Amid reports that tech megainvestor Softbank is looking to pump $150 million into Los Angeles-based clinical trial company Science 37, the startup has brought in top corporate talent to fill some of its key executive roles as it looks to scale up its operations.
Judy Smythe, Bardia Akbari and Niv Caviar have been named as the company’s chief operating officer, senior vice president of clinical operations and chief financial officer, respectively.
Reducing Clinical and Staff Burnout with AI Automation
As technology advances, AI-powered tools will increasingly reduce the administrative burdens on healthcare providers.
Softbank, which has made enormous bets into tech companies like Uber and WeWork through its $100 billion Vision Fund, has shown an keen interest in science and biotech companies evidenced by its $1.1 billion stake in pharma company Roivant Sciences, a $500 million investment into infectious disease company Vir Biotechnology and its $360 million financing of liquid biopsy company Guardant Health.
Science 37 was founded in 2014 to create what it characterizes as a “patient-centric” clinical trial process that can accelerate biomedical research.
The company has developed a method to perform site-less trials through telehealth technology and self-collection of data. It competes with contract research organizations for the $57 billion market opportunity to run clinical trials for biopharma companies like UCB, AOBiome and Novartis and claims to be able to recruit larger and more diverse candidate pools.
From L to R: Bardia Akbari, Judy Smythe and Niv Cavier
Health Executives on Digital Transformation in Healthcare
Hear executives from Quantum Health, Surescripts, EY, Clinical Architecture and Personify Health share their views on digital transformation in healthcare.
Coming into the COO role is Judy Symthe who joins Science 37 from Centauri Health Solutions, a Scottsdale-Arizona based healthcare services company. Prior to that role she was the president and chief operating officer of WebMD Health Services and spent more than a decade at McKesson.
Bardia Akbari, the company’s incoming senior vice president of clinical operations, previously served as Genentech’s Global Head of Oncology Clinical Operations and helped lead licencing efforts for autoimmune, inflammation, and respiratory therapeutics for Roche.
“Having worked in the pharmaceutical industry for a long time, I recognize that industry disruptors like Science 37 are not only necessary but are rare opportunities to shape the future of patient-centric clinical research in the ever changing landscape of drug development,” Akbari said in a statement.
CFO Niv Caviar comes from a job as chief executive at minimally invasive spine therapy company SpineOvations and has previously served as a corporate executive at a string of life sciences companies including Allergan, La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company and Suneva Medical.
“As we enter our next phase of continued growth, I’m excited to welcome Judy, Bardia, and Niv to our senior executive team,” Science 37 CEO and co-founder Noah Craft said in a statement. “This extension of our executive team will drive Science 37 into the next stage of sustained growth, expansion and profitability.”
Picture: marchmeena29, Getty Images