Jing Watnick, PhD, MBA

Chief Operating Officer

Dr. Jing Watnick is the chief operating officer of Vigeo therapeutics, a clinical stage oncology-focused pharmaceutical company she co-founded in 2015. Dr. Watnick has led the company to secure multiple rounds of venture funding, built an effective and efficient team, and spearheaded the discovery and development of novel therapeutic molecules in various oncology indications.

She has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including roles in program and portfolio management, strategic planning, business development, alliance management, and preclinical and clinical research.

Prior to the launch of Vigeo in 2015, Dr. Watnick was a program lead at Tesaro, Inc., where she directed the Niraparib (Zejula) program through Phase 3 registration trials in ovarian and breast cancer, as well as a variety of exploratory clinical studies. She also served as a program and portfolio leader at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where she led global programs from pre-IND to clinical proof-of-concept in ultra-rare diseases. Prior to Alexion, Dr, Watnick led global program teams at Novartis Oncology from preclinical to clinical proof of concept including Capmatinib (Tabrecta) program, after heading business development for the Drug Discovery Incubator Group.

Previously, Dr. Watnick established the pediatric pharmaceutical unit at Boston Children’s Hospital, which focused on fundraising and product development for unmet medical needs in neonatal and pediatric populations.
An accomplished research scientist in the diabetes field, Dr. Watnick was awarded fellowships from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute while conducting her postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Watnick earned her MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. She holds a Ph.D. in pharmacology and therapeutics from the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo and received a B. Sc. degree from Peking University in Beijing, China.