How women-led biotechs are reshaping the sector
22 Sept, 2026
Celebrating 10 years since the launch of our San Francisco office
28 Sept, 20262+ minutes
In 10 years, our San Francisco office has placed 1,117 professionals and made a significant impact on the life sciences industry.
We’re delighted to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of our San Francisco office opening.
Back in 2016, Mike Newman (who was recently promoted to CCO) was leading the launch – driven by his vision to enter new markets in the Bay Area and build meaningful relationships across the life sciences community.
It wasn’t long before his vision turned into reality. As well as playing a critical role in supporting life sciences businesses, our San Francisco teams has placed numerous professionals responsible for the development of novel treatments and technologies that better patients’ lives.
In Mike’s words:
“There’s a reason we came to San Francisco. It is the home of biotech. There are so many organizations, within the life sciences industry, and being in San Francisco, as opposed to a lot of other locations that were discussed at the time, just made so much sense.”
Today we’re looking back at the success of this decision and what ten years of impact looks like on paper.
Our impact on life sciences
Since the launch in 2016, our teams in San Francisco have made 1,117 placements across eight specialist areas. A closer breakdown can be seen below:
Clinical development and operations – 451
Quality, manufacturing and CMC –180
Engineering, product and software –174
Discovery, preclinical and laboratory –120
Regulatory affairs – 62
Medical affairs and communications –61
Biometrics and data – 36
Commercial, market access and BD –33
Each of this placements has helped life sciences organizations build the teams and capabilities needed to make advancements in their work, whether that’s bringing a new drug to its first trial, marketing the latest medical device or creating novel technologies that can improve the early detection of diseases.
The impact that comes with supporting life sciences businesses
The San Francisco team has been fortunate to work with a range of businesses developing treatments and technologies across m therapeutic areas.
From supporting clinical and medical functions at Alumis, whose work includes the development of treatments for plaque psoriasis, to helping Exelixis and BeOne Medicines build teams across oncology-focused functions, our placements have contributed to the people and capabilities behind important industry developments.
Our work with Soleno Therapeutics is another example. Following the development and approval of VYKAT XR for hyperphagia in children with Prader-Willi syndrome, our team supported the business across areas including clinical operations, medical affairs, biostatistics and quality.
We've also supported businesses working on innovative technologies. At Iovance, our teams have contributed to functions supporting cell therapy development, while our work with BioMarin has included roles connected to therapies for rare genetic conditions.
These are just some of the organizations and projects we've had the pleasure of supporting over the past decade.
A closer look at our partnerships
Beyond individual placements, our San Francisco team has also supported businesses through embedded and project-based hiring partnerships, including:
Electra – a late, clinical-stage biopharma and biotech
23 candidates placed over two years (2023–2025), including support from an embedded team.
Bruin Biometrics – a commercial-stage medical technology and devices company
16 candidates placed over two years (2024–ongoing), through a project-based hiring partnership.
Tizona – a clinical-stage immunotherapy biotech
26 candidates placed over three years (2020–2023), including embedded support.
Looking ahead
We’re really proud of what the SF team has achieved in the last decade and the impact they’ve had on the sector.
Here's to another ten years of building relationships and supporting the businesses that are improving global health outcomes!
