WEST 2011 Leadership Awards June 8, 2011


Awardee: Joanna Horobin
 

Joanna Horobin, MD is President and CEO of Syndax Pharmaceuticals, a privately held company focused on the development of innovative cancer therapies.  Formerly Vice President of Oncology at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi-Aventis) and Chief Operating Officer of CombinatoRx, Inc., Dr. Horobin has more than 25 years of pharmaceutical drug development experience in multiple therapeutic areas, with a focus on oncology and a particular interest in the development of combination strategies.

At Rhone-Poulenc Rorer she led the global oncology business, including directing the successful global launch, and subsequent market expansion, of Taxotere® (docetaxel) and also led a successful joint venture with the Japanese company Chugai, Chugai Rhone-Poulenc, which developed and launched the granulocyte growth factor Granocyte® (lenograstim) for the European market. As Chief Operating Officer at CombinatoRx, a company focused on combination products, she raised over $70 million in private financing, transitioned the company from a discovery-focused start-up to a clinical-stage enterprise, and positioned the company for a successful initial public offering. Dr. Horobin was also Executive Vice President at EntreMed, a company developing angiogenesis inhibitors. She spent a year as Entrepreneur in Residence with the venture capital firm MPM Capital. Her pharmaceutical experience spans clinical development, marketing, and general management in both public and private companies.

Dr. Horobin qualified in medicine from the Victoria University of Manchester, England, and additionally gained Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners in the United Kingdom. She holds the Diploma of Pharmaceutical Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians in the United Kingdom.