Julie Olson has seen the future, and it is in polymers. A former Pfizer executive, Olson is the CEO of Mersana Therapeutics, a 12-person startup in Cambridge, Mass., that is developing a biodegradable, bioinert polymer called Fleximer, which when linked to certain anticancer agents may make the drugs more soluble, less toxic to the body, and more effective in attacking tumors. In short, Fleximer, if successful, could take a drug that has failed due to high levels of toxicity and help it succeed today.
Olson fell in love with the idea in 2004, joined the company (then named Nanopharma) as its CEO, and began a crash course in how to run a small startup. It hasn't always been easy, but with Phase I testing on Mersana's first compound approaching in early 2007, Olson's colleagues say her 18 years at Big Pharma gave her at least some of the tools to ...
