A Day in the Life of an Oncology Start-Up Co-Founder & CEO

This Women's month we are highlighting stories of women in the pharma industry (building on what we do every month to support women), so for the Day in the Life of we are speaking to Sharon Cunningham who is the Co-founder and CEO of Shorla Oncology, aiming to improve oncology treatments. 

Please could you outline your background and the career path that has led you to your current position? 

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Finance, I trained to become a Chartered Accountant with PwC. I later secured a role as a Management Accountant with pharmaceutical company, EirGen Pharma, progressed to Financial Controller and then Head of Finance. During my time there, I obtained my executive MBA. In 2018 I co-founded Shorla Oncology, a specialty pharmaceutical company developing and commercialising innovative oncology drugs addressing unmet needs. I come from an entrepreneurial family and I always knew I would run my own business eventually but I wanted to spend time in practice and industry and gain as much formal education as possible in order to maximise my knowledge and skills, build an industry network and ultimately
enhance my credibility in order to ensure success. 

What would be the perfect start to your day?

A good night’s sleep, quality time with my loved ones, nutritious food including a cup of tea and exercise before I start work. 

What do you most like about your role? 

Being the CEO of Shorla Oncology is an immense privilege; I work with an amazing team of talented and bright individuals and we intellectually stimulate, motivate and inspire each other continuously. 

The opportunity to serve our stakeholders and lead our company, implement the vision and make significant decisions daily that impact the direction we take is a lot of responsibility but the sense of accomplishment when we achieve our goals makes it all worthwhile. 

What made you consider getting into your field in the first place?

Prior to founding Shorla, I found myself inspired and fascinated by other entrepreneurial journeys, particularly having joined EirGen Pharma at an early stage and experiencing that company grow and succeed. I was highly motivated to do something meaningful and purposeful with my life; to have a wider impact and create positive change for patients. 

What are the biggest challenges you face? What issues affect your role?

Running a venture capital backed entrepreneurial company with serveral stakeholders comes with significant pressure to execute and succeed.

Our journey so far has been a very rewarding experience but not without significant challenges no different to any start-up company. Regulatory hurdles and access to capital are two of the main obstacles we have faced. 

What would you consider your biggest achievement to date, what are you most proud of? 

Our vision of improving lives through science and innovation has now been realised many times with a robust pipeline in development and a portfolio of drugs on market. However, I felt a massive sense of accomplishment and achievement when the first patient was treated with our first drug; this proved to me that we could take an idea, bring it through the regulatory process and successfully launch it commercially and that filled me with pride and optimism for the future of our business.  

What advice would you give to other people aspiring to your position or getting into this field? 

Three things 1) Mentoring – Identify an informal and confidential mentor you trust and admire early in your career and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it – you’ll be surprised at how willing successful people are to help you. 2) Branding – be very conscious of branding – both the company or product brand and your own personal brand. People form relationships with and do business with people and not companies. Identify what makes you unique and stand out from the crowd and embrace it – every single day. 3) Network – Concentrate your efforts on working smarter and not necessarily harder. Never underestimate the power of your network; take time to grow it and engage with it consistently – your connections will open endless doors for you and strong relationships are key to future opportunities. 

What do you see as the next big opportunity in your sector?

In the future, I can see us leveraging AI and other emerging technologies to analyse data more efficiently, assist in the identification of new product development opportunities and assist in project progression, saving on time and resources and ultimately support in expediting drug development.