Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> September 14, 2001
JENNIE P. MATHER, PhD, Founder, President and CEO of Raven
Biotechnologies, Inc., has over 30 years of experience in cell culture
and cell biology research. She obtained her PhD and did postdoctoral
work at the University of California, San Diego. After a year as an
NIH/INSERM Exchange Scientist in Lyon, France, Dr. Mather joined the
faculty of The Rockefeller University. In 1984 she joined Genentech,
Inc. as a Senior Scientist in Process Sciences and was promoted to Staff
Scientist in 1988. She was involved in designing cell culture production
processes for four currently marketed recombinant protein products. In
1994, she and her group moved to the research division of Genentech
where she initiated discovery research projects in the areas of
neurobiology, endocrinology, and cancer biology and contributed to a
genomics screening effort. While at Genentech, Dr. Mather was a member
of more than 12 project teams. This has given her exposure to most
aspects of biotechnology product development, from the initial
assessment of ideas, to forming and leading a team through the research
and early development phases of a new drug. In January 1999 Dr. Mather
left Genentech to found Raven Biotechnologies, a company whose mission
is the rapid and focused discovery of drug targets and therapeutics
using an integrated cell biology-based approach to drug discovery. Dr
Mather has been named inventor on more than 25 patents and has authored
or edited five books, including Introduction to Cell and Tissue Culture,
and more than 150 publications. As Founder, President and CEO of Raven
Biotechnologies, she has raised $23 million and grown Raven from its
inception to its current size of more than 40 people. In 2002, Dr.
Mather was named one of the top 10 innovators by Red Herring Magazine. Profile
Biotechnologies?
Dr. Mather: Raven was started in January 1999 to bring a cell-based
approach to drug target discovery. We use a
