Advancing muscle biology, Robert Blum, Pres. & CEO, & Fady Malik, EVP, Research & Dev., Cytokinetics

Biotech 2050 Podcast

Synopsis: Robert Blum and Fady Malik are the President & CEO and EVP, Research and Development, respectively, of Cytokinetics, ​​a late-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to developing potential medicines that impact the mechanics of muscle and may improve the lives of people living with debilitating diseases. Robert and Fady discuss how they have developed a company culture that embraces some of the learnings that come along with failure and the advice they would provide other leaders. They talk about how the current capital market environment shapes the way the company is operating. They also discuss the cardiovascular market and overall landscape, where Cytokinetics is from a development perspective, and some upcoming milestones. Finally, they each share a piece of advice they wish they could provide to their younger selves knowing what they now know. Biography: Robert Blum has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Cytokinetics and a member of our Board of Directors since 2007. Previously, he served as Cytokinetics’ President and held other senior-level positions at the Company overseeing research and development, finance, corporate development, legal, commercial operations, and business development at various times since participating in the launch of Company operations in 1998. Prior to Cytokinetics, Robert held senior positions in business development and marketing at COR Therapeutics from 1991 to 1998. He also performed roles of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing, and other pharmaceutical business functions at Marion Laboratories and Syntex Corporation beginning in 1981. Robert previously served on the faculty at the Center for BioEntrepreneurship at University of California, San Francisco, where he taught a corporate finance course to graduate students. He co-chaired the BIO Business Development Committee and is a frequent lecturer on matters of business development and finance in the biopharmaceutical industry. Mr. Blum received B.A. degrees in Human Biology and Economics from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Fady Malik has led Research and Development since 2014 and been with Cytokinetics since its inception in 1998 when he joined its founders to participate in the launch of the company. Early on, Fady recognized the potential therapeutic utility of modulating the sarcomere of cardiac and skeletal muscle and led discovery and development efforts giving rise to Cytokinetics’ current portfolio of early- to late-stage development programs targeting muscle contractility for the treatment of cardiovascular and neuromuscular diseases. Fady is an internationally recognized cardiovascular physician-scientist, an inventor on more than 20 issued patents, and has authored or co-authored over 60 publications appearing in prominent journals such as Science, Nature Medicine, the Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine. He currently holds an appointment in the Cardiology Division of the University of California, San Francisco, as a Clinical Professor of Medicine and until 2019 was an Attending Interventional Cardiologist at the San Francisco Veterans Administration and UCSF Medical Centers. Fady serves on the Board of Directors for Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT). Fady received a B.S. in bioengineering from the University of California at Berkeley, and a M.D./Ph.D. from the University of California at San Francisco where he also completed an internal medicine residency and fellowship in cardiology.