The Biotech Startups Podcast
🧬 Doug Drysdale - Cybin - Part 2 | Deals Only Get Done in Person | Learning Financing Through a Company’s Hardship | Bureaucracy in the Workplace | How to Educate Yourself to Determine Good Licensing Deals
August 29, 2024
Part 2 of 4. My guest for this week’s episode is Doug Drysdale, CEO at Cybin. Cybin is a clinical-stage biopharma company on a mission to create safe and effective psychedelic-based therapeutics. Their goal is to address the large unmet need for new and innovative treatment options for people who suffer from mental health conditions. Doug is an experienced investor, Corporate Director, and CEO, who has chaired the Board of a NASDAQ-listed company and, as a CEO for the past 12 years, has built and turned around 3 pharma companies. During Doug’s 30+ years of experience in the healthcare sector, he has formed cohesive management teams, recruited board members, completed 16 corporate acquisitions across three continents, and raised and invested around $4 billion of public and private capital.
Part 2 of 4. 

My guest for this week’s episode is Doug Drysdale, CEO at Cybin. Cybin is a clinical-stage biopharma company on a mission to create safe and effective psychedelic-based therapeutics. Their goal is to address the large unmet need for new and innovative treatment options for people who suffer from mental health conditions. Doug is an experienced investor, Corporate Director, and CEO, who has chaired the Board of a NASDAQ-listed company and, as a CEO for the past 12 years, has built and turned around 3 pharma companies. During Doug’s 30+ years of experience in the healthcare sector, he has formed cohesive management teams, recruited board members, completed 16 corporate acquisitions across three continents, and raised and invested around $4 billion of public and private capital. 

Before Cybin, Doug was Commercial Products Manager at DuPont Merck, Director of BD at Elan, VP of M&A at Actavis Group, CEO of Norwich Pharmaceuticals and Alvogen, CEO of Pernix Therapeutics, and CEO of Tedor Pharma. Doug’s extensive background as a seasoned executive, investor, and turn-around specialist gives him a wide range of experiences that founders can learn from.

Join us this week and hear about:

Please enjoy my conversation with Doug Drysdale.

Timestamps:
00:28 Intro
01:48 Episode starts, Doug defines business development and how a scientist can break into BD
04:21 Global vs. Regional BD, Immersing in travels 3 months at a time, Moving to the US
08:09 Memorable deals at Elan, getting a crash course in financing while going through a layoff period
14:34 Determining when to move on from Elan and start Alkensa
18:33 Next journey after Alkensa to Forest Laboratories, Doug's first experience of bureaucracy in the workplace
22:31 Moving from big pharma to generics at Alpharma, becoming head of M&A
27:28 Doug's advice on identifying what you want to license and what makes for a good licensing deal, fundraising types at Alpharma
29:15 Sell side vs. acquisition side
30:23 Outro

Find Our Guest, Doug Drysdale, at these links: 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougdrysdale/
https://cybin.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links: 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com

Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/ 
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr 
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr 
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/ 

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:
How to Fund an R&D Startup: First Steps a Founder Can Take https://www.excedr.com/resources/rd-startup-funding-first-steps
Biotech Funding for Startups: What Are Your Options? https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-startup-funding-options
Finance https://www.excedr.com/category/finance
Equipment Leasing vs. Financing: What's the Difference? https://www.excedr.com/blog/equipment-leasing-vs-financing
Top VC Firms for Biotech in 2024: Supporting Innovation & Growth https://www.excedr.com/blog/top-vc-firms-for-biotech
How VC-Backed Startups Win When They Lease https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-vc-backed-startups-win-when-they-lease
VC Term Sheets: Definition, Key Components & More https://www.excedr.com/resources/venture-capital-term-sheets
What Is Series A, B, & C Funding? Series Funding Explained https://www.excedr.com/resources/series-funding-explained

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