How does a United States Air Force officer end up leading a European biotech company?

Is there an advantage to leading a company that’s based half a world away?

And are you doing a regrets analysis as part of your decision-making?

This week I’m joined by Mark Gaffney, a Boston-based CEO leading Calluna Pharma. Calluna is a Norwegian company developing therapeutics for inflammatory and fibrotic diseases, such as IPF – but we’ll get into the science later in the episode.

First, Mark shares his story on what drew him into life science and how he got from the US air force and into C-suite.

About LifeScience ORG

It’s no secret that Europe is a global leader in generating translational science. We’re grateful at LifeScience ORG to have a community of over 400 life science CEOs – leaders driving change in biotech, medtech, techBio and healthcare.

The conversations inside our community – stories of conviction, navigating challenges, and making bold decisions – inspire us every week. To hear the stories, lessons, and experiences of our life science leaders, listen to A Call to Lead @ LifeScience ORG, available on all good podcasting platforms.

Timestamps

1:30 - From Military Service to Biotech Leadership

1:45 - Personal Motivation: Fighting Retinitis Pigmentosa

3:10 - Career Transition: Law to Life Sciences

5:36 - Stepping Up to CEO: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

7:49 - Leadership Lessons from the Air Force

12:00 - Leading Across Continents: Virtual Leadership Strategies

16:14 - The Regrets Analysis: A Decision-Making Framework

20:03 - European Biotech Innovation and Efficiency

22:13 - Calluna Pharma: Tackling IPF with Novel Targets

24:02 - Navigating Risk in Novel Target Development

25:35 - Ecosystem Support for Inflammatory Disease Research

28:32 - Building and Empowering High-Performance Teams