Kenny Simmen is a UK-based consultant and strategic advisor/Board member to several biopharma companies around the world. A veteran of pharmaceutical R&D for 30 years, he has focused on infectious diseases & vaccines discovery and early clinical development and external innovation. As a former vice president of Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Infectious Diseases & Therapeutics he led an international team that advanced multiple candidate drugs into clinical development, including an approved HCV antiviral that was part of the drug regimens that helped the fight against viral hepatitis. Following his Ph.D. training as a molecular biologist, he has authored over 50 publications and multiple patents throughout his academic and pharma career. For a decade he led a global external innovation team focused on sourcing novel technologies and drug / vaccine candidates. He also represented industry in various EFPIA committees that interacted with the European Union on the public private partnerships IMI-1 and IMI-2. Dr Simmen has been a mentor to multiple startups through the J&J Innovation JLABs and was involved in the J&J / BARDA BlueKnight initiative both as a mentor and as a judge for several funding rounds and awards.