BOSTON—Just ahead of the holidays, Purnanand Sarma and a familiar group of former colleagues from TARIS Biomedical gathered in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood to celebrate a milestone few drug developers ever reach—and even fewer get to toast with a beer named after them.
Local brewery Mighty Squirrel marked the occasion by unveiling a craft brew called “Purna Bhai,” a fitting tribute to Sarma, whose leadership was guided by a single, serious objective: changing the standard of care for bladder cancer patients facing limited and often devastating treatment options.
The mission succeeded. In 2019, Johnson & Johnson acquired TARIS Biomedical, recognizing the promise of its innovative drug delivery platform—and validating years of disciplined science, patience, and persistence. Recently, Johnson& Johnson commercially launched the product.
The reunion brought together former team members, families, and friends—equal parts celebration and reunion, with slightly better beer than most lab meetings. Mighty Squirrel co-founder Naveen Pawar summed up Sarma’s leadership style with a Hindi proverb:
“Jo badal garajte hain, baraste nahi”—clouds that thunder don’t always rain. Sarma, Pawar implied, preferred results over noise.
At TARIS, Sarma led the adaptation of a drug delivery system originally developed by MIT professors Michael Cima and Robert Langer, refining it to deliver gemcitabine directly and continuously into the bladder—maximizing therapeutic impact while minimizing systemic side effects.
As Sarma once put it, “It’s not just about having the right drug. It’s about delivering it in a way that works with the body’s biology.”
His wife Lakshmi offered perhaps the most accurate clinical summary of all:
“It was a roller coaster ride,” she said. “The ending is worth celebrating.”
Now CEO of Aro Biotherapeutics, Sarma was also honored this month with the Vanguard Award for Transformative Product of the Year by Life Sciences Times—proof that sometimes, world-changing science pairs perfectly with a well-earned pint.
