Webinar: The Future of Biopharma: Laying the Groundwork for a Post-Pandemic Workplace

BioSpace was delighted to host a virtual panel discussion to hear how workplaces can prepare for a return to the office, and how to approach new policies related to Covid-19, mental health support, remote work culture, and more. This was a thoughtful discussion with insights from CalciMedica, Sutro Biopharma, Affinity Empowering, Axogen and Chiasma.

Dr. Leheny has over 30 years of experience in the life sciences industry as a scientist, a research analyst at several investment banks and as a venture capital investor. Dr. Leheny is a Founding Managing Director for Valence Advantage Life Sciences, a venture firm based in New York. Prior to Valence, she co-founded Caxton Advantage Venture Partners, from which Valence Life Sciences emerged. Before that, she was a Senior Vice President and Head of the biotechnology research team at Lehman Brothers. She also led the biotechnology research team at UBS Warburg. She started her biotechnology research career at Hambrecht and Quist. Dr. Leheny obtained an A.B. in Chemistry with honors from Harvard College, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Columbia University. She did post-doctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley, where she was an NIH fellow and a lecturer.

Linda Fitzpatrick has served as Sutro’s Chief People and Communications Officer since August 2018. From January 2008 to August 2018, Ms. Fitzpatrick served as the VP of Human Resources and Communications in the capacity of Senior Advisor. In addition to her strategic consulting practice, she co-founded Parallax Venture Partners, an early stage health care venture fund in April 2002. Prior to consulting, Ms. Fitzpatrick served as Vice President of Human Resources, Corporate Communications and Operations for Gilead Sciences, Inc., and she served as Director of Investor Relations and Director of Compensation, Benefits and Systems for Genentech, Inc. Ms. Fitzpatrick also serves on a variety of non-profit boards, including board chair roles, in the science, education and community development arenas. Ms. Fitzpatrick received a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from San Francisco State University.

Michael Tkach, PsyD, formerly the director of recovery management at the Betty Ford clinic, has 15+ years of mental health and addiction treatment experience, including clinical and/or leadership positions at some of the leading mental health and addiction treatment centers as well as managed operations and process improvement for Fortune 100 companies in the retail and banking industries. Dr. Tkach has extensive experience in doctoral-level clinical psychology programs and medical provider training programs and has specialized training and experience with the use of TeleMental Health and digital platforms to provide care. He has been the recipient of professional awards for his work including the Distinguished Alumni Award and a Clinical Innovation Award.

Pete has more than 25 years of experience as a financial executive in private and public companies, serving in critical roles as CFO of Lensar, Inc, a privately held laser refractive cataract surgery company and CFO of Hansen Medical, a publicly-traded medical device company developing robotic solutions for intravascular procedures. Pete began his career with Guidant where he supported the initial IPO of Guidant and ultimately served as Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer. His experience at Guidant included two years as Director of Financial Reporting, Guidant Vascular Intervention in Santa Clara, California, and four years in Tokyo, Japan, where he helped to facilitate the conversion and scale of the Japan business from a distributor network to a direct sales and marketing organization.

Raj Kannan was appointed Chief Executive Officer in June 2019 and has over 25 years of pharma industry experience served in various leadership roles. Prior to joining Chiasma, Raj served as Chief Commercial Officer at Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals where he was responsible for building and leading the company’s commercial operations, including sales, marketing, business analytics and market-access functions. Prior to Kiniksa, Raj served as the Global Head of the Neurology and Immunology business franchise at Merck KGaA, where he was responsible for $2B in annual revenues and for providing the strategic direction for assets in clinical development. Raj also spent 10 years at Boehringer Ingelheim in roles of increasing responsibility in the U.S., Canada, and in Germany, including the role of Global Marketing Head of the Cardiovascular Franchise, where he was responsible for over $3.5B in annual revenues.