Progen scores Alchemia fallout

Discovery biotech Progen has snapped up one of the casualties of last month's Alchemia implosion, in the form of business development manager Dr Darren Schliebs, previously employed at Alchemia's San Francisco office.

Queensland-based Progen has appointed Schliebs to the role of vice-president of business development, where he will use his US-gained experience and networks to extend the company's licensing and partnership deals across its range of selective inhibitor carbohydrate-protein compounds.

"We are really pleased to have Darren on board. We have been looking for a while for a suitable person. He is a good catch, he definitely knows his stuff," said Progen managing director Lewis Lee.

Schliebs commented that he had chosen to return to Australia and work for Progen, rather than stay in the US, as "[Progen] understands the need to be aggressive".

"I saw the option to work for Progen as an opportunity for me to bring my US experience to the Australian market. I thought Progen had a lot to offer, so I turned down a good US job offer," he said.

Schliebs said a proportion of his work would be to market Progen's PI-166 anti-cancer compound into the Asia-Pacific market in addition to the US zone.

"This is seen as a good product for AP; the US is not the holy grail at the moment and it is very hard to get funding there right now," he said.

Nonetheless, Schliebs admitted his place at Progen would likely help open some doors in the US, where the 'not invented here' syndrome was particularly rife and often obstructed access to major companies, he said.