Vidhya Gopalakrishnan, PhD

Chief Development Officer

Vidhya Gopalakrishnan, Ph.D., has more than 24 years of experience in pharmaceutical research and development and operations, having led various product development programs from preclinical through Phase 3 development and new drug application (NDA) submission. She has broad experience spanning various delivery platforms and therapeutic areas including central nervous system, kidney, and ophthalmology indications.

Dr. Gopalakrishnan was most recently senior vice president, pharmaceutical development, at Quark Pharmaceuticals, a late clinical stage company developing siRNA therapeutics. In this role, she built a CMC department and led drug development and manufacturing activities ranging from pre-IND and IND stages to NDA submissions. She also oversaw process validations in anticipation of product registration, as well as supply chain activities. Prior to Quark, she held various positions including SVP, R&D operations, at Neuraltus Pharmaceuticals, where she was responsible for the strategy and development of Neuraltus’s clinical drug candidates for neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, she has previously held other leadership positions at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Aerogen, ALZA, and Cygnus.

Dr. Gopalakrishnan received her Ph.D. in oligoribonucleotide synthesis and structural studies from National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India and her master’s degree in chemistry from IIT, Madras. She has held post-doctoral positions at Penn State University and Stanford University School of Medicine.