Founder, President of R&D and Director, Krystal Biotech
Search every verified Suma Krishnan interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Suma Krishnan, founder, president of R&D and director at Krystal Biotech, discussed her approach to building the company in a 2025 interview. She described herself as "like a dog with a bone" regarding her product, emphasizing a focus on taking it to the finish line without distraction. Krishnan stated that she felt "very responsible for the investors" and that the company's philosophy was not to grow and expand with large offices, noting that Krystal Biotech remained in the same "tiny little office space" despite being valued at $4.5 billion. She said the company does not "spend money on stuff that doesn't have value." Krishnan also detailed her hands-on role in the company's early work, stating that she wrote investigational documents and protocols and trained teams due to her experience. She said she was "not afraid of hiring young scientists with no experience" and mentoring them, noting that many early hires had never worked in biotech but were "very smart, bright, willing to learn." In a separate 2019 appearance, Krishnan, identified as a general ophthalmologist and cataract surgeon, discussed factors for successful cataract surgery, including patient selection, accurate biometry, sterile operating environments, and postoperative care.
“I think the biggest for me is I'm like a dog with a bone. I knew that I have this product and I need to take it to the finish line, so I think keeping focused and not getting distracted was the biggest learning.”
“I felt very responsible for the investors that had invested in the money. So our philosophy was not just grow and expand and get big offices and build.”
“We still stayed in the same tiny little office space that we have. We still are there even today in spite of being a $4.5 billion company, so we don't spend money on stuff that doesn't have value.”
“A lot of the work was done in-house because of my experience — I basically wrote the investigational documents, wrote protocols and trained my teams.”
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