Sangeeta Bardhan Cook, PhD, MBA, has been appointed Senior Vice President of Commercialization Strategy and Business Development for Temple University Health System, and Chief Innovation Officer for Fox Chase Cancer Center, effective August 1, 2022.
“In her new role, Dr. Bardhan Cook is the Health System’s principal officer responsible for developing and managing partnerships with industry,” said Michael A. Young, MHA, FACHE, President & CEO of Temple Health. “She will oversee the technology transfer, intellectual property, licensing functions, new research business development, spin-off companies, and related business ventures. I anticipate that her expertise and partnership will prove invaluable in advancing the work of our faculty and its impact in the world for the betterment of our patients and beyond.”
With more than 20 years’ experience in translational science and medicine, Dr. Bardhan Cook comes to Temple from City of Hope in Duarte, Calif., where she worked for nine years in multiple roles of increasing leadership, most recently as Executive Director of Business Innovation.
Dr. Bardhan Cook's successes in R&D commercialization are defined by one central theme: de-risking early-stage technologies through the clinic to both differentiate in the market and connect patients to therapies faster. During her tenure, she led the institution in structuring, negotiating, and executing more than 200 bespoke deals for oncology, diabetes, and immunology disruptive technologies across several stages of drug development—from discovery to pre-clinical testing to phase 1 and 2 trials—for a total value of more than $2.5 billion. As part of a team with City of Hope senior leadership, she also spearheaded corporate development efforts of in-house technologies, wherein multiple technologies were licensed through multimillion dollar initiatives to enable first-patient dosing in clinical trials. Dr. Bardhan Cook also served many patients through her expertise in cGMP manufacturing business development strategy, specifically in cell and gene therapy.
In one of her most notable achievements, she managed and supported City of Hope’s business and R&D efforts to bring to approval Breyanzi—the first regenerative medicine therapy with RMAT (regenerative medicine advanced therapy) designation to be licensed by the FDA—from start-up beginnings to Big Pharma (Bristol-Myers Squib). In addition, she cultivated and nurtured relationships through transparency and pragmatism with early-stage to mid-size licensees to develop “repeat customers,” yielding multiple licenses and eight initial public offerings (IPOs), eight highly capitalized (>$20 million) Series B funded companies, and multiple acquisitions.
A graduate of California Institute of Technology (Caltech) with a bachelor’s degree with honors in biology, Bardhan Cook holds a doctoral degree in molecular biology from the University of Southern California (USC). During her academic career, she served as a research and teaching assistant at USC and Caltech, where she directed and supervised research in a premier cancer and aging lab and an evolutionary biology lab, respectively, under multiple funded fellowships. She later went on to earn MBAs from Columbia Business School and London Business School, with dean’s honor and distinction. Dr. Bardhan Cook is also a registered patent agent, having both worked in-house and in boutique law firm settings.
In addition, Dr. Bardhan Cook regularly does pro bono work, having offered her expertise to various organizations throughout her career, including the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM); Biotech Connection Los Angeles; Graduate Women in Science; Women in Bio; and the Larta Institute, California’s regional technology alliance to stimulate the economic development of technology-based enterprises. She also serves as a lecturer in biochemistry, organic chemistry, intellectual property law, and commercialization strategy. A hallmark of her management style, Dr. Bardhan Cook has championed several diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and efforts in her professional capacity.
Dr. Bardhan Cook succeeds Kurt Schwinghammer, PhD, MS, who served as VP of Fox Chase’s Office of R&D Alliances for the past 15 years before his recent retirement. She will work closely with Anita Colon, VP of Revenue Cycle Operations for Temple Health, who will now focus on international access, and Jerome Maddox, JD, PhD, General Counsel for Fox Chase, who will focus on clinical trial contracting.