Sophia
Patel

Sr. Director of Corporate Affairs

Built the corporate affairs function for an R&D biotech entering its commercial stage, establishing the corporate narrative, product communications, and thought leadership. Led communications for the cardiovascular and rare disease portfolio, including eplontersen, olezarsen, and pelacarsen — contributing to the FDA approval and launch of eplontersen with AstraZeneca and a 45% increase in share price. Secured $2.2M for patient and physician education and managed agency resources.

Head of Communications

Led pre-IPO publicity for a biotech startup developing oral viral-protease inhibitors for infectious disease. Led $274M NASDAQ listing day communications, driving national, business, and trade media coverage resulting in 70% share price surge within 72 hours. Publicized clinical, business, and public health milestones, including “race to the Covid pill” against Pfizer and Merck. Developed corporate/scientific narrative; launched company website and social media channels within three months.

Director of PR & Reputation; Director of Leadership Communications & Engagement

Led PR, reputation, and issues management for 21 medical centers and the Division of Research — modernizing the PR function and leading a 10-person team. Commanded COVID-19 crisis response through spokesperson trainings, press conferences, and public health campaigns, driving a 10-point boost in industry reputation and a 50%+ surge in earned media, share of voice, and sentiment, plus 1,000%+ growth in social and digital engagement — while rolling out reputation benchmark intelligence, analytics, and AI capabilities across PESO channels. Managed high-stakes issues and crises, including the death of the CEO, labor strikes, data breaches, and evacuations. Partnered with the C-suite on enterprise-wide communications efforts, including the CEO Shared Agenda and $1B+ capital improvement projects.

Senior Vice President, Health & Life Sciences Sector Group Head

Recruited to lead the SF Bay Area health practice for the world's largest PR agency, with client management and business development responsibility across biopharma, diagnostics/medical devices, hospital/managed care, and health technology. Scaled revenues from $1.8M to $6M+ while managing client strategy, team development, and P&L. Put in place an integrated communications approach spanning PR, IR, digital/social/paid media, employee engagement, CSR, crisis/issues management, and branding — with clients including Dignity Health, Gilead, MyoKardia, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Medicines360, Amgen, 23andMe, and iRhythm. Supported development of Edelman's signature annual report, 'Trust Barometer: Health & Trust'.

Director of Global Communications, Vaccines & Diagnostics

Led acquisition-integration and product communications for the vaccines and diagnostics division, including the global rebrand of Chiron to Novartis and a 35% boost in post-merger employee morale through timely engagement with the management team. Directed product communications contributing to a 20% increase in revenue growth, spanning the meningococcal vaccine franchise and the launch of the world's first blood safety campaign with the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Led the multi-year internal communications strategy surrounding the $1.6 billion transfer of muscular sclerosis drug Betaseron and associated 600 employees from Chiron to Novartis to Bayer.

Senior Manager, Corporate Communications & IR

Launched more than 20 genetic analysis products and supported communications for the Human Genome Project, Cancer Genome Atlas, and M&A transactions.