Leading with Patient and Purpose in CGT.
By Sofia Prado-Irwin, PhD
Dr. Timothy Fong is an accomplished scientist and experienced R&D leader with demonstrated scientific and business skills in the biotechnology industry. He holds a PhD in Immunology from UCLA, an MBA from Saint Mary’s College of California, and is currently a Senior Principal at CitraBio Consulting. He applies his broad expertise in Cell & Gene Therapy (CGT), Hematopoietic Stem Cells, Immuno-Oncology, and Immunological Diseases to solve complex and interdisciplinary problems in the CGT industry to move the field forward.
Orange County Bio spoke to Dr. Fong about his experience as a scientist and leader at the cutting edge of CGT.
The Interview
Orange County Bio (OCB): What drives your vision for the CGT industry now and in the future?
Tim Fong (TF): My career path didn’t start off specifically targeting CGT as a field. I didn’t know anything about gene therapy, but the promise of developing a unique therapy that wasn’t just treating the symptoms of a disease, but actually trying to get at a cure—I was all in on that.
30 years plus into the field, I’m still optimistic, but more realistic, realizing that progress is slow. But that initial motivation is still there: the promise of trying to develop a therapy that is truly curative.
OCB: How do you approach the complexity of the CGT industry?
TF: The way I typically approach this complexity is to break it down into individual components.
You can’t tackle everything at the same time. You have to start by figuring out what is the most important problem we need to solve first. Once we’ve solved that, then what’s the next problem? And then everything else falls in line in terms of priorities to achieve the project goal, and you move forward step by step.
Doing things quickly doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll actually get there any faster. In fact you might not get there at all if you try to rush and do everything at once. Leadership needs to help teams identify key questions and issues and prioritize tasks.
OCB: How do you balance pushing boundaries with ensuring safety and compliance?
TF: In developing any drug product in CGT, there’s going to be a lot of risk. There are biological and technical risks. The more we learn, the more we realize we don’t know everything. The biology and technical development for CGT products is much more complex than we imagined.
It’s fine to take some risks. Without taking risks, you’re not going to learn.
It’s fine to take some risks. Without taking risks, you’re not going to learn. I remind my teams, particularly when we’re starting a new project, to think back on all the experiments you’ve done—probably 80 or 90% of them failed for one reason or another. Failed in the sense that we didn’t get the data needed to move the project forward. But the key is, did we learn anything from that failure? It takes a lot of failures to finally get to that one success. But we’re not going to get there if we don’t take some risks. But taking risks does not mean we take short cuts on safety.
You need to realize that it’s not a quick sprint to the finish. I like to use the term “orienteering.” You have a goal, but you don’t know which exact path you’re going to take until you get to the first checkpoint. Then you survey the landscape and then you adjust your plans needed to get to the next one. Those adjustments to the plan should be based on the data generated as the team completes technical development, demonstration of efficacy in a disease model, and safety studies.
OCB: How do you ensure that the patient remains at the forefront of the decision-making process?
TF: It is important to keep reminding your team that we are not doing science for science’s sake. We are doing good, reproducible, consistent science because we ultimately want to help patients with their disease.
I often think, if I had this disease, would I take this drug? Would it help me? Has it been thoroughly investigated in terms of therapeutic activity, safety, tolerability, and toxicity? What are the side effects?
Leaders can help their teams by every so often just reminding them what we’re doing and why.
Leaders can help their teams by every so often just reminding them what we’re doing and why. We are patient first—we do the best science we can to ensure that what we are developing is safe and effective.
OCB: Does an emerging industry like CGT require a unique approach to leadership?
TF: Cell and gene therapy does require some unique characteristics in a leader. These fields are technically and biologically complex. A leader must embrace that complexity. I can’t think of any other therapeutic platform that requires such a wide span of knowledge in so many different areas.
A leader understands that it is a difficult road to get to the final goal, but every milestone we hit is a step forward towards treating patients that really need these therapies.
OCB: What kind of legacy do you aspire to leave in this industry?
TF: The legacy I would like to leave is that all the people I’ve worked with—particularly my teams—become successful, not only as scientists, but also as managers of teams and departments as their careers grow.
If I can walk away knowing that all the people that I’ve worked with are successful, good people, and good scientists, I would be very happy with that.
In Reflection
Cell and Gene Therapy is an incredibly complex and fast-paced field. Dr. Timothy Fong has successfully navigated this dynamic landscape for decades. Our discussion showcases the importance of resilience, patience, and collaboration throughout his career. As a leader, he prioritizes understanding, growth and resilience of his teams, mentoring the leaders of tomorrow and leading by example as a scientist and industry thought leader. His optimism and commitment to positive patient outcomes are a true inspiration for anyone and everyone in the CGT industry.