Stephen Freedman, PhD, and Kevin Mullane, PhD, work in Gladstone's office of corporate ventures and translation to turn groundbreaking science into practical application. [Photo: Chris Goodfellow, Gladstone Institutes]

 

At the Gladstone Institutes, the phrase Science Overcoming Disease is more than a mission statement. It is an ethos that inspires Gladstone scientists to translate their scientific discoveries from the lab to the clinic as swiftly and safely as possible. Gladstone recently took another step forward to advance this mission by welcoming Kevin Mullane, PhD, to its office of corporate ventures and translation. 

Mullane, director of corporate liaison and ventures, brings to Gladstone more than 20 years of executive experience working with biopharmaceutical companies. He specializes in visualizing projects and forming collaborations with pharmaceutical companies to provide resources that will help accelerate the discovery of cures for major unsolved diseases. 

Before joining the office of corporate ventures and translation full-time, Mullane worked as a consultant for Gladstone for four years, guiding researchers on building and maintaining internal and external partnerships. In his new role, he can more fully invest in ongoing and future projects, including BioFulcrum, Gladstone’s latest entrepreneurial enterprise. 

“Gladstone’s strategic partnerships are great examples of innovative science coupled with creating the right opportunity,” said Mullane. “These programs have developed fruitful collaborations, and I look forward to continuing to grow these efforts.”

The office of corporate ventures and translation brings together Gladstone and potential industry partners across the globe. Among these new partnerships is the recently created Cure Network Ventures, a for-profit subsidiary of Gladstone. This subsidiary formed a new enterprise as a partnership between Gladstone and Dolby Family Ventures to focus on potential therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, a partnersip that uses the drug discovery expertise of Evotec AG.

By combining resources, these partnerships enable Gladstone scientists to conduct research that exceeds the capabilities of an individual lab. They provide researchers with access to additional skills, medicinal chemistry, pharmacokinetics, and evaluations of drug-like properties, which helps them determine whether their discoveries could lead to viable drugs to treat diseases.

Mullane works with Stephen Freedman, PhD, vice president of corporate liaisons and ventures at Gladstone, to build upon existing collaborations while searching for promising new opportunities to further enrich Gladstone’s science and resources. 

“Kevin has unique expertise in identifying and developing licensing opportunities based on the great science that Gladstone conducts,” said Freedman. “I am looking forward to what we will accomplish in the future.”