Our team possesses deep, cross-functional experience and shares a longstanding commitment to developing new medicines to benefit cancer patients.
Management
Mark Rothera
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mark Rothera joined Viracta as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director in September 2022. Mr. Rothera brings more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with a strong record of commercial and global leadership, including driving the successful build of multiple biotech companies, predominantly in the field of rare or specialty diseases. Prior to joining Viracta, Mr. Rothera served as President and CEO of Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SLN), a clinical-stage organization focused on developing RNA therapies for hematology, cardiovascular and rare diseases. He previously served as CEO of Orchard Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ORTX), where he oversaw its transformation from a small U.K.-based, privately held company with two clinical-stage programs into a leading gene therapy company with seven clinical-stage programs and fully integrated capabilities. During his tenure, Orchard Therapeutics secured more than $600 million in financing and grew from a market capitalization of $250 million to more than $1.7 billion at its peak. Prior to Orchard, Mr. Rothera served as Chief Commercial Officer of PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PTCT), where he helped it evolve into a commercial company with a global footprint, including the successful launch of two rare disease therapies. Previously, he served as Global President of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Vice President and General Manager of commercial operations at Shire Human Genetic Therapies for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Mr. Rothera currently serves on the Board of Directors at GenPharm. He received an M.A. in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and an M.B.A. from the European Institute for Business Administration (INSEAD).
Darrel P. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Darrel P. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D. joined Viracta Therapeutics in August 2023 as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Cohen is a hematologist/oncologist with over 25 years of oncology clinical research and drug development experience. Prior to Viracta, Dr. Cohen was Chief Medical Officer of Cell Therapy at Athenex Inc., where he led clinical development, clinical operations, and regulatory affairs for its CAR-NKT cell therapy platform and was instrumental in accelerating clinical development plans for investigational products, KUR-501 and KUR-502. Prior to this, Dr. Cohen was Chief Medical Officer at Biosight Pharmaceuticals and Head of Clinical Development at EUSA Pharma. He has held leadership positions of increasing responsibility at Pharmacia, Sanofi-Aventis, and Pfizer, including Vice President of Late-Phase Clinical Development at Pfizer Oncology where he was involved in multiple successful regulatory submissions of new targeted cancer drugs such as SUTENT® (sunitinib), XALKORI® (crizotinib), and IBRANCE® (palbociclib). Dr. Cohen received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in Medicine and Microbiology from Boston University School of Medicine, trained as a resident in Internal Medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center, and completed a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at Duke University Medical Center.
Michael Faerm, MBA
Chief Financial Officer
Mike Faerm, MBA, joined Viracta in May 2024 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), with more than 25 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. He most recently served as Interim CFO at Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc., which was acquired by Merck for approximately $680 million, and where he helped lead a $150 million PIPE financing. Prior to Harpoon, Mike was the CFO of Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc., where he led financial strategy and operations, and oversaw the company’s investor relations, financial planning, accounting and facilities functions. Previously, he served as a consulting and interim CFO and Chief Business Officer for numerous biopharma companies. Prior to this, he served as the Chief Business Officer of Innoviva, Inc. (formerly Theravance, Inc.), and earlier, worked in business development and strategic finance roles at Forest Laboratories and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Mike’s Wall Street experience includes Credit Suisse and Wells Fargo Securities, where he was a senior equity research analyst covering the pharmaceutical sector, and Merrill Lynch, where he was an investment banker executing a wide range of strategic and capital markets transactions in biopharma and other healthcare sectors. He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School, an M.S. in civil engineering from Stanford University, and a B.S. in civil engineering from Columbia University.
Cheryl Madsen
Senior Vice President, Regulatory
Cheryl Madsen joins Viracta Therapeutics from Calithera Biosciences where she served as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. Previously, Cheryl was the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Peloton Therapeutics where she facilitated the successful acquisition of their HIF2-α inhibitor (belzutifan) by Merck. Prior to that Cheryl served as Sr. Director at Medivation (acquired by Pfizer), where she played an instrumental role in the initial global regulatory filings, approval and launch of XTANDI® (enzalutamide) for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. In addition to her regulatory responsibilities, she served as Project Team Leader for XTANDI from 2015-2016. Prior to Medivation, she held positions of increasing responsibility at several successful small- to medium-size biotechnology companies. Cheryl started her career at Genentech, and during her 13‑year tenure, was responsible for the original filing and approval of AVASTIN® (bevacizumab) for first-line metastatic colorectal cancer. She played a critical role in the parallel filing and approval of the HERCEPTIN® (trastuzumab) BLA for metastatic breast cancer and the HercepTest™ PMA, an in vitro diagnostic for HER2 expression and patient selection. Cheryl received her bachelors degree in Psychology from U.C. Santa Cruz and completed additional post-graduate work in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at U.C. Berkeley. She holds U.S. and Global Regulatory Affairs Certifications from the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society.
Biljana Nadjsombati, Pharm.D.
Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development
Biljana Nadjsombati, Pharm.D., is an experienced chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) and technical operations executive with more than 25 years of experience across the pharmaceutical industry. She has contributed to the global development and commercialization of multiple pharmaceutical products and her areas of expertise include directing commercial and clinical production operations, process development, scale up and validation, product technology transfers, supply chain management, contract manufacturing oversight, and due diligence activities for new business development opportunities. Prior to joining Viracta, Ms. Nadjsombati served as Vice President, CMC, at Urovant Sciences, Inc., where she played an instrumental role in the registration filing, approval, and launch of GEMTESA®. Before joining Urovant, Ms. Nadjsombati held leadership roles within the R&D organization at Avanir Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Otsuka Pharmaceutical), most recently serving as Executive Director of Pharmaceutical Development and Supply Chain and was a key contributor to the registration and commercialization of NUEDEXTA® and ONZETRA® Xsail®. Prior to her time at Avanir, Ms. Nadjsombati held positions of increasing responsibility at Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Ribapharm, and ICN Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Nadjsombati earned her Pharm.D. and completed additional postgraduate work in pharmaceutical technology at the University of Belgrade, School of Pharmacy in Serbia.
Ruby Cheema
Vice President, Portfolio and Program Management
Ms. Cheema joined Viracta in April 2022 as Vice President of Portfolio and Program Management. She brings 22 years of industry experience as a scientist, and in the disciplines of project, portfolio, and alliance management. Ms. Cheema developed experience in multiple disease areas (infectious disease, oncology, immune-oncology and rare diseases, among others) over the course of her career, while working at both large and small pharma companies. She started her career at Johnson & Johnson as a research associate, and then moved to Aviron/Medimmune Vaccines as an associate scientist before joining Genentech. Over the course of her 13-year tenure at Genentech, she managed multiple projects from early stage to launch, including the mAbs Perjeta™ and Tecentriq™ and the ADC polatuzumab vedotin. Thereafter, Ms. Cheema transitioned to Unity Biotechnologies as the Director of Portfolio and Program Management. Prior to Viracta, she was the Senior Director and Head of Strategic Alliances and Patient Advocacy at 4D Molecular Therapeutics. Ms. Cheema has participated in the filing of multiple INDs/INDa(s), PMPs, 2 BLAs and brings a wealth of experience with her to Viracta.
Strategic Advisor
Mark A. McCamish, M.D., Ph.D.
Strategic Advisor
Dr. McCamish has significant leadership in the life science industry, most recently serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Forty Seven Inc., which he led through IPO and multiple financings until the acquisition by Gilead for approximately $4.9 Billion. Dr. McCamish has also served as the Global Head of Biopharmaceutical Development of Novartis' Sandoz division, receiving Novartis's Chairman award each year from 2010-2015. Prior to his time at Novartis, Dr. McCamish was a Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at several companies including PDL BioPharma, Perlegen Sciences, and Facet Labs, which was acquired by Abbott Laboratories due in part to Dr. McCamish's work advancing multiple myeloma and multiple sclerosis therapies. Additionally, Dr. McCamish has also held senior research and development roles at Amgen Inc. and Abbott Laboratories.
Dr. McCamish received his PhD in Human Nutrition from Penn State University and his MD from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He completed his residency and fellowship training at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). Dr. McCamish has been named one of the top 50 global antibody industry influencers by the European Antibody Congress and has held professorships at UC Davis and The Ohio State University.
Board of Directors
Roger J. Pomerantz, M.D.
Chairman of the Board
Dr. Pomerantz has served as a member of the board of directors of Viracta since June 2020 and was appointed Chair in September 2020. Dr. Pomerantz served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of ContraFect Corporation (NASDAQ: CFRX) from April 2019 - November 2023. Previously, Dr. Pomerantz was a Venture Partner at Flagship Pioneering from 2014 through 2019. In addition, he served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Seres Therapeutics from 2014-2019, where he continues to serve as Senior Advisor to its Board of Directors. Previously, Dr. Pomerantz was Senior Vice President, Worldwide Head of Licensing & Acquisition at Merck & Co., Inc and prior to that was Senior Vice President and Global Franchise Head of Infectious Diseases at Merck. Prior to joining Merck, Dr. Pomerantz was Global Head of Infectious Diseases for Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals. He also served as Chief Executive Officer of Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Pomerantz currently serves on the boards of Intec Pharma Ltd. (NASDAQ: NTEC).
Dr. Pomerantz received his B.A. in Biochemistry at the Johns Hopkins University and his M.D. at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He received post-graduate training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and M.I.T. Dr. Pomerantz is Board Certified in both internal medicine and infectious diseases. He was Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Chief of Infectious Diseases, and the Founding Director and Chair of the Institute for Human Virology and Biodefense at the Thomas Jefferson University and Medical School.
Flavia Borellini, Ph.D.
Director
Flavia Borellini, Ph.D., has more than 25 years of executive management experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, with a particular focus on global development of targeted oncology drugs, from preclinical to commercial stage. She is the former Chief Executive Officer for Acerta Pharma, where she oversaw the successful development and approval of Calquence® (acalabrutinib), a selective Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, for the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). During her career, Dr. Borellini has also held key senior level positions within AstraZeneca, most recently Global Franchise Head, Hematology, with responsibility for the hematology portfolio in the company's oncology business unit. While at AstraZeneca, she led the global development, approval, and commercialization of Tagrisso® (osimertinib), a first-in-class epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) caused by the T790M mutation.
Prior to her tenure with AstraZeneca, Dr. Borellini spent nearly seven years at Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. During this time, she led the global development, approval and launch of Zelboraf® (vemurafenib), a first-in-class BRAF inhibitor for the treatment of melanoma caused by the V600E BRAF mutation. Dr. Borellini also served as the program leader for Herceptin® (trastuzumab), a targeted treatment for HER2 receptor positive cancers, including breast cancer, and Tarceva® (erlotinib), an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor for the treatment of NSCLC and pancreatic cancer. Dr. Borellini obtained a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology from the University of Modena in 1984.
Dr. Borellini also serves on the Board of Directors of Kartos Therapeutics, Cantargia AP, and Revolution Medicines.
Thomas E. Darcy, CPA
Director
Mr. Darcy previously was a cofounder and director of Tocagen Inc. from August 2007 until June 2020. Mr. Darcy also served as Tocagen Inc.’s Chief Financial Officer from August 2007 to February 2017 and as Tocagen’s Executive Vice President from August 2007 to May 2017. Prior to Tocagen, Mr. Darcy served for over five years as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Science Applications International Corporation (“SAIC”), a Fortune 500 science and technology company. Mr. Darcy also served as a director and chairman of the audit committee of McAfee, Inc., a publicly-held technology company, for over three years until its sale to Intel Corporation in February 2011. Mr. Darcy also served as a director and audit committee member of Forte Biosciences, Inc. from June 2020 through May 2021 and currently serves as a director and chairman of the audit committee of Lytx, Inc., a privately-held technology company. Prior to SAIC, he was an audit Partner in the accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he served as the Managing Partner of both the West and Southwest Region Audit and Business Advisory Service Technology practices, as well as the Managing Partner of the San Diego office. Mr. Darcy is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) in the state of California and graduated from San Diego State University with a B.S. in Accounting.
Mark Rothera
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Mark Rothera joined Viracta as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director in September 2022. Mr. Rothera brings more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with a strong record of commercial and global leadership, including driving the successful build of multiple biotech companies, predominantly in the field of rare or specialty diseases. Prior to joining Viracta, Mr. Rothera served as President and CEO of Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SLN), a clinical-stage organization focused on developing RNA therapies for hematology, cardiovascular and rare diseases. He previously served as CEO of Orchard Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ORTX), where he oversaw its transformation from a small U.K.-based, privately held company with two clinical-stage programs into a leading gene therapy company with seven clinical-stage programs and fully integrated capabilities. During his tenure, Orchard Therapeutics secured more than $600 million in financing and grew from a market capitalization of $250 million to more than $1.7 billion at its peak. Prior to Orchard, Mr. Rothera served as Chief Commercial Officer of PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PTCT), where he helped it evolve into a commercial company with a global footprint, including the successful launch of two rare disease therapies. Previously, he served as Global President of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Vice President and General Manager of commercial operations at Shire Human Genetic Therapies for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Mr. Rothera currently serves on the Board of Directors at GenPharm. He received an M.A. in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and an M.B.A. from the European Institute for Business Administration (INSEAD).
Ivor Royston, M.D.
Director
Ivor Royston, M.D., served as Viracta’s founding President and CEO from 2015 until September 2022. From 1990 to 2017, Dr. Royston was a Managing Partner of Forward Ventures, a life science venture capital firm. From 1990 to 2000, Dr. Royston also held the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center. Prior to that, Dr. Royston was the Director of Clinical Immunology at University of California, San Diego Cancer Center. Dr. Royston was the co-founder of Hybritech, Inc., which developed the PSA test for prostate cancer; and the co-founder of IDEC Corporation, which developed Rituxan, the first approved monoclonal antibody therapy for lymphoma, and which subsequently merged with Biogen to form Biogen Idec, now Biogen. Dr. Royston currently serves on the board of directors of Biocept, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIOC). Dr. Royston received his B.A. and M.D. degrees from Johns Hopkins University and completed post-doctoral training in internal medicine and medical oncology at Stanford University.
Barry J. Simon, M.D.
Director
Barry J. Simon, M.D., is a healthcare executive with more than 30 years of experience spanning the public and private sectors. Dr. Simon has been serving as a member of the Board of Directors since March 2021. Dr. Simon has served on the Board of Directors of ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) since June 2008 and as its Chief Corporate Affairs Officer since March 2021. Prior to that, Dr. Simon served as ImmunityBio’s President and Chief Administrative Officer since January 2017, President and Chief Operating Officer since March 2015 and as its President and Chief Executive Officer since May 2007. Dr. Simon has also served as Chairman, President and CEO of Brink Biologics, Inc., a bioanalytics, reagents and testing services company, since June 2015. He has served on the Board of Directors of Cue BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUE), a biopharmaceutical company from March 2016 to June 2021 and as its Chairman from 2018 to 2021 and previously served on the Board of Viracta Subsidiary, Inc. (previously named Viracta Therapeutics, Inc.) from July 2017 to November 2020. Previously, Dr. Simon held Vice President, senior level and advisory positions at F. Hoffmann-La Roche (OTCQX:RHBBY), a global healthcare company, Roche Labs, a pharmaceuticals company, Connetics Corporation (NASDAQ:CNCT), a specialty pharmaceutical company, Immunomedics (NASDAQ:IMMU), a biopharmaceutical company, Immusol, a biopharmaceutical company, HealthPro BioVentures, LLC, a healthcare and life sciences investment bank and NorthSound Capital, LLC, a U.S.-based hedge fund.
In his prior roles, Dr. Simon worked across several therapeutic areas including oncology, virology, ophthalmology and dermatology on product launches including Xeloda®, Pegasys®, Fortovase®, Tamiflu®, Boniva®, Fuzeon®, Valcyt®, Kytril® and Accutane®. Dr. Simon attended corporate training programs by the London School of Business and the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He received his M.D. from the SUNY Downstate Health Sciences Center in New York and trained clinically in infectious diseases, anesthesiology, and internal medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, The Mount Sinai Medical Center and New York University, respectively.
Scientific Advisory Board
Douglas V. Faller, M.D., Ph.D.
Scientific Founder and Chairman, Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Faller is the Scientific Founder of Viracta Therapeutics and serves as the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board. Previously, Dr. Faller served as the Interim Chief Medical Officer and Interim Chief Scientific Officer for Viracta. Dr. Faller is a Professor of Medicine at Boston University Medical Center, and previously served as the Director of the Cancer Center and held the Grunebaum Chair for Cancer Research. He has founded a number of biotechnology companies and holds or has held several senior management positions in biotech and global pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Faller received his medical degree from the Harvard University where he also served on the faculty of Brigham and Womens Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Boston Childrens’ Hospital. He received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Robert Baiocchi, M.D., Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor
Professor and Head of the Lymphoma Program at Ohio State University, and member of Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network.
Gavin Giovannoni, MBBCh, Ph.D., FCP (Neurol., SA), FRCP, FRCPath
Scientific Advisor
Chair of Neurology, Blizard Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London
Carl June, M.D.
Scientific Advisor
Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; Director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies; Director of Translational Research, Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
Shannon Kenney, M.D.
Scientific Advisor
Wattawa Bascom Professor in Cancer Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, in the Departments of Oncology and Medicine. Dr. Kenney’s research is focused on understanding the molecular regulation and pathogenesis of EBV in both epithelial cells and B cells, including viral gene regulation, host-pathogen interactions, and virally-induced transformation.
Ronald Levy, M.D.
Scientific Advisor
Professor and Director of the Lymphoma Program at Stanford University School of Medicine; Associate Director of Translational Science for the Stanford Cancer Institute; former Chief of the Stanford Division of Medical Oncology; member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences.
Pierluigi Porcu, M.D.
Scientific Advisor
Director of the Hematologic Malignancies and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Division in the Department of Medical Oncology for Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University.
Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., F.A.C.P. FASCO, FAACR
Scientific Advisor
Physician-in-Chief and Distinguished Professor at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen); Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic; Senior Consultant-Investigations, City of Hope; member of President Bush’s National Cancer Advisory Board and past President of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Lawrence Young, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor
Vice President and Director of the Warwick Cancer Research Centre at University of Warwick, UK, distinguished by work in the roles of the Epstein-Barr virus in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and other cancers; Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences.
