Author: Christian Velten

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.

Obviously, one of my most exciting projects had been establishing my own business, SCITARI – Dr. Christian Velten Informationsdienste, in 1999. Together with my team I supported life science industries with information research & analysis, digital media and market/competitor intelligence. Starting from scratch, I successively developed business with major life science market players (Roche, Aventis/Sanofi, BASF, Bayer), reputable patent law firms (e.g. Vossius), mid-sized biotechs, a German specialist publisher, and single clients form other branches of industry (e.g. Honda R&D). In parallel, I built an operative team  of internals and externals (<10) and was responsible for up to 6 associates, caring for all aspects of people management.…

Nov 1998 – Apr 1999 / LION BIOSCIENCE – For supporting the IPO, I developed and implemented a new version of the company website.

Today, I am proud to share that my PhD thesis with the title “Cell-cycle-dependent gene regulation by Mcm1p-complexes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae” has been accepted, and my Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.) has been granted by the Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany. Between 1994 and today, I had the opportunity to do basic oncological research on the genetic regulation of the cell growth at the Institute for Molecular Biology at the Hannover Medical School. I was using yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) as model organism for eukaryotic cells, which on molecular level share many commonalities. My scientific research was specifically targeting a better understanding…