Biotech CEO Sisterhood: Amy Burroughs discusses the success of Terns Pharma and developing TERN-701 for CML, being acquired by Merck for $6.7 billion, and leadership learnings throughout her career
- Aug 6
- 2 min read
Interviewed by Sisterhood editorial board member Erika Smith, Amy Burroughs discusses joining Terns when it was not obvious and at a time when the company was going through a sad moment, and how the momentum started to turn as data for TERN-701 started becoming apparent. She describes her career, which included stops at large and small companies, and on the investing side at 5AM Ventures, and provides leadership lessons along the way.
Biographies
Amy Burroughs is a biopharmaceutical chief executive and board director with more than two decades of experience in executive leadership positions, as well as serving on the board of directors of public and private companies. She most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Terns Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: TERN), reshaping the team, pivoting the company to oncology, and orchestrating a $6.7 billion acquisition by Merck — representing a greater than 15-fold increase in market capitalization during her tenure.
Prior to Terns, Amy was CEO at Cleave Therapeutics, Executive in Residence at 5AM Ventures, and Senior Advisor to Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during its initial public offering. Her earlier career spans diverse roles such as commercial and strategy leadership at Genentech, executive search and leadership advisory at Egon Zehnder, and brand management at Procter & Gamble.
Amy serves on the board of Tenaya Therapeutics, including its audit and compensation committees. She has been a proud member of the Biotech CEO Sisterhood since its inception. She was named a recipient of the Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year® 2026 award in the Bay Area.
She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School (Baker Scholar) and a BA in computer science and economics from Dartmouth College.
Erika Smith is life sciences entrepreneur who has combined technical and business expertise with 30-years of industry experience building, investing in, and successfully exiting life-science and technology companies
Previously, she led EpiTET Therapeutics, developing novel oral therapeutics that selectively eliminates pathogenic macrophages, and ReNetX Bio, a venture funded neuro-science company
As an investor, she served as the inaugural director of the $65M Blavatnik Fund at Yale, launched the Johnson & Johnson investment fund in partnership with the Center for Innovative Technology and was a Venture Advisor to Epidarex Ventures, a transatlantic life-science venture firm. These early-stage investments enabled successful exits including medSage (acq: Philips Healthcare), Isoplexis (NASDAQ: ISO), and Biorez ($250M Acq NYSE: CNMD).
She is the Board Chair (ECS) and on the Executive Committee Board of Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and a recognized thought leader holding numerous awards including: “Industry Superstar”, “Entrepreneur of the Year,” and co-author of playbook “Empowering Women Entrepreneurs” sponsored by JPMorgan Chase; and TEDx speaker. Erika received a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration (MBA).
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