Sanjeev Gogna

Pharmacologist, Commercial Pharmacist, Technology
Transfer Professional

Sanjeev did an undergraduate degree in pharmacy and then went straight into a PhD. He chose to study pharmacy as it was a vocational subject which he felt gave a good scientific grounding and opened lots of career possibilities. 

He decided to do a PhD because he knew of other people in the pharmaceutical industry and felt that if you were going to progress in either industry or academia you needed a PhD so he saw doing a doctorate as a means of opening doors to a variety of career possibilities. 

After finishing his PhD he got the chance to get involved in an exciting new business - the development of in-store pharmacies for Sainsburys.  He felt that this was an excellent opportunity to get some business experience and stayed working on the project for 18 months. 

At this point Sanjeev says he started to look for a career that would incorporate both his scientific experience as well as his new business experience. He chose to join a government sponsored programme which was aimed to increase commercialisation amongst scientists in universities. His role was to help scientists identify areas of their research which could be of commercial value and help them through the process of commercialisation, for example by helping to develop licences or patents, or giving them advice to help them through the process of spinning out a company. 

After 5 months on the programme he was promoted to business development manager at Warwick University.  This role involves him in all aspects of the technology transfer process, working with academics to commercialise their academic work.

Sanjeev has also been involved in spinning out a company with a colleague from Warwick University which is developing a test for pre-eclampsia in pregnant women.  This is a dangerous illness which can affect both mothers and babies and in severe cases can lead to death. 

He is currently chief executive officer of this firm, responsible for all management issues.  Although Sanjeev does not provide the scientific knowledge for the company, he feels his background is invaluable  as it helps him to understand the scientific issues.  He has also recently been awarded a sponsorship from the Royal Society to do an MBA which he feels is adding to his business knowledge and skills.

Sanjeev’s aim is to eventually move out of the university to work full time in the company.  In the short term he wants to make his current spinout company into a successful, profitable company.  He thinks he may then move to a medium sized company; however Sanjeev is not sure about whether he would want to work in a large company as he feels this could be too restrictive. 

Although he sees his scientific training as providing him with important knowledge and skills and he believes that he could never move completely away from science, he sees himself as a manager rather than a scientist.   Sanjeev enjoys the challenges of management and feels a great sense of satisfaction from having people believe in him and his vision.