Profile: Katherine Bowdish, Sanofi’s Early Science Investment Scout

Katherine Bowdish, vice president of global R&D at Sanofi and leader of Sunrise, the French big pharma's early-stage investment arm, talks to Scrip about living vicariously through biotech companies whilst having the power and backing of a pharma major to advance important, innovative science.

Rollercoaster
Riding the early science rollercoaster is not for the fainthearted • Source: Shutterstock

Katherine Bowdish, the founder of an immune-oncology company over a decade ago that was forced to shelve research due to lack of interest and buy-in from investors at the time, talks about Sanofi's early investment initiative, Sunrise. In the latest installment of Scrip's executive profile series, she highlights the importance of pharma collaboration with early science designed to accelerate not impede development.

Bowdish joined Sanofi in February 2013 to launch Sunrise, an investment initiative for the big pharma based in Cambridge, Massachusetts,...

Scrip Podcast

Keep up with the top pharma business news of the week. On the go.

Scrip brings you a weekly bulletin of top picks.

More from Start-Ups & SMEs

Scrip-Business (Free-1): Top-Selling Drugs 2024: Keytruda, Ozempic And Dupixent Dominate

 
• By 

Merck’s immuno-oncology blockbuster was the world’s best-selling drugs by revenues for the second year in a row, with an almost $12bn lead over its closest rival, Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 drug Ozempic.

Pentixapharm Poised To Make A Splash In The Radiopharmaceuticals Pool

 
• By 

The German group is spinning off from Eckert & Ziegler and listing in Frankfurt, though a leap to the NASDAQ will likely follow once it has more data on a lymphoma theranostic.

Finance Watch: GondolaBio, BridgeBio’s Second Spinout Of 2024, Launches With $300m

 
• By 

BridgeBio spun out oncology assets in May to focus on rare diseases and now it has sliced off a few rare disease candidates for GondolaBio. Also, Avidity and Kymera closed follow-on offerings that grossed $345.1m and $225m, respectively, and Vandria extended its series A round to $30.7m.

Borealis Seeks Aurora In RNA-Based Drugs For Renal Disease

 

With $150m in series A funding, the Versant- and Novartis-backed start-up is betting it can overcome the challenges to getting RNA medicines into the kidney.

More from Business

How A New Healthcare Dialogue Is Driving Market Access In Mexico

Companies stand a better chance of securing public reimbursement in Mexico for innovative medicines if they understand changing approaches to healthcare. The shift means the emergence of managed entry agreements and a focus on economic impact, explains AMIIF, Mexico's research-based pharmaceutical industry association.

How Novartis Is Elevating CVD Outcomes, Driving ‘Personalized Access’ In APMA

Novartis’s APMA chief outlines the company’s tailored approach to deliver long-term outcomes, novel access solutions via innovative financing options and shape the CVD disease ecosystem in the extraordinarily diverse region. Partnering to build AI infrastructure is another key prong.

India Rare Diseases: Court Shows Path For Policy Action, Funding, Price Issues-- Test-2

A court order encompassing funding, drug pricing, clinical trials and overall policy implementation aspects is expected to bring about a paradigm shift in the treatment of rare diseases in India. Sarepta, Roche and Sanofi are among the key players that have been part of pricing discussions.