Memoirs

The AI entrepreneur fighting against cancer Selin Kurnaz is clearly very smart. But what really stood out to me is how street wise and scrappy she is as an entrepreneur. There is nothing theoretical about how she talks about building a business. It is practical, direct, and rooted in reality. What I Learnt Entrepreneurship is …

25 plus years as a pharma focused PE fund Jim Gale has been investing in pharma services longer than most of us have even known what a CDMO is. As the Founding Partner of Signet, he has built a fund with true staying power. Five funds. Seventy deals. A consistent philosophy. And a calm, articulate …

The doctor who built a 1.4 billion euro business Thomas Dobmeyer began his career as a medic, not an entrepreneur. But his journey shows what happens when curiosity, courage and timing align in just the right way. From freelancing as a young doctor to co-founding a small regulatory consultancy, Thomas went on to build PharmaLex, …

The master builder CEO leading Codis Nick Fortin’s story is one of curiosity, courage and continuous improvement. From his beginnings in Montreal’s manufacturing scene to becoming CEO of Codis, Nick’s journey shows what can happen when you keep learning, keep building and never stop pushing yourself. When I sat down with Nick, I walked away …

From R&D to CRO CEO Dr. Fozia Saleem’s journey from R&D scientist to CEO is as fascinating as it is inspiring. After years in global roles at GSK, BAT, and Broughton, she now leads Magnitude Biosciences — a scrappy, fast-moving CRO helping clients generate better data, earlier, through its WormGazer® technology platform. When I sat …

The CEO driving bold change at PathoQuest Jean-François Brepson spent 20 years climbing the ladder at Ipsen before making the leap from the security of corporate pharma into the messy, uncertain world of entrepreneurship. Since 2015, he has led PathoQuest and transformed it into a global CRO specialising in quality control of biologics using Next …

The CEO leading Ensera’s evolution Jason Anderson has taken a fascinating route to the CEO chair at Ensera. From chemical engineering at BASF, to McKinsey, to a venture backed polymer start up sold to Saudi Aramco, he has lived and worked across North America, Asia, and Europe. Today he is leading Ensera (formerly SteriPack) through …

The understated CDMO CCO JB Agnus has built a career that spans global roles at some of the biggest names in pharma services. Today, he is Chief Commercial Officer at Bora Pharmaceuticals, helping drive the company’s remarkable trajectory in the CDMO space. When I sat down with JB, here is what I took away: What …

The CEO driving change at Curia Phil Macnabb has over 25 years of working with private equity, and more than a decade in healthcare. Today he is steering Curia, a billion plus revenue CDMO, through some tough but necessary changes. When I sat down with Phil, I walked away with three big lessons: What I …

Lars Petersen’s story is one of purpose, grit and quiet conviction. After 25 years in big pharma with Novo Nordisk, Genentech, Roche and Biogen, he now leads FUJIFILM Biotechnologies, shaping a global CDMO known as much for its culture and innovation as for its scale. The People first CEO of FUJIFILM Biotechnologies When I sat …