How to Create the Greatest Value Within a Budget Before the Next Funding Raise

Alessandra Cesano, MD, PhD is the Chief Medical Officer at ESSA Pharma since July 2019. Previously she was the Chief Medical Officer of NanoString Inc from July 2015 until June 2019 where she focused on the development of translational and diagnostic multiplexed assays for the characterization and measurement of mechanisms of immune response/resistance.Prior to joining NanoString, Dr Cesano was Chief Medical Officer at Cleave Biosciences, Inc and before then she served as Chief Medical Officer and Chief Operations Officer at Nodality, Inc, where she built and led the R&D group, while providing the overall clinical vision for the organization. Between 1998 and 2008, Dr Cesano held various management positions at Amgen, Biogen Idec and SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, where she helped to advance various oncology drugs through late stage development and FDA approvals. Early in her professional career Dr Cesano spent 12 years conducting research in tumor immunology, including nine years at the Wistar Institute, an NCI Basic Cancer Center connected with the University of Pennsylvania.She also holds membership in several professional and scientific societies including ASCO, ESMO, ASH, EHA, AACR and SITC. In the latter she serves as co-chair in the SITC Industry Committee, Associate Editor for the Biomarker section of JITC and is an active member of the SITC Biomarker Working Group.Over her career she has been an author on over 140 publications. Dr Cesano received an MD summa cum laude, a Board Certification in Oncology and a PhD in Tumor Immunology from the University of Turin.

Dr. Jeff Humphrey is an oncologist and physician-scientist with longstanding experience as both CMO and CEO in big and small pharma. Currently, he is founder and CEO of Charged Biotherapeutics. Previously he served as CMO of Constellation, Magenta, and Kyowa Kirin where he also served as Chief Development Officer and President of the US and EU research organization. He previously held executive positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer, and Bayer. Dr. Humphrey has 30 years of cancer research and drug discovery experience, with 20 years of experience leading departments and organizations developing cancer drugs from pre-IND to post-launch. Jeff has been involved in numerous IND and NDA/BLA/MAA regulatory submissions in the US and EU leading to FDA and EU approvals from Nexavar® to Poteligeo®, Nourianz®, and Crysvita®. He has published more than 30 peer-reviewed papers in molecular biology and clinical research during his industry and academic career. Dr. Humphrey is a graduate of Harvard and CWRU medical school. He completed his medical residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and post-doctoral human genetics and medical oncology fellowships at the US NIH and NCI.

Dr. Leonard Dragone has over twenty years of experience in preclinical, translational and early clinical development, with a focus in autoimmune disease. He most recently served as chief medical officer at Sonoma Biotherapeutics establishing it as a clinical stage company where he built the Clinical development, Translational and Data science organizations. Previously, Lenny held leadership roles in early clinical development at Janssen Biopharma, Merck Research Laboratories, and Genentech, where he advanced preclinical, investigational new drug (IND) filings and early clinical programs. In these roles, he focused on establishing cross-functional teams that defined patient disease heterogeneity, biomarkers and trial inclusion criteria, with the goal of enabling trials that can optimally define the value of new medicines for patients. Lenny received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Rochester before completing his pediatric residency and pediatric rheumatology fellowship training at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He was also an associate professor of pediatrics and immunology at the University of Colorado and National Jewish Health in Denver, where he ran a National Institutes of Health-funded basic science laboratory, publishing more than 30 peer-reviewed articles. Lenny remains clinically active as a Volunteer Associate Professor of Pediatric Rheumatology at UCSF.

Sofia Baig is an exceptional strategic leader, adept at driving organizational change and delivering top- and bottom-line business growth. She is an expert in strategic account management, global clinical development operations, and delivering transformational change inclusive of people, processes, and technology. Winner of multiple prestigious awards, including recognition as a 2021 PharmaVoice 100 most inspiring leader in the life sciences industry, and as part of a team, receiving the 2022 Catalyst Award for DEI work focused on improving women’s representation in senior leadership.