40 Under 40 honorees’ accomplishments include co-developing the world’s first synthetic biology programming language for mRNA and co-founding and leading a company acquired for $700 million up-front and up to $1.225 billion in total consideration.
This year’s BioSpace 40 Under 40 winners have made a strong impression within the biopharma industry by not only raising capital, leading teams and building organizations but also by translating science into patient impact. The second cohort of honorees includes biotech and pharma professionals who have worked in therapeutic modalities including cell therapy, gene therapy, programmable mRNA and small molecule.
“The professionals recognized this year represent the next generation of leaders shaping the future of biopharma,” said BioSpace CEO Josh Goodwin. “From advancing AI-driven discovery and breakthrough science to leading business strategy, operations, manufacturing and patient advocacy, these individuals are already making a meaningful impact on our industry. Their achievements reflect the depth of talent, innovation and leadership driving better outcomes for patients around the world.”
Of the 40 honorees, eight are CEOs, and 10 founded or co-founded their companies.
The second 40 Under 40 cohort’s accomplishments include:
- With fellow co-founder, developing the world’s first synthetic biology programming language for mRNA, work that identified expression control, not delivery, as the primary bottleneck limiting genetic medicines (Jake Becraft, co-founder and CEO, Strand Therapeutics)
- Leading a contract development and manufacturing organization’s $620 million acquisition, overseeing the transaction from deal origination and banker engagement through diligence, negotiation and close (Samantha Piteri-Molina, vice president of business and strategy, Forge Biologics)
- Being an inventor on two issued patents and 11 pending patent applications and pioneering the development of the first bioresorbable radiopaque polymer, which enabled visualization of implanted medical devices while naturally resorbing in the body (Amy Kauffman, senior principal scientist, Bristol Myers Squibb)
- Leading development of predictive modeling tools for molecular design, work externally validated by a first-place finish in the Ginkgo Bioworks antibody developability competition (Saber Meamardoost, associate director-research, data science and AI, Boehringer Ingelheim)
- Co-founding and leading a neuroscience company that raised more than $100 million and was acquired for $700 million up-front and up to $1.225 billion in total consideration (Blake Mandell, advisor, Transcend Therapeutics)
- Conducting research that spearheaded the use of transcriptome sequencing to improve diagnosis of rare genetic diseases, a publication cited over 900 times to date (Beryl Cummings, senior director, team lead and chief of staff, Marea Therapeutics)
- Executing major initiatives spanning more than 50 national executive partnerships across health systems, academic medicine and industry leadership (Kimberly Nettles, director of health advocacy, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group)
- Authoring more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, receiving over 1,300 citations and holding multiple patents (Haichen Nie, associate director, biologics drug product development, Teva Pharmaceuticals)
Nominations for 40 Under 40 were open from July 6 to Aug. 24. To be eligible, nominees had to be based in the U.S.; be 39 years of age or younger for the calendar year for which they were considered; work in a leadership role in any size biotech or pharma company operating in the U.S.; and be employed at the company for which they were nominated when winners are announced. Anyone could nominate an individual for consideration, and nominees from all disciplines were welcome. Nominees were required to complete an online submission. Winners were selected by BioSpace committee.
