Career
Eckert began her career with Merck, before moving on to work with smaller, specialty pharmaceutical companies Dura and Elan. [11] After a stint with QVC, Eckert found Slate Pharmaceuticals and Sprout Pharmaceuticals. [4]
Eckert co-founded Slate Pharmaceuticals in 2007. Slate was focused on men's sexual health with an FDA approved long acting testosterone product, Testopel. Slate sold in 2011 to Actient Pharmaceuticals. [13]
In August 2015, she sold Sprout Pharmaceuticals for $1 billion, to Valeant, a day after the company won FDA approval for the drug Addyi, the first drug designed to enhance female libido. [14] [15] [16] [17]
In November 2017, it was announced that Valeant would sell Sprout Pharmaceuticals back to its original owners, two years after acquiring the business for $1 billion. [18] [19]
Eckert established an investment firm called The Pink Ceiling in 2016 after the most recent exit, when she sold Sprout Pharmaceuticals to Valeant Pharmaceuticals for $1 billion. [20] In November 2017, Eckert re-acquired Sprout Pharmaceuticals from Valeant for "almost nothing" as part of a settlement of a lawsuit, according to Bloomberg News. [5] Valeant's stock had collapsed nearly 80% from the acquisition price due to a large financial engineering and price jacking scandal. [9]
In 2018, Eckert formally changed her name from Cindy Whitehead. [21]
In 2021, she received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from North Carolina State University. [22]
The Pink Ceiling
Eckert launched the Pink Ceiling in order to improve access to capital for female-led start-ups. [4] “The injustice I’m fighting with the Pink Ceiling is not only women’s limited access to capital, but also their limited access to mentors,” she told Entrepreneur Magazine. [4] Eckert works with a team of women to determine which female-led companies will be the recipients of venture capital funding. [23] [24]
To date, The Pink Ceiling has invested in eleven start-ups, with public announcements on their involvement with Undercover Colors (a company that is developing wearable nail tech to detect the presence of a date rape drug in drinks), [20] Lia Diagnostics (which produces a flushable pregnancy test), [25] Intuitap (which has a medical device aimed to streamline the spinal tap procedure), [4] and Pursuit (which is developing a patented technology to improve four different aspects of sleep) [26]
The Pink Ceiling's affiliated incubator, called the “Pinkubator” because of its female focus, is located in Raleigh, North Carolina. The “Pinkubator” was established to provide female-focused entrepreneurs with direct access to mentors, investment opportunities, and business development guidance. [11]
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