The Healthcare Technology Report has published its list of the Top 25 Women Leaders in Biotechnology for 2023. They were recognized for their leadership which influenced corporate strategies and helped make real-world impact.
Brinda Balakrishna, Rachna Khosla, Avni Santani, Sulagna Bhattacharya, and Shreya Jani were among the five Indian-Americans on the list. They were recognised for their efforts in steering their biotech companies to success and making important contributions to international health programs.
Balakrishnan, currently serving as chief business development officer at BioMarin Pharmaceutical, has played a crucial role in its global biotech initiatives, dedicated to transforming lives through genetic discovery.
She has experience in licensing, fundraising, and program advancement through her work with Vision Medicines, a company she co-founded that specializes in treating rare ophthalmic diseases. With a background at McKinsey & Company and Genzyme, Dr. Balakrishnan holds degrees from MIT and Harvard Medical School.
Since September 2021, Khosla has served as Amgen’s senior vice president of business development, where she has been instrumental in leading the company to success through strategic partnerships, collaborations, and acquisitions.
She has previously held roles at Lazard, Credit Suisse Healthcare M&A, Sanofi Aventis, JP Morgan Chase, and Salomon Brothers. She has a BA from Barnard College and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Santani is the chief genomics officer at LetsGetChecked, a global digital healthcare solutions company. Formerly the CMO at Veritas Genetics, she played a crucial role in clinical development plans.
She specializes in crafting innovative product portfolios through sequencing, informatics, and AI, ensuring swift and effective disease diagnosis. With a PhD in genetics from Texas A&M University, she holds board certification in clinical laboratory genetics and genomics from the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG).
Bhattacharya is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Nanoscope Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in gene therapies for retinal degenerative diseases. With a background in management consulting at Deloitte and Hitachi Consulting, Bhattacharya has experience in business intelligence, risk management, market research, and product development.
In addition to holding international patents and publishing extensively, Bhattacharya is also a co-founder of a number of successful biotech and biomedical device/diagnostic companies.
Jani became the senior vice president of corporate affairs at BeiGene in 2021, overseeing a corporate affairs function aligned with BeiGene’s vision for accessible cancer medicines. In 2023, she spearheaded the Global Health Equity initiative, partnering with the Max Foundation to provide BRUKINSA, BeiGene’s BTKi inhibitor, to patients in 29 under-served countries.
Currently serving on the Board of the National Partnership for Women and Families, Jani earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Public Health from New York University and has a history of advocacy with non-profits on HIV/AIDS and reproductive health issues.
