Neela is a scientist and business development (BD) executive with more than 25 years of leadership experience in drug discovery and development, project and portfolio management, and pipeline development. She currently is CBO at Bonum Therapeutics and speaks frequently on BD and leadership issues related to biotech innovation and company growth. Previously, as Chief Business Development Officer at Good Therapeutics, Neela led the 2022 acquisition of Good by Roche for an upfront payment of $250M plus additional payments based on milestones, and in parallel led the spinout of Bonum Therapeutics from Good. As Executive Director of Corporate Development at Seagen, Neela played an integral role in deal sourcing and execution of collaborations, licenses, and acquisitions to build the pipeline. Her sourcing and diligence work at AbbVie resulted in more than 25 executed deals. She spent the first 16 years of her career in drug discovery, advancing small molecules and biologics from target ID and validation through IND filing at Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Genentech, SUGEN/Pharmacia, and Roche Bioscience. She has advised startup companies on BD and corporate matters. She currently serves as a Board Director for Infinimmune and advisor for MEDiC Life Sciences. Neela holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from UCLA.