Chief Executive Officer, Anaveon (May 2026)

Thaminda Ramanayake has more than two decades of global biotechnology and pharmaceutical leadership experience, with a focus on building companies and advancing innovative therapeutics. Thaminda is currently Chief Executive Officer of Anaveon, a biotechnology company developing next-generation biologics designed to selectively eliminate or reprogram pathogenic immune cells in autoimmune diseases. Prior to joining Anaveon, he served as Chief Business Officer at CureVac, where he played a central role in the company’s transformation and its acquisition by BioNTech. He previously held senior leadership roles at Sanofi, Affini-T Therapeutics, BioMarin, and Amgen, leading strategic transactions and partnerships across multiple therapeutic areas.

Throughout his career, Thaminda has operated at the intersection of science and strategy—helping translate breakthrough biology into differentiated medicines and scalable platforms. He is also a Venture Partner at Entrée Bio, a premier biotechnology investment fund incubated within Entrée Capital. Thaminda holds a B.A. in Cellular Biology from Berea College and earned his M.S. in Immunology and MBA in Finance from the University of Rochester.

In the interview with Thaminda, our Senior Partner, Stuart Penney, covers a range of topics, including: Thaminda’s key career milestones, his approach to leading teams, his thoughts on key challenges affecting the life sciences industry, and much more.