Director, External Innovation, China

AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas – immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and eye care – and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. 

AbbVie’s Search & Evaluation group is responsible for sourcing external innovation from the global innovation ecosystem, to supplement the on-market portfolio and innovative R&D pipeline with strategically-aligned assets. The main focus for the Director, External Innovation, China, will be the sourcing of innovative assets and platforms supporting AbbVie’s ambitions on the global stage in the areas of Immunology, Oncology, Neurosciences (including migraine, psychiatry, movement disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases), and Eye Care. The S&E group leads the scientific/technical assessment of partnering opportunities and coordinates all scientific/technical due diligence. The S&E group works in close collaboration with AbbVie’s Business Development & Acquisitions team and Transactions Legal. The scope of activities encompasses all types of assets (platforms, individual drug candidates, pipelines, and acquisition targets), all types of transactions (licenses, option agreements, R&D collaborations, acquisitions), and all stages in development (discovery- to commercial-stage).

Responsibilities:

•Lead the China External Innovation team

•Proactively search for, identify, and evaluate potential partnering opportunities from biopharma companies, academic institutions, other non-profit research institutes, and life science venture capital investors in China.

•Support the scientific/technical assessment of partnering opportunities, in close dialogue with the S&E Therapeutic Area leads from the Global team, BD&A colleagues, as well as subject matter experts from R&D and other functional areas. This includes (1) managing interactions with external parties, (2) project management in the context of the assessment and deal process, (3) overseeing and actively contributing to the scientific/technical as well as overall evaluation process, (4) developing recommendations and proposals for senior management and governance committees.

•Coordinate or contribute to the conduct and completion of all scientific/technical due diligence activities, including the preparation and presentation of due diligence reports and management presentations.

•Track and communicate the status of active assessments and deal processes, including (1) information of key internal stakeholders on a timely basis (2) delivery of oral and written progress updates for executive-level audiences, and (3) timely capturing of interactions, events, correspondence and information materials in AbbVie’s information management systems.

•Network with existing and potential future partners from the innovation ecosystem in China, to ensure awareness of AbbVie’s strategic priorities for partnering and key capabilities as a partner to entities from China, BD objectives.

•Lead or contribute to affiliate-level or global initiatives that foster the dialogue with potential partners from China, such as AbbVie-branded partnering days, local and regional partnering events.

•Collaborate as needed with AbbVie Ventures, for the sourcing and scientific/technical assessment of equity investment opportunities. 

•Contribute towards the negotiation of non-binding term sheets and definitive agreements, including coordination and integration of all scientific/technical inputs (e.g., R&D work plans, Clinical Development Plans, technical success criteria) into legal documents.

*Level of the role will be determined based on candidate experience level 

• Advanced scientific/medical degree (PhD, MD, PharmD, or equivalent). Minimum years of industry experience: 5+.
• Prior industry experience in R&D-related, External Innovation-focused, and/or Strategy-related roles highly preferred. MBA (or equivalent degree in a related discipline) or strategic management consulting experience is a plus.
• Strong understanding of the drug discovery, pharmaceutical drug development, regulatory, and commercialization process required.
• Prior experience as a people manager and leader of cross-functional teams; ability to foster team consensus-building and to deliver timely results.
• Strong communication skills, to effectively communicate assessments, plans, strategies and recommendations to key stakeholders across different functional domains
• Strong analytical skills to drive scientific/technical assessments and to guide high-quality, fact-based decision making
• Demonstrated ability to lead and act with an entrepreneurial mindset.

AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives, serving our community and embracing diversity and inclusion.  It is AbbVie’s policy to employ qualified persons of the greatest ability without discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy), physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, status as a protected veteran, or any other legally protected group status.

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