Ms. Cheema joined Viracta in April 2022 as Vice President of Portfolio and Program Management.  She brings 22 years of industry experience as a scientist, and in the disciplines of project, portfolio, and alliance management. Ms. Cheema developed experience in multiple disease areas (infectious disease, oncology, immune-oncology and rare diseases, among others) over the course of her career, while working at both large and small pharma companies. She started her career at Johnson & Johnson as a research associate, and then moved to Aviron/Medimmune Vaccines as an associate scientist before joining Genentech.  Over the course of her 13-year tenure at Genentech, she managed multiple projects from early stage to launch, including the mAbs Perjeta™ and Tecentriq™ and the ADC polatuzumab vedotin. Thereafter, Ms. Cheema transitioned to Unity Biotechnologies as the Director of Portfolio and Program Management. Prior to Viracta, she was the Senior Director and Head of Strategic Alliances and Patient Advocacy at 4D Molecular Therapeutics. Ms. Cheema has participated in the filing of multiple INDs/INDa(s), PMPs, 2 BLAs and brings a wealth of experience with her to Viracta.

Biljana Nadjsombati, Pharm.D., is an experienced chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) and technical operations executive with more than 25 years of experience across the pharmaceutical industry. She has contributed to the global development and commercialization of multiple pharmaceutical products and her areas of expertise include directing commercial and clinical production operations, process development, scale up and validation, product technology transfers, supply chain management, contract manufacturing oversight, and due diligence activities for new business development opportunities. Prior to joining Viracta, Ms. Nadjsombati served as Vice President, CMC, at Urovant Sciences, Inc., where she played an instrumental role in the registration filing, approval, and launch of GEMTESA®. Before joining Urovant, Ms. Nadjsombati held leadership roles within the R&D organization at Avanir Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Otsuka Pharmaceutical), most recently serving as Executive Director of Pharmaceutical Development and Supply Chain and was a key contributor to the registration and commercialization of NUEDEXTA® and ONZETRA® Xsail®. Prior to her time at Avanir, Ms. Nadjsombati held positions of increasing responsibility at Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Ribapharm, and ICN Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Nadjsombati earned her Pharm.D. and completed additional postgraduate work in pharmaceutical technology at the University of Belgrade, School of Pharmacy in Serbia.

Cheryl Madsen joins Viracta Therapeutics from Calithera Biosciences where she served as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs.  Previously, Cheryl was the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Peloton Therapeutics where she facilitated the successful acquisition of their HIF2-α inhibitor (belzutifan) by Merck.  Prior to that Cheryl served as Sr. Director at Medivation (acquired by Pfizer), where she played an instrumental role in the initial global regulatory filings, approval and launch of XTANDI^® (enzalutamide) for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.  In addition to her regulatory responsibilities, she served as Project Team Leader for XTANDI from 2015-2016.  Prior to Medivation, she held positions of increasing responsibility at several successful small- to medium-size biotechnology companies.  Cheryl started her career at Genentech, and during her 13‑year tenure, was responsible for the original filing and approval of AVASTIN^® (bevacizumab) for first-line metastatic colorectal cancer.  She played a critical role in the parallel filing and approval of the HERCEPTIN^® (trastuzumab) BLA for metastatic breast cancer and the HercepTest™ PMA, an in vitro diagnostic for HER2 expression and patient selection.  Cheryl received her bachelors degree in Psychology from U.C. Santa Cruz and completed additional post-graduate work in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at U.C. Berkeley.  She holds U.S. and Global Regulatory Affairs Certifications from the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society.

Mike Faerm, MBA, joined Viracta in May 2024 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), with more than 25 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. He most recently served as Interim CFO at Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc., which was acquired by Merck for approximately $680 million, and where he helped lead a $150 million PIPE financing. Prior to Harpoon, Mike was the CFO of Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc., where he led financial strategy and operations, and oversaw the company’s investor relations, financial planning, accounting and facilities functions. Previously, he served as a consulting and interim CFO and Chief Business Officer for numerous biopharma companies. Prior to this, he served as the Chief Business Officer of Innoviva, Inc. (formerly Theravance, Inc.), and earlier, worked in business development and strategic finance roles at Forest Laboratories and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Mike’s Wall Street experience includes Credit Suisse and Wells Fargo Securities, where he was a senior equity research analyst covering the pharmaceutical sector, and Merrill Lynch, where he was an investment banker executing a wide range of strategic and capital markets transactions in biopharma and other healthcare sectors. He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School, an M.S. in civil engineering from Stanford University, and a B.S. in civil engineering from Columbia University.

Darrel P. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D. joined Viracta Therapeutics in August 2023 as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Cohen is a hematologist/oncologist with over 25 years of oncology clinical research and drug development experience. Prior to Viracta, Dr. Cohen was Chief Medical Officer of Cell Therapy at Athenex Inc., where he led clinical development, clinical operations, and regulatory affairs for its CAR-NKT cell therapy platform and was instrumental in accelerating clinical development plans for investigational products, KUR-501 and KUR-502. Prior to this, Dr. Cohen was Chief Medical Officer at Biosight Pharmaceuticals and Head of Clinical Development at EUSA Pharma. He has held leadership positions of increasing responsibility at Pharmacia, Sanofi-Aventis, and Pfizer, including Vice President of Late-Phase Clinical Development at Pfizer Oncology where he was involved in multiple successful regulatory submissions of new targeted cancer drugs such as SUTENT® (sunitinib), XALKORI_^® (crizotinib), and IBRANCE^® (palbociclib). Dr. Cohen received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in Medicine and Microbiology from Boston University School of Medicine, trained as a resident in Internal Medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center, and completed a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at Duke University Medical Center.

Mark Rothera joined Viracta as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director in September 2022. Mr. Rothera brings more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with a strong record of commercial and global leadership, including driving the successful build of multiple biotech companies, predominantly in the field of rare or specialty diseases. Prior to joining Viracta, Mr. Rothera served as President and CEO of Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SLN), a clinical-stage organization focused on developing RNA therapies for hematology, cardiovascular and rare diseases. He previously served as CEO of Orchard Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ORTX), where he oversaw its transformation from a small U.K.-based, privately held company with two clinical-stage programs into a leading gene therapy company with seven clinical-stage programs and fully integrated capabilities. During his tenure, Orchard Therapeutics secured more than $600 million in financing and grew from a market capitalization of $250 million to more than $1.7 billion at its peak. Prior to Orchard, Mr. Rothera served as Chief Commercial Officer of PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PTCT), where he helped it evolve into a commercial company with a global footprint, including the successful launch of two rare disease therapies. Previously, he served as Global President of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Vice President and General Manager of commercial operations at Shire Human Genetic Therapies for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Mr. Rothera currently serves on the Board of Directors at GenPharm. He received an M.A. in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and an M.B.A. from the European Institute for Business Administration (INSEAD).