A Strategic Turn from Obesity to Cancer

About this episode

Amy Burroughs discusses her leadership transition at Terns Pharmaceuticals and the company's strategic shift towards oncology.

When Amy Burroughs stepped in as CEO of Terns Pharmaceuticals, she not only had to fill a void created by the death of her predecessor, but also lead a strategic shift from an increasingly crowded area of metabolic disease to focus on its experimental therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia. The company’s allosteric BCR-ABL inhibitor binds to a different site on the fusion protein than most first- and second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The data have the company and its investors believing the drug can reset the bar for both efficacy and tolerability in a multibillion-dollar market. We spoke with Burroughs about reinventing the company, the decision to seek partners for non-core assets, and how she is charting a clear path toward a broader oncology future.

People in this episode

Guest: Amy Burroughs

Topics covered

• oncology
• pharmaceuticals
• leadership
• cancer treatment
• strategic management

Keywords

• obesity
• cancer
• chronic myeloid leukemia
• BCR-ABL inhibitor
• pharmaceutical strategy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Terns Pharmaceuticals, tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Products: allosteric BCR-ABL inhibitor

Places: multibillion-dollar market

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