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Thomas Collet, Ph.D.

Thomas Collet, Ph.D., is an experienced senior business leader and strategic thinker with a passion for innovation. Based in Cambridge, Mass., he specializes in helping firms in the life science and medical industries develop and commercialize new products and technologies. “I look for companies working on products that, if successful, will make a material difference in people’s lives,” he says.

Dr. Collet today is president and CEO at Bilayer Therapeutics, Inc., a spin-off company from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is developing a first-in-class therapeutic for diseases of the colon, including chronic idiopathic constipation, IBS-C, and potentially ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. He previously served in key founding roles at more than a half-dozen early-stage firms, moving several novel drugs into clinical development and helping to raise more than $27 million in external funding through value-added National Institutes of Health and internal venture programs.

He has also served as a consultant to top pharmaceutical and medical device companies, advising on business strategy and corporate entrepreneurship, and he has assisted international companies with U.S. market entry strategies. He is a former engagement manager for McKinsey & Co. and vice president of business development for Monsanto.

Dr. Collet lived in Ann Arbor for two decades and helped launch several start-up companies that originated at the University of Michigan. He also served as president, CEO, and co-founder of Kalamazoo-based ProNAi Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology therapeutics.

Dr. Collet earned his Ph.D. in biological chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry at RWTH Aachen in Germany.

Describe your interest in the Rogel Cancer Center. What drew you to being on the National Advisory Board?

I lived in walking distance of the cancer center for 20 years and am happy to be re-establishing my ties with the university. I knew Rich, and I had heard that he was involved. We reconnected recently, and he thought I could contribute something by being on the board. I have worked on cancer therapeutics and have run several university spin-offs. Entrepreneurs who are willing to work hard can do pretty well in a university ecosystem. That is perhaps one area I can help advise the cancer center on, as a member of the board.

What are your hopes for what the Rogel Cancer Center can accomplish in the next decade?

We have made great progress in the treatment of cancer, and some new therapies have been hugely successful. Death rates from cancer have dropped, and it looks like new technologies are beginning to make a real difference in how cancers are being treated. I have some experience with companies that are developing cancer drugs, including consulting on corporate strategy, and I know that it is incredibly complex. My family has also been touched by cancer. There is a huge amount of creative, cutting-edge development working going on at the Rogel Cancer Center, and I would like to see those discoveries get out into the commercial space to help patients.

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