Anirvan Ghosh Joins Formation Bio as SVP, Head of Translational Sciences

We’re proud to announce that Anirvan Ghosh, PhD, has joined Formation Bio as SVP, Head of Translational Sciences. Having spent his career turning scientific discoveries into medicines across academia, large pharma and biotech leadership, Anirvan joins Formation to help decide which drug candidates earn a place in our portfolio and what evidence each one needs to keep advancing.

“For the last 20 years, the odds of getting a drug from the clinic to approval have barely moved, at big and small companies alike,” says Anirvan. “Now, we can integrate vast amounts of data across healthcare systems and clinical datasets to understand which drugs are likely to work for which patients. For years, I’ve wondered how that data could make drug development faster and more successful. With its deep AI capabilities and a world-class R&D bench, I believe Formation is the company best positioned to change the curve on drug development.”

Anirvan previously served as SVP, Head of Research and Early Development at Biogen, where he led 350 scientists and clinicians across every therapeutic area, and oversaw 10 programs entering human studies. Earlier, he was founding CSO of E-Scape Bio and VP, Global Head of Neuroscience Discovery and Biomarkers at Roche. He joins Formation Bio from Unity Biotechnology, where he was CEO.

Anirvan began his career in academia, serving on the faculty of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine before becoming the Stephen Kuffler Professor of Neurobiology and chair of neurobiology at UC San Diego, where his lab studied how synapses form and neural circuits develop. He holds a BS in physics from Caltech and a PhD in neuroscience from Stanford, and completed postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School.

“Anirvan has spent his career asking the hardest questions about why drugs succeed or fail, and using the answers to make better decisions,” said Benjamine Liu, co-founder and CEO of Formation Bio. “We are thrilled to bring Anirvan on board as we grow and advance our portfolio.”

We’re hiring across disciplines now: formation.bio/careers