“An Exceptional Leader Transforming Healthcare for the Betterment of Humankind”

Dr. Maky Zanganeh is one of the most successful leaders in the healthcare industry. Currently, Dr. Zanganeh is the Chief Operating Officer, and Member of the Board, at Summit Therapeutics, a company committed to making a significant difference for the betterment of overall human health.

Dr. Zanganeh has led many industry transformations ranging from minimally invasive surgical robotics to a patient-friendly small molecule drug for blood cancer patients. She is known by her colleagues as a leader who has a proven track record of bringing unmistakable intensity and clarity to companies who have transformed healthcare for the betterment of humankind. She firmly believes in the concept of “taking responsibility and the ability will follow.” Dr. Zanganeh’s leadership ability is due to a natural authority, to which are added rare qualities such as courage and respect for others, two traits that her collaborators and friends admire.

Her optimism is contagious; her rigor, hard work, courage, tenacity, and honesty is exemplary. Dr. Zanganeh has an enthusiasm that is hard to match in the industry, and is constantly striving to surpass herself and advises others to do the same. She seeks to build and mentor, to be a leader not a boss. To mentor, you must have dynamism, energy, instinct, the ability to perceive in others their potential, and the ability to transfer knowledge.

Let’s take a closer look at Dr. Zanganeh’s accomplishments and the advice she can provide to other aspiring leaders.

A Life Spread Over Three Continents and Four Countries

Born in Iran in 1970, Dr Zanganeh has overcome tremendous personal challenges after a life spread over three continents and four countries. Dr. Zanganeh had a mixed Franco-Iranian education at Jeanne d’ Arc School in Tehran until its closure after the revolution of 1979.

Dr. Zanganeh had the privilege of being able to move to Germany to continue her schooling, After obtaining her German high school diploma, she joined her two sisters in Strasbourg, France where she received her Dental Degree of Surgery. Her sisters also went to medical school at the Louis Pasteur University and continued their professions as cardiologist and gynecologist. “My mother told the three of us to choose a profession, as a woman, that could help people, and would allow us to be both financially and socially independent, no matter where we ended up living”, continued Dr. Zanganeh.

After a few years in pediatric dentistry, treating very sick and difficult children, she realized that society, in general, needed so much help. Society needed massive action and focused attention.

“I needed a bigger project in my life that would have a bigger impact on the world.” Dr. Zanganeh shared. So, she left dentistry, got her MBA from Schiller University, and started her work in the medical industry in 1998.

The Race for Results: Collapsing Time

One of Dr. Zanganeh’s keys to success lies in seeking the shortest path between ideas and their application. Maky is a rapid decision maker and will reach a conclusion and decision and then communicate it with enthusiasm, while others are still at the beginning of the thought process. She is always looking at how to “collapse time”; to attain the end goal more efficiently and in the shortest time.

In 1999, Dr. Zanganeh became The President of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Computer Motion, the world’s first surgical robotics company.

Her major achievement and the highlight of her career during her time at Computer Motion came in September 2001, when Professor Jacques Marescaux, Chairman of the Digestive and Endocrine Surgery at the University of Strasbourg and President, Founder of the Research Institute Against Digestive Cancer (IRCAD), launched the first telesurgery operation, on a patient in France, between New York and Strasbourg France, via the Zeus Robotic System.

Computer Motion in collaboration with French Telecom and Professor Marescaux and his team, showed the world that the barriers of space, distance, and time can collapse. The signals had to travel over 10,000 miles. This resulted in a delay of approximately one-tenth of a second after the surgeon made an incision before they saw the effects.

After her “French Victory’’, Dr. Zanganeh moved to California in the United States. And after the merger of Computer Motion with Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) in 2003, Dr. Zanganeh decided to leave the surgical / medical device world for medical oncology. In 2004 she decided to invest at Pharmacyclics alongside of her partner, Bob Duggan, an investor, and serial entrepreneur in the field of biotech and technology.

In 2008 she joined Pharmacyclics, Inc. where she again accomplished one of the biggest business successes in the industry at that time. As Chief Operating Officer, she led the struggling biotech company with two failed Phase 3 trials to a multi-million-dollar license deal for the lead compound, ibrutinib, with Janssen Biotech in 2011.

The deal with Janssen Biotech received the award of the “Best Biotech Transaction” in 2011. In 2013, Pharmacyclics launched Imbruvica, a patient-friendly, oral therapy drug, for blood cancer patients, in record time. Imbruvica became the blockbuster drug in hematological cancer and since then many patients could get back to their normal lives thanks to the efficacy of the drug and its pristine safety profile.

In 2013, she received the Fierce Biotech "2013 Top Women in Biotech" award, and was nominated to the E&Y company “Entrepreneur of the Year” 2013 award.

Dr. Zanganeh continued at Pharmacyclics where she was a key leader in the subsequent sale of the company for $21 billion dollars in 2015 to AbbVie Inc – the second largest biopharma sale ever, at that time. In 2015, Pharmacyclics was also awarded the prestigious Prix Galien for “Best Pharmaceutical Agent”. This award is the biomedical industry’s highest accolade and recognizes outstanding achievements in the development of new therapies.

Inspiring & Empowering Women

In parallel to this exciting and challenging professional life, constant working, constant traveling around the world for her career, she lived two highlights of her life as woman.

The first one was her pregnancy in 2005: as a woman, Dr. Zanganeh knows how challenging it can be to be a woman entrepreneur trying to balance family, home, and work. “One of the special highlights in my life was my pregnancy in 2005. I never understood until I had my son, Shaun, what the meaning of motherhood was. I love being a mom. I believe it is one of the most challenging and rewarding jobs ever. It is an unconditional love that you can give to someone. Many women today are afraid to start to work or take an executive position because they fear they cannot handle the stress of both work and family. Because it is not easy, between long meetings during the day, many sleepless nights, bringing kids to school, doing homework, managing sick days, and handling household activities, it is crazy when you step back and try to figure out how to do it all. But God will never give you more than you can handle. Children give you a whole different perspective on life. You have to just tell yourself ‘keep going.’” stated Dr. Zanganeh.

The second one was her breast cancer: in December 2019, Dr. Zanganeh was diagnosed with breast cancer. “After all those years being part of an oncology biotech company and trying to help so many patients, I believe God allowed me to realize the game was not over for me. I learned what it felt like to be a patient by becoming one, the pain and suffering, and hoping for a miracle. Hope is the key to happiness. It makes us stronger and gives us the courage to overcome challenges.

Every part of my breast cancer was scary, getting the announcement, going through the treatments, and on top of it, there was the coronavirus pandemic in 2020”, shared Dr. Zanganeh.

“The world had collapsed, and so had my world. Hospitals were overwhelmed around the world; the priority was to save the Covid patients. Who could forget the heroic efforts of all the medical staff trying to help patients and even risking their lives to save others? In the summer of 2020, I finished my cancer treatments, but I had to reconstitute myself, get used to my new look of non-existent hair, non-existent eyelashes and eyebrows, and then settle for my short hair and try to get back with a new perspective on my life as a businesswoman”, continued Dr. Zanganeh.

Pushing the Boundaries

Over Dr. Zanganeh’s career she learned a great deal about cancer patients and their will to live. She learned that to fight cancer, the industry must aim high and go for a cure as long as the body can handle it. In other words, fighting until the end and never giving up. “I learned that 2% chance is not 0% chance.

But the truth is, when I got my own cancer and I took care of my father, who recently died from cancer, I realized that progress and innovation must take care of the most basic needs first. We may have invented, innovated, created anti-cancer drugs, but it is a combination of everything else that is occurring in the body that impacts the patient’s prognosis, and we must give that our consideration”, stated Dr. Zanganeh.

“Two thirds of the world’s population have no access to diagnostic imaging, and over 5 billion people do not have access to safe and affordable surgical care and anesthesia. Most cancer patients will not die because of cancer, but the side effects of cancer like infection. I am determined that my new company, Summit Therapeutics, will make a positive impact on the medical world, improve the quality of life, and help save lives”, continued Dr. Zanganeh.

It Takes Courage to Do Things that Others Consider Impossible

In a recent presentation at the 2022 United Nations #February11 Global Movement Dr. Zanganeh shared: “Follow your dreams, move forward. Life is in front of you, not behind you. Changing the world, for the better, is a true adventurous journey, not for the faint of heart, not for the impatient ones.

It takes courage to do things that others consider impossible. Perception, observation, knowledge, a sense of certainty, and a willingness to take chances is part and parcel of innovation. Curiosity and caring about life and its forward progress, hard work and willingness to sacrifice are required to achieve your goals and purpose. We have to work together and collaborate to make a significant difference for the betterment of humankind. Together we can move mountains. And I hope you will always continue as if there are no limits to innovation, joy, and happiness, and that we, working in harmony, will create that.”

On a personal note, Dr. Zanganeh recently published her memoirs in a book entitled The Magic of Normal. Dr. Zanganeh is also fluent in French, German, Farsi, and English.

To contact Dr. Maky Zanganeh: info@mzanganeh.com or mzanganeh.com