About us

Dr. Tsutomu Nakagawa has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Sumitomo Pharma America since April 1, 2024. Prior to that, he served as the Chief Strategy Officer since the Company’s formation in 2023. He additionally served in leadership roles at Sumitomo Pharma Group during his 30-year tenure with the company. Most recently, he served as the Head of Global Corporate Strategy at Sumitomo Pharma Co. from 2020 to 2023, responsible for formulating and executing the company’s strategy and managing its global budget. From 2016 to 2019, Tsutomu served as the Vice President of Global Oncology at Sumitomo Pharma Oncology, formerly Boston Biomedical Inc., and as the Executive Director of Global Oncology from 2014 to 2016. Prior to that, he served in various Group Manager roles at Sumitomo Pharma Co., including Group Manager, Project Management, Global Oncology from 2012 to 2014, Group Manager, Research Planning and Management, Research Division from 2009 to 2012, and Group Manager, Diabetes Research Group III, Research Division from 2007 to 2009. Tsutomu began his career at Sumitomo Pharma Co. in 1993 as a researcher in the Endocrinology and Diabetes group.

Tsutomu earned a B.S. in Pharmaceutical Science, an M.S. in Pharmaceutical Science, and a Ph.D. from Hokkaido University in Hokkaido, Japan.

Betzy Estrada has served as Chief Human Resources Officer of Sumitomo Pharma America since the Company’s formation in 2023. Prior to her role, she served as Chief Human Resources Officer of Urovant Sciences from 2021 to 2023.

From 2015 to 2021, Betzy served as Vice President, Human Resources and Chief Compliance Executive for Nihon Kohden. Earlier in her career, she held human resource leadership positions with Claremont University Consortium from 2013 to 2015, Medtronic from 2009 to 2012, Johnson & Johnson Advanced Sterilization Products from 2006 to 2008, and Beckman Coulter, Inc., from 1999 to 2006.

Betzy earned a B.S. in Business Administration, with an emphasis in human resources, from the Marshall School of Business of the University of Southern California.

Dr. Jatin Shah has served as Chief Medical Officer – Oncology of Sumitomo Pharma America since April 1, 2024. Prior to this role, he served as the Chief Oncology Development Officer since the Company’s formation in 2023 and as Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and Global Head of Development of Sumitomo Pharma Oncology from 2022 to 2023.

From 2017 to 2022, Jatin served as Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President for Karyopharm Therapeutics, where he led the development of Xpovio and the approval in three indications. Previously, he worked at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for nearly 10 years, serving in the roles of Associate Professor and Associate Program Director of the Malignant Hematology Fellowship, as well as Director of Myeloma Clinical and Translational Research in the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, Division of Cancer Medicine.

Jatin received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.D. from The Ohio State University. Jatin held board certification in hematology and oncology from the American Board of Internal Medicine. He has served as principal investigator/co-investigator for numerous relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma studies and has published articles and abstracts in many peer-reviewed journals.

Andrew Hetherington has served as Chief Technology & Quality Officer of Sumitomo Pharma America since the Company’s formation in 2023. Prior to this role, he served as Executive Vice President, Chemistry Manufacturing and Control Development and Technical Operations at Urovant Sciences from 2022 to 2023, and Senior Vice President, Chemistry Manufacturing and Control Development and Technical Operations from 2021 to 2022.

From 2015 to 2020, Andrew served as Senior Vice President of Technical Operations at Catalyst Biosciences. Andrew served as a Senior Director of the Manufacturing Organization at Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics from 2010 to 2015. Earlier in his career, he held senior Chemistry Manufacturing and Control Development and Technical Operations positions at Bayer HealthCare and GSK.

Andrew earned a B.E. with Honors in Chemical Engineering and a B.S. in Chemistry from Monash University in Australia and an MBA in Healthcare Finance, Operations, and General Management from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Yumi Sato has served as the Chief Development Officer of Sumitomo Pharma America since April 1, 2024. She also has served as Executive Officer, Drug Development Division, Senior Vice President, Head of Drug Development Division of Sumitomo Pharma. Co., LTD. since 2022.

Prior to this role, she held various leadership roles within Sumitomo Pharma Group during her 30-year tenure with the company. From 2020 to 2023, she served as Executive Vice President, Chief Corporate Strategy Officer at Sunovion. She served as the Head of Global Corporate Strategy at Sumitomo Pharma Co. from 2018 to 2019 where she was responsible for formulating and executing the company’s strategy and managing its global budget. She began her career at Sumitomo Pharma Co. in 1992 as a researcher.

Yumi received a B.S. and M.S. in Pharmaceutical Science from University of Tokyo, Japan.

Kenton Stewart, Chief Commercial Officer
Kenton Stewart was appointed Chief Commercial Officer of Sumitomo Pharma America (SMPA) effective October 1, 2024 with responsibilities for Portfolio Sales, Market Access, Marketing, Commercial Excellence and Commercial Operations. Prior to this position he was Senior Vice President of Portfolio Sales and Market Access for SMPA overseeing the Urology, Women’s Health, Prostate Cancer and Neurology sales organizations.

Kenton served as Executive Vice President of Market Access at Urovant Sciences from June 2020 through June 2023. In this role, he was responsible for all aspects of Market Access including Account Management, Market Access Marketing and Reimbursement Strategy, Contracts and Pricing and Market Access Alliance Management.

As a global pharmaceutical executive, Kenton has made a significant impact at several leading companies throughout his 30 years in the industry, building commercial capabilities and leading numerous successful product launches across multiple therapeutic franchises. Prior to joining Urovant, he led the development and launch of the Health Systems Business Unit function at Alkermes plc. Previously, Kenton served as Senior Vice President of Health Systems at Astellas Pharma Inc., where he advanced for over a decade in commercial leadership positions.

Earlier in his career, Kenton led licensing and business development at TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc., with responsibilities for Corporate Business Development, External Commercial Collaborations and Acquisitions. Previously, he served in various roles at Abbott Laboratories, including Sales, Sales Management, Product Management and Marketing Management.

Kenton earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing, from Wichita State University. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Bellevue University.

Tara Soni has served as the Chief Legal Officer of Sumitomo Pharma America since the Company’s formation in 2023. Prior to this role, Tara served as General Counsel at Sumitovant Biopharma from 2019 to 2023.

From 2016 to 2019, Tara served as a Partner on the legal team of Roivant Sciences. She previously served as Assistant General Counsel to Perseus Telecom from 2012 to 2016. She began her career in 2008 as an attorney specializing in cross-border transactions, with a focus on emerging markets.

Tara is a dual-qualified attorney and is licensed to practice law in New York and India. She holds a LL.B. (Juris Doctor equivalent) from University of Delhi and an LL.M. from New York University School of Law.

Ron Gimbel assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer of Sumitomo Pharma America in October 2023.

Prior to joining Sumitomo Pharma America, Ron served as Chief Financial Officer of Flagship Labs and Enterprise, part of Flagship Pioneering from 2021 to 2023. In this role he oversaw operations across four functional areas (Finance, Digital/IT, Real Estate/Facilities Operations and Procurement). Ron collaborated closely with his functional teams to build and lead all aspects of financial operations, business partnering, facilities operations, strategic sourcing, and digital strategy execution for more than 25 start-up companies in the Flagship Pioneering enterprise.

From 1997 to 2021 Ron held various leadership positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company as it evolved from a large-cap pharmaceutical company to a next-generation biopharma company. Ron was responsible for building and leading robust financial operations globally and achieved steady career progression in manager, director, executive director, and vice president level roles. His diverse roles included managing director of finance, BMS Japan, assistant treasurer, head of finance for global manufacturing and product supply, chief audit officer (CAO), and head of global research & development.

Ron received his B.S. in Finance and M.B.A. from Colorado State University. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School and served in the U.S. Army.