Konstantina Katcheves
Chief Business and Strategy Officer, Acadia Pharmaceuticals. Former SVP at Bristol-Myers Squibb where she led the Karuna Bio acquisition and moved BMS into neurology. Previously at Teva Pharmaceuticals. Science background turned law school turned dealmaker. She does rare disease M&A and refuses to leave this industry.
Daphne Karydas
President & CFO, Flare Therapeutics. Former CFO of Cidara Pharmaceuticals. Former Head of Corporate Strategy at Allergan. Started career as a chemical engineer at Merck, then spent 15+ years on Wall Street at Goldman Sachs and as a buy-side biotech investor. Lost her sister to ovarian cancer. Left Wall Street after 15 years because she wanted to own outcomes, not just analyze them.
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
- Why life sciences M&A is essential to driving innovation forward
- How strategic alignment and corporate strategy set the stage for dealmaking
- The role of internal champions across clinical, commercial, and executive teams
- CBO and CFO alignment as the engine behind every major transaction
- How bankers, VCs, and the external ecosystem feed the deal pipeline
- Why M&A can be cleaner than licensing — and where partnership contracts fall apart
- Competition for quality late-stage assets and how companies move fast enough to win
- Public vs. private M&A dynamics and stakeholder management differences
- Why business development is an apprenticeship business built on collective experience
- Personal motivations: losing a loved one to disease and choosing to stay in this industry
