Niranjan Y. Sardesai, PhD

Dr. Sardesai founded Geneos and has led the growth of Geneos into a Phase2b clinical stage company. He is an experienced biopharma leader, driving the company’s strategic vision and partnering & financing activities. He led the development of the company’s GT-EPIC(TM) platform and is an inventor on a number of foundational patents in the field of DNA medicines. 

Previously, he served as Chief Operating Officer and Head of R&D of Inovio Pharmaceuticals responsible for the development of the company’s DNA medicines platform and building Inovio into a Phase III cancer and infectious disease immunotherapy company. These efforts led to the approval of VOCERYQ(TM) for the treatment of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) marking the first FDA approval of a DNA based immunotherapy. He served as Director of Research and Development at Fujirebio Diagnostics, Inc., where he oversaw the expansion of the company’s oncology portfolio. Products developed under his leadership include groundbreaking new tests for mesothelioma (MESOMARKTM), bladder cancer and a multi-marker test for ovarian cancer (HE4). 

Dr. Sardesai received a PhD in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology and a MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the recipient of the Shils-Zeidman Award in Entrepreneurship. He was awarded fellowships at the Scripps Research Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Sardesai received his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Dr. Sardesai has authored over 120 peer-reviewed manuscripts and was recognized by PharmaVoice magazine as one of the top 100 most influential and inspirational leaders across the life sciences industry (2015).