Alan Watson, Ph.D., M.B.A.Principal, SSRP AssociatesLexington, MA 02421awatson@ssrpassociates.comDr. Watson has more than thirty five years of experience in the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, holding a number of senior positions in business development, M&A and licensing and R&D management.Dr. Watson is currently co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Estabrook Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He is also a co-founder of Akston Bioscience Corporation in Beverly, MA and formerly was Chairman and a Board Director of Targeson, Inc. in San Diego, CA. He is a former Executive-in-Residence at venture firm Oxford Bioscience Partners in Boston and currently consults for a number of early-stage biotechnology companies.Most recently, Dr. Watson was Vice President of Business Development at SmartCells, Inc. in Beverly, MA where he negotiated the sale of the company to Merck & Co for $500M in upfront and milestone payments plus royalties. His prior appointments include Chief Business Officer and Executive Vice President at Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (acquired by Merck & Co) and Senior Vice President, Intellectual Property and Licensing at Nycomed Amersham plc. (aquired by General Electric Co). He previously held a variety of scientific, R&D and business management positions at Nycomed AS, Salutar Inc. and DuPont Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he invented the brain imaging drug NeuroLite.Dr Watson received his B.Sc. (Hons) from the University of N.S.W. in Sydney, Australia, his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia and carried out postdoctoral research in the U.K. and at Harvard University. He also obtained an M.B.A. from Northeastern University in Boston.