Ricarda Finnern - Chief Scientific Officer in Pharma & Life Sciences

“Essentially, I always want to shape and build something. Without such love or passion, I would not be able to do keep going.”

After a decade at a leading pharma company and six years driving technology development at a rapidly growing startup, Ricarda recently changed course. In this interview, she shares powerful insights into what drives her to create meaningful impact, the core values that guide her, the challenges she's faced as a female leader, how she harnesses intuition in business decisions, and the practices she uses to maintain her energy and balance.

When I reach out to Ricarda for an interview, she immediately responds enthusiastically. In the past we collaborated when I was hired as external vaccine advisor by LenioBio, where she worked as CSO. The reason I approach her for an interview is my vivid remembrance of her scientific rigor, drive for serious impact, and positive energy. For me she’s an example of a courageous leader who uncompromisingly keeps moving towards what she stands for, despite headwind. A story needing to be told. Indeed, the interview confirms my suspicions.

Moving from one of the world’s largest pharma companies to leading a startup

Ricarda is biologist and immunologist by training. For her, the focus has always been on bringing novel medicines to the patient. While working at Bayer in senior positions, she learned what was required to get medicinal products approved and into the clinic. She worked on a range of projects including small molecules, antibodies, bispecific antibodies, and antibody-drug conjugates and achieved impressive results. After 12 fantastic years with Bayer, undertaking global projects and bringing products from bench to bedside, she decided it was time for a change.  

“Sometimes you’re at the right place at the right time”

Ricarda's husband leads the Fraunhofer Institute in Aachen. One day, he told her about Remberto Martis, who just launched a startup company with the ambition to produce pharmaceutical products in a plant-based, cell free system, strongly accelerating development. Remberto was bringing a leadership team together and her husband asked Ricarda if she was interested. “I thought, let’s have a conversation and I might be able to recommend someone. But then Remberto and I talked for hours. I recognised that if cell-free production is really working, it can be scaled up, taken through regulatory approval and used for much faster development of pharmaceuticals.”

Although LenioBio’s focus back then was on marketing a test kit based on the technology, for Ricarda the real potential was in getting products to the clinic. “I understood it can really make a difference for society, if we can develop pharmaceuticals so much faster and if we can react with more flexibility. The technology allows to test more, fail early and adapt fast. I immediately loved this concept and saw how I can bring in my pharmaceutical experience.” The job security and financial side didn’t matter too much to her. From there on it was an easy decision to join the startup team. “Much excitement and having an impact is more important than the financial side.”  

When I ask Ricarda how much of the decision was logic and how much was intuition, she reveals that she’s a head person. “But in this case, it was a lot of intuition. The key factor was that I could make real impact if this product would make it towards industrial application. Looking back, it was the right decision.”

From the start of our conversation, it is obvious to me that Ricarda is strongly impact oriented by nature, making me curious about her internal drivers, how she shapes her decisions and where she finds the energy to keep going.

“For me, it’s always been about people and purpose, with an underlying love for science“

Interested in what motivates Ricarda, I ask her about the common thread in her career, soon to discover that her love for science might be the fundament, but impact on at least five dimensions is what really drives her. It’s clear she’s working relentlessly to positively influence the lives of many others. “I focus on the day-to-day but think wider. With age or experience, you see that.”

Take your team with you

“For me it’s always been important to have the whole picture, think about what needs to happen from beginning to end, and to have an achievable plan. In higher positions, like in Bayer at strategic level, the decision makers often didn’t oversee the entire track. In such situations I have felt blocked. Therefore, I always foresaw that when I get into a leadership position, I need to explain everything well to my team and be present, so that team members can understand how I’m ticking and know I’m approachable. You can have great ideas, but if you don’t clarify your decisions, actively listen to everyone, and take the team with you to achieve something, you fail. With a deep understanding, they can live with decisions and stay motivated. Either we achieve it together, or not.” From these lessons, Ricarda distilled her team-leadership style:

“Take the people with you, then magic can happen and there is fun on the way as well.” 

Indeed, Ricarda moved into leadership positions and made magic happen. For example, in 2020 when the pandemic struck. The startup had just received a grant to establish a team and build a pilot production line for the new technology, in what was an ambitious timeline even under normal conditions. Suddenly, they also had to deal with the restrictions of the pandemic while recruiting staff, making the international team feel at home and being there for them, whilst chasing hard milestones in a short timeframe. Luckily, the lab could stay open and Ricarda was able to recruit people that were both dedicated and could think outside the box, not needing too much structure. Under Ricarda’s leadership, against all odds, the team became close knit and reached the milestones in time. “Magic happened, pandemic or not, because we had the right people that joined us. It was a combination of the right people, the right timing and the right project.” For me as interviewer its directly obvious that Ricarda, in her humbleness, forgets to mention one thing: the right leader.

The patient is the purpose

Ricarda does everything with a clear purpose. She aspires to make the technology she develops widely available. Her inspiration came from her PhD research in Cambridge. At that time multiple Noble prize winners were in Cambridge as well, including Prof. César Milstein. For them it was important to have coffee with team members twice a day. César Milstein was working on hybridoma technology, a great breakthrough at the time. During coffee chats, he repeatedly told Ricarda and peers that he could have been among the richest persons in the world if he had claimed all the patents on the technology. However, César always said the technology must be made widely available because it changes something for patients. “For me, when I was a young student, this was great inspiration, and I have always kept these lessons at heart”.

Changing the local ecosystem for the next generation’s benefit

As a resident of Nordrhein Westfalen, the area surrounding Aachen in Germany, Ricarda is actively involved in local initiatives. “At a certain moment in your career, you have to ask yourself what you can do with your experience, to be more engaged.” She explains how in Germany the first phase of building a startup is relatively easy, but that scaling up to a medium-sized enterprise is more difficult. And, that in Germany it’s needed to stop talking and start doing, without rethinking everything. “I have asked myself what I can do to change this for the next generation. That’s why I have joined local initiatives, such as the Bio Economy Counsel.”

Supporting women in leadership

Although she never realised it so much, there have been blocks in Ricarda’s career that were related to a masculine work environment. That’s why she’s in TOPX, mentoring women in life sciences. She feels strongly for balanced leadership, and advocates awareness around this theme.

Ricarda is willing to share the biggest struggle she encountered. Often, she was the only female in the room, sensing that men have a different communication style. While Ricarda tried to adapt, with attempts to make herself heard, she noticed that often men have a shorter attention span. “Sometimes I felt like I lost them, but they didn’t see the entire picture and rushed to the decision, feeling comfortable (with their sub-optimal decision) in their surroundings.” These experiences made Ricarda wonder about how to get to a more balanced and inclusive decision-making process. Ricarda is determined that as CEO she would do it differently, making people aware of personal differences and thinking end-to-end before taking a decision.

Standing in the rain at the soccer field washed away her worries

Its crystal clear in the interview that Ricarda’s internal driver is giving back, as it comes natural to her. This is not only true for her work, but also in her private life. “When my daughter was in first grade she started playing soccer. I motivated her to do a team sport because in society you always work in teams.” Although Ricarda worked full time, she was the only mother that was present at the soccer games every weekend. From the first grade to her daughter’s graduation.

As unexpected benefit, this team of young kids kept Ricarda sane. “Organising them, washing their dirty clothes, etcetera, allowed me to focus on something totally different. I could make these girls happy, drive them to games, and my mind could just drift off.” Ricarda learned that she always needs to have something totally unrelated to work.

“The only thing is, it would not have been soccer standing outside in the rain, if it was up to me.” 

Confidently taking intuitive decisions, adapting when needed

Ricarda shares that sometimes, despite her end-to-end philosophy, she can be a bit naïve. In such cases she just does things intuitively, with the confidence she will survive. To support this statement, she tells me the following anecdote:

“When I finished my PhD in Cambridge, I got the offer to join one of my supervisors in San Francisco. I could establish my phage display work there. As a child I always wanted to go to the US, so this felt like my biggest dream come true. Nothing would have made me happier. Although my PhD supervisor in Cambridge thought I should be taking other steps, nothing would stop me from going to the US. I bought a one-way ticket to San Francisco and when I finally arrived at the airport after a long flight, I realised there was no one to pick me up (there were no mobile phones at the time). So, I rented a car, bought a local map and drove to my supervisor’s address, which I had noted on a piece of paper. I don’t remember feeling panic at any stage, even though I had never been to the US before and had to figure it out all on my own.”

This experience thought her an important life lesson: “My belief is that if you like something, you can do it. If you find out it’s not the right thing, you adapt. That’s what I have always done. I need to feel comfortable or decide on another course. I’m the only person that can act.”

Being asked about the internal sensations that come along with feeling comfortable, Ricarda explains that her body and brain must be in synch. “If not, I ask myself how I can compensate for the disbalance. It might take a while to find a solution, and in the meantime, I can find internal balance via sports or spending time with my family. It’s also important to gather reflective feedback and talk things out, if needed. However, if the balance shifts too much and I cannot sufficiently compensate, action is required. You can compensate just so much.”

Early birds catch the worm

Talking about compensating for energy disbalances, I wonder if Ricarda is willing to share some of her methods to recharge. She explains that when growing up as the oldest of three children, she chose athletics as a sport, high and long jumps.

“In the liveliness of my family, I needed something I could do on my own. Today, I do diving, golf, and photography in the forest.”

Ricarda’s daughter recently introduced biliteral music to her, stimulating both the left and the right brain in an alternating fashion. It literally makes Ricarda’s day to listen for half an hour to such music, with headphones on, before getting up in the morning. “After this, people can do anything to make me feel bad, but they won’t succeed.” Luckily Ricarda is an early bird. At six in the morning, she might listen to bilateral music or take a walk in the woods near her village. “Such activities before the day starts give me a lot of energy. I need to take care of myself as well, providing the energy to take care of others.”

When she was a student, Ricarda regularly practiced mental body scanning to relax. This technique involves paying attention to parts of the body and bodily sensations in a gradual sequence from feet to head. It’s an excellent way to release tension you might not even realise you're experiencing.

Keeping core values at heart to lead in complex environments

Having learnt about what drives Ricarda towards impact and about what keeps her going, I’m curious about her way of decision making. As a start, I ask about a recent tough decision she had to take. The hardest decision for Ricarda was to leave LenioBio. “I no longer felt aligned with the company’s strategy. Even though I openly shared my strategic vision and initially got a lot of backing – even being praised for the courage to share my thoughts – nothing eventually changed. It took me a long time to make up my mind, but eventually I decided to go. I can only be part of a leadership team when I feel I’m being listened to. I still genuinely hope the company will be successful, considering the large potential for patients.”

Talking about tough decisions, it turns out that for Ricarda her values are critical decision-making factors. She is very clear about her core values. Respect is a big one. Another is active listening. “Every opinion counts, not just the loudest.” Finally, Ricarda does things with a larger purpose. Without respect, active listening, or purpose, Ricarda is gone.

About active listening, she always says: “Surround yourself as a leader with people that have a different opinion. Listen to them and tell them why you took your decision. Have constructive controversy.” Ricarda does not do well working with leaders who have a style of command and control. About purpose: “Money and visibility don’t limit me in my decisions. It should count what I’m doing.”

She is not shy to speak up when her core values are dishonoured. She might ask questions such as: “What kind of team do we want to be, moving this company forward?” Not being hesitant to talk about the elephant in the room is a powerful leadership skill, not much shown these days, but Ricarda dares doing it to force a breakthrough in rigid situations where integrity is on the line. Then, what counts in decision making after values, depends on the situation.

“If I was building a decision-making house, values are the roof, and head and intuition are the walls. The last two need to be in balance.”

Remembering that Ricarda told me about her pitfall to move too fast, I ask her to what extent she really practices closed-loop decision making. Now she reveals the missing ingredient: “You must make assumptions. I always ask people to sketch the full picture, including any underlying assumptions that justify the course of action. Even if the assumptions turn out wrong it can be fine, provided they are captured to enable learning from the experiences. People often overlook this.”

With the last ingredient in place Ricarda’s decision-making preference surfaces: create the full end-to-end picture, despite not having all the information and capture the underlying assumptions, gaining the confidence to move fast anyway.

Leading something, you must have love for what you’re doing

From my experience as tech entrepreneur with two kids I know it can be highly challenging. Therefore, I’m eager to learn what keeps Ricarda going in tough times. She’s very clear on her motivation.

“Having an impact. I’m not doing it for myself. There needs to be a benefit for a wider group, whether it’s for neighbours, European society, or patient groups.”

Ricarda wants to give something back. “I had a great education, the privilege to work abroad, work with people of many different cultural backgrounds, brought medication to the clinic and to patients, built diverse teams. So, I realise I can give something back and I do it.

Lastly, Ricarda shares her love for what she is doing. “What we (as impact-oriented leaders) are doing is not to earn money. It is because we love it and want to give back. Intrinsically, I always want to shape something and build something. Without such love or passion, I would not be able to do keep going.”

Ricarda talks to people in her team who don’t love their work. “Despite their age, whether they are in their 20s, 40s or 50s, often they have never reflected like this. So, I ask them: what’s driving you, what’s your purpose? To people who don’t know, I ask what they love in their private life, and whether they can take it to their job. For some it’s easier because they made a conscious study decision. Some just went along with their friends. But for me it can be immediately clear they are not made for the job they aspire. I tell them their next move doesn’t necessarily have to be a way up. There’s a lot one can do horizontally. This is an eye opener to many people.”

Courage

Finally, I ask Ricarda about any skills she thinks the new generation of impact-oriented leaders should cultivate. She answers with one word: “courage”. Personally, I love this answer, as I sometimes feel courage is something we need to be born with. Luckily, Ricarda sees it as a skill we can foster. Then, after a short thought she adds: “Plus: dealing with ambiguity and sharing it. That will make life easier and bring it into perspective. The intellect is a given. Working on your soft skills - people, leadership, management skills - gets you a long way.”