Author: Christian Velten

Traditionally an old years end is the time of reflections. No, I do not mean the bright glittering snow in some people winter holidays. I am talking about thoughts regarding the sense of life. Did I get the best out of the old year? Could I have done something better? What will be in the new year, what challenges and tasks are waiting for me? And what are my personal priorities in life? As a young PhD student – quite a few years ago – I read a Science article by Gregg Easterbrook about the social as well as ethical…

Do you remember? Y2K had been announced as the great entry into the millennium of biotechnology! Did you get it? 2000 in biotechnology was planned as the year of the big conferences and meetings as well as the year of the phenomenal announcements. This should have been the grandiose prelude for an international campaign against the technique critics. But did anyone – besides scientists – really pay attention to all the efforts. Honestly: no. No, because this is how it should be _ or no, because we missed the chance to present our science to the people. If you picked…

Nov 2008 – Jun 2014 / NOVARTIS PHARMA Identified strategic and operational needs, translated those into effective solutions and support processes, providing Novartis with superior strategic information and medical evidence for a knowledge-driven competitive advantage. • Coordinated and supervised globally distributed teams (Basel, India, UK) delivering high quality and compliant in-house product intelligence. Achievements eNova, a unique source of product information at Novartis Achievements Business Intelligence Pharma December 7, 2013 “eNova QuickAnswers” iOS app available Achievements Digital Intelligence Pharma October 7, 2013 Driving organizational change Achievements Business May 19, 2012 Drug Intelligence Report available Achievements Business Intelligence Pharma November 30, 2010…

For more than 25 years I had been an active boy scout. A very active boy scout. Scouting tremendously contribute to my personal growth and development in my early years. I spend time together with other kids having totally different backgrounds, which definitely broadened my perspectives. And I had amazing leaders, mentors and friends who always put a lot of trust and acknowledgement on me. Seriously, there is nothing better that can happen to an adolescent. I took my own very first leadership role in the tender age of 14, and have been a leader of various youth groups in…

Back in 2002, I decided to contribute to and play a more active part with local affairs & politics in my home town. Over time my involvement grew by being … I continued my local political commitment until we moved close to Basel in late 2008 to start a position at Novartis. Today, I am “just” a politically interested citizen. But I still look back to the exciting times in local politics, where I learned so much and met so many dedicated people across political camps.

Between 2000 and 2008, I investigated prior art, freedom-to-operate, infringement evidences and patent portfolios for reputable patent attorneys and life science industry clients, like Roche and BASF. In 2004, I ad-hoc joined a BASF due diligence team that was preparing a company buy-in as an external expert for analyzing the biosequences portfolio (assets) of the company planned to be acquired. I locally evaluated the IP relevance of the protein and DNA sequences offered, e.g. by checking for uniqueness and redundancies. I applied in-depth computer-based sequence analysis using algorithms like BLASTx, TBLASTx, FASTA, FASTM, Smith-Waterman, and ClustalW2. CLIENT:BASFPROJECT TIME FRAME: May 2004

Following a customized market analysis, I provided Sanofi Pasteur with an online platform for continuous market monitoring. Originally Sanofi representatives asked for regular print updates of the successfully provided market analysis. I took the initiative offering a permanently updated, password-protected online portal directly giving access to all data as well as latest findings. Together with my team, I successfully set-up the platform and completed content migration within 3 weeks after approval given by the customer. CLIENT:Sanofi PasteurPROJECT TIME FRAME: April 2003

My lovely daughter Leoni Carolin Velten is born. She is the star of the whole family, we are all very proud and happy, and I got immediately addicted. A new mission, a new challenge … but such an exciting and wonderful one. Looking forward to it.

In the early 2000’s, I designed and realized one of the first German online magazines on Life Science business on behalf of GIT Publishing Ltd.. Concept and implementation included a multi-channel publishing approach. That was publishing the same content on a website (eZine), via an email-newsletter, and as WAP edition for PDAs and mobile phones (at those pre-smartphone, pre-Android and pre-iOS times the so-called Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) was the established technology for providing digital content on mobile devices). Furthermore, I set-up and managed the editorial team, workflow processes and technical infrastructure, and held editor in chief position with responsibility for sub-editors and external content providers. CLIENT:GIT…

Jan 1999 – Oct 2008 / SCITARI – DR. CHRISTIAN VELTEN INFORMATIONSDIENSTE Together with my team, I provided life science industries with digital media, editorial content, multi-channel publishing, web-based information platforms, information research, and intelligence. • Developed & implemented a multi-channel online magazine on Life Science business for GIT Publishing Ltd. • Held editor in chief position with responsibility for sub-editors and external content providers. Achievements Due diligence on a biosequence assets portfolio Achievements Business Intelligence Pharma Science May 29, 2004 Market monitoring for Sanofi Pasteur Achievements Business Digital Intelligence Pharma April 25, 2003 BIONEWS/Inside-Lifescience eZine published Achievements Business Digital…