Friday Trivia Fun: Let's Catch Up With Another Hassan-Era-Crony, Dr. Thomas Koestler, Shall We?

UPDATE: See the rewritten post, with new graphic, too.

The last few times we mentioned Dr. Koestler's name -- post the Schering-Plough bust-up (late 2010 and early 2011) -- he was a board member at Momenta, a board observer (whatever that might mean!) at Pearl Therapeutics, and an executive-in-residence at Vatera Holdings.

In the intervening almost two and a half years, he's been adding titles a-go-go. He's now a full executive at Vatera, on the full boards of behemoth Norvo-Nordisk AB, Pearl, ImmusanT, Inc. and Arisaph Pharmaceuticals. UPDATE: He is apparently a paid advisor to RPS Pharmaceutical Services, Inc., as well.  In addition, Tom was just named chairman of the board of Rib-X Pharmaceuticals (see press release; quoted below).

But the one role (of his manifold duties) I find most fascinating -- by far -- is that he now ALSO serves as Chairman of Bausch + Lomb's Scientific Advisory Board.

Of course, he and "Fast Fred" Hassan go all the way back to the early 1990s -- at Pharmacia (yes -- that very same sordid back-story). In any event, here's a bit from the press-release linked above:

. . . .Dr. Koestler, an Executive Director of Vatera Holdings LLC, joined the Rib-X Board in 2012. In his nearly 30-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Koestler established a track record of building high-performance teams that drove global success in research and development. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President of Schering-Plough Corporation and President of Schering-Plough Research Institute (SPRI), the pharmaceutical Research and Development arm of Schering-Plough Corporation. Under his leadership, the company developed an industry-leading pipeline(?) that contributed to the turnaround of the business. Dr. Koestler’s accomplishments include over 80 product approvals including over 30 New Molecular Entities/BLAs. Before joining Schering-Plough, Dr. Koestler was Senior Vice President and Head of Global Regulatory Affairs for Pharmacia Corporation. Prior to joining Pharmacia, he was Senior Vice President and Global Head, Drug Regulatory Affairs, Compliance Assurance, Clinical Safety and Epidemiology for Novartis. Before that appointment, he was Senior Director, Drug Regulatory Affairs, at Ortho McNeil and a Director of Regulatory Affairs at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Westwood Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Koestler is also a member of the Board of Directors of Novo Nordisk A/S, Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc., Pearl Therapeutics Inc., ImmusanT Inc., and Arisaph Pharmaceuticals Inc. Dr. Koestler also chairs the Scientific Advisory Board of Bausch & Lomb. . . .

So there you have an update on Dr. Thomas "TENNine-Ways To Be Paid" Koestler. That is quite a bit of Hassan-connectedness -- especially the seat as the chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of B + L -- and it contiues, even to this day. I have to wonder whether these manifold duties create conflicts of interest (the likes of which he is likely only dimly aware). Or maybe I'm just jealous -- "only in America," right?