Ep. 86 - Dr. Patricia Hurter, CEO of Lyndra Therapeutics | Jessica Ballinger, President & COO Lyndra Therapeutics
Patricia (Trish) Hurter, Dr. Patricia Hurter is CEO of Lyndra Therapeutics.
Prior to Lyndra, Dr. Hurter was Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical and Preclinical Sciences at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. She also served as Interim Head of Global Regulatory Affairs from 2013-2014 and oversaw several label expansions for Kalydeco® and the submission of the new drug application for Orkambi®. She played a leadership role in the development and commercialization of 5 transformative therapies for Vertex: Incivek®, Kalydeco®, Orkambi® and Symdeko® and Trikafta®. Prior to joining Vertex, Dr. Hurter was Director, Formulation Design and Characterization for Merck where she was a key member of the early development team for Januvia®, a treatment for type II diabetes.
A respected thought leader in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Hurter is a frequent contributor to many scientific publications. At Vertex, she founded and was the executive sponsor of “IWILL,” a Vertex employee network devoted to the advancement of women leaders. As a member of the Advisory Board for Women in the Enterprise of Science & Technology (WEST), she mentors Boston-area women who are early or in the midst of their careers in STEM. She also champions the Posse Foundation, an organization that recruits high school students from diverse backgrounds and supports them as they pursue college degrees and beyond. She is a mentor to alumnae from the program.
Dr. Hurter earned her Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as an M.S. in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University and a B.Sc. in chemical engineering, cum laude, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa.
Jessica Ballinger
Mrs. Ballinger is President and Chief Operations Officer of Lyndra Therapeutics. In her 25+ year career, she has contributed to the development and commercialization of more than 15 leading-edge patient therapies.
Prior to joining Lyndra, she was a Senior Director at Biogen responsible for redesigning and transforming the patient-centered technical development organization. While at Biogen, she contributed to developing products in critical therapeutic areas such as hemophilia, Alzheimer’s Disease, spinal muscular atrophy and multiple sclerosis, delivering high-quality, highly-innovative, globally approved products with three products filed and approved in just three years.
Prior to Biogen, she was the Senior Director Injectable Product and Device Strategy and Business Unit Interface driving technology development and lifecycle management innovation priorities for injectable products and devices in partnership with Pfizer Business Units and R&D. While in this role, Ballinger delivered ~50% capital investment savings and 25% cost-of-goods reduction through an innovative injectable device platform. She led the technical development and manufacturing scale-up of critical therapies in diabetes, endocrinology, neurology, ophthalmology, cardiovascular, women’s health and men’s sexual health.
Ballinger is a respected leader in diversity and inclusion, co-creating the inaugural Biogen Alzheimer’s Patient and Caregiver Employee Resource Network (ERN), co-leading the inaugural Biogen Women’s Innovation Network, and co-leading the inaugural Pfizer European Women’s ERN. She was appointed to the inaugural Chief of Staff position supporting the Pfizer European R&D and Site Leader during her time at Pfizer Sandwich. She received the honorable Pfizer R&D Achievement Award twice in her tenure at Pfizer, recognizing her strong leadership and business impact.
Ballinger is an active volunteer in fundraising and leadership roles, working with the Oasis Domestic Abuse Service and the Melanoma Education Foundation. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois – Champaign/Urbana.
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