Biotech CEO Sisterhood: Vir's CEO Marianne De Backer describes her background and leadership style, and joining Vir as it experienced a road bump, but turning it into an opportunity via a key IO deal

Interviewed by Sisterhood editorial board member Grace Colón, Marianne De Backer advocates for the importance of getting experience in a diverse set of roles, she describes joining Vir at a time when it had experienced its first setbacks, and how a deal for a T-cell engager program has been transformational.

Biographies

Marianne De Backer, M.Sc., Ph.D., MBA, serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Vir Biotechnology. Since joining in April 2023, Dr. De Backer has led the company through a critical strategy evolution sharpening its focus in infectious disease and applying its scientific expertise to critical unmet needs in oncology. Under Dr. De Backer’s leadership Vir Biotechnology has a robust pipeline of late-stage assets in hepatitis delta and hepatitis B and three T-cell engagers in earlier development tackling a range of solid tumors. The company also applies its world-class immunology expertise and leading data science capabilities to rapidly advance a research pipeline in service of its mission to power the immune system to transform lives.

Dr. De Backer previously served as a member of the Executive Committee, and Executive Vice President and Global Head of Strategy, Business Development & Licensing of the Bayer AG Pharmaceuticals division. During her tenure at Bayer, she spearheaded the Company’s external innovation, resulting in more than 50 new alliances and company acquisitions. She also served on the Board of Directors of Bluerock Therapeutics, Asklepios Biopharmaceutical, Vividion Therapeutics, KronosBio and Arrowhead Therapeutics.

From 1991 through 2019, at Johnson & Johnson, Dr. De Backer held global business and corporate development roles, including the position of Head and Vice President of M&A Operations and Divestitures globally for the Pharmaceuticals Group. Prior to that, she led the launch of two medicines in neuroscience and immunology. Dr. De Backer started her career in drug discovery research and is an inventor on seven patents.

Dr. De Backer received her Master of Business Administration degree from Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She holds a Master of Science in Molecular Biology from Vrije Universiteit, Brussels; and Master of Science in Engineering Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Biotechnology, from Ghent University, Belgium. She currently serves as a non-executive Director on the Board of the Gladstone Foundation and on the Board of Directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization.

Dr. Grace E. Colón has a 30-year career spanning biopharma, genomics, diagnostics, digital health, synthetic and industrial biotechnology, venture capital, and entrepreneurship. She is co-founder of Inaya Therapeutics and was CEO of InCarda Therapeutics, raising $120M and advancing the lead program from pre-clinical stage to Phase 3. Previously she held leadership roles at Gilead Sciences, Intrexon, New Science Ventures, Affymetrix, and McKinsey. She serves on the board of Voyager Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VYGR), as board chair of Bloom Science and Emm, on the Board of the MIT Corporation, and as Vice Chair of the Emerging Companies Section and on the Board Executive Committee of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).

Previously she served on the boards of CareDx (NASDAQ:CDNA) and on multiple early-stage biotech boards.

A native of Puerto Rico, she is passionate about advising and mentoring entrepreneurs as well as aspiring board directors, particularly women and underrepresented minorities. She is also an active advocate for women’s health, having experienced the long-term impact of severe endometriosis. She received her Ph.D. from MIT and a B.S.E. from the University of Pennsylvania, both in chemical engineering. In 2023 she was elected a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).