Panna Sharma spent the first part of his professional life becoming highly successful in finance and banking. And then through a series of conversations and self-reflection over ten years ago, he concluded he was wasting his time and had to focus on something that was going to impact society and people.
Now, as CEO of Lantern Pharma ($LTRN) he and his team are leveraging data and technology to enable their precision oncology therapeutics platform that is shaping the future of cancer treatment by shortening the drug development timeline and dramatically reducing costs for maximum benefit to patients fighting cancer.
Listen in to learn about Panna’s journey and how he has evolved into a mission and values driven leader who puts patients ahead of everything else.
Some highlights of our conversation include:
1:13 – Who is Panna Sharma and Lantern Pharma?
2:32 – Cheaper and faster cancer drugs
4:29 – Why cancer?
7:15 – Leadership in Cancer Drug Development
9:46 – Being a problem opportunist
16:16 – What most people don’t know about me
19:14 – Celebrating & Continuous Improvement
21:42 – Speed up Through Empowerment
22:58 – “Don’t be afraid to move ahead without me”
25:52 – Breaking Through Mistrust
29:10 – Values being tested
34:43 – Mission and values driven leadership
37:30 – Prioritizing patients over shareholder value
39:05 – Advice for my pre-CEO self
To learn more about Panna, follow him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pannasharma/
To learn more about Lantern Pharma: https://www.lanternpharma.com/