Lipitor is the single best-selling drug in pharmaceutical history, and Donald Black, the man who shepherded Pfizer’s product through clinical trial towards its approval in 1996, will speak at Rutgers Entrepreneurship Day Wednesday, October 16, on the New Brunswick campus. The event, “Collaborative Innovation: Progress Through Partnerships,” will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. While it is free, pre-registration is required through the event website at vpr.rutgers.edu.
A panel discussion with experts on funding technology, a presentation on the National Science Foundation’s transformative commercialization program, “speed networking” for entrepreneurs, and Black’s keynote event are highlights of the address.
Christopher Molloy, interim chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, will speak. Molloy will become Rutgers’ senior vice president for research and economic development in December.
Entrepreneurship Day is intended for entrepreneurs, corporate executives, investors, faculty members, university students, and Rutgers alumni. The founder is Richard Mammone, Rutgers professor of business and engineering and associate vice president of new ventures. Mammone, who holds more than 20 U.S. patents, is an entrepreneur with several start-up companies based on his inventions ranging from medical devices to speech-recognition systems and explosive-detection devices used in airports.
Apple co-founder Steven Wozniak and Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun MicroSystems, are among previous keynote speakers at the event. Black, this year’s keynoter, is now president of Trialynx Inc. Black has held senior positions at GE Healthcare, Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert, and Merck.
“Dr. Black will share with us his experience in drug development, with the associated challenges and pitfalls faced by people in the industry, which are relevant to many business initiatives,” Mammone said.
