InfiniteBio

		ABOUT

Dr. Akiko Futamura is the President and Chief Executive Officer of InfiniteBio, San Jose, California formerly known as SC BioSciences USA. She has extensive background in the business and science of biotechnology.

Before Dr. Futamura spun-out InfiniteBio from Sumitomo Corporation in April, 2006, she was the founding member and the Executive Vice President of SC BioSciences USA from 2001-2006. SC BioSciences was the subsidiary of the Sumitomo Corporation which is very active in identifying and introducing cutting-edge biotechnology innovation to the Japanese market. Dr. Futamura was responsible for identifying key technologies, conducting due diligence and involved in business development at therapeutics and platform (tool) companies playing a key role in concluding a number of important alliances and investments.

Prior to founding SC BioSciences USA, Dr. Futamura worked as a biotech consultant for Sumitomo Corporation from 1999-2001. She was also the Vice President of Summit Biotech from 2001-2004 where she was one of the primary decision makers conducting investment activities using Sumitomo Corporation’s Summit Biotechnology Fund.

Akiko Futamura was educated as a scientist and obtained her B. Sc. degree in Biotechnology from the University of Tokyo and her Ph. D. Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois Medical School, Chicago. Her original research was on the study of the structure-function relationship of Serpins (Serine Proteinase Inhibitors), whereby she created the first fully activated antithrombin directed toward the inhibition of factor Xa (without the need for activator.) Her work resulted in three first-author papers in Biochemistry and The Journal of Biological Chemistry. Dr. Futamura continues to have a passion and commitment for solving conformational diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and prion disease, where certain conformations of the proteins are involved.

Dr. Futamura often writes for newsletters and magazines both in English and Japanese and speaks at many conferences and seminars in the United States, Japan and in Europe. She speaks and writes on technology evaluation for entrepreneurs and investors, business cultures in different countries, business networking, and on critical issues in business development.

Dr. Hiroko Nakamura obtained her Ph.D. in chemistry from Nagoya University under the supervision of Professor Hisashi Yamamoto, and conducted post-doctoral research at Harvard University in the laboratory of Professor Matthew D. Shair. She has an extensive knowledge and experience in chemistry, especially in chiral synthesis. Prior to joining InfiniteBio, she worked for GlaxoSmithKline, where she was involved in drug discovery research. Her research at GSK focused on the design and synthesis of lead compounds.

At InfiniteBio, she is responsible for in-licensing and out-licensing arrangement between Japanese companies and American companies, by identifying and conducting evaluation of drug leads, and facilitating collaborations. She is also responsible for evaluating and assisting Japanese companies who wish to penetrate the North America market with their unique technologies and products.

Dr. Ana Lazic received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Illinois Medical School at Chicago in the laboratory of Professor Peter G.W. Gettins. She studied structure-function relationship of Receptor Associated Protein (RAP) and its interaction with LDL receptor related protein (LRP). She continued her research as postdoctoral fellow with Professor Charles S. Craik at the University of California, San Francisco and studied the mechanism of allosteric regulation of herpesvirus proteases, particularly Kaposi’s Sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) protease. In addition she was involved in the development of a high throughput screening platform for identification of inhibitors of KSHV protese Dr. Lazic has extensive knowledge in protein biochemistry and structural biology (NMR and X-ray).

At InfiniteBio she is responsible for technology evaluation and promotion of new technologies, and scientific project management.