New York, NY / July 7, 2022 (Business Wire) — COTA, Inc., an oncology real-world data and analytics company, today announced the appointment of Sandy Leonard as its first Chief Commercial Officer. Sandy, a leader with more than 20 years of deep pharmaceutical and real-world data expertise, will lead COTA’s business expansion efforts during a period of strong, sustainable growth.
“Sandy is a powerhouse in the life sciences industry with a proven track record of success developing new business and driving clinical research in her prior leadership roles. She is joining COTA at a time of accelerated growth for the company as the use of real-world data to improve cancer research and care becomes widely accepted.”
– Miruna Sasu, President and CEO at COTA, Inc.
COTA recently announced a series of new offerings and strategic partnerships that will help support Sandy’s strategic role, including a new data partnership with the Genomic Testing Cooperative and a strategic real-world data research partnership with the Clinical Research Data Sharing Alliance. The company has a sustainable and strong track record of growth, averaging more than 50% revenue growth year-over-year since 2019. Today, COTA also works with nine of the top 10 oncology biopharma companies in the world.
As CCO, Sandy will drive COTA’s life sciences growth strategy, prioritizing customer success and experience. More specifically, she will lead a team that is laser-focused on ensuring that pharmaceutical partners have the data assets, analytics, services, and support they need to develop life-saving cancer drugs and research efficiently and expeditiously.
“Throughout my career, I have successfully developed and implemented strategies to power evidence-based, novel research solutions for life sciences organizations. I am honored to join COTA to apply these same skills at a time when the company is already delivering on sustainable, impactful growth. I have seen firsthand just how powerful real-world data can be when it comes to supporting innovation in drug discovery and clinical research, and I am eager to expand the strategic use of COTA’s oncology real-world data for the benefit of cancer patients.”
–Sandy Leonard, new Chief Commercial Officer at COTA, Inc.
Prior to joining COTA, Sandy was the Senior Vice President of Partnership and Real-World Data at HealthVerity. There she was responsible for driving strategic partner relationships, growing government engagements, and expanding the team that brought real-world data expertise to HealthVerity’s clients.
Before her time with HealthVerity, Sandy was the Vice President, Medical Evidence and Observational Research at AstraZeneca where she led a global team of real-world evidence scientists and study delivery professionals who together delivered impactful evidence for the entirety of the AstraZeneca portfolio.