Synopsis:

Prakash Raman, Ph.D., is the President and CEO of Ribon Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company pursuing the development of novel small molecules targeting stress support pathways in cancer and inflammation. A medicinal chemist by training, Prakash discusses his professional development and the evolution of his strategic thinking as he went from chemist, to project management, to business development, to now CEO. He shares his advice for scientists in biotech and pharma and the best method he’s found for communicating with and motivating his team. He also discusses the inherent risk involved in biotech and his perspective on how failure can be a teaching moment.

Interested to learn more about Ribon? Check out this episode featuring Heike Keilhack, CSO: https://bit.ly/3yeXUmi

Biography:

Prakash Raman, Ph.D. has served as Ribon’s president, chief executive officer and board member since February 2022. Dr. Raman brings to Ribon decades of biopharmaceutical business development and executive leadership experience, blending his scientific background, program and portfolio management and strong business development experience. Prior to joining Ribon, he served as Senior Partner, Chief Business Development Officer at Flagship Pioneering from October 2019 to February 2022, where he leveraged the platforms and assets in Flagship’s network to generate opportunities for significant value creation. Prior to Flagship, Dr. Raman spent nearly fourteen years at Novartis, most recently as Vice President, Global Head of Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR) Business Development and Licensing (BD&L). During his time at Novartis, Dr. Raman was instrumental in forging key collaborations in immuno-oncology, executing many out-licensing opportunities and guiding the acquisitions of Advanced Accelerator Applications, Endocyte, IFM Tre and Selexys. In addition, he has led cross-functional drug discovery and early development project teams that successfully progressed compounds to clinical testing in patients. Prior to Novartis, Dr. Raman spent six years as a Senior Scientist at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and two years as a post-doctoral fellow at The Scripps Research Institute. He completed his undergraduate work at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and received his Ph.D. in Organic and Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.