Saundra Pelletier
Chief Executive Officer
Saundra Pelletier has served as Chief Executive Officer, President and Executive Director of Evofem Biosciences since February 2015, and as interim Chair of the Board since November 2021 following the resignation of our former Chair due to health reasons. Ms. Pelletier has been responsible for the company’s growth and evolution, and she led Evofem’s transition to the public market in January 2018 (NASDAQ: EVFM).
Ms. Pelletier has assembled an impressive team of seasoned pharmaceutical professionals that have a deep understanding of the women’s healthcare market and what women want, and she attracted new investor capital. She has also led multiple equity financing rounds which have raised over $500 million.
In her more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Ms. Pelletier has launched pharmaceutical brands worldwide and expanded indications on female healthcare brands in multiple countries. Her experience includes a comprehensive range of women’s healthcare products, cardiovascular, pain management, sleep therapies and medical devices. She has had oversight and accountability for Sales, Marketing, Operations, Medical Affairs, Regulatory Affairs, Manufacturing, Customer Service, Business Development and Strategic Partnerships.
Previously, Ms. Pelletier served as Vice President, Pharmaceuticals at Women First Healthcare, where she raised $40 million in capital. Earlier in her career, Ms. Pelletier served as Corporate Vice President and Global Franchise Leader for G.D. Searle, where she managed a $250 million business unit, managed worldwide partnerships, negotiated cost saving licensing agreements, assessed country infrastructures, developed commercialization plans and hired full scale teams, including contract sales forces.
She is a Director of TRACON Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on novel targeted therapeutics for cancer, where she serves as the chair of the Governance/Nomination Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Center for Community Solutions, a San Diego-based non-profit organization focused on ending domestic violence.
Ms. Pelletier is also a published author, coveted keynote speaker and moderator at key healthcare and political conferences worldwide. She has appeared at the Harvard School of Public Health, the Davos World Economic Forum, the Clinton Global Initiative, the MAKERS Conference, Women Deliver, the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, the University of Oregon’s Lundquist School of Business and the University of California, San Diego.
She is a trained Climate Reality Advocate and hosted a roundtable session at the International Conference on Climate Change, held in Reykjavik, Iceland. Ms. Pelletier has been profiled by The New York Times, Inc. Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Bustle, CNN, Glamour, Marie Claire, and Vogue. She was named as a New Champion for Reproductive Health by the United Nations Foundation, awarded the Athena San Diego’s Pinnacle Award for Life Sciences, named 2019 Business Woman of the Year by the San Diego Business Journal, and named to Inc. Magazine’s 2020 Female Founders 100 List.