James N. Thomas
The Power List 2021 – Biopharmaceuticals
EVP, Global Head of Biotherapeutics and President of US Operations at Just - Evotec Biologics
Over the course of his career, Thomas has contributed to the advancement of many important therapeutics including Activase, Vectibix, Enbrel, Prolia/Xgeva, and Repatha, as well as numerous biosimilar programs. Thomas is passionate about creating and using innovative technologies to meet the needs of patients. In 2014, he co-founded and became CEO of Just Biotherapeutics, with a focus on expanding global access to biologics, and is now continuing this journey at Just - Evotec Biologics.
“How can we accelerate drug development projects of the future? Through systematic, vertically integrated modality platforms bound together and defined through a common data pool. Acceleration requires prediction, and the machine learning and AI tools that are available or emerging will be capable of doing this if the right data are captured and registered. A data-rich systems approach should go as far back into the discovery process as possible to capture improvements to speed, cost, quality, number of clinical experiments and ultimately clinical success rates. This approach will not only accelerate drug development, but reduce R&D costs and, ultimately, improve patient access.”
