuable?
First of all, everybody has to realize that [collaboration] is the goal of the meeting. They should be thinking about the big picture of the meeting and stretching themselves a little bit. The way you get there is by understanding what other people are thinking. If you go into the meeting and everyone’s living in their own silos, then you’re not going to get there.
WEB ONLY>> You started out as a microbiologist. How did you make the transition to business?
In the 90s, I realized that if I wanted to truly be a lead scientist in biotechnology, I'd probably have to go and get a Ph.D. I decided I didn't want to go that route and I contemplated going a couple of other routes, including getting a law degree. I thought long and hard and I decided to go back and get a business degree.
WEB ONLY>> How much of an impact has overall economic forces had on a company like RXi?
We've actually done very well. There are a couple of things to consider for a company in our position. We have to make sure we have enough financing. In 2008 and 2009 it was harder to raise money, so in some respects it was helpful to be a public company then, because there were more options as a public company to raising money. We have to make sure that we manage our burn rate, which we do. We're kind of a lean and mean company. We have to make sure that we think about what's really going to build value. In some respects, the tighter economy means you have to make better decisions. In our particular sector, I think companies in general have done okay.
WEB ONLY>> Craig Mello, a Nobel Prize winner, is a co-founder and member of your scientific advisory board. How much of a benefit is his involvement with the company?
It is a benefit, and it's not just his name. He is actively involved in the company and committed to RNAi research. I see him frequently. In fact, he was in here this week for an update meeting. He's very accessible to us.
WEB ONLY: Find out what Beerman likes most about his job in this exclusive video clip:
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments