Michael Sofia
The Power List 2017 – Masters of the Bench
Michael Sofia
Chief Scientific Officer, Arbutus Biopharma
Passion
“There are few fields where one can come into work every day and know you have the chance to positively change how we treat human disease. My passion for this field lies in tackling the daunting problems in biomedical research and making an important contribution to finding solutions.”
Pivotal moment
“I decided to leave the comforts of a big pharma position and join a small company developing antivirals. This company had no products, little money and a fledgling research group with no defined programs. It was a huge risk that many advised me not to take, but I saw great potential in a nascent program in hepatitis C. It was because of that pivotal decision that sofosbuvir was ultimately born.”
Change
“Early in my career, the pharma industry was recognized as one of the most admired industries. Unfortunately, today that is no longer the case. Those of us that work in this industry are passionate about finding treatments and cures for debilitating diseases – we’re committed to helping patients. It is my hope that everyone, including patients, recognizes that. We as an industry need to recommit ourselves to the highest quality science, and to drugs that have the ability to positively impact the lives of patients.”
