Parth Chakrabarti is plotting a course for sustainable success

BRIDGE Innovation and Business Development at UMass Chan

By Jim Fessenden

Executive Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Business Development Parth Chakrabarti, MPH, MBA, credits serendipity for his arrival at UMass Chan Medical School.

“The best parts of my career have been fortuitous,” said Chakrabarti. “There’s value in planning ahead for your career, but you need to constantly keep your ears and mind open to opportunities because that’s where the real leaps in personal growth can happen.”

The son of a scientist and a public school teacher, Chakrabarti said he has come full circle as he now works with educators and researchers. With a graduate degree in medicinal chemistry, he began his career working in a lab at Amgen in California, bringing two drug candidates to clinical trial and serving as inventor on more than a dozen patents on drug discovery. While pursuing a PhD in the biomedical field, he quickly discovered he didn’t want to remain at the lab bench.

“I love science, but I was far more interested in the electric arc where creative science meets innovative business problem-solving to make sparks fly,” he explained.

After earning his MBA from the Indian School of Business, Chakrabarti worked at VentureEast Capital, the first health care-focused venture fund headquartered in India with a presence in the U.S. “Venture capital wasn’t something I was thinking about. Rather, strategy consulting or going back to big pharma is what I was contemplating, but it was hard not to be drawn to this opportunity to combine business strategy and science when it was presented to me,” explained Chakrabarti.

During the 2008 recession when investor interest in risky venture capital funding started to dry up, Chakrabarti pivoted once again and enrolled at Harvard University, where he earned a Master of Public Health with a focus on health policy and management. That was followed by high level positions in business development for Baxter International Inc., Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Sanofi Genzyme and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Now he is looking for creative ways to connect UMass Chan science with the business community.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a licensing deal or spinning out a start-up or working with an industry partner—our goal is to find new and innovative ways to leverage UMass Chan research to help solve the world’s health problems.”

In a climate where large, multinational pharmaceutical companies have reduced their research and development productivity over the years, Chakrabarti sees opportunity for UMass Chan.

“The creative ways our researchers are approaching and solving health problems are on par with any research institution or university,” he said. “The challenge is that from a pragmatic business point of view, there are patient access, financial and operational realities with which we must contend. The constraints of limited resources—across the commercial market and at UMass Chan—along with the need for commercial partners to realize returns on their investment must also be taken into account to calibrate the commercial attractiveness of an asset or technology. That is how we prioritize our efforts.”

One of the ways Chakrabarti envisions UMass Chan standing out is by proactively identifying in-house technology with high commercial potential and pursuing industry, entrepreneurs and venture capital firms with whom to collaborate.

“The game is changing, and any change must start from within,” he said. “Business development within academia can no longer afford to be reactive. We have to reach out and differentiate ourselves. What we’re doing is a blend of industry and venture capital, business development and seed funding.”

To help cultivate therapeutic assets based on UMass Chan technology, BRIDGE Innovation and Business Development aims to invest $15 million over five years on internal research projects. Project funding is linked to milestone achievements with clear objectives and detailed criteria for advancement. Additional funding is tied to successive milestones.

“These funds are one way we can bridge the gap between a UMass Chan lab and an interested partner who can help us take our inventions to the patients waiting for them. Additionally, we have a responsibility to recirculate the funds that we generate at BRIDGE to support the next generation of research,” he said.

Chakrabarti’s long-term vision for business development at UMass Chan is to ensure the Medical School’s sustained success.

“Organizationally, we want an infrastructure and venture mindset that is ingrained in the culture of the Innovation and Business Development team at UMass Chan Medical School for many exciting years ahead.” ■