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Few megadeals within the past decade have received as many recurring kudos as the acquisition of Genzyme, of Cambridge, MA by France\u2019s biggest pharmaceutical company, Sanofi.

The marriage of Sanofi and Genzyme appears to have exceeded expectations, allowing all of those involved in minting the newly merged entity to rightfully keep a feather in their postmerger caps. Thus it was for Mike Kaseta, who in the wake of the merger found himself tasked with integrating the finance and IT functions of the two companies.

\u201cIt\u2019s probably the achievement that I\u2019m most proud of in my career,\u201d explains Kaseta, who, after nearly a decade climbing the finance ranks inside Sanofi, exited the giant pharmaceutical company to stake a claim inside the realm of early-stage biotech, where today he is CFO of Aerami Therapeutics.

Looking back, Kaseta believes that the greatest lessons he gleaned from the Sanofi\u2013Genzyme merger were people-related: \u201cThere was no iron fist. We listened to employees. We understood. In the end, we had no control deficiencies, no comments from our external auditors, and the integration occurred in a timely manner.\u201d

Looking forward, Kaseta says that raising money now tops his list of CFO priorities at Aerami. \u201cWe have to get our story out,\u201d he adds. \u201cWe have to get it out to the right people and really engage with investors, allowing them to get as excited about our story as we are.\u201d \u2013Jack Sweeney

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