Preventing Cardiovascular Disease Through Mission-Driven Leadership

The chief operating officer (COO) plays a key role in any company, but the stakes are much higher at a pharmaceutical startup. As the COO at Corsera Health, Rena Denoncourt knows all about this.

Corsera has a focus on prevention — versus treatment — of cardiovascular disease, and Denoncourt says that now is the time to move this from concept to reality.

“The AI [artificial intelligence] prediction tool, the preventive RNAi [RNA interference] medicine and the disruptive commercial approach,” she says, “all three need to come together, and the technology and market conditions are now aligned to make that possible.”

“When we were building the company, we also built its core values, and one sentiment resonates deeply with everyone here: It's bigger than us,” she continues. “What we are working to do — redefining cardiovascular health at the population scale — is genuinely larger than any one of us. That belief is what drives us forward every day, and we are not going to stop until we've made a real impact on this disease.”

To make that mission a reality, Denoncourt knows the importance of embracing a balance between prioritization and flexibility, especially in a company’s early stages.

“You must be deliberate about where you spend your time,” she says. “Resources in a startup are extremely scarce, and you have to guide the team constantly on prioritization. What needs to get done first, what can wait and how everyone's effort should be directed on any given day. Time moves fast, and if you don't maintain sharp clarity on short-, medium- and long-term priorities, it slips away from you. At the same time, you have to stay nimble.”

She continues, “Drug development requires the ability to pivot, and holding both of those things together, keeping the team focused while remaining flexible, is one of the most important and underappreciated parts of driving progress in a startup.”

However, she has embraced the challenge and believes the current moment is a key one for Corsera.

A genuine desire to help others

According to Denoncourt, people get into the health care industry because they want their work to improve lives. They want to be able to see the results of their efforts. For the pharmacy and biotech industry, this means helping people fight disease or prevent it altogether.

From her point of view, the best way to do this is to keep the patient and mission top of mind and use them to guide your decisions along the way.

“I'd also say [to] push yourself further than you think you can go,” she adds. “I remember feeling intimidated at every stage when I was taking on more responsibility and growing into new challenges. But looking back, that discomfort is exactly what makes you a better leader and a better contributor. I apply that same principle to how we set goals at Corsera, individually and as a team. Put something on paper that seems impossible and then mobilize toward it. You bring creative solutions, you bring drive, passion, and resilience, and you end up achieving more together than you ever thought was possible.”

Experience shaping her work

Prior to her current role, Denoncourt spent 17 years at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. There, she primarily worked on the transthyretin amyloidosis franchise. During her tenure, she worked in drug discovery, development, commercialization and market access.

She explains, “The skills that experience built — the grit, resilience and ability to navigate high-ambiguity situations — are exactly what's being tested here at Corsera. The difference is that it's no longer about one drug or one franchise. It's about building a company and combining a prediction tool with a preventive RNAi medicine in a way that can reshape cardiovascular health at a population scale. But the underlying technology is the same one we know so well from the Alnylam years.”