Pearl Huang

Pearl S. Huang joined Cygnal Therapeutics in January 2019 as President and CEO. She is a member of the boards of Cygnal Therapeutics, KSQ Therapeutics, and Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT). She is also a member of the MIT Corporation, the board of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an Advisor Partner at Flagship Pioneering.

Prior to Cygnal, Pearl served as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Therapeutic Modalities at Roche, where she oversaw the discovery of biologics, small molecule, and nucleic acid-based therapies. She previously held several other senior roles within the pharmaceutical industry, including Vice President and Global Head of Discovery Academic Partnerships at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). In 2010, she co-founded BeiGene and served as Chief Scientific Officer until 2012, developing the company’s initial drug discovery pipeline and moving the company’s first programs toward the clinic. From 2006 to 2010, Pearl was Vice President, Oncology Integrator of Discovery and Early Development at Merck, leading 14 early development teams and conducting seven first-in-human trials in one year. Before joining Merck, Pearl led oncology discovery at GSK, where she initiated the programs that delivered trametinib and dabrafenib to patients.

In 2020, Pearl was named to the PharmaVOICE 100, a list of the most inspiring leaders in the life sciences, and was recognized as one of FiercePharma'sFiercest Women in Life Science and Endpoints News' Women in R&D. In 2021, she was featured on Endpoints News’ 60 Over 60 list of biotech industry pioneers.

Pearl is an author or co-author on nearly 50 publications. She received an undergraduate degree in life sciences from MIT and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University.