Dale Schenk is the scientist behind both the hugely successful multiple sclerosis treatment Tysabri (natalizumab) and the much-hyped investigational Alzheimer's disease vaccination bapineuzumab, which crashed spectacularly in Phase III trials last year. Now heading up the newly independent Prothena, which was demerged from Elan late last year, he speaks to Scrip's Eleanor Malone as he embarks on his third adventure as a biotech entrepreneur.
Before becoming chief scientific officer at Elan, Dr Schenk's career began in the 1980s with Californian Biotechnology (later renamed Scios and then acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2003). He subsequently joined start-up Athena Neurosciences, which Elan acquired in 1996. In December 2012, following the high-profile failure of Elan/Janssen/Pfizer's anti-amyloid-β immunotherapy bapineuzumab in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's (scripintelligence
