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Breakthrough Biotech Builders Series
The Breakthrough Biotech Builders (BBB) is a curated, invitation-only gathering that convenes an elite cohort of Boston’s most successful founders and executives—leaders who have turned visionary concepts into life-saving therapies. Our goal for these discussions is to provide founders & CEOs of biotech companies with an opportunity to engage directly with pioneers in the field, and learn from their experience bringing a drug candidate through a successful development path to the clinic.
Each session features a fireside chat with a true “pantheon of leaders”—the most influential figures in the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors—followed by a private networking reception. Attendees include highly accomplished founders and CEOs, many of whom are actively raising or preparing to raise Series A funding. The series is moderated by Prof. William Chin (Bill), a Harvard-trained endocrinologist, former Executive Dean for Research at Harvard Medical School, and senior R&D leader at Eli Lilly and PhRMA. Bill has also advised Singapore’s biotechnology ecosystem for more than 40 years, earning honorary Singapore citizenship in 2023 for his contributions.
Prof. William Chin (Bill), MD | Former Executive Dean, HMS | Senior R&D leader, Eli Lilly & PhRMA
Fireside chat with Dr. Steve Paul
Our inaugural session on Nov 19th 2025, featured the distinguished career and groundbreaking achievements of Dr. Steve Paul.
Dr. Paul is a distinguished neuroscientist and pharmaceutical executive with nearly 50 years of leadership in neuroscience and CNS drug discovery. Dr. Paul most recently served as CEO, President, and Chairman of Karuna Therapeutics (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb for $14 billion).
His career includes leading roles as President of Lilly Research Laboratories, EVP for Science and Technology at Eli Lilly, and Scientific Director at the NIMH. He has also co-founded several notable biotech companies, including Sage Therapeutics, Voyager Therapeutics, Seaport Therapeutics, and Rapport Therapeutics, and is currently a Venture Partner at Third Rock Ventures.
The takeaway? Innovation isn't just about a brilliant idea; it’s about tenacity and relentless incrementalism. As Dr. Paul puts it: "If there aren’t a lot of naysayers, you’re probably not doing something terribly innovative."
This session was generously sponsored by our founding partner Greenberg Traurig.
Fireside chat with Dr. John Maraganore
In our second session on Feb 11th, 2026, Prof. Chin and Dr. John Maraganore had an inspiring, thought-provoking conversation discussing what it takes to lead through "impossible" odds, the future of biotech innovation, and the lessons John carries from his journey from the lab to the bedside.
Dr. Maraganore served as the founding CEO and a Director of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals from 2002 to 2021, where he led the creation of RNAi therapeutics as a whole new class of medicines. During the course of building a biotech into a pharmaceutical company, John raised over $7.5B in capital, creating over $25B in market capitalization. Today, six RNAi therapeutic medicines from Alnylam have been approved by global regulatory authorities, bringing new hope to patients around the world.
Prior to Alnylam, John held leadership roles at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Biogen, Inc. where he invented and led the discovery and development of ANGIOMAX® (bivalirudin) for injection. John is currently a partner or advisor of a number of leading investment firms, and to a number of publicly traded and privately held biopharmaceutical companies.
This session was sponsored with Greenberg Traurig & Nona Biosciences.
Fireside chat with Dr. Mary Lynne Hedley
Fireside chat with Dr. Mary Lynne Hedley
Our next session on June 10th, 2026 will feature a powerhouse of the biotech ecosystem, Dr. Mary Lynne Hedley
Dr. Lynne Hedley is a serial entrepreneur who doesn't just launch companies; she architects entire ecosystems of innovation. Her journey is marked by the $5.1 billion acquisition of TESARO by GSK—one of the most significant biotech exits in recent history.
For Mary Lynne, the true 'win' was bringing Zejula to thousands of women fighting ovarian cancer through her strategic leadership on the boards of Eli Lilly and the Broad Institute. As a Venture Partner at Third Rock Ventures, she continues to architect the future of medicine by proving that massive commercial success is simply a byproduct of prioritizing human lives.
Dr. Mary Lynne Hedley is a scientist by training who brings an enterprise-wide perspective to her thinking about new company formation and advancing therapeutic discovery and development.
Mary Lynne was elected to the Eli Lilly and Company Board of Directors in 2022, and is a Venture Partner at Third Rock Ventures.