Although East Asians make up a significant share of entry-level roles in U.S. biopharma, few have risen to senior leadership positions. That disparity is what inspired the launch of ElevAAte—a new nonprofit founded this year to support and grow East Asian American leadership in the industry.

In this week’s episode of "The Top Line," Fierce Pharma Deputy Editor Angus Liu speaks with two of ElevAAte’s co-founders: Architect Therapeutics CEO Angie You and Candid Therapeutics CEO Ken Song. The veteran biotech leaders discuss why a group like ElevAAte is needed and how East Asian Americans can harness their collective strength to build the next generation of biopharma executives.

You and Song—who led Amunix’s $1.2 billion sale to Sanofi and RayzeBio’s $4.1 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb, respectively—also share insights from their dealmaking careers and offer advice for young professionals entering the field.

To learn more about the topics in this episode: 

• Though prevalent in the lab and middle management, East Asian Americans are underrepresented in biopharma C-suites: report
• Candid's T-cell engager shopping spree rolls on with WuXi Biologics pact worth up to $925M
• A reason to fight: Former FDA leader Janet Woodcock inspires 3rd Biotech Sisterhood summit
• Takeda taps Julie Kim to take over for retiring CEO Christophe Weber

This episode is sponsored by Cencora.