LSIPR 50 2016: Sandra Leung and Curt Oltmans

Name: Sandra Leung

Organisation: Bristol-Myers Squibb

Position: Executive vice president and general counsel

Sandra Leung works as executive vice president and general counsel at Bristol-Myers Squibb. She has worked at the company since 1992 and has held various positions including assistant counsel, associate counsel, general counsel and corporate secretary. She came to her current role in 2014.

“To enhance shareholder value and transform into a next-generation biopharma company, we need to be an agile organisation, able to make quick but thoughtful decisions,” she said.

“In-house counsel brings value by advising our internal clients so that they may make appropriate decisions on both a short and a long-term basis.”

Leung took part in an interview with InsideCounsel magazine in 2011 where she discussed her role at the company. When Leung was appointed general counsel, she had to face a number of challenges. “We survived a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation with respect to accounting matters. We were also under a deferred prosecution agreement for two years with a federal monitor working
with us.

“What I’m really proudest of is helping the company work through those crises and working with the new management team. We are a completely different company today than we were back then,” she explained.

She also discussed the challenges she faces when working the pharmaceutical industry: “The biggest challenge we have in the pharmaceutical industry is working with the changing regulatory landscape. There are lots of different intricacies involved in why certain legislation has passed, what might be happening down the road, what might be happening in one part of the world that could impact another—dealing with the global aspect of our work is very challenging.”

Name: Curt Oltmans

Organisation: Novo Nordisk

Position: Corporate vice president and general counsel

Curt Oltmans graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Law with a high distinction in 1988. From there he has worked primarily with strategy and initiatives in intellectual property law, government and public affairs for Novo Nordisk’s business in North America. He has worked at the company since 2005 and is based in the executive team.

He manages the company’s legal, patents, quality and public affairs department, and also leads Novo Nordisk’s Native American Health Initiative, which is currently working with the Rosebud Sioux tribe in South Dakota. The project focuses on the donation of a Wellness Center, mobile medical unit, and diabetes education.

Oltmans was promoted to vice president and general counsel in 2013. His colleague, Jerzy Gruhn, president at the firm, said: “Curt has used his extensive knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry to make significant contributions during his tenure so far at Novo Nordisk, and he has led our legal team through a number of significant milestones, along with overseeing an important social responsibility effort for the Native American community.”

In 2014, Life Sciences IP Review reported that Novo Nordisk had successfully signed an insulin deal with Texas-based pharmaceutical company Caisson Biotech. The deal meant that Novo Nordisk gained exclusive rights to commercialise insulin treatment that uses Caisson’s drug delivery technology, HEPtune, which is based on heparosan, a biodegradable naturally occurring sugar polymer that is stable and inert in the bloodstream, and so has no known toxic effects.