Saurabh Saha

For many big pharma R&D executives, biotech start-ups and the venture capital community offer an appealing alternative to the frustrations of corporate life. In a rare reversal, Saurabh Saha left Atlas Ventures to join Bristol-Myers Squibb last year as global head of Translational Medicine. Saha — who has also held positions as a pharmaceutical consultant at McKinsey and Company, as head of New Indications Discovery at Novartis and as CEO of Delinia before its acquisition by Celgene in 2017 — will now work to de-risk drug development from the day a target is nominated until the day it is approved. He spoke with Asher Mullard about how new tools could open up translational opportunities in immuno-oncology and elsewhere, and his reasons for returning to large pharma.