Inma Rioja

Inma Rioja is SVP, Head of Therapeutics (Research & Innovation) at Bicycle Therapeutics, where she leads therapeutic strategy and drives innovation across the company’s discovery portfolio. She joined Bicycle in 2022 as SVP of Biology, overseeing multidisciplinary teams spanning Platform, Pharmacology and the Innovation Hub to advance oncology and non-oncology programs.

Inma brings more than 16 years of pharmaceutical research experience in immunology, epigenetics and drug discovery, having previously held senior R&D leadership roles at GSK, including Head of Immuno-Epigenetics & B-cell Biology. She has led large research groups and cross-functional discovery teams, and served as both Project Leader and Early Development Leader, progressing bromodomain targets from early discovery into Phase 1 clinical studies.

Her expertise includes target validation, phenotypic characterization, biomarker strategy, and preclinical-to-clinical translation, with a strong track record of portfolio leadership, external collaborations, and advancing novel mechanisms with clear therapeutic rationale.