Speaker

Maria Fardis

VENTURE PARTNER, FRAZIER LIFE SCIENCES
Menlo Park, California, United States
Maria is a Venture Partner on the Frazier Life Sciences team and has over 20 years of experience in public and private companies.

Maria joined the Frazier Life Sciences team as a Venture Partner in 2021. She has over 20 years of scientific and management experience in numerous public and private companies. She is also the Chief Executive Officer of 4PinesCo, Inc., a Frazier-founded search company focused on identifying, in-licensing, and developing high-quality therapeutic candidates.

Maria previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Iovance Biotherapeutics. She transformed Iovance from an early-stage development company to a company with multiple late-stage programs involving lifileucel and LN-145 for the treatment of multiple solid tumors. She raised over a billion dollars in multiple rounds of financing for the company. Prior to Iovance, Maria served as the Chief Operating Officer of Acerta Pharma B.V., where she worked on the development of Calquence® until the company’s acquisition by AstraZeneca. Prior to that, she worked at Pharmacyclics, Inc., where she was a key contributor in the creation of a broad clinical program leading to global approvals for Imbruvica® in multiple hematologic malignancies, and where she served as Chief of Oncology Operations and Alliances. Prior to joining Pharmacyclics, Maria held increasingly senior positions in Medicinal Chemistry and the project and portfolio management department at Gilead Sciences, Inc., where she was involved with multiple therapeutic areas including antivirals, oncology, and cardiovascular therapeutics and worked on the development and life cycle management of Letairis®.

Maria received her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and her B.S. summa cum laude, in chemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She also holds an M.B.A., received with highest honors, from Golden Gate University.
Speaking In
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday, June 6
This panel of top-tier biotech CEOs turned VC investors and advisors will discuss their outlook on…