Precision Leadership for Capital-Critical Moments
Boutique executive search for venture-backed and publicly traded biopharmaceutical companies — placing C-suite leaders at inflection points where quality of hire directly impacts valuation.
Who We Are
Blake & Michaels is a boutique executive search and advisory firm serving the full spectrum of the biopharmaceutical sector. We specialize in placing C-suite executives and functional heads at companies navigating critical inflection points.
Venture-Backed Biotech
Series A through pre-IPO — first executive hires to crossover structuring.
Mid-Sized Biopharma
Development-stage and commercial-stage companies scaling clinical and functional leadership.
Large Pharma
Established organizations requiring discreet, high-urgency C-suite and functional head placement.
Oncology
Solid tumors, hematologic malignancies, immuno-oncology, ADCs, and precision medicine platforms.
Rare & Orphan Disease
Gene therapy, enzyme replacement, RNA-targeted therapies, and small molecule approaches.
Neuroscience
CNS disorders, neurodegeneration, psychiatric conditions, and neurological rare diseases.
Immunology & Inflammation
Autoimmune, inflammatory, and fibrotic disease across biologics, small molecules, and next-generation therapies.
Cardiovascular & Metabolic
Cardiometabolic disease, heart failure, and lipid disorders — including CRISPR and RNA-based modalities.
Infectious Disease & Vaccines
Antiviral, antibacterial, and vaccine development across mRNA platforms, biologics, and small molecules.
Where We Differentiate
Clinical Development Leadership Vertical
- Chief Medical Officers
- Heads of Clinical Development
- Pharmacovigilance & Drug Safety Leaders
- Translational & Regulatory Medicine Executives
- IND timing & Phase I–III transition specialists
- Combination product & modality complexity
Capital-Aware Search Strategy
- Series A/B/C buildout structuring
- Pre-IPO executive composition
- Public company governance optics
- Compensation benchmarking vs. valuation stage
- Investor & banker signaling dynamics
Network Density Over Database Volume
- Clinical KOLs and physician-scientists
- Emerging biotech C-suite operators
- Venture partners and syndicate members
- Board directors across key therapeutic areas
Critical Engagement Points
We are strongest when leadership timing directly impacts enterprise value.
The most capital-sensitive hire in early-stage biopharma. Scientific credibility, regulatory judgment, and investor fluency must align at the exact moment capital is being raised or deployed.
CFO placement is never just a finance function. At pivotal funding stages, the right CFO shapes the investor narrative, manages banker relationships, and signals governance maturity.
Establishing pharmacovigilance leadership at the right inflection point reduces regulatory exposure and positions the organization for NDA/BLA readiness.
CSO placement requires alignment between scientific vision, modality depth, and the strategic narrative being presented to investors and partners.
Leadership transitions at public companies demand executives with governance experience, investor-facing discipline, and the ability to manage complexity at scale.
Geographic Reach
Headquartered in San Diego — the epicenter of U.S. biopharmaceutical innovation — Blake & Michaels operates nationally. Our active market presence spans San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, New Jersey, and Boston.
What Our Clients Say
Across therapeutic areas, company stages, and geographies — our clients return and refer because of outcomes.
Building an oncology clinical safety team where institutional search had stalled — placing three physician-scientists in pharmacovigilance. A referral from a trusted executive. Outcome: two of three physicians placed received promotions within 6–9 months. The engagement led to a direct follow-on mandate.
A CHRO mandate built around culture, diversity, and long-term organizational fit. We engaged as a genuine search partner — conducting deep discovery, participating in every interview round.
A first-in-class drug approval creating an urgent, unplanned need for post-market pharmacovigilance leadership. Referred through our network after two prior agencies had worked the mandate for 4–5 months without success.
Why Blake & Michaels
A hire made too early or too late relative to a financing event, regulatory milestone, or public market transition creates compounding risk that is often underestimated.
Clinical executives are evaluated not only for their scientific credentials but for the confidence they inspire in regulators, partners, and capital markets.
We embed capital-market thinking, board-level judgment, and therapeutic area depth into every search.