“We should tell women that they’re people—that they can do the same thing everybody else in the world can.”
Maria Maccecchini
December 17, 2012 | Maria Maccecchini
Maria Maccecchini, president and founder of QR Pharma, shares her thoughts about her mentors and the encouragement that helped her go a long way.
Maccecchini received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Rockefeller University and spent two years at the California Institute of Technology as a postdoc in molecular biology. She took her first job at Mallinckrodt as a research scientist and her second job as general manager of Bachem Bioscience, a U.S. subsidiary of a Swiss company.
In the early 1990s she started her own biotech company—Symphony Pharmaceuticals. After acquiring the Scottish and Japanese company Cruachem, Symphony later changed its name to Annovis. In 2001 Annovis was acquired by Transgenomic, Inc., of San Jose, California.
Maccecchini serves on the boards of several biotechnology companies, organizations that promote entrepreneurship, international trade companies, and women’s and charitable organizations. Currently she is a member and director of two angel funds—Robin Hood Ventures and Mid-Atlantic Angel Group. Maccecchini not only invests dollars in early-stage companies but also mentors them in start-up, strategy, management, and finance.