Director, Business Development - Search & Evaluation

Advancements in AI and drug discovery are creating more candidate drugs than the industry can progress because of the high cost and time of clinical trials. Recognizing that this development bottleneck may ultimately limit the number of new medicines that can reach patients, Formation Bio, founded in 2016 as TrialSpark Inc., has built technology platforms, processes, and capabilities to accelerate all aspects of drug development and clinical trials. Formation Bio partners, acquires, or in-licenses drugs from pharma companies, research organizations, and biotechs to develop programs past clinical proof of concept and beyond, ultimately helping to bring new medicines to patients. The company is backed by investors across pharma and tech, including a16z, Sequoia, Sanofi, Thrive Capital, John Doerr, Spark Capital, SV Angel Growth, and others. 

You can read more at the following links:

• Our Vision for AI in Pharma
• Our Current Drug Portfolio
• Our Technology & Platform

At Formation Bio, our values are the driving force behind our mission to revolutionize the pharma industry. Every team and individual at the company shares these same values, and every team and individual plays a key part in our mission to bring new treatments to patients faster and more efficiently.

The Director of Business Development, Strategic Sourcing, will play a key role in identifying, evaluating, and managing early-stage assets and opportunities for Formation Bio's business development pipeline. This role will involve guiding potential opportunities from asset identification through to transaction closing, working closely with the business development team to identify outreach areas and drive deal flow within designated outreach regions.

• →Leading deal-by-deal opportunity/asset teams from asset identification to transaction close
• →Collaborating with the BD team to identify target areas for outreach, focusing on strategic alignment with Formation Bio's goals
• →Owning and managing one or more designated business development outreach areas (e.g., big pharma, biotech companies, designated therapeutics areas)
• →Maximizing activity and ensuring high-quality deal flow in assigned outreach areas, developing a steady stream of opportunities
• →Conducting initial triage of opportunities, evaluating potential deals before engaging the broader diligence team to ensure strategic fit
• →Working cross-functionally with R&D, tech platform, and commercial teams to ensure smooth handoffs and successful transitions in the diligence process

The ideal candidate will have a strong scientific background paired with business acumen, ideally with experience in search and evaluation, venture, or business development. This role requires someone who can identify assets that would benefit from Formation Bio's tech-enabled development capabilities and build relationships across the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

• PhD in biological science or MD with laboratory research experience strongly preferred.
• 3-7 years of post-degree experience, with a combination of scientific and business expertise
• Prior experience of biotech or pharmaceutical business development (search & evaluation), venture capital investing, or life sciences consulting is highly preferable. 
• Strong network within the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, with the ability to leverage contacts for sourcing early-stage assets; Enthusiastic about networking, relationship building, and externally-facing activities
• An outgoing, motivated, and creative approach to business development
• Curiosity and insight around the role of AI in drug development, clinical trials, and business development

This role offers the opportunity to help build the pharma company of the future, combining strategic asset acquisition with tech-enabled development capabilities to bring new treatments to patients faster and more efficiently.