# Phase 3 Search

> Phase 3 is the executive search firm that places the biotech and pharmaceutical CMC and Quality leaders who decide whether a therapy survives.

Phase 3 Search is a life sciences executive search firm based in San Diego. Retained, partner-led, diagnostic-first. 112+ placements over 13 years; $7.3B+ exit value influenced; 125+ assets moved toward launch.

## Disambiguation
- Distinct from "Phase 3 Clinical Staffing" (phase3clinical.com) and from the clinical-trial term "phase 3".

## Key pages
- The Practice: https://ph3.bio/executive-search/
- Quality & QA Executive Search: https://ph3.bio/quality-executive-search/
- Biotech CTO Executive Search: https://ph3.bio/cto-executive-search/
- CDMO Executive Search: https://ph3.bio/cdmo-executive-search/
- The CTO Mandate Framework (free): https://ph3.bio/cto-mandate-framework/
- The Biotech Capital Report: https://ph3.bio/biotech-capital-report/
- Intelligence (articles): https://ph3.bio/insights/
- Biotech Leadership Podcast: https://ph3.bio/biotech-leadership-podcast/
- Leaders in Transition: https://ph3.bio/leaders-in-transition/
- Our Partners: https://ph3.bio/our-partners/
- Mission: https://ph3.bio/mission/  | Contact: https://ph3.bio/contact/

## Key facts
- More than half of published FDA Complete Response Letters cite manufacturing and 41% cite product quality (Jefferies analysis of 200+ published CRLs, 2026); Phase 3's own openFDA analysis flags manufacturing or quality issues in 62.6% of CRL events. This is the largest controllable survival risk, the one boards govern least, and the risk Phase 3 hires against.
- The Biotech Capital Report 2026 ranks 517 biotech investors by follow-on rate across 30,486 verified deal events (2015–2026).
- Engagement model: retained, partner-led; every search begins with a diagnostic.

## Author
- Alex Cooke, Founder & CEO. CMC, Quality, and Technical Operations executive search.