Zachary Hornby, M.S., MBA

Zachary Hornby, M.S., MBA

Chief Operating Officer, Ignyta Inc.

Ignyta, as a precision medicine oncology company, is trying to eradicate residual disease in defined cancer populations. And Zach is one of its secrets weapons. “I’m personally interested in trying to help the company achieve its goal while providing a work culture that makes Ignyta a fun, meaningful and fulfilling place to work,” he says. He wants employees to “feel good about not only what they did that day, but also how they did it and who they did it with.” His approach seems to be working, as he has helped the company gracefully scale from fewer than 10 employees to a public company with more than 110 employees globally. Zach also leads the global development team for the company’s lead drug candidate, entrectinib. Prior to his current role, Zach excelled at Fate Therapeutics, Halozyme, Neurocrine Biosciences and other biotech companies. “I like the collaborative spirit and positive energy in SoCal,” he says. “People in San Diego seem to love living and working here, and therefore bring positive energy to both components of their lives.” In his free time, Zach is working towards his goal to visit every country in the world. “To date, I’ve visited 102 countries on six continents.”