PureTech is led by a proven and seasoned management team. Collectively, they have overseen the research and development of products supporting 27 regulatory approvals and have been involved in the C-suite of companies acquired for more than $14 billion in the aggregate.
Board of Directors
Daphne Zohar
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Member of the Board of Directors
Daphne Zohar is the founder and chief executive officer of PureTech and a member of the board of directors. She has also served as the founding chief executive officer of a number of PureTech's Founded Entities. A successful entrepreneur, Ms. Zohar created PureTech, assembling a leading team to help implement...MORE
Daphne Zohar
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Member of the Board of Directors
Daphne Zohar is the founder and chief executive officer of PureTech and a member of the board of directors. She has also served as the founding chief executive officer of a number of PureTech's Founded Entities. A successful entrepreneur, Ms. Zohar created PureTech, assembling a leading team to help implement her vision for the Company, and was a key participant in fundraising, business development and establishing the underlying programs and platforms that have resulted in PureTech’s substantial pipeline, which is comprised of 27 therapeutics and therapeutic candidates being advanced via the Company’s Wholly Owned Pipeline and Founded Entities, including two (Plenity® and EndeavorRx®) that have received both U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance and European marketing authorization and a third (KarXT) that has been filed for FDA approval. She is also a co-founder of the Biotech Hangout podcast, a weekly discussion of biotech news with a group of industry leaders and experts. Ms. Zohar has been recognized as a top leader and innovator in biotechnology by a number of sources, including EY, Fierce Pharma, BioWorld, MIT Technology Review, The Boston Globe and Scientific American. She also serves on the BIO (Biotechnology Innovation Organization) Board, including the Health Section Committee and is co-chair of the Strategy and Policy Committee of the board.
Raju Kucherlapati, PhD
Interim Chair of the Board of Directors
Raju Kucherlapati, PhD, is an independent non-executive director at PureTech. He has served as a member of the board of directors since 2014 and as interim chair since June 2023. He also sits on PureTech's R&D Committee. He is the Paul C. Cabot Professor of Genetics and Professor of Medicine...MORE
Raju Kucherlapati, PhD
Interim Chair of the Board of Directors
Raju Kucherlapati, PhD, is an independent non-executive director at PureTech. He has served as a member of the board of directors since 2014 and as interim chair since June 2023. He also sits on PureTech's R&D Committee. He is the Paul C. Cabot Professor of Genetics and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kucherlapati currently serves on the board of directors of KEW Inc. He was a founder and formerly a board member of Abgenix (acquired by Amgen for $2.2 billion), Cell Genesys and Millennium Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Takeda for $8.8 billion). He was the first scientific director of the Harvard-Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Kucherlapati received his PhD from the University of Illinois. He trained at Yale and has held faculty positions at Princeton University, University of Illinois College of Medicine and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He was a member of the presidential commission for the study of bioethical issues during the Obama administration.
Dr. Kucherlapati’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School is involved in cloning many human disease genes with a focus on human syndromes with significant cardiovascular involvement, use of genetic/genomic approaches to understand the biology of cancer and the generation and characterization of genetically modified mouse models for cancer and other human disorders. His laboratory was a part of the Human Genome Program that was responsible for mapping and sequencing the human genome. Dr. Kucherlapati developed methods for modifying mammalian genes that lead to gene targeting in mice. He has developed many mouse models for human disease, including a large set of models for human colorectal cancer. His laboratory was a part of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program that uses genetic/genomic approaches to understand the biology of cancer. He is a promoter of personalized/precision medicine. Dr. Kucherlapati served on the editorial board of the New England Journal of Medicine and was editor-in-chief of the journal Genomics.
Bharatt Chowrira, PhD, JD
President and Chief Business, Finance and Operating Officer
Bharatt Chowrira, PhD, JD, is the president and chief business, finance and operating officer at PureTech and is a member of the board of directors. Prior to joining PureTech, Dr. Chowrira was the president of Synlogic, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing synthetic microbiome-based therapeutics, from September 2015 to...MORE
Bharatt Chowrira, PhD, JD
President and Chief Business, Finance and Operating Officer
Bharatt Chowrira, PhD, JD, is the president and chief business, finance and operating officer at PureTech and is a member of the board of directors. Prior to joining PureTech, Dr. Chowrira was the president of Synlogic, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing synthetic microbiome-based therapeutics, from September 2015 to February 2017, where he oversaw and managed corporate and business development, alliance management, financial, human resources, intellectual property and legal operations. Prior to joining Synlogic, Dr. Chowrira was the chief operating officer of Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc., from 2013 to 2015, which was acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals in the Spring of 2015. Previously, he was president and chief executive officer of Addex Therapeutics Ltd., a biotechnology company publicly traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange, from 2011 to 2013. Prior to that, Dr. Chowrira held various leadership and management positions at Nektar Therapeutics (chief operating officer), Merck & Co, or Merck (vice president), Sirna Therapeutics (general counsel; acquired by Merck) and Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals (chief patent counsel). Dr. Chowrira is a member of the board of directors of Vedanta Biosciences, Inc. Dr. Chowrira received a JD from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Vermont College of Medicine, an MS in molecular biology from Illinois State University and a BS in microbiology from the UAS, Bangalore, India.
H. Robert Horvitz, PhD
Board Observer, R&D Committee Chair
H. Robert Horvitz, PhD, is a board observer and chair of the R&D Committee at PureTech. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and is the David H Koch Professor of Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, neurobiologist (Neurology) at...MORE
H. Robert Horvitz, PhD
Board Observer, R&D Committee Chair
H. Robert Horvitz, PhD, is a board observer and chair of the R&D Committee at PureTech. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and is the David H Koch Professor of Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, neurobiologist (Neurology) at Massachusetts General Hospital, a member of the MIT McGovern Institute for Brain Research and the MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. He is cofounder of multiple life science companies, including Epizyme (EPZM), Mitobridge (acquired by Astellas) and Idun Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer) and was a member of the scientific advisory board of the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research.
Dr. Horvitz is a former member of the board of trustees of the Massachusetts General Hospital. He previously served as chairman of the board of trustees of the Society for Science and the Public and as president of the Genetics Society of America. Dr. Horvitz is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the US National Academy of Medicine and the American Philosophical Society and is a foreign member of the Royal Society of London. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the American Academy of Microbiology.
Dr. Horvitz received the US National Academies of Science Award in Molecular Biology; the Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievements in Health; the Ciba-Drew Award for Biomedical Science; the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Prize; the Gairdner Foundation International Award; the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology; the Genetics Society of America Medal; the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Neuroscience; the Wiley Prize in the Biomedical Sciences; the Peter Gruber Foundation Genetics Prize; the American Cancer Society Medal of Honor; the Alfred G. Knudson Award of the National Cancer Institute; and the UK Genetics Society Mendel Medal. He has received honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Rome, Cambridge University, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Miami.
John LaMattina, PhD
Independent Non-Executive Director
John LaMattina, PhD, is an independent non-executive director at PureTech and has served as a member of the board of directors since 2009. Dr. LaMattina was previously president of Pfizer Global Research and Development and held positions of increasing responsibility during his 30-year career at Pfizer, including vice president of...MORE
John LaMattina, PhD
Independent Non-Executive Director
John LaMattina, PhD, is an independent non-executive director at PureTech and has served as a member of the board of directors since 2009. Dr. LaMattina was previously president of Pfizer Global Research and Development and held positions of increasing responsibility during his 30-year career at Pfizer, including vice president of US Discovery Operations in 1993, senior vice president of Worldwide Discovery Operations in 1998 and senior vice president of Worldwide Development in 1999. Dr. LaMattina serves on the board of directors of Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Zafgen, Inc., Immunome Inc. and Vedanta Biosciences, Inc. He also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Frequency Therapeutics and is a trustee associate of Boston College.
During Dr. LaMattina’s leadership tenure, Pfizer discovered and/or developed a number of important new medicines including Tarceva, Chantix, Zoloft, Selzentry and Lyrica, along with a number of other medicines currently in late stage development for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and pain. He is the author of numerous scientific publications and US patents. In addition, Dr. LaMattina is the author of Devalued and Distrusted: Can the Pharmaceutical Industry Restore Its Broken Image, Drug Truths: Dispelling the Myths About Pharma R&D, and an author of the Drug Truths blog at Forbes.com. Dr. LaMattina was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of New Hampshire in 2007 and in 2010 was the recipient of the American Chemical Society’s Earle B. Barnes Award for Leadership in Chemical Research Management. Dr. LaMattina received a BS in chemistry from Boston College in 1971 and received a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of New Hampshire in 1975. He then moved on to Princeton University as a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Professor E. C. Taylor.
Robert Langer, ScD
Co-Founder & Non-Executive Director
Robert S. Langer, ScD, is a co-founder, member of PureTech’s R&D Committee and has served as a member of the board of directors since the Company’s founding. He has served as the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT since 2005. He is one of 12 institute professors, which is...MORE
Robert Langer, ScD
Co-Founder & Non-Executive Director
Robert S. Langer, ScD, is a co-founder, member of PureTech’s R&D Committee and has served as a member of the board of directors since the Company’s founding. He has served as the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT since 2005. He is one of 12 institute professors, which is the highest honor that can be awarded to a faculty member at MIT. He served as a member of the FDA’s Science Board, the FDA’s highest advisory board, from 1995 to 2002 and as its chairman from 1999 to 2002. Dr. Langer serves on the board of directors of Frequency Therapeutics, Inc., Abpro Korea, Entrega, Inc. and Moderna, Inc. Dr. Langer has written more than 1,500 articles. He also has over 1,350 issued and pending patents worldwide. Dr. Langer’s patents have been licensed or sublicensed to over 400 pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology and medical device companies. He is the most cited engineer in history (h-index 272 with over 300,000 citations according to Google Scholar).
Dr. Langer has received over 220 major awards. He is one of four living individuals to have received both the 2006 United States National Medal of Science, the Charles Stark Draper Prize in 2002, considered the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for engineers, and the 2012 Priestley Medal, the highest award of the American Chemical Society. He is also the only engineer to ever receive the Gairdner Foundation International Award. Dr. Langer has received the Dickson Prize for Science, Heinz Award, the Harvey Prize, the John Fritz Award (given previously to inventors such as Thomas Edison and Orville Wright), the General Motors Kettering Prize for Cancer Research, the Dan David Prize in Materials Science, the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, the largest prize in the US for medical research, and the Lemelson-MIT prize, the world’s largest prize for invention, for being “one of history’s most prolific inventors in medicine.” In 2006, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In 2015, Dr. Langer received the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. He received his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in 1970 and his ScD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1974, both in chemical engineering.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Independent Non-Executive Director
Ms. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is an independent non-executive director at PureTech. She is a pioneering biotech entrepreneur, a healthcare visionary, a global influencer and a passionate philanthropist. She is a pioneer of India’s biotech industry and founder of Biocon. Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw holds key positions in various industry, educational, government and professional...MORE
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Independent Non-Executive Director
Ms. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is an independent non-executive director at PureTech. She is a pioneering biotech entrepreneur, a healthcare visionary, a global influencer and a passionate philanthropist. She is a pioneer of India’s biotech industry and founder of Biocon.
Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw holds key positions in various industry, educational, government and professional bodies globally. She has been elected as a full-term member of the board of trustees of The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. She has been elected as a member of the prestigious USA based National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
She also serves as the lead independent member of the board of Infosys Ltd and non-executive director on the board of Narayana Health.
Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw is the proud recipient of two of India's highest civilian honors, the Padma Shri (1989) and the Padma Bhushan (2005). She was also honored with the Order of Australia, Australia’s highest civilian honor in January 2020. In 2016, she was conferred with the highest French distinction - Knight of the Legion of Honour.
She has recently been named as the winner of EY World Entrepreneur of the Year™ 2020 Award, which is a testimony to her entrepreneurial journey of over four decades. She has been ranked as one of the world’s top 20 inspirational leaders in the field of biopharmaceuticals by The Medicine Maker Power List 2020. She is the proud recipient Othmer Gold Medal 2014 from the U.S.-based Chemical Heritage Foundation for her pioneering efforts in biotechnology.
Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw holds a bachelor’s degree in science (Zoology Hons.) from Bangalore University and has earned a master’s degree in malting and brewing from Ballarat College, Melbourne University. She has been awarded with several honorary degrees from the Universities of repute globally.
Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw believes in compassionate capitalism and is the first woman business leader from India to sign the Giving Pledge, an initiative of the Gates Foundation, committing to give the majority of her wealth to philanthropic causes.
She is very passionate about innovation and mentors many science-based start-ups.
Sharon Barber-Lui
Non-Executive Director, Audit Committee Member
Sharon Barber-Lui is a board member and member of the Audit Committee at PureTech. Ms. Barber-Lui has been Chief Financial Officer, North America for Teva Pharmaceuticals since July 2023. Prior to joining Teva, Ms. Barber-Lui was the Senior Vice President of Finance at EQRx. Ms. Barber-Lui previously worked at Merck...MORE
Sharon Barber-Lui
Non-Executive Director, Audit Committee Member
Sharon Barber-Lui is a board member and member of the Audit Committee at PureTech. Ms. Barber-Lui has been Chief Financial Officer, North America for Teva Pharmaceuticals since July 2023. Prior to joining Teva, Ms. Barber-Lui was the Senior Vice President of Finance at EQRx. Ms. Barber-Lui previously worked at Merck for over twenty years in roles of advancing responsibility, including most recently as the Head of Portfolio Market Strategy, Operations and Business Analytics from 2019 through 2021 and Chief Financial Officer from 2014 through 2018 for Merck’s U.S. oncology business. Ms. Barber-Lui has also held a number of other roles with Merck including Treasurer of U.S. Region, Head of U.S. Treasury Operations, and Head of Legal Entity Integration and Global Treasury Services, among others. Ms. Barber-Lui began her career as an accountant for KPMG LLP, and she received her bachelor’s degree as well as her M.B.A. from Lehigh University. Ms. Barber‑Lui is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
She is also the recipient of Merck & Co. Inc.’s Top Talent Designation, Women’s Leadership Recognition and Oncology Women’s Leader recognition.