Spring Break
Life in the Life Sciences for HBS Women
Laura Singleton (MBA ’88), Special Contributor
Issue date: 1/27/03 Section: Viewpoints
Cynthia Fisher (MBA '90), has helped found not one but two companies--Viacord, Inc. (started in 1993) and ViaCell, Inc., launched in April 2000. ViaCell garnered an impressive $60 million in funding during the tightening VC market of 2000. Both companies are connected to the rapidly-developing area of medical applications for stem cells found in umbilical cord blood. Viacord enables expectant parents to "bank" these precious cord blood cells at the time their child is born. Material that would otherwise be discarded can be stored for possible future use in treating disease in that child or another close relative. ViaCell aims to manufacture "cellular medicines" derived from banked stem cells to treat certain cancers, genetic disorders and neurological diseases.
In effect, Fisher and her colleagues created a whole new industry, along with the ethical standards for regulating it, in the course of launching Viacord. She's gratified by the relatively-short time it took to gain broad acceptance.
"What's really exciting for me is to see stem-cell banking go from the early years when there were many skeptics to now, when physicians state that it's a 'no-brainer' as they recommend Viacord to expectant parents," said Fisher.
Heidi Wyle (MBA '89), another successful life sciences entrepreneur, founded Ardais Corporation in December 1999, and has raised raising $60 million for this venture since inception. Ardais is working with leading hospitals to create a library of human tissue that will support the personalized medicine promised by the successful mapping of the human genome sequence. Wyle, who is on the Board of Directors of Ardais, primarily focuses on the ethical and strategic issues arising from the execution of the company's mission.
"I spend a lot of time thinking about the right thing to do," she said. "How do you not compromise the clinical situation of the patient at all? How do you protect patient privacy?"
Like Fisher and Levy, Wyle, a Ph.D. in medical physics from MIT, brought a scientific background into her work. Mara Aspinall (MBA '87), however, has a different background. She worked after HBS at Bain and the Boston law firm of Hale & Dorr before joining Genzyme Corporation, where she now serves as president of Genzyme Genetics and Genzyme Pharmaceuticals.
In effect, Fisher and her colleagues created a whole new industry, along with the ethical standards for regulating it, in the course of launching Viacord. She's gratified by the relatively-short time it took to gain broad acceptance.
"What's really exciting for me is to see stem-cell banking go from the early years when there were many skeptics to now, when physicians state that it's a 'no-brainer' as they recommend Viacord to expectant parents," said Fisher.
Heidi Wyle (MBA '89), another successful life sciences entrepreneur, founded Ardais Corporation in December 1999, and has raised raising $60 million for this venture since inception. Ardais is working with leading hospitals to create a library of human tissue that will support the personalized medicine promised by the successful mapping of the human genome sequence. Wyle, who is on the Board of Directors of Ardais, primarily focuses on the ethical and strategic issues arising from the execution of the company's mission.
"I spend a lot of time thinking about the right thing to do," she said. "How do you not compromise the clinical situation of the patient at all? How do you protect patient privacy?"
Like Fisher and Levy, Wyle, a Ph.D. in medical physics from MIT, brought a scientific background into her work. Mara Aspinall (MBA '87), however, has a different background. She worked after HBS at Bain and the Boston law firm of Hale & Dorr before joining Genzyme Corporation, where she now serves as president of Genzyme Genetics and Genzyme Pharmaceuticals.
