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K&P Scientific LLC |
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June 5, 2017 Issue |
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CEOCFO MAGAZINE |
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Neuroscience, Ophthalmology, Drug Discovery and Imaging Modalities Consultants providing their Expertise to Academics, Biotechs and Pharmaceuticals |
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Chief Executive Officer
K&P Scientific LLC
Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFO Magazine, Published – June 5, 2017
CEOCFO: Dr. Kaja, what is the concept behind K&P Scientific? Dr. Kaja: We are a small, independently owned consulting firm that provides our expertise in the fields of neuroscience, ophthalmology, drug discovery and imaging modalities. Our client spectrum ranges anywhere from academic researchers to small biotech firms and big pharma.
CEOCFO: What are they turning to you to provide? Dr. Kaja: It can be a rather broad range. Sometimes it is a biotech company, which already has a successful proprietary compound on the path to clinic, but wishing to explore the efficacy of the compound in other disease indications and is seeking outside consulting due to limited in house expertise. At the same time, we have academic clients who have funds to start a spin off company for a drug candidate and are therefore seeking a service provider that can help with either the experimental design or the target indication or for performing experiments.
CEOCFO: What does K&P understand on a basic level that allows you to provide a superior service? Dr. Kaja: The firm is currently owned by myself and our president Dr. Andrew J. Payne, Ph.D. We both have a very strong academic track record in neuroscience, neuropharmacology and vision research. Our academic expertise combined with many years of experience in the industry, has given us the advantage of leveraging on our network contacts as freelance consultants. We work together with these freelance consultants that are experts in their respected fields to provide the latest state of the art and superior service that our clients expect from us.
CEOCFO: How do you stay on top of all the new research and ideas? Dr. Kaja: That is always through a combination of data sources. Besides utilizing online media, news releases and subscription based services, a lot of that is done through fostering personal contacts, for example at international conferences with topics ranging from basic and translational research to regulatory requirements. Networking conferences, which bring together the key players from biotech, pharma, contract research organizations and consulting agencies provide a discussion forum on how to move new drugs to the clinic, which is our stated goal: to assist our clients in transforming an idea into something that can ultimately benefit a patient.
CEOCFO: How do you help a client evaluate what they have? Dr. Kaja: It always starts with intellectual property. We often notice that many scientists, especially from academia, might not be aware as to what the potential or the obstacles are when facing IP. Therefore, intellectual property considerations must often be addressed first. Unfortunately, for most indications, if there is no tangible intellectual property, it will be very hard in the future to find an investor or a licensing partner to take up a technology and continue on with the development. When we are confident that the client has the intellectual property, we typically move forward with planning the next phases of preclinical development. Overall, our assessment relies on our expertise in multiple disease areas and, if necessary, external consultants who allow us to extend our research into disease areas as diverse as oncology, inflammation in addition to our core expertise in neuroscience and ophthalmology.
Dr. Kaja: I am really excited about improvements in preclinical model development. While it is often overlooked, animal models are still the foundation of most preclinical research. As we understand more and more about diseases and are seeing results of new drugs from the clinic, we have to continuously ask ourselves if the models we are using to test a drug candidate are actually suitable for predict clinical outcomes or if we need to improve on our models. There are many diseases for which we are still searching for better models. One example is diabetic retinopathy, the ocular complications associated with diabetes. As a result of longer life span and an increase in obesity and high fat diets, we see these ocular complications more and more. Over the last couple of years, I have seen a new momentum to tackle this challenge and I am very excited about the results.
Dr. Kaja: No, not really. Neuroscience and ophthalmology are the core areas of our business, while consulting on imaging modalities and the editorial services we provide serve more as add-ons for existing clients. We are very proud of our expertise and hands on experience with a broad range of state-of-the-art imaging modalities and we can provide both an in depth analysis of previously obtained findings and help with devising an experimental design and identifying the right imaging modality and methodology. The smallest proportion of our services is manuscript and grant editing. Although it is not the primary focus of our business, I think our clients appreciate our expertise. Partnering with professional editors and consultants helps our clients either publish their data or generate internal reports. Therefore, our clients entrust us with assuring the scientific soundness of the results or presentations they share with potential investor, their client and the public.
CEOCFO: What is next for K&P Scientific? Dr. Kaja: We are always trying to expand the disease indications for which we provide a superior service to our clients. Our business strategy is really focused on developing long term relationships with our clients and we have seen continuous growth over the last few years. The biggest reward for any of us here at K&P Scientific is to see a satisfied client return to us - whether it being after a few months or after a few years. Such continuous collaboration pushes us to grow together with our clients and for K&P Scientific to continue being a trusted partner for our clients to rely on. At K&P Scientific, we are inspired by our clients and by growing and advancing together, we are able to stay at the top of biomedical and technological development, so that we can aid our clients in transforming the full potential of their ideas into tangible results. |
“We aid our clients in transforming the full potential of their ideas into tangible results.”- Simon Kaja, Ph.D.
K&P Scientific LLC
Contact: Simon Kaja +1 (866) 345-5113
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Life Sciences Consulting, K&P Scientific LLC, Preclinical Consultants, Simon Kaja, Ph.D., Neuroscience, Ophthalmology, Drug Discovery and Imaging Modalities Consultants providing their Expertise to Academics, Biotechs and Pharmaceuticals, CEO Interviews 2017, Healthcare Companies, Neuroscience, Ophthalmology, Imaging modalities, Drug discovery, Chicagoland, Chicago, Preclinical Development, Pharmaceutical Industry, Consultant, KOL, K&P Scientific LLC Press Releases, News |
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Simon
Kaja, Ph.D.