Susan K. Whoriskey, PhD
Biotechnology Entrepreneur; pioneering scientific breakthroughs to save lives
Dr. Whoriskey has been on the Founding Executive Team of four companies. The unifying theme: Never been done before.
As head of Technology Strategy Susan has a unique role creating cohesion at the interface of research, intellectual property and business in the critical early phases of translating the scientific vision from lab bench to approved drug products. She aligns teams to conduct due diligence, establish technology proof of concept, raise additional capital to optimize the technology, and establish an intellectual property strategy to incentivize collaborations and obtain exclusivity. Success de-risks the drug development opportunity enabling the company to attract additional domain expertise to build critical mass to evolve from technology foundation through drug candidate selection and manufacturing, clinical and marketing activities.
Moderna pioneered the field of Messenger RNA therapeutics. In 2018, Moderna executed the largest biotech IPO ever. The Company currently has over 10 programs in clinical trials and was one of the first companies to have a COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the clinic.
Momenta pioneered the field of biogenerics achieving the first FDA approval ever for a complex mixture generic drug, M-enoxaparin, to prevent and treat deep vein thrombosis and acute coronary symptom. It was the most successful IV generic launch ever in the US, saving the U.S. health care system hundreds of millions of dollars. The company also received FDA approval for Glatopa, to treat multiple sclerosis. The strength of the technology platform allowed the company to simultaneously develop novel therapeutics to treat autoimmune diseases. Momenta was purchased by Johnson & Johnson for $6.5B in 2020.
Susan was on the Founding Executive Team and is consulting to this privately held company.