Biotech CEO Sisterhood: Kate Haviland discusses the success factors that led to the $9B+ acquisition of Blueprint Medicines, and the trend of biotech companies taking commercial assets further

Interviewed by Sisterhood editorial board member Daphne Zohar, Kate Haviland talks about the numerous programs that Blueprint created, the rationale behind key go/no-go and partnering decisions, and how she feels about the biotech sector today.

Biographies

Kate Haviland was the Chief Executive Officer of Blueprint Medicines, which was acquired by Sanofi in 2025 for a total equity value, including potential CVR payments, of approximately $9.5. Previously, she served as Chief Operating Officer from January 2019 to April 2022, and as Chief Business Officer from January 2016 to January 2019. Over this time, she was the founding chair of the portfolio management team, formed and executed business development strategy, drove global capital investment plans, and played a key role in capital market financings. In addition, she worked to drive the transformative growth of the company and support its evolution into a fully integrated business by developing and providing ongoing management of critical functions, including portfolio strategy, corporate development, commercial strategy, international, technical operations, corporate affairs, and information systems. Prior to joining Blueprint Medicines, Kate held leadership roles focused on building emerging, high-growth companies and advancing the development of innovative therapies in oncology and rare diseases as Vice President, Rare Diseases and Oncology Program Leadership at Idera Pharmaceuticals, Head of Commercial Development at Sarepta Therapeutics, Executive Director of Commercial Development at PTC Therapeutics, and roles in both corporate development and project management at Genzyme.

Kate serves as chair of the board of directors at Fulcrum Therapeutics and is a member of the board of Bicara Therapeutics.

She holds a BA from Wesleyan University with a double major in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and Economics and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Daphne Zohar is the Founder, CEO and Board Member of Seaport Therapeutics. Previously, she was the Founder, CEO and Board Member of PureTech Health (Nasdaq: PRTC), where she also co-founded PureTech’s entities, including Karuna Therapeutics (Nasdaq: KRTX), which was acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb for $14 billion. A successful entrepreneur, Ms. Zohar created PureTech, assembling a leading team to help implement her vision for the company, and was a key driver in fundraising, business development and establishing the underlying programs and platforms that resulted in PureTech’s productive R & D engine, which led to 28 new medicines being advanced via its Wholly Owned Pipeline and Founded Entities, including Cobenfy (KarXT) that has just received US FDA approval. PureTech’s track record of clinical success is approximately six times better than the industry average and 80 percent of the clinical studies run by PureTech and its Founded Entities have been successful

Ms. Zohar has been recognized as a top leader and innovator in biotechnology by a number of sources, including EY, Goldman Sachs, Fierce Pharma, BioWorld, MIT Technology Review, The Boston Globe and Scientific American. She serves on the BIO (Biotechnology Innovation Organization) Board Executive Committee as well as the Health Section Committee. Ms. Zohar is a member of the Duke-Margolis Center Policy Roundtable on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Health Affairs IRA Observatory.