Co-Founder, President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Iteos Therapeutics
Search every verified Joseph Belanoff interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Joseph Belanoff, co-founder and CEO of Corcept Therapeutics, discussed his career trajectory in a September 2021 TEDx talk. He described transitioning from working on Wall Street to attending medical school at Columbia, stating that the "main object of working on Wall Street" was to retire early, which did not align with his personal values. Belanoff said he pursued drug development because he was concerned that licensing his intellectual property to a large company could result in it "sitting on the shelf." He noted that his company raised approximately $320 to $330 million before generating any revenue and that the average time to bring a drug to market is 12 to 15 years. Belanoff said his company is "worth about three billion dollars" and that its financial success was meaningful because his "core value, which was helping others, is really served well by my company." He stated that he continues to see patients every Thursday afternoon and teaches a course, adding that his board supported this from the beginning. Belanoff remarked that "there's no benefit you can ever get for anything without a potential cost" and that giving up seeing patients would have been that cost if his drugs had never succeeded. He advised that "an attitude that you're going to be okay with adjustment" is key to success.
“The cycle for drugs is much, much more extended. The average length of time it takes a drug to get to market is probably 12 to 15 years, which is very different from tech where a generation is sometimes 18 months.”
“Before my product first made it to market, I think we'd raised maybe 320 or 330 million dollars before we got one dime back in terms of any revenues, so very, very different than something where you can turn around very quickly.”
“My company's now worth about three billion dollars, so in many ways it's really been a financial success, but what really made it all worthwhile was the fact that my core value, which was helping others, is really served well by my company.”
“The main object of working on Wall Street is to retire early, to make as much money as you can to retire early, and that wasn't just how I looked in my own value system about where I wanted my life's progress to go.”
“I was really afraid that if my intellectual property, my patents were licensed out to a big company, it might just sit on the shelf there and might not actually ever go anywhere.”
“Every Thursday afternoon I go see patients. I could never cure them; they come back regularly. I try to take care of them and I also teach a course and have for many years now. That's still a big part of my life and my board supported that from the beginning.”
“There's no benefit you can ever get for anything without a potential cost, and that was really the cost for me—to give up seeing patients if my drugs never succeeded.”
“Life really does have twists and turns. It's very important to recognize that all the foundational work that you've done, all the things that you've learned, and an attitude that you're going to be okay with adjustment are probably the single biggest ways to succeed no matter what you try.”
Dr. Balenoff, co-founder of Corcept Therapeutics, a member of the Board, and the Company's Chief Executive Officer since 1999.
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