What happens when you go all in on a generic injectable that no one else wants, and it turns into a one hundred million dollar product in the first year?
In this episode of Let’s Combinate: Drugs + Devices, host Subhi Saadeh speaks with Usman Ahmad, former CEO of Nexus Pharmaceuticals and now CEO of Quetzal Therapeutics. Together they trace his journey from corporate finance to building a generics powerhouse with his parents, scaling a sterile injectable facility, and ultimately selling it to Eli Lilly for just under one billion dollars.
They discuss the philosophy of finding the "right to win," what most companies miss about manufacturing capacity and equipment selection, how to build a team with deep industry know-how, and why Usman is now focused on bringing therapies to patients with rare diseases.
This is a practical, personal, and strategic look at building something from the ground up, deciding not to sell too early, and learning how to do the hard things with intention.
Topics include:
Key Topics
- How to select the right generic molecules beyond patent expiry
- Early success with isoproterenol and API sourcing
- Why Nexus turned down acquisition offers
- Building a commercial salesforce from scratch
- Designing a facility with high speed prefilled syringe and lyo capacity
- Why most other sterile sites failed
- The billion dollar sale to Lilly
- Launching Quetzal and developing oral arsenic for APL
- The brain-eating amoeba drug and ultra rare disease strategy
- Faith, confidence, and decision making under pressure
Timestamps
- 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
- 00:24 From Wall Street Finance to Pharma
- 01:42 How Usman Selected Winning Generics
- 02:58 Early Challenges Building a Generics Company
- 05:29 Family R&D Expertise and Business Dynamics
- 11:44 First Generic Launch and Commercial Impact
- 16:28 Building Sterile Injectable Manufacturing Capacity
- 18:16 Sterile Facility and Equipment Strategy
- 22:40 Prefilled Syringe and Vial Line Capabilities
- 23:07 Big Pharma Interest and Selling the Facility
- 26:02 Nexus Pharma Services and the Lilly Deal
- 27:23 Post‑Sale Reflections and New Ventures
- 28:30 Launching Quetzal Therapeutics and Rare Disease Focus
- 33:30 New Challenges and Confidence in Drug Development
- 39:55 Importance of People, Teams, and Relationships
- 41:40 Books That Shaped Usman’s Thinking
- 42:29 Where to Connect with Usman
Resources
Usman Ahmad is the Founder and CEO of Quetzal Therapeutics, and former CEO of Nexus Pharmaceuticals, where he led the company through explosive growth and the billion-dollar sale of its manufacturing facility to Eli Lilly. With a background in finance and a deep passion for healthcare innovation, Usman now focuses on bringing treatments to patients with rare and underserved diseases.
Subhi Saadeh is a Quality Professional and host of Let's Combinate. With a background in Quality, Manufacturing Operations and R&D he's worked in Large Medical Device/Pharma organizations to support the development and launch of Hardware Devices, Disposable Devices, and Combination Products for Vaccines, Generics, and Biologics. Subhi serves currently as the International Committee Chair for the Combination Products Coalition(CPC) and as a member of ASTM Committee E55 and also served as a committee member on AAMI's Combination Products Committee.For questions, inquiries or suggestions please reach out at letscombinate.com or on the show's LinkedIn Page.
