Dr. Damien McDevitt is Vice President and head of business development for GSK R&D Extended Therapy Areas and for Worldwide business development (WWBD) Asia. Damien is also head of the new GSK R&D West Coast Satellite based in San Diego. He is a member of the GSK Business Development Executive Committee and Technology Investment Board and the Southern California BIOCOM board. Damien has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility within Drug Discovery, GSK Ventures, and WWBD organizations throughout his 19 year career with GlaxoSmithKline. Most recently Damien was the Vice President of Drug Discovery Transactions where he led the team that transacts the R&D drug discovery deals. He has been at the forefront of our externalization strategy and has been involved in over 60 transactions for GSK including deals with Avalon, Genmab, Galapagos, Anacor, Regulus, Cellzome, Genelabs, Idenix, Isis and the formation of the Altius Institute in Seattle. Damien holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Sciences and a Ph.D. in Microbiology both from Trinity College, Dublin. He is an author of 70 scientific publications and published patents.