A rising young star in the Biotech scene when she co-founded and became the CEO of M3Biotechnology, Dr. Leen Kawas has been an instrumental figure in the field for almost a decade. Kawas would help to evolve the company from its infant research phase into the publicly traded biotech company that was engineering clinical trials for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s treatments.
When 2021 rolled into view, Leen Kawas and Athira Pharma decided to amicably part ways, leading Dr. Kawas to take some time for herself while giving birth to her child in August of 2021. Kawas said of this time, “I don’t get stuck. I move forward.”
Instead of staying stagnant, Kawas aimed directly at her next big move.
Making the Next Big Move
After transitioning from her time at Athira Pharma, Kawas would work closely with Richard Kayne to found and eventually launch Propel Bio Partners to focus on life science investments. Leen Kawas understood this job change to give her a broader and more wide-ranging impact on the field of biotechnology.
To learn more about Kawas’ decision-making and her role at Propel Bio Partners, Kawas sat down with the writing team at The Business Journal to discuss her latest efforts and initiatives.
Discussing her work at Propel, Kawas stated, “I always wanted to have a bigger impact on our industry as well as the diversity aspect of leadership in our industry. Things have been going really well.”
After departing from Athira, Kawas would go on to tell The Business Journal that it took her all of five days to start beginning her next move. Kawas said that Kayne reached out immediately by asking, “What are you going to do next? I would love to do something.”
Within 30 minutes, Leen Kawas and Kayne were beginning to work on their next project. Dr. Kawas admits, “I had a lot of people calling me up after I resigned. I actually got two other job offers to be a CEO of a company and to take them public.”
Propel Bio Partners
Speaking on her ability to craft this project alongside Kayne, Kawas admits that life hasn’t been easy the entire time. Kawas said in her interview, “It takes a lot of grit and a lot of resilience. After my first child, I went back to the office within a week.”
It didn’t take long for the duo to begin to create very real momentum. Kawas said that she immediately began to quiz Kayne about his options and ideas. Kawas said, “We’re going to figure it out together.”
A particularly salient moment during the formative stages of Propel Bio Partners came when Kayne pointed to Leen Kawas and said, “You’re not taking a job. You’re a partner.“