Dana Tennis of RetirementDNA recently sat down with Pedro Lichtinger to discuss his unique insight into the present and future state of biotech in San Diego and around the world.

Q1: Pedro – tell us a little bit about your background and what brought you here to beautiful San Diego.

I am originally from Mexico – and I came to the U.S. to attend the Wharton School of Business. My father, who is a physician and owned a family construction company, told me to stay in the U.S. due to the falling value of the peso. The family business was bankrupt, and he didn’t think there were any good jobs there, so I stayed. After I received my MBA, I received multiple job offers and decided to work in the pharmaceutical industry.

Of my 31 years working in the pharmaceutical industry, about half my time was spent at Smith Kline, and half at Pfizer. Both companies offered me new and challenging positions every 2-3 years during my tenure. I joined Smith & French (which eventually became Smith Kline Beecham) in 1978 where I was developed in incredible ways. In 1995, Pfizer bought out their Animal Health Business, which was, at that time, the largest acquisition in Pfizer history. Hank McKinnell, who later became CEO of Pfizer, asked me to become the President for that division. At the time, their Animal Health business was losing $200 million a year, and I was given 6 months to stop the bleeding. I had six successful years running that division, turned it around and made it very profitable for Pfizer. Hank has an incredible breadth of industry knowledge and became a mentor and a good friend of mine. He recently joined me as a board member at Optimer.

Q2: May we ask, why did you decide to leave Pfizer?

I left Pfizer simply because I couldn’t take the pain of restructuring anymore. At the time I was running the Global Primary Care Business. This is where most of the issues of Pfizer were and are, and I had the very unpleasant task of firing thousands of people. I remember not sleeping. You always know that there are a percentage of them, especially if they are in their 50s, that you are really hurting and that it will be difficult for them to find another job and depriving them of their pensions. Another reason I left Pfizer, is I believe the pharma model is in the process of renewal. It still hasn’t designed a workable model because the discovery process of big pharma doesn’t work. I’ll give you a simplistic example: prior to becoming public in 2007, Optimer’s CEO and a few senior managers went 8 months without pay because the company had cash flow problems. This drive to overcome adversity, whether it’s financial or scientific, doesn’t exist in big pharma. In a large company, if one project doesn’t succeed for whatever reason, you move on to the next project. Also, the rewards are not there; if you are a brilliant scientist, the drive to success is purely altruistic. If you make an important discovery, you may receive a 10% salary increase, but you wouldn’t have the opportunity to make millions of dollars like you would in an independent company. Big pharma has significant advantages in the development and commercialization processes, but the discovery process is fatally flawed.

Q3: How did you become affiliated with Optimer and what attracted you to this company?

After I left Pfizer, I worked with private equity for about 18 months, and was involved in about 50 evaluations of companies. Through that process, I gained a greater understanding of what biotechnology does and started looking for an opportunity. During this search, I came into contact with Alain Schreiber, the lead director of Optimer. After 4 months of discussion, I decided this was an interesting opportunity, because 1) they had an incredible new drug and 2) this drug was not understood and undervalued in the market - which I believe gave it the platform to overachieve and make it highly successful.

Q4: We hear Optimer has a drug awaiting FDA approval that targets CDI, a recurring infection that lurks in hospitals and causes severe diarrhea, especially in the elderly. How is this medication different from other antibiotics that target this infection?

This drug is DIFICID™. CDI is now one of the most common hospital acquired infections and has not had any innovation in 25 years. What’s unique about our product is that it’s a narrow spectrum drug that is not absorbed. The broad spectrum drugs used to target CDI today may damage the GI tract, allowing the infection to return in 20-30% of patients in 2-4 weeks. Each time infection returns, the infected are debilitated more and more. This disease has a 5% mortality rate. Our drug cuts that number in half.

Q5: What is your favorite aspect of your job as CEO of Optimer?

Maybe, I’m being idealistic, but anyone who works in the healthcare field is doing so because they want to have a significant impact on patients. The second thing is I‘ve built a team that I enjoy working with; people I would like to have a drink with.

Q6: How does Optimer set itself apart from other pharmaceutical companies?

The first difference is it has a very clear, differentiated product. Many companies have new products, but not many are clearly differentiated. In the antibiotic field, I feel we are unique. The second thing is the team we are building and the people. I believe we have the basis to create a best in class commercial organization – we already have a best in class science organization. I believe in 5 years from now, we will be one of the leading hospital-based pharmaceutical companies with DIFICID? as a major product. In addition, we will have developed what we call a lifecycle management plan, which is exploring new opportunities for the same molecule to the benefit of patients, and looking at our origins, our OPopS™ drug discovery carbohydrate platform, and expect to bring new products through it. So when you take that collectively, there are very few biotech companies that have both a product that is close to market and also the potential for development for a full pipeline.

Q7: As CEO, what is more exciting for you – the research and testing of a new drug, or the marketing and commercial aspect of said product?

You need both and you need to be best in class at both. In the discovery and development phase, 95% or more scientists never see a drug that reaches a patient. Now that doesn’t mean it’s not exciting – but the truth is, the majority of their lives is spent without the ultimate accomplishment. On the commercial side – you see immediately the response, whether good or bad, and have to wake up every morning to fight for your medicines to reach the right patient.

Q8: You’ve traveled globally quite frequently over the years, what differences –economic, political or regulatory- are you seeing in international biotech markets compared to the U.S.?

When you look at emerging economies like China and India, they have a very well-structured policy regarding biotechnology efforts. China is now spending close to 12 billion government dollars to stimulate research. They have a very methodical approach towards investing strategically and do not allow themselves to be affected by politics. That is why they are the biggest threat. We need a technology policy that really supports instead of allowing itself to be diluted by 100,000 grants in all colleges across the country. That’s not enough to make a difference. We need to really think about what technologies to support and how to effectively support them.

Q9: In this difficult economic climate, what would you say are the most important strategies to attract and retain valuable employees?

Unfortunately, there are too many good people unemployed. This is a period of development of the industry, where, as an employer, you have the luxury of choice. When you have a company that has the potential that we have at this stage of development, it’s very attractive to people who work in this industry. Having said this, the best retention is to create an environment were people can be successful have an impact and enjoy what they do.

Q10: In a private session with President Obama, what would you tell him about the biotech and life sciences industry or what would you ask him for?

The first thing I would tell him is to really drive and lead healthcare reform and do not allow the multiple stakeholders to dilute it. It will be a lot more difficult to reform it in 4 or 5 years when it’s obvious it’s not working. I would hope our government has the courage and determination to do what’s necessary.

Q11: What do we need to do here in SD (and California) to improve the appreciation of science as well as performance among high school students?

Education is a big issue in our country. It used to be one of the most competitive advantages we had. The president of MIT, who also sits on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of America, was telling me one day that if he fairly assessed the quality of the students, he could actually fill a class exclusively with students from China or India. American students don’t have the same qualifications of the Chinese or Indian students. Five or ten years ago their best students were coming to the U.S. Now they are staying in their universities, because they feel their schools are now better. We need to improve and it needs to start in primary school. The science and math is very mediocre here – so we need to get back to basics. There are no replacements for getting kids to work hard… and it’s a worldwide competition. If are kids aren’t willing to work – we will not be able to compete. I have been involved with the Boys and Girls Club since 1997, and I think they are playing an incredible role. They have 4.2 million kids who attend their clubs. After school, these kids have a safe place to go to – and role models with tutors, sports, dance classes, etc. There are 17 million kids who are below poverty level in this country. As a society we have to find a way to get these impoverished kids into the mainstream and not allow so many kids to live that way.

Q12: Where is your favorite place to get away and think?

One of the beautiful aspects of living in San Diego is the weather – so I often go out with my wife and dog and we walk for hours. It’s a good time to talk and reflect. There are very few places in the world you can do that all year round.

Q13: What kind of dog do you have?

An English Cocker Spaniel. She’s beautiful.

Q14: When family from out of town visits you – where do you take them for dinner?

That’s a hard question – there are so many excellent restaurants in San Diego… but if I had to pick one it would be the Marine Room in La Jolla. It’s one of the few places where you are on the beach. The food is good and the bar is beautiful. It’s a special place.

Q15: We always wrap up our interviews with this question: What is the Lichtinger signature dish you like to prepare at your home, and what wine and music would you select as accompaniments?

First I don’t cook – but my wife cooks very well. She’s Brazilian, so she would cook a North East Brazilian dish that is made with palm tree oil and coconut milk with shrimp and good fish. My favorite wines anything from the Margaux region. Bossa Nova would be playing, especially anything by Vinicius de Moraes, the musician who wrote The Girl From Ipanema. Those musicians were bohemian – they used to drink whiskey all the time and smoke cigarettes and live life.

Thank you for your time, Pedro. It was a pleasure getting to know a little bit about you and your company, Optimer.