Cindy Perettie
Executive Vice President and Global Head of Kite
With a profound knowledge and interest in science, Cindy Perettie spent many of her working years learning how to apply this to roles in the corporate world.
Her journey began with Bachelor’s of Science in Biology and a Minor in Chemistry, which allowed her to begin her pursuit of work in research and discovery.
Her first working role as a Senior Research Associate for the Johns Hopkins University led her down a path to learn more about the business aspects of pharmaceuticals, which led to her current role as the Executive VP of Kite. However, on this path there were many steps to take as Perettie evolved to meet the needs of companies like Chiron Corporation, Genentech, Roche and Foundation Medicine.
To fulfil her need for business knowledge, she later underwent a Master’s in Business Administration, which helped form her understanding of the corporate environment and how it aligns with global health and sustainability.
The key challenges of her current role are twofold as Perettie not only has to engage in commercial activities, but do so without compromising the core mission of delivering treatment to lymphoma patients in the fastest time possible.
“As a head of a company, there's the challenges of balancing delivery on the business side while ensuring we continue to engage employees and really do what's right, not just for patients but for society,” says Perettie.
In terms of her role at Kite, she says: “We have been focused on delivering our CAR T therapy, not just at academic medical centres but also closer to where patients live in the community—and that's been a challenge that we’ve tackled over the course of the last year.”
Truly driven by the end goal of Kite, Perettie attributes her greatest inspiration to the patients that she and Kite. The criticality of their illnesses and their ability to tackle their diseases head-on is what makes her want to get to work harder and ensure the best outcomes for them.
“It requires resilience, so be in it for the long game.”
Read the full story HERE.
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