Biotech CEO Sisterhood: Ivana Liebisch on her career path, the successful sale of Vigil to Sanofi, moving quickly and decisively on decisions, and her thoughts on leadership

Interviewed by Xilio Therapeutics President & CEO René Russo, Dr. Liebisch describes her start in the industry as a patent attorney, discusses why having a champion in a larger partner is key, and explains why she even once threw a party when Vigil discontinued a candidate. Vigil Neuroscience was acquired by Sanofi earlier this year for an equity value representing approximately $470 million, plus a CVR.

Speakers

Ivana is President and Chief Executive Officer at Vigil Neuroscience, Inc., a biotech company with a vision of harnessing microglia biology to improve lives of patients, caregivers and families through transformative treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. She led and executed the in licensing deal to secure anchor assets for Vigil from Amgen. Under her steady leadership, Vigil evolved from inception through IPO to a clinical-stage organization within 18 months during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. She successfully raised >$340 million across Series A, Series B/Crossover, IPO, PIPE and BD transactions – some of which were executed in challenging macro environments. She has built a team of ~70 employees focused on executing Vigil’s vision. The Vigil team has advanced its two pipeline candidates from preclinical research into clinical development in three years including VGL101, which is the ever targeted therapeutic developed for a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disease (ALSP), and VG-3927, a first-in-class small molecule TREM2-based drug for Alzheimer’s disease. Ivana led the company through a licensing process on VG-3927 which transitioned to an M&A process, resulting in a merger agreement with Sanofi.

Prior to Vigil, Ivana was Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer at Ipsen where she was responsible for fueling the pipeline through executing key strategic transactions including the largest one in the company’s 90-year history to build out its Rare Disease franchise. Before joining Ipsen, Ivana served Senior Vice President and Head of Global Business Development for the specialty drug business at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd where she fueled the specialty pipeline and portfolio through execution of ~15 transactions across different therapeutic areas and modalities of ~$5 billion in overall deal value, resulting in 7 marketed products. Prior to Teva, Ivana held multiple pivotal roles at Dyax including Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Business Officer and General Counsel. She built out the commercial infrastructure for the company’s first approved drug with high-touch patient services, developed and executed IP strategy for a successful licensing program based on Dyax’s technology platform for non-dilutive financings, and executed equity financings, revenue monetization, corporate partnering and licensing agreements generating >$400 million in cash.

Ivana is a member of the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee for Acrivon Therapeutics, a publicly traded biotech focused on precision-based cancer therapeutics. She is also a member of the Board of Directors and the Compensation Committee for Quanterix Corporation, a publicly traded life sciences company focused on ultra-sensitive biomarker based diagnostics. Additionally, she was the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors as well as a member of the Compensation and Nomination & Governance Committees for Absci, a biotech with a propriety biologic discovery platform. She led the board through Absci’s transition from a private organization through its IPO process and into a publicly traded company. Ivana was also a member of the Board of Directors, and the Compensation and Audit Committees for Aeglea Biotherapeutics (now called Spyre Therapeutics), a public biotech focused on inflammatory bowel disease. She has held board positions for Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation, a public biotech focused on gene therapy for rare diseases, and Alivio Pharmaceuticals, a private biotech focusing on inflammatory diseases. Ivana is also active in the non-profit world, serving as a trustee at Museum of Science (Boston) and Boston Ballet, and as an overseer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Ivana holds a Ph.D. in Genetics from Harvard University and received her J.D. in High Technology law from Suffolk University Law School. She graduated from Wheaton College with a B.A. (summa cum laude) in Biology and Chemistry. In 2008 and 2019, Ivana was the recipient of the Women Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology Leadership Award. She was recognized as one of the 20 Fiercest Women in Life Science by FiercePharma in 2019. Ivana is a recipient of the Massachusetts Health Council Champion of Health award in 2023.

Dr. René Russo is an accomplished biotechnology CEO with over 25 years of experience leading R&D and commercialization in the biopharmaceutical industry across a range of therapeutic areas, including oncology. As an executive leader, Dr. Russo has led successful teams from early discovery research through all phases of clinical development, registration, and commercialization to bring multiple innovative therapies to patients. Dr. Russo played a key role in helping to build Cubist Pharmaceuticals, a leading global anti-infective company that Merck acquired for $9.6B in 2015, during her 11+ year tenure there. In addition to Xilio’s board of directors, Dr. Russo serves as founder and executive chair of Ropirio Therapeutics and a member of the board of directors of Leyden Labs and PRxCision, as well as the board of trustees for the Boston Ballent and a member of the board of directors for the non-profit Life Science Cares Boston. Dr. Russo holds a B.S. in pharmacy and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Rutgers University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship with Bristol-Myers Squibb.