Pankaj Bhargava, M.D.

Dr. Pankaj Bhargava is an Entrepreneur Partner at MPM BioImpact. He is currently the CEO of portfolio company ashibio. Pankaj is active in supporting MPM’s investment collaboration with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), after having previously served as an Attending Physician at DFCI for over a decade. In addition, Pankaj supports MPM’s relationships with its key strategic pharmaceutical partner. He is also interim Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Aktis Oncology and serves on the board of Tizona Therapeutics, both portfolio companies.

Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Pankaj served as Vice President and Head of the Oncology Therapeutic Area at Gilead Sciences where he was responsible for driving oncology strategy and execution across programs spanning preclinical development to post-marketing commitments. In this role, Pankaj was instrumental in building the Gilead oncology portfolio with key partnerships and transactions including the acquisition of Forty Seven, Inc. and immuno-oncology partnerships with Arcus Biosciences, Agenus, Tizona and Pionyr Therapeutics.

Pankaj has been involved in drug development over two decades, during which he oversaw several functions, including clinical research, clinical operations, pharmacovigilance, regulatory affairs and medical affairs. He previously served as Chief Medical Officer at Dicerna Pharmaceuticals where he focused on RNA therapeutics in oncology, rare diseases and liver diseases, and held roles with increasing responsibilities at Tioma Therapeutics (now ARCH oncology), Sanofi Oncology and AVEO Pharmaceuticals. Pankaj has filed multiple INDs and led global registration programs and regulatory filings leading to drug approvals in US, EU and other regions.

Pankaj earned his M.D. from the University of Delhi and completed his training in medical oncology and developmental therapeutics at Georgetown University and Lombardi Cancer Center. He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in clinical pharmacology at Georgetown University and NIH, during which he was a visiting fellow at FDA. Pankaj previously served as an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2004-2017), and currently serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor at University of California, San Francisco.