Business developer Life Sciences IXA

As a Business Developer within IXA, you are the important link in the innovation process of developing new diagnostics and treatments for patients. Through intensive contact with researchers, you identify new inventions at an early stage and develop a plan to bring this knowledge to the market. You are a connector between researchers, companies and investors in order to develop the best route to the market. In addition, you will also proactively convert research questions from external partners into collaboration opportunities with researchers. You will attend relevant conferences in the field of matchmaking and specific medical indications and maintain a network with investors and external companies, in particular pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical technology companies. The main goal is to make optimal use of our knowledge from scientific research and to work together towards improved patient care.

Your main responsibilities are:

• Developing a good relationship with various researchers assigned to you in order to optimally support them in valorizing their research and proactively approaching companies for collaborations and licenses in consultation with them.
• Acting as the primary point of contact for external partners, from the first contact, in order to arrive at new research collaborations through building relationships, drafting proposals and negotiating the cooperation agreements.
• Assessing inventions on their commercial value.
• Coaching and supporting entrepreneurial researchers in the first phase of entrepreneurship.
• Negotiating licenses and cooperation contracts with spin-offs and existing companies.
• Proactively looking for possible cooperation partners through market research and partnering conferences.
• Aligning research questions from external parties with the capacity and expertise of internal research groups.
• Collaborate with researchers and financial and legal teams within Research Support to arrive at a budget, timelines and a collaboration agreement that is in line with the costs and intellectual property contributions from the Amsterdam UMC. 

• An education at an academic level (MSc).
• A sales and goal-oriented attitude together with the matching communication skills, where proven commercial experience in the private sector is seen as an advantage.
• Other advantages are:
  • experience in pharmaceutical, (bio)medical technology environment;
  • an MBA and/or business development experience;
  • experience in setting up startups as well as experience within venture capital firms;
  • a PhD on a life sciences related subject;
  • an existing network of contacts at life science companies.
• Knowledge of and curiosity about a broad domain of different indications in the hospital
• Affinity with financial and legal terms.
• Compassion for patients, translated into passion for creating collaborations that advance scientific research and clinical care.
• Insight into drug development.
• Excellent communication in written and spoken English and preferably also Dutch, with a minimum requirement  to understand written text and follow (work) meetings in Dutch.

This position requires you to have a broad understanding of commercial activities in relation to science, the current landscape in pharmaceutical clinical trials, investment opportunities for spin-offs and commercialized drugs, biomarkers, diagnostics and devices, as well as an understanding of research agreement contracts, patent strategy and clinical development strategies. In addition to explicit knowledge of the life science industry, this position requires a good mix of business intuition and strategic insights combined with a drive to develop new business.