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Interview with Ryo Kubota, CEO, Acucela Inc.
By Sterling-Hoffman Life Sciences Journal
Ryo Kubota discovered the gene for glaucoma and a method
to keep nerve cells alive in vitro. A respected scientist, his
current role is as CEO of Acucela, a biotech company that aims
to develop a pill for the ‘dry’ form of macular degeneration.
The Sterling-Hoffman Life Sciences Journal talks to Ryo about
Acucela’s trailblazing research and the challenges of conducting
clinical research.
Sterling-Hoffman Life Sciences Journal (SHLSJ): Who were
your role models when you joined the industry? Why?
Ryo Kubota (RK): I can't narrow it down to just one. I've
met with many businesspeople to learn a variety of philosophies
on what it takes to build a successful business. I believe in
myself and my team and think we are on the right track to
building a successful company.
SHLSJ: What would you be doing if you weren't working in the
life sciences industry?
RK: I would be probably still be practicing ophthalmology.
SHLSJ: Can you share one or two of your company's most exciting
successes?
RK: We were able to come up with an orally delivered AMD drug
from our internal research, which we hope will ultimately help
many patients suffering from this blinding eye disease.
SHLSJ: What changes have you noticed in yourself from when you
joined the company to today?
RK: I've become much more goal-oriented and more focused
compared to how I was when I was doing academic research.
SHLSJ: In your opinion, what are the most significant
developments in the bio-pharmaceutical industry in the last five
years?
RK: RNA-related science and stem cell research.
SHLSJ: What are some of the key challenges that still need to be
overcome when conducting clinical trials?
RK: To come up with the best clinical trial design that will
enable successful clinical trials with unequivocal results.
SHLSJ: What was the biggest challenge Acucela faced during 2007?
RK: Selecting a clinical candidate molecule and conducting IND
enabling pre-clinical studies that prepared us for the clinical
trial that we recently initiated for age-related macular
degeneration.
SHLSJ: Acucela is focused on developing therapies for blinding
eye diseases. What are some of the more exciting and ground
breaking therapies Acucela has developed (or is in the process
of developing)?
RK: A truly ground breaking therapy that we are developing is
the first in class visual cycle modulator for AMD that can be
delivered orally and does not require ocular injection.
SHLSJ: What does Acucela do to make sure they stay ahead of
their competitors?
RK: We have a good strategic clinical development plan, strong
IP strategy and we run very fast.
SHLSJ: How do you want to position the company in the next 5
years?
RK: We are building an ophthalmology specialty pharmaceutical
company that will have sales and marketing capabilities.
SHLSJ: What do you look for in an executive team?
RK: We are building a very hard working, dedicated and adaptable
team.
SHLSJ: What kind of people can make the best CEOs in this
industry?
RK: CEOs need to have good vision, leadership, flexibility and
willingness to continue to learn. I believe they need to always
think outside the box and be creative, but also have great
attention to detail and a strong understanding of the regulatory
environment in order to meet regulatory requirements.
SHLSJ: In your opinion, what is the value of education in
today's generation as compared to yours?
RK: Many people of the younger generation have education in
multi disciplines, like IT and Biology. We are accumulating much
more knowledge in drug development than we can manage.
SHLSJ: How would you like to be remembered?
RK: I would like to be remembered as a person who developed a
drug (or drugs) that cured blinding diseases and dramatically
reduced blindness from the world.
Dr. Ryo Kubota is president and chief executive officer of
Acucela Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company established
in 2002 which is focused on developing therapies for blinding
eye diseases. Dr. Kubota is a world-renowned ophthalmologist
having performed over 1,000 eye surgeries, including surgeries
on Japanese government officials and other high-profile
individuals. With the goal of having a global impact on treating
devastating eye diseases, Dr. Kubota focused his career on doing
extensive ocular research at Keio University, the oldest and
most prestigious university in Japan, and in so doing,
discovered the glaucoma gene, myocilin. Dr. Kubota received his
medical degree in ophthalmology from the esteemed Keio
University in Japan, and then spent five years practicing
general ophthalmology at Keio Hospital. Following that, Dr.
Kubota spent three years doing a retinal fellowship at Toranomon
Hospital and returned back to Keio Hospital for two years prior
to becoming an assistant professor at the University of
Washington. He then founded Acucela based on the technologies
that were licensed from the UW. Helping patients by performing
ocular surgeries and treatments for their retinal diseases was
fulfilling for Dr. Kubota, but he is driven to have an impact on
a global scale where he hopes to help millions of people by
developing novel and safe therapies for patients with multiple
blinding eye diseases.
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