Biocom, the association representing the California life science industry, has added Judy Chou, Ph.D., senior vice president and global head of biotech/Berkeley site head, Bayer, Emad Fareed, partner at KPMG, and Bob Ramos, partner at Procopio, to its board of directors.
“Our board is essential for Biocom in developing targeted programs and services that bring value to our members, and Dr. Chou, Mr. Fareed and Mr. Ramos are outstanding additions to our board of directors, each bringing unique strengths that will help guide our mission to accelerate life science success across the state of California,” said Joe Panetta, president and CEO of Biocom. “New voices on our board ensure that we are addressing the most important issues in our advocacy, developing the most valuable educational and capital development events and ensuring our purchasing group programs remain best-in-class. I’m confident that our three new members will ensure we continue to serve our 1,200 members in California like none other.”
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Dr. Chou currently heads Bayer’s global pharmaceutical biotech organization overseeing the development, manufacture and distribution of Bayer’s biologic product portfolio and leading the drug development activities for the biologics pipeline. In addition, she serves as the site head for Bayer’s facility in Berkeley, CA. She is well recognized by the biomedical industry, and received the San Francisco Business Times’ Most Influential Women in Business Award in 2018. Throughout Dr. Chou’s career, she has achieved significant milestones in protein therapeutic development and multiple filings of BLAs, NDAs and INDs of novel products and is recognized for her work at Genentech, Wyeth, and Abbott, especially in the development of breakthrough technologies in analytical characterization and accelerated process and formulation development. Before joining the industry, Dr. Chou was a research faculty member at Harvard University Medical School, focused on cell biology and neuroscience research. Dr. Chou obtained her Ph.D. from Yale University and completed her post-doctoral training at Max-Planck Institute in Germany.
Mr. Fareed is an audit partner in KPMG’s San Diego office and leads the office’s life sciences industry practice and leads KPMG San Diego’s venture capital practice. He has over 20 years of experience serving emerging growth and public companies in the life science industry, providing professional audit services to a range of clients, from pre-revenue startups to large multinational publicly traded corporations. He also has extensive experience working with Companies through the IPO process. Mr. Fareed is a graduate of the State University of NY at Geneseo. He is a licensed CPA in California, New York and Pennsylvania.
Mr. Ramos serves as a partner at Procopio and leads its Life Sciences practice. He has over 25 years of combined life sciences IP experience in both private practice and the biotechnology industry related to worldwide patent and trademark acquisition and strategic counseling. He has counseled venture-backed startups, mid-sized companies, basic research Institutes, as well as large biopharmaceutical companies in need of extensive portfolio management in biotechnology. Prior to joining Procopio, Ramos practiced at Amgen for over 10 years, where he was the lead IP attorney for two commercial and two Phase I biologics. Mr. Ramos’ experience in molecular biology, law and business is a unique combination among lawyers, and he has a keen understanding of the unique IP legal and business challenges currently faced by many biotechnology companies. Mr. Ramos earned his J.D. from University of San Diego and his M.S. from UCSD.