Kristine Yu

Vice President, Head of Rare Disease and Rare Neurology Global Partnering at Ipsen

Speaker

Kristine Yu is a biotechnology executive, strategic advisor, and dealmaker with more than 19 years of experience at the intersection of science, capital, and corporate growth. She is Vice President, Head of Rare Disease Global Partnering at Ipsen, with responsibility including rare neuroscience, where she leads strategic partnerships, licensing, and M&A opportunities.

At Ipsen, Kristine is helping shape the next phase of growth from an integrated rare-liver platform built through licensing, acquisition, development, and commercialization. The platform includes approved medicines in primary biliary cholangitis, progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis, and Alagille syndrome, and capabilities spanning evidence generation, patient identification, regulatory strategy, market access, and specialized commercial execution. Ipsen is building from this foundation to strengthen its liver and bone franchises and expand into selected new rare diseases and rare neurological disorders, seeking differentiated programs with meaningful patient benefit and a practical path to global development and commercialization.

Previously, Kristine led business development and strategic alliances at Arbor Biotechnologies and Editas Medicine. Her work in genetic medicines spans gene editing, RNA therapeutics, and platform biotechnology, with additional experience at Alnylam, Novartis, and within the Flagship Pioneering ecosystem. Through SummitBio Advisory, she advises companies, investors, and patient foundations, helping connect patient insight and natural-history data with translational readiness, clinical strategy, financing, partnering, and commercialization. She is also an advocate of the n=1 collaborative and efforts to find new paths for reimbursement, sustainability, and partnership.