Levi Garraway

Chief Medical Officer, Genentech - Oversaw Genentech's role in the venetoclax approval

For decades, patients diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia—the most common adult leukemia in Western countries, affecting roughly 23,000 Americans each year—faced a difficult choice: endure rounds of intravenous chemotherapy with harsh side effects, or take targeted pills indefinitely, sometimes for life. On February 20, 2026, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a combination of two oral drugs, venetoclax and acalabrutinib, that eliminates both burdens. Patients take pills for roughly one year, then stop. In a trial of 867 patients, 77% remained cancer-free at three years.

Updated Feb 20

Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Product Development, Roche - Overseeing fenebrutinib's path to approval

The FDA just rejected Sanofi's tolebrutinib for progressive multiple sclerosis on December 28, 2025—a crushing blow for a drug that had won Breakthrough Therapy status and became the first BTK inhibitor approved anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, Roche's rival drug fenebrutinib is racing toward approval after stunning Phase 3 victories, and Merck's evobrutinib crashed out entirely. Three pharma giants bet billions that brain-penetrating BTK inhibitors could finally slow the relentless neurodegeneration that leaves MS patients in wheelchairs. Only one looks likely to reach the finish line first.

Updated Dec 28, 2025