Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Cambridge based CEO’ operating in the Pharmaceutical space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Liang Schweizer
Co-founder, President and CEO of HiFiBiO
Liang Schweizer is the Co-founder, President and CEO of HiFiBiO Therapeutics. Previously, she co-founded Harbour Biomed and served as its CSO, successfully transforming a technology platform company to an antibody drug discovery enterprise. Before launching her entrepreneurial career, Liang served as Head of Asian Cancer Research at Sanofi, advancing Sanofi’s Asia-Pacific oncology pipeline as well as contributing to global oncology programs from preclinical to clinical efforts. Before joining Sanofi, Liang Schweizer was a director at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, heading a group of scientists at Leads Discovery and Optimization (LDO), overseeing 60+ in vitro pharmacology projects across different therapeutic areas. Under her leadership, the team made significant contributions to 4 marketed drugs and impacted over 20 clinical candidates. She is also a co-inventor of multiple BMS Immunoncology (IO) clinical candidates. Liang Schweizer graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) majoring in Biology. She received her Master’s degree in Microbial Engineering at the University of Minnesota with minor in Chemical Engineering. Liang earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University in Zurich, Switzerland. Her postdoctoral training was with Dr. Harold Varmus, a Nobel Laureate, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), New York.
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About HiFiBiO: HiFiBiO provides proprietary single cell technologies for applications in drug and biomarker discovery and development.
Hannah Sore
Founder and CEO of PharmEnable
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About PharmEnable: PharmEnable has developed a rapid and cost effective way to identify better chemical starting points to drive the discovery.
Romesh Subramanian
CEO and Founder of Dyne Therapeutics
Romesh Subramanian is the CEO and founder of Dyne Therapeutics.
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About Dyne Therapeutics: Dyne Therapeutics is a developer of targeted therapies intended for serious muscle diseases.
Peter M. Hecht
Co-Founder & CEO of Cyclerion Therapeutics
Peter Hecht has served as Ironwood’s CEO and a director since co‐founding the company in 1998. He started Ironwood because he was attracted to “the idea of working with a team of people who challenge, inspire and humble me,” and building an enduring organization dedicated to creating important medicines. Under his leadership, Ironwood has grown from nine Ph.D. scientists to a fully‐integrated research, development and commercial organization. Prior to founding Ironwood, Peter was a research fellow at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, an affiliate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He earned his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of California at Berkeley as well as a B.S. in mathematics and an M.S. in biology from Stanford University.
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About Cyclerion Therapeutics: Cyclerion Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company.
Frank Reynolds
Chairman of the Board, CEO, CFO, CSO & Co-Founder of PixarBio
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About PixarBio: PixarBio Corp is a specialty Biotechnology company focused on pre-clinical and commercial development of new products.
Richie Bavasso
Founder and CEO of nQ Medical
Mr. Bavasso is one of the early pioneers of use of digital media, devices and the web as tools to support pharmaceutical sales and marketing strategies and tactics. Since 1999, he has worked with top 25 Pharma clients globally to introduce the Closed Loop Marketing (CLM) function. He has set procedure and precedent in the areas of sales force effectiveness, business-rule driven content management, multichannel marketing, and mobile technology. A frequent speaker at industry conferences and events, Mr. Bavasso serves as an advocate for the industry in promoting digital conversation as integral to the various enterprise functions within pharma and the medical community. Prior to his seven years as co-founder and President of Exploria SPS, Mr. Bavasso served for sixteen years as CEO of Pharmedica Holdings, LLC, and President of its INFLUENT Division, at the time one of the largest medical education companies in the world. He built Pharmedica holdings from its start as a meetings planning company in 1992, doubling its revenues each year until its sale in 2001. This growth included an ACCME accredited entity (Center for Medical Education, LLC), a digital content division (Influent, LLC), and a call center (ContextMedicus, LLC). He opened offices in California, Connecticut, Illinois, and North Carolina. After his three-year earn out, Bavasso partnered to co-found Exploria SPS, LLC, as the mobile devices division of Exploria, Inc. Within three years, Exploria SPS became the market leader for CLM with offices in Connecticut and France and currently licenses software in 33 countries and 18 languages. Mr. Bavasso’s introduction of CLM and subsequent influence over the growth and expansion of CLM globally led to his recognition in 2007, by PharmaVoice magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in pharma. Foreseeing the trends in Pharma that have impacted its selling model and the changing influence dynamic of payors on prescribing, Mr. Bavasso incubated a new and disruptive concept meant to serve as the transaction-fed, new marketplace for healthcare. This led to the incorporation of RIMEDIO, Inc. in October 2012 intent on reshaping the dynamic of how healthcare interacts and transacts to achieve mutual stakeholder objectives. RIMEDIO leverages the power of social utilities with eCommerce, content management and communications tools to consummate transactions between healthcare stakeholders. He is currently co-founder and CEO of nQ Medical, Inc., a machine learning computational biomarker company leveraging keyboard data to manage neuromotor diseases. Everyone has a unique typing signature. Research has revealed that the way we interact with computers and mobile devices can reveal with startling accuracy the presence of certain neuro-motor diseases. This Massachusetts Institute of Technology discovered/Michael J. Fox Foundation validated artificial intelligence tool (neuroQWERTY) has opened a broad opportunity to better diagnose diseases, track disease progression, and monitor medication effectiveness and symptoms. Mr. Bavasso is also a licensed hospital administrator having served from 1981 to 1992 leading two health care systems in New England. A graduate of Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration, he received his MBA in health care management and finance from Bryant University, Smithfield, RI.
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About nQ Medical: nQ Medical is a neurotechnology company allowing Data Defined Disease Management via digital biomarkers using AI.
Jonah Kallenbach
Co-founder & CEO of Reverie Labs
Jonah Kallenbach is a Co-Founder and CEO at Reverie Labs. He attended Harvard University.
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About Reverie Labs: Reverie Labs is a machine learning-driven pharma company.
Steven L. Hoerter
President and CEO of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals
Steven L. Hoerter has served as our Senior Vice President, Commercial since August 2011. From 2010 to 2011, Steven Hoerter was General Manager and Management Center Head at F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. for the Sub-Saharan Africa and Indian Ocean Region, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. From 2005 to 2010, Steven Hoerter held a variety of positions at Genentech, Inc., including serving on the senior leadership team for Genentech’s BioOncology business as Senior Director, Pipeline Development and Commercial Operations. Prior to that he worked at Chiron Corporation and Eli Lilly and Company. During Steven Hoerter’s 11-year career at Lilly, he held positions in sales, business development, marketing and business unit management in the US, Europe and Africa. Steven Hoerter has a B.A. in Russian and Political Science from Bucknell University, an M.B.A. from Tilburg University and a M.S. in Management from Purdue University.
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About Deciphera Pharmaceuticals: Deciphera Pharmaceuticals focuses on improving kinase inhibitor treatments.
David R. Elmaleh
Scientific Founder, CEO and Chairman of AZTherapies
David R. Elmaleh is the founder of [Mersana Therapeutics](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/mersana-therapeutics#/entity). Previously, he served as the chairman and president of AZTherapies. Elmaleh obtained a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and physics, and master’s degree and PhD in organic chemistry from Hebrew University.
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About AZTherapies, Mersana Therapeutics: AZTherapies is a clinical stage biotech company developing breakthrough treatments for neuroinflammation-related diseases.
Fabrice Chouraqui
Chief Executive Officer of Cellarity
Fabrice Chouraqui is the Chief Executive Officer at Cellarity.
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About Cellarity: Cellarity’s platform digitizes the molecular information in cells to elucidate how they behave in health and disease.
Glenn Larsen
Co-Founder, President & CEO of Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals
Glenn Larsen is a Co-Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer at Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals since 2014. Aquinnah is a pharmaceutical company focused on the development of new therapies for ALS and neurodegenerative diseases. Glenn brings significant experience from his tenure in the discovery, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical, biotech and regenerative medicines, including raising approximately $65 million in private venture funding. Glenn has been closely involved with the commercial registration of five biologics and led teams that advanced over 15 new biologic and small molecule chemical entities to clinical development. Previously, Glenn was the Vice President of Musculoskeletal Sciences at Wyeth (Pfizer); directing R&D in the fields of arthritis, pain, inflammation and tissue regeneration, including responsibility for the global development and commercial efforts of Enbrel, an anti-TNF therapeutic. Glenn also served as Vice President of Preclinical Research and Development at Genetics Institute, responsible for all preclinical activities needed to identify and advance drug candidates to clinical trials for evaluation in the fields of oncology, inflammation, immunology, hemophilia, hematopoiesis and tissue regeneration programs. Glenn currently serves on the Board of Directors of Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals, Anika Therapeutics, 180 Therapeutics and previously Hydra Biosciences; and has held prior senior executive leadership roles at Hydra Biosciences and SpringLeaf Therapeutics. Glenn received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Stony Brook University and is a PMD Graduate of Harvard Business School.
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About Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals: Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals is a National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Briggs Morrison
CEO of Syndax Pharmaceuticals
Briggs W. Morrison, M.D., joined MPM in 2015. Briggs is CEO of Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an MPM portfolio company. Prior to joining Syndax and MPM, Briggs served as Chief Medical Officer and Executive VP for “Global Medicines Development” at AstraZeneca (ADR). Briggs’ career includes distinguished roles at AstraZeneca, Pfizer (PFE) and Merck (MRK). At AstraZeneca, he was head of global medicines development, where he oversaw all clinical development functions and late- stage clinical development projects. As Head of Clinical Development at Pfizer, he oversaw Phase I-III development and operations for all therapeutic areas before being appointed the head of Development, Medical Affairs, Safety and Regulatory Affairs for all Pfizer human health businesses. While serving as head of Oncology Development at Merck, Briggs oversaw the development and approval of vorinostat (Zolinza ®) for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Briggs formerly served as Chairman of the Board of Transcelerate, an industry-funded company charged with improving aspects of clinical trials. Briggs received his BS (Biology) degree from Georgetown University and his MD degree from the University of Connecticut, and completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and additional post-doctoral work at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Briggs trained in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and in Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
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About MPM Capital, Syndax Pharmaceuticals: Syndax Pharmaceuticals focuses on developing an HDAC inhibitor for solid tumors and hematological tumors.
Shravane Balabasqer
Founder | CEO of Carbon Analytics
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About Carbon Analytics: A granular asset focused carbon intelligence & offsetting platform for active industrial decarbonisation across the value chain.
Simon Read
Founder and CEO of Curie Therapeutics
Simon Read is the Founder and CEO Curie Therapeutics.
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About Curie Therapeutics: Curie Therapeutics is a fully integrated next-generation radiopharmaceutical firm that combines ligand research and radiochemistry experts.
Heather Fairhead
Founder & CEO of Phico Therapeutics
Dr Fairhead has over 17 years’ experience directing research teams in a variety of disciplines and has led Phico in developing SASPject technology from a concept through a Phase I clinical trial. Prior to her scientific career, Heather worked for 10 years in sales and marketing in a wide range of industries.
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About Phico Therapeutics: Phico Therapeutics is a developer of novel platform technology designed to overcome antibacterial resistance.
Robert Ang
President and CEO of Vor Biopharma
Robert Ang is the president and CEO at Vor Biopharma.
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About Vor Biopharma: Vor Biopharma is an immuno-oncology company that develops therapies for treating cancer.
Jennifer Barnett
CEO of Monument Therapeutics
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About Cambridge Cognition, Monument Therapeutics: Monument Therapeutics develops products to treat serious diseases of the central nervous system.
Michael Chen
Co-founder and CEO of Nuclera
Michael Chen is the Co-founder and CEO at Nuclera.
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About Nuclera: Nuclera makes biology accessible through desktop enzymatic protein and gene synthesis.
Ben Pellegrini
Chief Executive Officer of Intellegens
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About Intellegens: Cambridge spin out using Deep Learning to train on big, incomplete data. Currently working in drug discovery and material design.
Gleb Kuznetsov
Co-Founder and CEO of Manifold Bio
Gleb Kuznetsov is the Co-Founder and CEO at Manifold Bio.
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About Manifold Bio: Manifold Bio is building a protein barcoding platform to bring the power of multiplexed measurement.
Frank F. Craig
CEO of Sphere Fluidics
Dr Frank F. Craig has around 15 years of international, general management experience gained from GlaxoSmithKline, Amersham Biosciences (as a Vice-President of R&D) and several start-up firms. He was responsible for managing product development of Green Fluorescent Protein (first identified by the 2008 Nobel Prize Winners for Chemistry) and many other cell-based products and services for the Life Sciences industry. Frank was a (co)-Founder of Aurora Biosciences (San Diego, USA), which had a peak market cap. of £1.8 billion and was acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals for £420 million. He was also a co-Founder and CEO of Smart Holograms (Cambridge, UK) – named as the UK’s Fastest Growing Company. Frank has raised £22 million in Private Equity, £25 million via an IPO on NASDAQ and has delivered many commercial partnerships with global Life Sciences and Energy firms – resulting in recorded deal values of £180 million. He has been a Board Director of Smart Holograms and TekCel (Hopkinton, USA), and helped form Sphere Fluidics before becoming its CEO in May 2010. He has a PhD in Cell Biology and Microbiology from Glasgow University and an MBA from Warwick Business School.
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About BioChannel Partners, Sphere Fluidics: Sphere Fluidics develops products for use in single cell analysis and characterization, and provides associated collaborative R&D services.
Matthew Gregory
Chief Executive Officer of Isomerase Therapeutics
Matthew is an experienced drug discovery professional skilled in programme management and intellectual property rights protection. He has particular experience of anti-infective drug discovery and was previously Director of Intellectual Property and Project Management at Biotica Technology Ltd. At Biotica he managed the intellectual property and collaborative research on internal projects from 2005-2013, with particular therapeutic focus in infectious diseases, inflammation and oncology. In doing so, he was also responsible for segregating internal programmes from collaborative research. Matthew was the project leader of the company’s flagship cyclophilin inhibitor program, which was focused on development of a high barrier to resistance backbone therapy for treatment of HCV, HBV and HIV. Matthew joined Biotica in 2003, having been involved with the company since 1999 when he was at the University of Cambridge working on production of novel rapamycin analogues and genetic manipulation of the biosynthetic pathway in Professor Peter Leadlay’s group. Matthew has almost 20 years of experience in actinomycete genetics, is an author or inventor on over 30 patents, patent applications or publications and holds a BSc in Biochemistry and Genetics and a PhD in Molecular Genetics from the University of Nottingham.
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About Isomerase Therapeutics: Isomerase Therapeutics is an agile drug discovery and development company.
Joanna Burnett
Co-founder and CEO of GPrX Data
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About GPrX Data: GPrX Data translates NHS practice level prescribing data into easily-reviewed intelligence.
