Transforming diseased cells into coordinators of cure, Volker Herrmann, President & CEO, Sonata Tx

Synopsis: Volker Herrmann is the President and CEO of Sonata Therapeutics, a Flagship Pioneering company revolutionizing the world’s understanding of the cellular microenvironment and its importance to human biology and disease. Sonata’s product-platform creates drugs based on a systematic, comprehensive characterization of the microenvironment in diseases with high unmet medical need. Volker discusses the arc of his career, starting with attending medical school in Germany, then training as a cardiologist and clinical pharmacologist before working at Pfizer. He talks about his transition from big pharma to biotech and how his approach to running a biotech has evolved. He discusses the importance of patient impact and how that drives him in this industry. He talks about their work at Sonata to develop therapeutics for cancer and other diseases, and how he thinks about indication selection. Biography: Volker Herrmann is Chief Executive Officer of Sonata Therapeutics and a Flagship Pioneering CEO-Partner. A veteran pharmaceutical and biotech leader, Volker brings more than 20 years of experience in management, commercial development, business development, marketing and strategy to Sonata. Volker was previously the Chief Executive Officer of Inzen Therapeutics, a predecessor to Sonata, after serving as President and Chief Operating Officer at SQZ Biotechnologies. Prior to SQZ, he held various leadership roles at Pfizer, including European Lead CNS/Pain franchise, Global Lead Pain franchise and Head of Global Strategy, Marketing and Commercial Development within Pfizer’s Vaccine Business Unit. Subsequently, he served as the Chief Commercial Officer for Viamet Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for preparing the organization for the launch of its first commercial product as well as streamlining the company’s pipeline. Volker also served as the Chief Operating Officer of Selenity Therapeutics. Volker received his M.D. from Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg in Germany and an MBA from the University of San Diego.