Welcome to Partnology’s Biotech Leader Spotlight Series, where we highlight the remarkable accomplishments and visionary leadership of biotech industry pioneers. This series is about showcasing the groundbreaking strides made by exceptional leaders who have transformed scientific possibilities into tangible realities. Through insightful interviews, we invite you to join us in following the inspiring journeys of these executives who continue to shape the landscape of the biotech industry. This week we are recognizing:
Elaine Chien, MD, FACOG is a board-certified and licensed OB/GYN physician who brings more than 25 years of clinical and biopharmaceutical industry experience to her current role as Chief Medical Officer at Antiva Biosciences. Prior to joining Antiva, from 2019 to 2023 she held roles of increasing responsibility at Mirum Pharmaceuticals, ultimately serving as Vice President, Clinical Development and Medical Safety with responsibility for overall strategic and executional oversight of all development programs for the company’s clinical-stage asset as well as global medical safety and pharmacovigilance for all of Mirum’s commercial and clinical stage assets. Over Elaine’s career, she has been a key contributor to several US and EU drug approvals, in women’s health and other indications. At Mirum, she was the medical safety lead on multiple sNDAs, an MAA and a Type II Variation for Livmarli® for the treatment of Alagille Syndrome (ALGS) and Primary Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis (PFIC). Prior to Mirum, Elaine was the global clinical development lead for the Myfembree® pivotal Phase 3 endometriosis program at Myovant Sciences, and the medical safety lead at Clovis Oncology on the NDA and MAA for Rubraca® for BRCA-positive ovarian cancer. Elaine holds an MD from Northwestern University, completed her OB/GYN residency at the Los Angeles County + University of Southern California medical center, and has been a Diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology since 2005.
Walk me through your career – what inspired your shift to industry, and how has your clinical practice experience shaped your approach to leadership?
I’d love to tell you it was part of some premeditated master plan, but it wasn’t; I was somewhat forced by the universe to find a non-clinical career. In 2012, I was diagnosed with a combination of nerve injuries involving my dominant hand that left me unable to perform surgeries or deliveries, and as an OB/GYN, that was essentially my whole role. My doctor advised me to stop practicing medicine if I wanted to prioritize safety—both for myself and my patients.
It took some time to figure out my next steps. I started in healthcare IT and healthcare services consulting; after that, I worked as a part-time CMO for a medical device company, which was also a valuable experience. Ultimately, I really fell in love with biopharma. In 2013, I joined a drug safety/pharmacovigilance-focused CRO, where I learned about drug development from the ground up. My initial work involved reviewing safety events and conducting medical reviews for multiple sponsor companies, which was an excellent way to learn the business. From there, I quickly realized this was the right career path for me. So, while my transition to industry was initially unplanned, I couldn’t be happier with where it has led me.
My time as a clinician—particularly in a surgically-oriented specialty—taught me a lot. As a surgeon, you’re responsible for leading a team. You don’t perform surgeries alone; you’re directing an entire team in the operating room under often stressful and fast-paced circumstances. You have to quickly digest information in the moment and make/communicate decisions quickly and calmly without overthinking or second-guessing yourself. The teamwork aspect is critical. When I was younger, I had this vision of surgeons as one-person armies—swooping in and doing it almost all by themselves. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
An early formative experience was my time as chief resident at LA County + USC Hospital, where I led a team of junior physicians and first learned that delegation, calm leadership, decisiveness, and accountability were essential. When failures occurred, I took ownership of them as the leader of the team. But when there were successes, I made sure the team received the credit.
I’d say those two experiences—leading as a chief resident and working in a surgical setting in general—really shaped my leadership style. They taught me the importance of teamwork, decisiveness, and maintaining grace under pressure.
Tell me more about Antiva. What drew you to this role, and what excites you most about Antiva’s mission and work?
I couldn’t be happier with where I am now at Antiva. My passion for this work goes back to when I was 26 years old, during my second year of OB/GYN residency. While I was rotating through the Gynecologic Oncology Ward, I cared for Marina, a young woman who had come to the hospital from Central America. She was also 26 years old and presented with stage IV cervical cancer.
Tragically, she passed away while under my care—not because of anything we did or didn’t do, but because she arrived already so gravely ill. At the time, we already had a pretty good understanding that HPV was the underlying cause of her cancer. This was a disease that was potentially preventable, yet she didn’t have access to proper screening or adequate healthcare in her home country.
The experience of losing a patient who was the same young age as me left a lasting impression on me. It made me think about the enormous potential of addressing HPV to prevent so much suffering. If we could intervene to treat HPV early, we could potentially stop the progression to precancerous conditions like CIN2 and CIN3 and, ultimately, perhaps prevent cervical cancer altogether. However, back then – and still to this day – there were/are no treatments available to treat HPV until a woman develops precancer, and those treatments are invasive, painful, and associated with potentially devastating consequences to reproductive health such as infertility and preterm birth. While we now have vaccines that are highly effective at preventing HPV when administered early enough, vaccine uptake remains poor. In the U.S., for instance, only about 40% of eligible children receive the HPV vaccine and these rates are expected to further decline with increasing vaccine skepticism/hesitancy. Globally, the situation is even more dire, with vast regions where vaccines are unavailable or inaccessible.
That’s why the work we’re doing at Antiva inspires and energizes me so much. Vaccines are invaluable, but we still need a therapeutic option for those who already have HPV. The unmet need is immense—there’s currently no treatment available for HPV infections. It’s simply not OK that we don’t have any approved treatments yet for the world’s most common sexually transmitted infection, and we at Antiva aim to remedy that situation ASAP.
We are also deeply committed to global health. In developing this therapy, we’re designing it with accessibility in mind. It needs to be easy to dose, shelf-stable to more easily facilitate global distribution, and, importantly, allow for privacy. In many parts of the world, women with HPV face stigma and are even shunned. Providing a treatment that can be administered discreetly—ideally in the comfort of a patient’s home—can make a huge difference.
For me, it’s these two aspects that are most exciting: the opportunity to address a significant unmet need and the potential for a global impact. That’s what motivates me every day at Antiva.
Your career started as an OB/GYN, and you’ve continued to impact women’s health in industry roles. What advancements or unmet needs in women’s health are you most passionate about addressing now or in the future?
I believe there’s so much in women’s health that remains unaddressed. For me, one of the most significant uncharted frontiers is the treatment of diseases that impact pregnant women.
There are so few clinical trials involving pregnant women, and I think much of that stems from a desire to “protect” them from research. For many years, the prevailing idea was to avoid having pregnant women be so-called “guinea pigs” for experimental treatments. While I can understand the well-meaning intent behind that, the unintended consequence is that we don’t generate high-quality data to inform treatment decisions for pregnant women when they’re sick. This approach leaves healthcare providers making decisions in the dark, which doesn’t ultimately protect anyone—not the pregnant women, nor their infants.
Diseases impacting pregnant women need far more attention and dedicated research. During my time at Mirum, I was fortunate to lead a development program focused on women with a pregnancy-specific liver condition, and I was incredibly excited about it. Unfortunately, timing worked against us—we didn’t know when we started the program that a global pandemic was on the horizon. The pandemic made it incredibly difficult to enroll patients in the study, and the program ultimately didn’t continue. Despite that setback, I still strongly believe in the importance of research in this area. We need better data to improve outcomes for both mothers and their babies; the idea is to protect women “through” research, not “from” research.
Additionally, ever since my residency at LA County + USC Hospital, I’ve been passionate about improving access to healthcare for disadvantaged populations, especially women. During my time at LA County, we cared for many women who had very poor or no access to healthcare. Many of them traveled from Central America, often with nothing more than a map drawn on a cocktail napkin, just to find medical care. That left a lasting impression on me.
Today, I’m still deeply concerned about barriers to healthcare access, particularly for underserved populations. For instance, current policies and practices, like immigration raids no longer being off limits in places once considered safe havens such as hospitals, create a terrifying environment for undocumented pregnant women. I can’t imagine how frightening it would be to wonder whether seeking prenatal care might lead to detention or deportation.
These challenges add another layer of difficulty to what is already a vulnerable time. Women shouldn’t have to weigh the risks of accessing care for themselves and their babies. So, in addition to advancing research in diseases affecting pregnant women, I’m also quite passionate about the need to address access barriers for anyone who lacks proper healthcare.
As a CMO, how do you balance the strategic and executional demands of overseeing multiple programs, particularly in a resource-constrained biotech environment?
This is always a challenge in small biotech companies because we’re all resource-constrained to some extent. I’ve found that a few key approaches are critical in navigating this:
First, having clarity on the strategy for what we want to achieve is essential. This starts with aligning closely with my CEO and the board of directors to ensure we’re all on the same page. Once I have a clear understanding of our strategy, I make it a priority to ensure the entire team understands it as well. When the team knows exactly where we’re trying to go, it sets the foundation for success.
Second, bringing in the best people is crucial, and I’ve been exceedingly fortunate to have recruited an incredible, top-notch team at Antiva. Once the team understands the strategy, I focus on empowering them. With clarity on the goal, they are equipped to take ownership and drive us forward. Of course, that doesn’t mean I never dive into the weeds—I am absolutely happy to when it’s necessary to support the team. For example, at times I’ve found myself editing consent forms or tackling other detailed tasks when needed. I don’t mind doing whatever it takes to keep things moving.
This mentality goes back to my residency days when one of our challenges was getting operating rooms cleaned quickly between surgeries – failure to do so meant that surgeries scheduled later in the day could be cancelled. I remember often finishing a surgery, breaking scrub, and grabbing a mop to clean the OR floor myself so we could get the next patient in as quickly as possible. That mindset—being willing and happy to roll up your sleeves and do whatever needs to be done—is vital in biotech.
Finally, I’ve learned to accept that the enemy of “good enough” is perfect. For example, I no longer feel the need to keep my inbox at zero unread messages or to check off every single item on my to-do list on a daily basis. Instead, I focus on constant prioritization to ensure the mission-critical tasks are completed. If you try to do everything, the overall project can suffer. It’s about continually reassessing and adjusting priorities to ultimately achieve the bigger goal.
You’ve worked across diverse therapeutic areas, from oncology to rare liver diseases. How do you approach gaining expertise in new areas and guiding teams in unfamiliar therapeutic landscapes?
Having spent my entire clinical career focused on women’s health, transitioning into industry required me to quickly familiarize myself with other fields. To my surprise, I’ve found the process much more rewarding and enjoyable than I initially expected. My approach starts at a high level. I begin by using resources like textbooks and websites such as UpToDate, which offers physician-curated review articles about various diseases. This helps me build a foundational understanding of the disease area.
After initially acquainting myself with the literature, I quickly identify the key opinion leaders (KOLs) I need to connect with. I reach out to these experts, openly admitting that I’m new to the field, and say something like, “Here’s what I’ve gathered so far—what do you think? What would you recommend I study next? Who else should I speak with?” This open and honest approach often leads to productive conversations and valuable guidance.
I’ve found that experts are typically very receptive to someone coming to them with humility and a genuine desire to learn. For instance, when I first worked on a psoriasis program, I followed this exact process. Dermatology was completely new to me, and I didn’t pretend otherwise. The experts I consulted were incredibly supportive, and after a few months, one even joked that I’d become an “honorary dermatologist”. While I probably wouldn’t have gone that far, it was a nice acknowledgment of my efforts to learn.
This constant dialogue with experts helps me gain the knowledge I need to oversee research effectively. And while the stakes are high in ensuring the science is solid, they’re not as immediate as when I was treating patients in real time. That gives me the space to get up to speed, which I truly appreciate.
You mentor women and girls through SHE-CAN. How has this advocacy work influenced your professional life?
My work with SHE-CAN, sponsoring and mentoring young women, has brought me immense joy and taught me more than I ever expected. The program supports academically promising young women from low-income countries who want to pursue their college education in the U.S. These women compete for highly coveted spots in the program, and once accepted, we mentor and sponsor them through the rigorous process of applying for college. The goal is not only their admission but securing full scholarships to attend. SHE-CAN mentor teams continue to meet with and sponsor these young women for the duration of their college experience, and in some cases well beyond – for example, although my mentee graduated from my alma mater in 2022, I’m thrilled to say that we are still in close contact!
Seeing the world through their eyes has given me a deeper appreciation for the opportunities we have here in the U.S. While there is still clearly much work to be done to achieve gender parity in the workforce, the opportunities here are far greater than those in countries like Cambodia, where many of these young women come from. It’s awe-inspiring to watch them leave their homes, travel halfway around the world, and thrive in a completely foreign environment—all with the goal of taking their learnings back to their home countries to drive change. Their resilience and courage have been truly inspiring, and I’d recommend this experience to anyone who wants to make an impact on a global scale.
What advice would you give to women aspiring to leadership roles in biotech?
There are a few key pieces of advice that I’ve found invaluable in my career:
Be kind and persistent: If kindness is in your nature, stay true to it, but don’t let it deter you from also being persistent. I’ve always had a “don’t take no for an answer” mentality, which I think is critical for women aspiring to leadership. You can be persistent without being pushy—it’s all about striking that balance.
Collaborate for better outcomes: Collaboration almost always yields better results than being confrontational. While persistence is key, pairing it with collaboration ensures you achieve your goals while building strong relationships.
Find allies and champions: Throughout my career, I’ve benefited from allies who prioritized helping me learn and grow. Along the way, a couple of mentors have suggested, “You could be my boss someday,” which I initially found very hard to understand. I’ve now come to realize a hallmark of a great leader is being someone who champions others without fear of being surpassed. I’ve now said those words to some of the women I mentor, and I mean them. If they surpass me, it’s a collective success.
To all women aspiring to lead in biotech, I would say find your champions, stay true to your values, and aim high. You’re more capable of achieving great things than you know!
