In this episode of The Emerging Biotech Leader, Kim Kushner sits down with Chris Kennedy, CEO of Pacific Genetech, to examine a different approach to building leadership teams in early-stage biotech: building organizations around program needs rather than fixed leadership structures. 

Biotech companies are often built around a familiar assumption: identify the key leadership roles, hire the right people, and grow from there. Increasingly, that model is being challenged by the realities of early-stage development. 

The question is not simply whether a role should be full-time or fractional. It is whether the company has access to the capabilities it needs at a given stage of development. 

Early-stage companies rarely have the resources to build every capability in-house from the outset. Whether working with academic institutions, investors, scientific advisors, or operational leaders, progress often depends on bringing the right perspectives into critical decisions at the right time. Expertise becomes something companies can access as needs evolve, rather than something that must always exist as a permanent role. 

That changes how leadership itself is viewed. Rather than filling an organizational chart as quickly as possible, companies can build access to expertise that evolves alongside the needs of the program. The question becomes less about which roles exist and more about what capabilities are needed next. 

The challenge is often less about having every role in place and more about knowing when specific expertise needs to be brought in. 

Listen to the full episode.