Alnylam Expands Leadership Team with Multiple Experienced Biotech Leaders
May 09, 2017
- Company Appoints Chief Financial Officer and Other Key Roles Ahead
of Anticipated Transition to Commercialization -
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Alnylam
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ALNY), the leading RNAi therapeutics
company, announced today the appointment of several experienced industry
leaders to key leadership roles including: Manmeet S. Soni, Chief
Financial Officer; Theresa Heggie, Senior Vice President, Head of Europe
and Canada; Peter Smith, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Early
Development; and Alan Eisenberg, Vice President, Global Public Policy
and Government Relations.
"We are thrilled to welcome Manmeet, Theresa, Peter, and Alan to Alnylam
at an exciting moment in our history. Each of these individuals brings a
critical set of skills to the organization as we transition from a
late-stage research and development company to a multi-product,
commercial-stage company with a robust and sustainable pipeline of
innovative medicines," said John Maraganore, Ph.D. Chief Executive
Officer of Alnylam. "This expansion of our leadership team solidifies
and strengthens our path forward."
Manmeet S. Soni, Chief Financial Officer
"I couldn't imagine a more exciting time to join Alnylam," said Mr.
Soni. "It's an honor to have the opportunity to work with such a
talented group of individuals focused on bringing forward a new class of
medicines for the betterment of lives of patients in need. I look
forward to using my experience in building and leading commercial
finance teams and capabilities to help Alnylam execute on its strategy,
goals and transition towards an independent commercial-stage company."
In this role Mr. Soni will provide strategic leadership in the overall
financial management of Alnylam, including for the global finance,
investor relations and communications teams. Manmeet is the former Chief
Financial Officer and Treasurer of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he
played a central role in the strategic review, turnaround and subsequent
acquisition of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. by Takeda Pharmaceuticals
Company Limited. Before joining ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Manmeet
worked at Pharmacyclics, Inc., where he served most recently as Chief
Financial Officer and Treasurer. Mr. Soni also played a vital role in
the acquisition of Pharmacyclics, Inc. by Abbvie, Inc. for $21 billion.
Previously, Mr. Soni worked at ZELTIQ Aesthetics Inc., and
PricewaterhouseCoopers San Jose, in the Life Science and Venture Capital
Group. Prior to that, he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers, India.
Mr. Soni is currently a board member and audit committee chair at
Genoscience Pharma. He graduated from Hansraj College at Delhi
University in India. He is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in
the state of California and a Chartered Accountant from India.
Mr. Soni will report to John Maraganore, CEO.
Theresa Heggie, Senior Vice President, Head of Europe and Canada
"Expanding Alnylam's operations into Europe and Canada is being done in
recognition of the broad commercial rights we have in these regions and
the important role they will play in our global commercial strategy,"
commented Ms. Heggie. "Drawing on my expertise from numerous European
and global leadership roles, I look forward to advancing this important
phase of the Company's commercial evolution and bringing new treatments
to patients in Europe and Canada."
In this role Ms. Heggie will be responsible for the strategic direction
and activity of all of Alnylam's operations in Europe and Canada
including building the go-to-market strategy across multiple products
and therapeutic areas. Most recently she served as the Chief Marketing
and Strategy Officer at The British United Provident Association (Bupa).
Previously, Ms. Heggie held various senior commercial positions at Shire
Human Genetic Therapies (and formerly TKT) including the roles of Vice
President and General Manager of EMEA, Chief Executive Officer of Jerini
AG (a Shire acquisition), and Senior Vice President of Global Commercial
Operations. Earlier, at Baxter Healthcare she held numerous roles
including Vice President of Global Marketing. Early in her career, Ms.
Heggie held a variety of sales and marketing positions at Janssen
Pharmaceuticals.
She formerly served as a member of the board of directors of Swedish
Orphan Biovitrum AB. Theresa received a BSc from Cornell University.
Ms. Heggie will report to Barry Greene, President and will be based at
Alnylam's European headquarters in Zug, Switzerland.
Peter Smith, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Early Development
"Having the ability to work at an organization with a product engine as
productive as Alnylam's is a very special opportunity," added Dr. Smith.
"The ability to grow and develop the Early Development team across the
pipeline of RNAi therapeutics at Alnylam will be paramount as we advance
the translation of promising science toward new medicines for patients."
In this role, Dr. Smith will be responsible for all aspects of
non-clinical safety, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, bioanalysis
and biomarker programs, providing both scientific and drug development
leadership. Dr. Smith brings more than 30 years of pharma industry
experience to Alnylam, most recently joining from Moderna, where he was
Head of R&D Non-Clinical. He joined Moderna from Millennium
Pharmaceuticals, where he most recently served as co-head of R&D and a
member of the company's management team. In this role, he was
responsible for management of all Non-Clinical groups and Pharmaceutical
Sciences. His extensive experience in drug discovery and development
spans multiple therapeutic areas and therapeutic modalities. Over the
course of Dr. Smith's career, he has had oversight of the non-clinical
development of multiple, currently marketed therapeutics including
CELEBREX®, INSPRA®, VELCADE® and ENTYVIO®, and also deep involvement in
the development of numerous other products.
Dr. Smith has a B.S. in biology from Fairfield University and a Ph.D. in
Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Arizona. His
postdoctoral fellowship in biochemical toxicology was undertaken at
SmithKline. He has published and presented extensively in the pharm/tox
area as well as in the area of drug development.
Dr. Smith will report to Akshay Vaishnaw, Executive Vice President of
Research and Development.
Alan Eisenberg, Vice President, Global Public Policy and Government
Relations
"In an era of intense scrutiny around value and access to innovation, I
look forward to drawing on my political and policy experience both in
the private and public sectors to help Alnylam achieve its objectives,"
said Mr. Eisenberg. "I'm deeply aligned with the mission and vision of
Alnylam and look forward to working on behalf of the company with our
governmental stakeholders globally."
In this role, Alan will lead federal, state and local government affairs
and public policy initiatives globally. Alan joins Alnylam from Celgene
where he was the Vice President for Federal Government Relations. In
this role, he led Celgene's Federal Government Relations function and
had direct responsibility for the Company's public policy engagement
with Congress, relevant Executive Branch agencies and other Washington,
D.C. based stakeholders. Prior to Celgene, Mr. Eisenberg was Executive
Vice President for Emerging Companies & Business Development at the
Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), leading BIO's services and
advocacy efforts for BIO's pre-market and early stage commercial
companies, in addition to serving in other senior leadership roles at
BIO.
Previously, Mr. Eisenberg served as Health and Economics Policy Advisor
to Congressman Jim Greenwood and prior to that, he served on the staff
of the Senate HELP Public Health Subcommittee, and also was a
legislative assistant for Congressman John Shadegg. Earlier in his
career he spent four years with Ford Motor Company.
Mr. Eisenberg holds a Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard
University, a Master of Science in Finance degree from George Washington
University, and a Bachelor of Science degree from Union College.
Mr. Eisenberg will report to Laurie Keating, Senior Vice President and
General Counsel.
About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
Alnylam (Nasdaq: ALNY) is leading the translation of RNA interference
(RNAi) into a whole new class of innovative medicines with the potential
to transform the lives of patients who have limited or inadequate
treatment options. Based on Nobel Prize-winning science, RNAi
therapeutics represent a powerful, clinically-validated approach for the
treatment of a wide range of debilitating diseases. Founded in 2002,
Alnylam is delivering on a bold vision to turn scientific possibility
into reality, with a robust discovery platform and deep pipeline of
investigational medicines, including three product candidates that are
in late-stage development or will be in 2017. Looking forward, Alnylam
will continue to execute on its "Alnylam 2020" strategy of building a
multi-product, commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company with a
sustainable pipeline of RNAi-based medicines. For more information about
our people, science and pipeline, please visit www.alnylam.com
and engage with us on Twitter at @Alnylam.
Alnylam Forward Looking Statements
Various statements in this release concerning Alnylam's future
expectations, plans and prospects, including, without limitation,
Alnylam's views with respect to the potential for RNAi therapeutics,
constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe
harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Actual results and future plans may differ materially from those
indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various
important risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, without
limitation, Alnylam's ability to discover and develop novel drug
candidates and delivery approaches, successfully demonstrate the
efficacy and safety of its product candidates, the pre-clinical and
clinical results for its product candidates, which may not be replicated
or continue to occur in other subjects or in additional studies or
otherwise support further development of product candidates for a
specified indication or at all, actions or advice of regulatory
agencies, including actions by regulators concerning product candidates,
which may affect the initiation, timing and progress of clinical trials,
obtaining, maintaining and protecting intellectual property, Alnylam's
ability to enforce its intellectual property rights against third
parties and defend its patent portfolio against challenges from third
parties, obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval, pricing and
reimbursement for products, progress in establishing a commercial and
ex-United States infrastructure, competition from others using
technology similar to Alnylam's and others developing products for
similar uses, Alnylam's ability to manage its growth and operating
expenses, obtain additional funding to support its business activities,
and establish and maintain strategic business alliances and new business
initiatives, Alnylam's dependence on third parties for development,
manufacture and distribution of products, the outcome of litigation, the
risk of government investigations, and unexpected expenditures, as well
as those risks more fully discussed in the "Risk Factors" filed with
Alnylam's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and in other filings that
Alnylam makes with the SEC. In addition, any forward-looking statements
represent Alnylam's views only as of today and should not be relied upon
as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Alnylam explicitly
disclaims any obligation, except to the extent required by law, to
update any forward-looking statements.
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Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Christine Regan Lindenboom,
617-682-4340
(Investors and Media)
or
Josh Brodsky,
617-551-8276
(Investors)
Source: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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