Friday, August 15, 2008

Junius jumped at the chance to lead ImmunoGen

By Stephen DeSantis

Daniel Junius first came to Waltham-based ImmunoGen Inc. in May 2005, brought in specifically to apply his 20-plus years of financial experience to the role of CFO. Just three years later, Junius, now 55, has been made the firm’s president and chief operating officer with ultimate responsibility for its drug research, clinical operations and business development strategy.

Overseeing the oncology-focused biotech’s R&D, establishing biopharma partnerships and negotiating those critical product licensing deals are a far cry from “keeping the books” — a testament to how much Junius has mastered in his short tenure in the life sciences space.

“It certainly isn’t a background that you would read and say, ‘well let’s put that person in a senior position in biotech.’ But while I didn’t have a biotechnology background coming in, I’ve certainly been acclimated to the core of the business. And, I now have a decent understanding of the science, although it is a layman’s understanding, not one of a scientist of course,” Junius said.

Following six years at the Groton-based business supply company New England Business Service (NEBS), Junius left shortly after its acquisition by Deluxe Corp. in 2004.

Before joining NEBS, Junius had a 10-year career at the New Hampshire-based printing and paper supplier Nashua Corp. He was promoted to the position of chief financial officer there in 1996.

Junius said he is looking forward to the difficult types of challenges that will come in his new role, but he will also have to be a consummate multi-tasker for a time. The company will need him to keep his financial hat on for just a while longer, as ImmunoGen searches for a CFO to replace him.

As a maturing biotech company, ImmunoGen is at a stage where it is transitioning from a strictly research oriented organization to a development stage one, explained Junius.

“I think that brings along with that a requirement for a really different skill set that I hopefully can supply,” he added.

At a time in the industry when competition has never been higher and new capital is at a premium, it may just take a fiscally minded executive in charge of operations to be successful.

“In some instances it is not so bad to come into a job without some of the inherent bias that may have evolved after being in a specific industry for an extended period of time,” he added.