Best Startup
At Best Startup US we track over 1,000,000 US startups and over 3 million people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United States based Vice President operating in the Biotechnology space. If you think a Vice President is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.us.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Emily Reuter
Vice President of Strategy and Operations of Color
Emily Reuter is the Vice President of Strategy and Operations at Color.
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About Color: Color is a population health technology company that enables the delivery of advanced healthcare through clinical genetics.
Joyce Tung
Vice President, Research of 23andMe
Joyce Tung joined 23andMe in 2007. She has contributed to several of 23andMe’s research publications, and currently develops and manages research projects. she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow in the lab of Dr. Renee Reijo Pera. At the University of California, San Francisco she focused on the genetics of egg and sperm development and human fertility. Joyce Tung returned to Stanford University for postdoctoral research in the lab of Dr. Gregory Barsh, where she studied the genetics of human and mouse pigmentation.
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About 23andMe: 23andMe is a DNA testing technology company that enables its users to access their ancestry, genealogy, and inherited traits.
Ron Alfa
Senior Vice President, Translational Discovery of Recursion Pharmaceuticals
Ron Alfa is Vice President, Discovery and Product at Recursion Pharmaceuticals where he manages scientific product development and external alliances across Recursion’s AI-enabled discovery platform. Ron Alfa’s scientific contributions prior to Recursion span Neurosciences, Metabolism, and Genetics.
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About Recursion Pharmaceuticals: Recursion Pharmaceuticals is a digital biology company, developing a drug discovery platform and pipeline with machine learning.
Mark Mallon
Executive Vice President, Global Product and Portfolio Strategy, Medical Affairs and Corp. Affairs of AstraZeneca
Mark Mallon is responsible for the growth and performance of AstraZeneca’s International region, which predominantly includes AstraZeneca’s commercial businesses in Asia Pacific, Russia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Most recently, Mark served as Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific where he was accountable for the growth and performance of the AstraZeneca business in 14 markets. While in this role Mark has also served as President of AstraZeneca China, responsible for the company’s overall operations in China and Hong Kong. Previously, Mark led the marketing, sales and commercial operations for AstraZeneca K. K. (Japan). Since joining AstraZeneca in 1994, Mark has held a number of additional leadership roles, Including Marketing Company President of the AstraZeneca Italian subsidiary company and Vice President of Marketing and Sales Operations of AstraZeneca’s US business. While in the US, Mark also was a Board Member for the Christiana Care Network, one of the the largest healthcare networks on the East Coast. Mark received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the Wharton School of Business. He is based in Shanghai.
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About AstraZeneca, NeoGenomics: AstraZeneca is a global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets prescription medicines.
William H. King, IV
Senior Vice President, Strategic Development of Danaher
Mr. King is the Senior Vice President, Strategic Development for Danaher Corporation. Mr. King and his team drive market development, deal sourcing and commercial diligence at Danaher, thus co-owning the M&A process at Danaher with Mr. Daniel Raskas and the Corporate Development team. In addition, he and his team hold responsibility for the strategic planning process, tools and training. Mr. King joined Danaher in 1998 and has held positions as Managing Director of the Special Purpose Systems Motion Control Group, as well as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Motion Control Group. Prior to joining Danaher, he held positions of increasing responsibility in live production and logistics for Perdue, Inc. Mr. King has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from University of Maryland.
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About Danaher: Danaher is a global science and technology innovator committed to helping their customers solve complex challenges and improve quality.
Raymond H. Diradoorian
Executive Vice President of Allergan
Mr. Diradoorian has been Executive Vice President, Global Technical Operations since February 2006. From April 2005 to February 2006, Mr. Diradoorian served as Senior Vice President, Global Technical Operations. Since February 2001, Mr. Diradoorian served as Vice President, Global Engineering and Technology. Mr. Diradoorian joined Allergan in July 1981. Prior to joining Allergan, Mr. Diradoorian held positions at American Hospital Supply and with the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. Mr. Diradoorian received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Irvine and a Master of Science degree in Technology Management from Pepperdine University.
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About Allergan: Allergan is a global pharmaceutical company.
Stephen Barat
Associate Vice President, Non-Clinical Development of Allergan
Stephen Barat is currently the Executive Director of Non-clinical and Translational Sciences – Safety Assessment and Bioanalysis for Allergan. He has 20 years of experience in global drug development and registration, with a specific interest in drug device combinations, the interface of safety assessment and CMC requirements, and extensive experience in the safety assessment of impurities. Dr. Barat is a member of the PQRI – PDP working group and toxicology sub-team as well as the USP Expert Panel for Biocompatability of Packaging Materials.
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About Allergan, The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson: Allergan is a global pharmaceutical company.
Ronald Hutton
Vice President, Treasurer of Bio-Rad Laboratories
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About Bio-Rad Laboratories: Bio-Rad Laboratories has played a leading role in the advancement of scientific discovery for over 50 years by providing a broad range of
James Stark
Vice President, Corporate Controller of Bio-Rad Laboratories
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About Bio-Rad Laboratories: Bio-Rad Laboratories has played a leading role in the advancement of scientific discovery for over 50 years by providing a broad range of
Mike Crowley
Executive Vice President, Global Commercial Operations of Bio-Rad Laboratories
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About Bio-Rad Laboratories: Bio-Rad Laboratories has played a leading role in the advancement of scientific discovery for over 50 years by providing a broad range of
Timothy Ernst
Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary of Bio-Rad Laboratories
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About Bio-Rad Laboratories: Bio-Rad Laboratories has played a leading role in the advancement of scientific discovery for over 50 years by providing a broad range of
Junfeng Luo
Co-Founder & Vice President, R&D – NuProbe, China of NuProbe
Junfeng Luo is a Co-Founder and Vice President of R&D at NuProbe, China.
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About NuProbe: An early stage molecular diagnostics company.
RJ Fitch
Vice President Operations & General Manager of WuXi AppTec
Innovative senior management leader Raymond J. “RJ” Fitch possesses more than two decades of experience in the biotech and global healthcare industries. As the Vice President of Operations & General Manager for WuXi AppTec Advanced Therapies, Mr. Fitch leverages his knowledge of site operations and supply chain functions to oversee logistics operations, biological testing services, engineering, and other operations at the company’s Philadelphia location. RJ Fitch is responsible for three facilities within the Philadelphia site. Mr. Fitch began his career more than 20 years ago, graduating from Philadelphia University with a bachelor of science in biology. After working for Merck & Company, he joined Sanofi Pasteur as a director of vaccine aseptic filling & formulation. He stayed with the company for seven years, rising through the ranks to become the senior director of influenza viral manufacturing. Mr. Fitch later served as the associate vice president at Genzyme, a Sanofi company, and vice president of Sanofi Pasteur in Toronto, Canada. During his time with Sanofi Pasteur, RJ Fitch returned to school to earn an executive MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business.
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About WuXi AppTec: WuXi AppTec provides a broad portfolio of R&D and manufacturing services that enable companies in the pharmaceutical.
Jared Kohler
Sr. Vice President, Project Management & Data Science Operations & Precision for Medicine of Precision for Medicine
Jared Kohler is the Sr. Vice President, Project Management & Data Science Operations, Precision for Medicine at Precision for Medicine.
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About Precision for Medicine, Quartz Bio: Precision for Medicine is a specialized scientific services company helping life science innovators develop medical products.
Merry Lee
Vice President, Medical Device Regulatory Strategy of Precision for Medicine
Merry Lee Bain is the Vice President, Medical Device Regulatory Strategy at Precision for Medicine.
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About Precision for Medicine: Precision for Medicine is a specialized scientific services company helping life science innovators develop medical products.
Earl May
Vice President of Lead Discovery of Civetta Therapeutics
Earl May is the Vice President of Lead Discovery at Civetta Therapeutics. He is a former Senior Director Biophysics at Warp Drive Bio, Inc. Mr. May graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County with a BA in Biochemistry and received an MPhil and Ph.D.in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University.
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About Civetta Therapeutics: Civetta Therapeutics is a cancer therapeutics company to advance new medicines through small molecule targeting of beta-propeller domains.
Andrew Cook
Vice President and Head of Chemistry of Civetta Therapeutics
Andrew Cook is the Vice President and Head of Chemistry at Civetta Therapeutics. He was an Associate Director and Director of Medicinal Chemistry at H3 Biomedicine. Mr. Cook graduated from Imperial College London with a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry and earned a BS in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham.
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About Civetta Therapeutics: Civetta Therapeutics is a cancer therapeutics company to advance new medicines through small molecule targeting of beta-propeller domains.
Chris Fuller
Vice President of Informatics of Caribou Biosciences
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About Caribou Biosciences: Caribou Biosciences is a biotechnology company that develops CRISPR technologies and allogenic cell therapies for oncology.
Alex Aravanis
Chief Technology Officer & Senior Vice President of Illumina
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About Illumina: Illumina is an innovative technology and revolutionary assays aiming the analyze genetic variation and function.
Craig Ciesla
Vice President Advanced Engineering of Illumina
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About Illumina: Illumina is an innovative technology and revolutionary assays aiming the analyze genetic variation and function.
Richard Klausner
Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer of Illumina
Richard Klausner joined Illumina in September 2013 as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. Richard is responsible for Illumina’s strategies for advancing genomics into clinical medicine and public health. He is also part of Illumina’s executive management team, which is responsible for directing all aspects of company strategy, planning and operations. Richard is a Scientific Advisor at Cyterix Pharmaceuticals Inc. He co-founded Pathwork Diagnostics, Inc. (Alternative name is Predicant Biosciences Inc.) in 2002. He serves as the Managing Partner at The Column Group LLC. He served as the Chairman of the Strategic Development and Scientific Advisory Council at Sanofi from March 1, 2011 to January 2013. Richard serves as the Chairman of the National Science Education Standards Projects of the National Academy of Science, overseeing the first comprehensive process to provide a vision of scientific literacy in the American educational system and the criteria required to achieve it. He served as Co-Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board and Scientific Advisor at Aragon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He served as an Executive Director for Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Richard served as the President at the American Society of Clinical Investigation. He served as an Advisor to the President of the Academies for counter-terrorism, and a Liaison to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. From 1979 to 1981, he worked at NIH in National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Laboratory of Mathematical Biology. He served as a Director of Pathwork Diagnostics, Inc. and Immune Design Corp. He served as Director of 3-V Biosciences, Inc. He served as a Director of NCI from August 1, 1995 to 2001. He serves as a Member of Scientific Advisory Board at NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., Immune Design Corp., Constellation Pharmaceuticals and Audax Health Solutions. Richard served as a Distinguished Scientific and Strategic Advisor of Aveo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Richard currently sits on the board of Juno Therapeutics. He is also the Chief Strategy Advisor for USAID. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He served as a Member of Scientific Advisory Board at Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Igenica, Inc. and T2 Biosystems, Inc. Rick holds an M.D. from Duke Medical School.
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About Audax Health Solutions, Illumina, Pathwork Diagnostics: Illumina is an innovative technology and revolutionary assays aiming the analyze genetic variation and function.
James Godsey
TitleVice President, Assay Development Dates Employed of Illumina
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About Illumina: Illumina is an innovative technology and revolutionary assays aiming the analyze genetic variation and function.
Sabrina Chiasson
Vice President of Polaris Partners
Sabrina joined Battery in 2015 as an associate. She focuses on later-stage software investments, including growth equity, buyouts, rollups, carve-outs and take-privates. Before coming to Battery, Sabrina was an associate at H.I.G. Growth Partners, a private equity firm focused on recapitalizations of lower-middle market, growth oriented businesses. There, she sourced, evaluated and executed investments in the consumer, healthcare and technology sectors. She also previously spent time at Westwind Investors, a private investment firm focused on growth-equity investments and buyouts. Sabrina received a B.A. in biology and economics from Dartmouth College. While at Dartmouth, Sabrina was captain of the varsity Alpine ski team.
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About Polaris Partners: Polaris Partners invests in healthcare and technology companies across all stages from founding to profitable growth.
Miguel Ilzarbe
Vice President, Executive Operations of Flagship Pioneering
Miguel Ilzarbe joined Flagship Ventures in 2015 as the Vice President of Executive Operations. In this role, he acts as a Sr. Advisor to Flagship’s CEO focused on strategic development of the firm, operational leadership of VentureLabs and support of new initiatives across the firm. Miguel was previously the Chief of Staff and the Director of Operations and Management, within the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT’s Directors Office, supporting Eric Lander. He administratively spearheaded a large international multidisciplinary effort at the Broad titled SIGMA (Slim Initiative in Genomic Medicine for the Americas). SIGMA, a $134M dollar collaboration with the Carlos Slim Health Institute aims to understand the genetic basis of Diabetes, Cancer and Kidney disease with a focus on Latin American populations. Prior to the Chief of Staff role, Miguel served as the assistant director of the Genome Sequencing and Analysis Program at the Broad. In this capacity he was responsible for project management and administrative issues within the program. He came to the Broad from the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, where he was responsible for all subcontracting and financial activities of the center, as well as leading a team that had fiduciary responsibility over all of Dana-Farber’s core facilities. Before his career in research administration, Miguel spent two years as a lab supervisor of Dana-Farber’s DNA sequencing facility, four years at the sequencing facility at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and four years in military intelligence. Miguel holds a bachelor’s degree in Diagnostic Genetic Sciences from the University of Connecticut and an MBA in Technology Management from the University of Phoenix. He also completed Electronic Warfare Coursework in the United States Navy.
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About Flagship Pioneering: Flagship Pioneering is a venture capital firm that invests in life sciences and healthcare companies.
Dick Farrahar
Senior Vice President, Executive Operations of Flagship Pioneering
Dick Farrahar joined Flagship Ventures in 1999 as Senior Vice President, Executive Operations. Dick has over 30 years of experience overseeing operations, human resources, organizational development, team building, and workforce strategy. Before joining Flagship, Dick was Vice President of Applera Corporation, where he was responsible for the integration of PerSeptive Biosystems with Applera Corporation following the merger of the two companies in 1998. In addition, Dick guided the process of combining PerSeptive Biosystems, Applied Biosystems, Tropix and Molecular Informatics into a new $1 billion Applied Biosystems division of Applera. He had previously served as Senior Vice President, Executive Operations for PerSeptive Biosystems. Earlier Dick had a long career with Digital Equipment Corporation in both human resources and operations, and for the last several years of his tenure was a member of DEC’s Executive Committee reporting to the CEO.
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About Applera Corporation, Flagship Pioneering, PerSeptive Biosystems: Flagship Pioneering is a venture capital firm that invests in life sciences and healthcare companies.
Richard Compton
Vice President of Commercial Operations of Oxford Nanopore Technologies
Rich joined Oxford Nanopore from Illumina where he played a key role as Vice President and General Manager of the EMEA Region. Metrichor was founded to provide real-time, integrated analysis solutions based on nanopore sensing technology to the Clinical and Applied markets. Prior to Illumina, Rich gained twelve years of experience helping commercial & research customers successfully integrate and deploy enterprise scale software solutions in both research and quality/regulated environments as Vice President & General Manager EMEA of Dassault Systèmes Biovia unit.
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About Oxford Nanopore Technologies: Oxford Nanopore Technologies develops nanopore-based electronic systems for analyzing single molecules, including DNA, RNA, and proteins.
David Wurzer
Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of Connecticut Innovations
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About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Karin Lawrence
Senior Vice President of Connecticut Innovations
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About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Lauren Carmody
Vice President of Marketing & Communications of Connecticut Innovations
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About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Lauren Carmody
Vice President of Marketing & Communications of Connecticut Innovations
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About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Tricia Moriarty
Vice President of Finance and Administration of Excel Venture Management
Ms. Moriarty is the Vice President of Finance and Administration for Excel Venture Management bringing with her 10 years of private equity experience. In this capacity she oversees the operational, financial and administrative aspects of the firm including financial reporting, human resources, facilities and investor relations. Prior to Excel Venture, Tricia was Director of Finance and Administration for CB Health Ventures (CBHV) where she worked in a similar capacity managing venture funds with $150 million of capital under management. Prior to CBHV, she was a Manager in the Global Income Unit at State Street Corporation where she managed daily operations and client service for clients in the Asia Pacific region. Ms. Moriarty has a BS in Business Administration from Northeastern University where she graduated with honors.
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About CB Health Ventures, Excel Venture Management: Excel Venture Management builds companies that apply transformative life science technologies to solve problems in healthcare and beyond.
Karen Ling
Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer of Forest Laboratories
Prior to joining Actavis, Ms. Ling served as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Forest Laboratories, Inc. Ms. Ling joined Forest in January 2014 from Merck & Co., Inc., where she served as Senior Vice President, Human Resources, for the company’s Global Human Health and Consumer Care businesses worldwide. Prior to that role at Merck, she was Vice President, Compensation and Benefits. Before Merck, Ms. Ling was Group Vice President, Global Compensation & Benefits at Schering-Plough. She also spent 14 years at Wyeth in various positions of responsibility in human resources as well as in Wyeth Pharmaceutical’s Labor and Employment Department. Prior to joining Wyeth, Ms. Ling practiced corporate law with Goldstein and Manello, P.C. in Boston. Ms. Ling holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law.
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About Allergan, Forest Laboratories: Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) is a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company with a long track record of building partnerships.
Marco Taglietti
Executive Vice President of Forest Laboratories
Dr. Taglietti is Executive Vice President, Drug Development and Research, and Chief Medical Officer of Forest Laboratories, Inc. He continues to be President of the Forest Research Institute. He previously served as Senior Vice President—Research and Development of the Company and President, Forest Research Institute, Inc. from December 2010 to December 2013. Prior thereto, Dr. Taglietti served as Vice President—Research and Development from December 2008 to December 2010. Dr. Taglietti joined Forest in August 2007 as Executive Vice President—Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer of Forest Research Institute, Inc. Prior to joining Forest, Dr. Taglietti was Senior Vice President and Head of Global Research and Development at Stiefel Laboratories for three years. Prior to that, Dr. Taglietti was at Schering-Plough Corporation for twelve years in positions of increasing responsibility including Vice President—Worldwide Clinical Research for Anti-Infectives, Oncology, CNS, Endocrinology and Dermatology. Dr. Taglietti received his medical degree and board certifications from the University of Pavia in Italy.
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About Forest Laboratories, SCYNEXIS: Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) is a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company with a long track record of building partnerships.
Steve Miller
Vice President, Translational Medicine of Blueprint Medicines
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About Blueprint Medicines: Blueprint Medicines engages in the discovery and development of highly selective kinase inhibitors for genomically defined cancer subsets.
Hamid Rategh
Vice President Engineering of Genapsys
Hamid is VP Engineering at GenapSys, joining back in 2012. Hamid has had a successful career developing a wide range of products, from RFICs to adaptive equalizers for optical communication and Mixed-Signal Memory interface products. Prior to joining GenapSys, Hamid was Senior Director of Engineering at Inphi, who acquired his team and product from Scintera Networks. Hamid also cofounded and served as VP of Engineering of Tavanza which was later acquired by Celeritek in 2002 and subsequently by Anadigics in 2003. Hamid holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, and an MS in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his BS in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology.
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About Genapsys: Transform the human condition by building a scalable, affordable genomic sequencing ecosystem that will support research and diagnostics
Chris Robinson
Vice President Recruiting of Third Rock Ventures
Chris Robinson joined Third Rock Ventures in 2010. Chris has more than 15 years of research and development-focused recruiting experience in life sciences and high technology. During his executive search career, Chris has focused on senior level executive searches within R&D organizations of both public and private biopharmaceutical and medical device companies. Prior to joining Third Rock Ventures, Chris was the co-founder of Pivotal Search, a boutique life sciences executive search and recruiting consulting practice where he led business development and executed searches. Previous to founding Pivotal, Chris was also one of the founding members of a life sciences R&D practice at another national search firm. Before moving to the life sciences industry Chris was the recruiting manager for a venture-backed technology start-up, Taqua Systems, where he helped them grow from 20 people to 300 people in three locations. Chris holds a BS in Physiology from the University of Massachusetts, was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps and he is a Desert Storm veteran.
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About Third Rock Ventures: Third Rock Ventures invests in transformational life science companies that show high growth potential
Robert M. Hershberg
Executive Vice President, Head of Business Development and Global Alliances of Celgene
Robert Hershberg (M.D., Ph.D.) Chief Executive Officer at VentiRX Pharmaceuticals.Dr. Robert Hershberg is a founder of VentiRx Pharmaceuticals and serves as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. VentiRx Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company committed to the development and commercialization of novel medicines for the treatment of cancer. The Company’s initial focus is developing novel small molecule product candidates targeting Toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8) for oncology and allergy. Prior to VentiRx, Dr. Hershberg served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Dendreon Corporation, developing immunotherapy approaches for cancer. In this capacity, Dr. Hershberg led the Clinical, Regulatory, and Biometrics groups, focusing on the development of Provenge™ in metastatic prostate cancer. Prior to joining Dendreon, Dr. Hershberg was the Vice President of Medical Genetics at Corixa Corporation (subsequently acquired by GSK). He led a research group focused on innate immunity and inflammatory disease, with a particular emphasis on Toll-like receptors (TLRs), and was an active member of the clinical development team for various products. Prior to joining Corixa, Dr. Hershberg was an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.He completed his Undergraduate Degree in Molecular Biology and M.D. at UCLA, and his Ph.D. in Biology at the Salk Institute.Dr. Hershberg is clinically-boarded in Medical Genetics, and holds current clinical and research faculty positions at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
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About Celgene, VentiRx Pharmaceuticals: Celgene discovers, develops and commercializes innovative therapies to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory-related diseases.
Gerald Masoudi
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Celgene
Mr. Masoudi serves as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Mr. Masoudi joined Celgene in April 2015 from Covington & Burling LLP, a leading international law firm, where he was a partner and served as co-chair of the Food and Drug practice group. At Covington, he advised multinational companies and trade associations on significant litigation, enforcement, regulatory and public policy matters. Before joining Covington, Mr. Masoudi served as Chief Counsel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Before joining the FDA as Chief Counsel, Mr. Masoudi served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for international, policy and appellate matters in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Before his government service, Mr. Masoudi was a trial and litigation partner with the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. Immediately following his graduation from law school, he clerked for Judge Frank H. Easterbrook of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Mr. Masoudi received his J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School, graduating with high honors and serving on the editorial board of the Law Review. He received his B.A. in economics from Amherst College, Phi Beta Kappa.
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About Celgene: Celgene discovers, develops and commercializes innovative therapies to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory-related diseases.
Kristen Hege
Vice President, Translational Development, Hematology/Oncology of Celgene
Kristen Hege has served as a member of our board of directors since October 2018. Kristen Hege is currently a Clinical Professor of Medicine, Hematology and Oncology and an attending physician at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She has held a clinical faculty appointment at UCSF since 1997 in the adult hematology and bone marrow transplant program. Kristen Hege has been board-certified in internal medicine, medical oncology and hematology. Kristen Hege received her B.A. summa cum laude from Dartmouth, M.D. from UCSF and completed a medical residency at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at UCSF. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, and Mersana Therapeutics and the Strategic Advisory Group for the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. In 2015, FierceBiotech recognized her as one of the top 12 women in Biopharma. Kristen Hege currently serves as Corporate Vice President, Translational Development, Hematology and Oncology and San Francisco site head at Celgene where she is responsible for translational and early clinical development for all hematology and oncology products including small molecules, biologics and cell therapies. Prior to joining Celgene, she served as acting Chief Medical Officer at Aragon Pharmaceuticals, Theraclone Sciences and Cellerant Therapeutics. Kristen Hege began her career at Cell Genesys Inc. where she spent 14 years in various roles of increasing responsibility, ultimately leading the Clinical Research and Development organization.
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About Celgene: Celgene discovers, develops and commercializes innovative therapies to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory-related diseases.
Shannon Richey
Vice President & General Manager, Asterand Bioscience Detroit Operations of BioIVT
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About Asterand, BioIVT: BioIVT is a worldwide provider of biological and in vitro products to pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations
Agatha Martindale
Vice President and Global Finance of Rakuten Medical
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About BUILTBYGIRLS, Rakuten Medical, Rakuten Medical: Rakuten Medical is a biotechnology company that develops therapies to treat cancer.
Lisa Wyman
Vice President Quality of Acceleron Pharma
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About Acceleron Pharma: Acceleron is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing, manufacturing and commercializing novel biotherapeutics.
Hyam Levitsky
Executive Vice President Research, Chief Scientific Officer of Juno Therapeutics
Hyam (“Hy”) Levitsky is our Executive Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer and joined Juno in May 2015. Prior to joining Juno, Hyam Levitsky held the position of Head of Cancer Immunology Experimental Medicine at Roche Pharma Research and Development in Basel, Switzerland. Prior to that, Levitsky served as a Professor of Oncology, Medicine and Urology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and was also an active staff member in Oncology and Medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Hyam Levitsky received a B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science and an M.D. from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He trained in Medical Oncology as a Senior Clinical Fellow at Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, rising to full Professor in 2001, and taught in the School of Medicine until 2011. His areas of expertise include Oncology, Immunology, Hematologic Malignances / Bone Marrow Transplantation (serving as Scientific Director of the George Santos Bone Marrow Transplant Program), Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Pathobiology. Hyam Levitsky is also a founding Executive Committee member of the Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium of the Cancer Research Institute. He was a Stohlman Scholar of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America (LLS) and a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). He was a founding member of MIATA (Minimal Information About T cell Assays), advises the FDA on cancer immunotherapy issues and serves on the External Scientific Advisory Board of the Pasteur Institute’s Center for Human Immunology, has consulted on a number of industry scientific advisory boards and contributes and provides editorial support to several prestigious cancer, immunology, scientific and medical publications. Hyam Levitsky holds several patents.
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About Century Therapeutics, Juno Therapeutics: Juno Therapeutics is a clinical-stage company, develops immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer.
Chris Lento
Vice President of Commercialization of Pear Therapeutics
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About Pear Therapeutics: Pear Therapeutics is a software-based digital therapeutics platform designed to treat disease and enhance the efficacy of pharmaceuticals.
Bernard Davitian
Vice President and Managing Director of Sanofi Ventures
Bernard Davitian has extensive experience in the life sciences and biotech industry, marked by a number of successful transactions involving financings and M&A. His track record includes, among others, the successful IPO of Transgene on the NASDAQ and Euronext in 1998 ($100 million raised) and the sale of Fovea Pharmaceuticals to Sanofi in 2009 in a €370 million cash transaction. Bernard joined Sanofi in 2010 as Vice President, Deputy of Global Head, Business Development Corporate Licenses and was promoted to Vice President and Managing Director of SGBV in 2012. Prior to Sanofi, Bernard was EVP & CFO of Fovea Pharmaceuticals, CEO of Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, and EVP & CFO of Transgene. Bernard began his career in the biotech sector by serving in various capacities at Institut Mérieux (now Sanofi Pasteur), including Corporate CFO. In addition to his SGBV-related Boards of Directors responsibilities, which include Immune Design, Proteostasis Therapeutics, Esperance Pharmaceuticals and Kahr Medical, Bernard also represents Sanofi on the Board of Directors of Warp Drive Bio. Bernard holds an MSc in Management from EM Lyon Business School (France). He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds an executive M.B.A. (AMP program) from Wharton Business School.
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About Good Eggs, Sanofi Ventures: Sanofi Ventures operates as the corporate venture capital arm of Sanofi.
William Sibold
Senior Vice President of Sanofi Ventures
Bill Sibold is responsible for Genzyme’s Multiple Sclerosis franchise as the company prepares to launch two products.
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About Sanofi Genzyme, Sanofi Genzyme, Sanofi Genzyme, Sanofi Ventures: Sanofi Ventures operates as the corporate venture capital arm of Sanofi.
Nick Illobre
Vice President Product Strategy, Crossix Analytics of Veeva
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About Veeva: Veeva Systems is a provider of cloud-based business solutions for the global life sciences industry.
Darren Farrugia
Vice President, User Experience & Product Design of Veeva
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About Veeva: Veeva Systems is a provider of cloud-based business solutions for the global life sciences industry.
Asish Xavier
Vice President, Venture Investments of Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation
Asish Xavier is the Vice President of Venture Investments at joined Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC) in 2004. Asish is based in Silicon Valley, California. Asish previously worked in business development at BioRexis Pharmaceutical, Inc., which was acquired by Pfizer in 2007. While at BioRexis, Asish assisted the company in raising a $30 million second round of financing. Asish has worked in business development at Structural GenomiX, Inc., acquired by Eli Lilly in 2008, and was a project leader at Message Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Asish received a Ph.D. from the University of Houston and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with honors. Asish received a Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India. Asish was also a postdoctoral research Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University.
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About Cue, ESCAPE Bio, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Legend Biotech, Paige, ViaCyte, XWPharma: Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, a venture capital subsidiary, finances technology companies focused on patient health.
Marian Nakada
Vice President, Venture Investments of Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation
Marian Nakada, PhD, Vice President, Venture Investments, joined Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC) in 2013. She is based in Boston, MA. Previously, Dr. Nakada was Vice President of Strategy & Operations and External Innovation for Johnson & Johnson’s Biotechnology CoE, where she helped drive the development and execution of the biotechnology strategy across Janssen R & D. In her role as External Innovation lead, she nurtured many productive partnerships with external partners in the biotech industry and helped build an external innovation network to complement internal research and support the execution of the Janssen R&D Biologics strategy. Dr. Nakada joined Centocor in 1990, as a scientist, performing basic research related to biologics for inflammatory and cardiovascular indications. In 2001, she took on the leadership of the newly formed Oncology Research group at Centocor. In 2007, Dr. Nakada joined the Business Development group where she participated in executing technology licenses for the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals group. In that role, she identified and championed external technology opportunities to ensure that Centocor’s technologies were competitive with the industry. Dr. Nakada has authored 62 peer reviewed publications and 14 book chapters and reviews. She has a BA in Biology from Harvard College and a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Pennsylvania.
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About Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Women in VC: Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, a venture capital subsidiary, finances technology companies focused on patient health.
Kadir Kadhiresan
Vice President, Venture Investments of Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation
V. Kadir Kadhiresan, PhD, joined Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC) in 2007 and focuses on investments in medical devices and digital health. Kadir has more than two decades of operational, investment and business development experience. Based in Boston, Kadir works closely with Johnson & Johnson leadership to identify business needs and has responsibility for sourcing, investing and managing venture investment opportunities. He holds board seats for several JJDC portfolio companies. Some of his investments include Coherex Medical (Acquired by Biosense Webster/JNJ), Spinal Modulation (Acquired by St.Jude/ABT), Novocure (NASDAQ: NVCR), Torax Medical (Acquired by Ethicon/JNJ), Neotract (Acquired by Teleflex) and Inspire Medical Systems (NYSE: INSP). Before joining JJDC, Kadir was head of Business Development at Guidant, Inc., now Boston Scientific, Inc., where he led several transactions to access novel medical device technologies.
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About Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation: Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, a venture capital subsidiary, finances technology companies focused on patient health.
Stacy Feld
Vice President, Consumer Venture Investments of Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation
Stacy received a B.A. in sociology, graduating magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt Law School.
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About Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation: Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, a venture capital subsidiary, finances technology companies focused on patient health.
Tara O’Meara
Vice President, Clinical Development Operations of Bluebird Bio
Tara O’Meara is the Vice President of Clinical Development Operations at bluebird bio. Tara oversees a team responsible for the execution and analysis of bluebird bio’s lentiviral vector based gene therapy development programs. Currently bluebird bio has 4 active programs using ex vivo gene therapy for: cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, transfusion dependent thalassemia, sickle cell disease and multiple myeloma. bluebird’s objective is to develop and bring to market the most advanced products based on the transformative potential of gene therapy as a one-time treatment option for patients with severe genetic and rare diseases and cancer. Prior to joining bluebird, Tara ran multiple clinical trials in 2 other rare diseases, LAL Deficiency and Pompe disease. Tara served as the clinical project manager for the clinical trials that were used as the basis for the regulatory submissions that led to the approval of Myozyme™ in the United States, Europe, and more than 40 additional countries worldwide. Tara has also been responsible for everything from small Phase II trials to very large, global Phase III trials in multiple therapeutic areas, including rare inherited diseases. Tara holds a BS in biology and a minor in women’s studies from Tufts University.
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About Bluebird Bio: Bluebird Bio offers products based on the transformative potential of gene therapy for patients with genetic and orphan diseases.
Michael Warmuth
Executive Vice President of Abbott
Michael Warmuth is Executive Vice President, Established Pharmaceuticals, focusing on expanding the global market for Abbott’s portfolio of branded generic pharmaceuticals. He was appointed to his current role in November 2012. Most recently, Mr. Warmuth served as Senior Vice President, Established Pharmaceuticals, which previously operated as part of Abbott’s global pharmaceutical business. Mr. Warmuth joined Abbott in 1986 as part of Abbott’s manufacturing professional development program. He served in a variety of management roles including Senior Vice President, Diagnostics, heading Abbott’s global core laboratory Diagnostics business; Vice President and General Manager, Hematology, in Abbott’s Diagnostics business; Vice President, Global Engineering Services; Divisional Vice President of Pharmaceutical Operations; and Divisional Vice President of Corporate Quality Operations. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Heather Mason
Executive Vice President, Nutritional Products of Abbott
Heather Mason is Executive Vice President, Nutritional Products. She was appointed to her current role in May 2015. Previously, she served as Executive Vice President, Global Commercial Operations, Abbott Nutrition. Ms. Mason joined Abbott in 1990. She held a number of positions in Abbott’s U.S. pharmaceutical business, including oversight of Abbott’s specialty pharmaceuticals, its diabetes/metabolics and oncology franchises, and managed health care. Ms. Mason also served as Vice President, International Marketing, and Vice President, Latin American Operations, in Abbott’s international pharmaceutical business. Immediately prior to assuming her role in Abbott’s Nutrition business in 2014, Ms. Mason served as Senior Vice President, Abbott Diabetes Care. Prior to joining Abbott, Ms. Mason worked for Quaker Oats and FMC Corporation. She is an advisory board member of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association. She earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Corlis Murray
Senior Vice President, Quality Assurance, Regulatory & Engineering Services of Abbott
Corlis Murray is Senior Vice President, Quality Assurance, Regulatory and Engineering Services. She was appointed to her current position in February 2012. Previously, she served as Vice President, Global Engineering Services. Ms. Murray joined Abbott in 1989. Since then, she has held a number of management positions in quality, operations and engineering in Abbott’s Diagnostics and Nutrition businesses. In Abbott Nutrition, she served as Divisional Vice President, Quality Assurance; Divisional Vice President, Manufacturing; and Divisional Vice President, Operations Services. Prior to joining Abbott, Ms. Murray worked at Recognition Equipment and Xerox Corporation. She is a board member of The Clara Abbott Foundation. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
John Capek
Executive Vice President of Abbott
John Capek, Ph.D., is Executive Vice President, Ventures. Dr. Capek was appointed to his current position in June 2015. In this role, he leads Abbott’s venture investment organization as well as new ventures, including Abbott Electrophysiology. Previously, he had served as Executive Vice President, Medical Devices, and Senior Vice President, Abbott Vascular, heading up Abbott’s global vascular business. Before joining Abbott, Dr. Capek served in various management roles at Guidant Corporation, including president, Guidant Vascular Intervention and vice president and general manager of Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions. He also served as vice president and general manager of Guidant Germany and vice president, marketing, Guidant Cardiac Rhythm Management Group. Before joining Guidant, Dr. Capek was manager of New Product Technology at Eli Lilly & Company. He has a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering, a master’s degree in biomedical engineering, a master’s degree in electrical engineering, a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Roger Bird
Senior Vice President, U.S. Nutrition of Abbott
Roger Bird is Abbott’s Senior Vice President, U.S. Nutrition. He was appointed to this role in February 2015. Prior to assuming his current position, Roger served as Divisional Vice President, General Manager for our Nutrition business in China and Hong Kong. Roger came to Abbott in 1983 from the Dial Soap Company, where he worked as a sales representative. He joined Abbott as Trade Sales Manager in our Nutrition organization, and has served in this business throughout his Abbott career, contributing to our company’s success in both the U.S. and Asia. While leading Abbott’s nutrition business in China, he oversaw the successful launch of Similac Eleva and Similac Qinti, two infant formula products that significantly strengthened Abbott’s presence in this important market. Throughout his career, Roger has taken real pride in contributing to the Abbott Nutrition mission of providing high-quality products that help improve the lives of people of all ages, all around the world. In addition to his responsibilities with Abbott. Roger serves on the Board of the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Roger earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Steve Fussell
Executive Vice President, Human Resources of Abbott
Steve Fussell is Executive Vice President, Human Resources. He was appointed in February 2013. Mr. Fussell joined Abbott in 1996, as Divisional Vice President, Compensation and Benefits. He was promoted to Vice President, Compensation and Development in 1999, and to Senior Vice President, Human Resources in 2005. Prior to Abbott, he held human resources leadership positions at Nestlé and Shell. Mr. Fussell is Chairman of the Board and President of the Clara Abbott Foundation and a board member of the Abbott Fund. He is an author and speaker on a wide variety of subjects and has served as a guest lecturer at Cornell and other universities. In 2010, he was named to the HR Honor Roll by Human Resources Executive magazine. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Jean-Yves Pavée
Senior Vice President of Abbott
Jean-Yves Pavée is Senior Vice President, Developed Markets for Abbott’s Established Products Division. He was appointed to his role in July 2013. Previously, he served as Divisional Vice President, EMEA East, and Division Vice President, Pharmaceuticals, Europe South. Mr. Pavee joined Abbott in 1992, after serving as European Sales Manager, France for Aguettant, S.A. Mister Pavée received his undergraduate degree from the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales d’Angers, France; and his MBA from HEC Paris MBA, Jouy-en-Josas, France.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Brian Yoor
Senior Vice President Finance & Chief Financial Officer of Abbott
Brian Yoor is Senior Vice President Finance and Chief Financial Officer. He was appointed to his current position in June 2015. He previously served as Vice President, Investor Relations. Brian joined Abbott in August 1997, and held various financial management positions of increasing responsibility, including Controller positions in the pharmaceutical, nutrition, and diagnostic businesses, before being asked to lead Abbott’s Investor Relations effort in January 2013. Prior to joining Abbott, Brian was a certified public accountant with Arthur Andersen and held financial positions in the consumer industry with the Scotts Company and Newell Rubbermaid. “In Abbott Finance, we are the stewards that enable financial reliability and growth for Abbott, “ Says Brian. “ A strong, growing company is better able to help people around the world live their healthiest lives.” Brian serves on the board of the Clara Abbott Foundation. He is a member of NIRI, the National Investor Relations Institute. He earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting at the University of Toledo in Ohio.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Hubert L. Allen
Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary of Abbott
Hubert L. Allen is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. He was appointed to his current role in January 2013. Previously, he served as Divisional Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Established Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Allen joined Abbott in 2006 as Senior Counsel, supporting the Pharmaceutical Products Division. He has held various positions within the legal department, including Divisional Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Pharmaceutical Products Group; Section Head, Nutrition Legal Operations; and Division Counsel, supporting the Pharmaceutical Products Division. Prior to joining Abbott, Mr. Allen was Assistant General Counsel for McKesson Corporation. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the College of Social Studies at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut; a master’s degree in Politics from Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, and a juris doctorate from Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Thomas Frinzi
Senior Vice President of Abbott
Thomas Frinzi is Senior Vice President of Abbott’s vision business, which includes a broad ophthalmology portfolio across the areas of cataracts, refractive surgery (LASIK) and eye health products. He was appointed to his position in January 2016. Prior to joining Abbott, Mr. Frinzi held a number of leadership positions in ophthalmology and medical device companies. Most recently, he served as President and CEO of WaveTec Vision, a developer of surgical systems for eye surgery. He also held senior positions in commercial operations, business development, and sales and marketing at Bausch & Lomb Surgical, Refractec and Johnson & Johnson. In recognition of his leadership, expertise and vision in the field, Mr. Frinzi was awarded the 2015 Ophthalmology Innovation Award by the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Tampa.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Linda Liu
Vice President of Translational Research of NextCure
Linda Liu is Vice President of Translational Research at NextCure.
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About NextCure: NextCure is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing next generation immuno-oncology-based drugs.
Ismail Kola
Executive Vice President & President UCB NewMedicines of UCB
Dr. Kola has served as our Director since October 18, 2010. Dr. Kola currently serves as Executive Vice President of UCB S.A. in Belgium, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative medicines focused on the fields of central nervous system and immunology disorders, and also serves as President of UCB New Medicines, UCB’s discovery research through proof-of-concept organization, since November 2009. Since March 2007, Dr. Kola was Senior Vice President, Discovery Research and Early Clinical Research & Experimental Medicine, and Chief Scientific Officer at Schering-Plough Corporation. Previously, Dr. Kola held senior positions commencing in 2003 at Merck & Company, where he was Senior Vice President and Site Head, Basic Research, and responsible for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, infectious diseases, immunology and rheumatology, animal pharmacology and basic and medicinal chemistry. Prior to that, Dr. Kola was Vice President, Research, and Global Head, Genomics Science and Biotechnology, with Pharmacia Corporation, and served as consultant to SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, where he was also a member of the Genomics Advisory Board. During his tenure of proven leadership at several major pharmaceutical companies, Dr. Kola has overseen the successful development of numerous innovative new medicines, including products in the fields of diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and central nervous system disorders.
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About UCB: UCB Pharma is a biopharmaceutical and specialty chemical company.
John DeYoung
Vice President of Worldwide Business Development of Pfizer
John DeYoung is Vice President of Worldwide Business Development for Pfizer Oncology. He is a member of the Oncology Leadership Team and the Worldwide Business Development Leadership Team. John joined Pfizer in 1991 and has held leadership positions in Finance, Marketing, Commercial Development and Business Development. He received a bachelor’s degree in business from Michigan State University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
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About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Morten Sogaard
Vice President and Head, Target Sciences of Pfizer
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About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Frank S Walsh
Executive Vice President of Pfizer
Frank is an accomplished Pharma and Biotech senior executive with over 20 years experience. Between 2002 and 2009, he was with Wyeth (Collegeville PA, USA), where he served as Executive Vice President and Head of Discovery Research Worldwide. This involved managing more than 1500 scientists across seven sites globally and delivering multiple products in diverse areas to IND and late stage clinical trials. Prior to joining Wyeth, Frank was at GlaxoSmithKline (UK) where he was Senior Vice President and Head of the Neurology Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery. From 1997 to 2000, he was Vice President and Head of Neuroscience Research at SmithKline Beecham (UK). Before moving to industry, Frank had a distinguished academic career, during which he authored over 200 scientific publications. He was the Research Dean at the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guys and St. Thomas’ Hospitals (London, UK), and also the Sir William Dunn Professor of Experimental Pathology and previously worked at the Institute of Neurology Queen Square, London. He has honorary degrees from the University of Perugia, University of Bologna, University of Strathclyde and University of Dundee. He is a Fellow of King’s College London, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences London and a Corresponding Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
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About OSSIANIX, Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Sonal Bhatia
Vice President, North America Medical Lead of Pfizer
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About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Hakan Sakul
Vice President and Head of Diagnostics of Pfizer
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About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Micah Bregman
Vice President, Global Strategy and Pipeline, Allergan Aesthetics of AbbVie
Micah Bregman is the Vice President, Global Strategy and Pipeline at Allergan Aesthetics, AbbVie
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About AbbVie: AbbVie is a pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and markets both biopharmaceuticals and small molecule drugs.
Philip Hajduk
Vice President of AbbVie
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About AbbVie: AbbVie is a pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and markets both biopharmaceuticals and small molecule drugs.
Azita Saleki Gerhardt
Senior Vice President, Operations of AbbVie
Azita Gerhardt is the SVP and President, Operations at AbbVie.
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About AbbVie: AbbVie is a pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and markets both biopharmaceuticals and small molecule drugs.
Heow Tan
Vice President of Technical Operations of Collegium Pharmaceutical
Heow Tan has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 25 years. He joined Collegium Pharmaceutical in 2006. He is responsible for CMC Product Development and Manufacturing activities. His experience in CMC includes working with oral, semi-solid and parenteral products, and successfully taking a product from pre-clinical to FDA and European approval. Prior to Collegium, he worked at Praecis Pharmaceuticals Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts as Vice President of Industrial Operations and Development;, He has also served as the Director of Manufacturing Operations for SciClone Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, San Mateo, California. Heow started his career in the Pharmaceutical industry working for Syntex Laboratories in Palo Alto, California, serving as the Manager of Manufacturing Engineering and Manager of Materials Control. He obtained his M.S. in Engineering from the Ohio State University, Ohio, and his M.B.A. from the University of Santa Clara, California.
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About Collegium Pharmaceutical: Collegium Pharmaceutical is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development of products for the treatment of chronic pain.
Colin South
Vice President of Zymergen
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About Zymergen: Zymergen is a biotechnology company that specializes in machine learning, big data, and artificial intelligence.
Stephan Gotthardt
Senior Vice President Europe Supply Chain of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
Stephan Gotthardt is the Senior Vice President Europe Supply Chain at Teva.
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About Teva Pharmaceutical Industries: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is a pharmaceutical company specializing in the development, production and marketing of generic.
Patrick Lindsay
Executive Vice President of United Biosource Corporation
Patrick Lindsay serves as President of UBC, guiding the company’s mission, vision, values, and strategic imperatives. He is responsible for clinical operations, business growth strategy, sales and marketing, and acquisition support. Patrick served as one of the early developers of the organization, which grew out of a passion for innovation and commitment to working with pharmaceutical and biotech organizations in providing safety, efficacy, and value of pharmaceutical and medical products. Patrick has been a leader in the healthcare and pharmaceutical services industry for more than 25 years. During his career, Mr. Lindsay has held senior management positions in such diverse areas as clinical stage operations, data management, biostatistics, information technology, marketing, and business development. He earned his Bachelor of Science in management from Rosemont College in Pennsylvania. Patrick is unconditionally focused on establishing high-level customer relationships and partnering with customers to match UBC service offerings to their research development projects, from both strategic and execution perspectives. Patrick was featured on the cover of the December 2013 edition of Pharmaceutical Executive: Pharma’s Life Partner: An Interview with United BioSource’s Patrick Lindsay.
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About United Biosource Corporation: United BioSource is a medical and scientific affairs company developing and commercializing products for life science companies worldwide.
Annette Stemhagen
Senior Vice President, Safety, Epidemiology, Registries & Risk Management of United Biosource Corporation
Annette Stemhagen, DrPH, FISPE, provides strategic consultative services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients in epidemiology, safety surveillance, and risk management. In addition, she assists other UBC groups in developing and implementing creative and innovative study design solutions to meet client needs. Dr. Stemhagen has more than 25 years of public health epidemiological research experience, including 15 years in safety surveillance of pharmaceutical, biotech, and vaccine products. Her specific expertise is in the design, implementation, and analysis of epidemiologic studies, registries, large streamlined safety studies, and actual use and observational studies for products in Phase IIIb and postapproval. Further, Dr. Stemhagen has designed and evaluated risk assessment studies, including more than 50 regulatory-mandated long-term safety studies. She has also developed Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) risk minimization programs and risk management evaluation studies. Dr. Stemhagen received her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health in Epidemiology. She holds adjunct faculty appointments at both the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Temple University School of Pharmacy. Dr. Stemhagen is a Fellow of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology and is active in the Drug Information Association. In 2004, she was appointed as the industry representative to the FDA Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee.
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About United Biosource Corporation: United BioSource is a medical and scientific affairs company developing and commercializing products for life science companies worldwide.
Gene Hung
Co-founder and Senior Vice President of XinThera
Gene Hung is a Co-founder and Senior Vice President at Xinthera Inc.
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About XinThera: XinThera is a drug discovery company focused on building small molecule oncology and immunology pipeline.
Arthur Levin
Executive Vice President, Research & Development of Avidity Biosciences
Arthur A. Levin, Ph.D., is miRagen’s Executive Vice President of Research and Development. Dr. Levin is a drug development veteran having spent more than 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry, of which more than 15 years were in the area of research and development of RNA-targeting therapeutics. He is a recognized world expert on the preclinical and clinical development of oligonucleotide-based therapeutics. Prior to joining miRagen Therapeutics, Dr. Levin was Chief Development Officer of Santaris Pharma A/S, where he led the efforts on the first microRNA-targeting therapeutic in Phase 2 clinical trials, miravirsen. Before joining Santaris Pharma, Dr. Levin consulted for leading biotechnology companies, conducting research and development in RNA-based therapies such as mRNA, microRNA, and siRNA.Prior to consulting, Dr. Levin was Senior Vice President of Development at Isis Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for the drug development of Isis’ products across a range of therapeutic areas. His expertise was instrumental in advancing more than a dozen oligonucleotide drugs from basic research to clinical development in areas such as neuromuscular diseases, infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. He joined Isis from Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., where he was Research Leader. Dr. Levin holds a Ph.D. in Toxicology from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, New York, and a B.S. in Biology from Muhlenberg College.He completed his post-doctoral work at the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology in Research Triangle, North Carolina. He was the recipient of the Scala Award for Industrial Toxicology and is the author of more than 50 papers and book chapters.
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About Avidity Biosciences, Avidity Biosciences: Avidity Biosciences is a biotech company that delivers nucleic acid therapeutics against genetic drivers of disease.
Andy Geall
Vice President of Formulations and Chemistry of Avidity Biosciences
Andy Geall is the VP of formulations and chemistry at Avidity Biosciences.
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About Avidity Biosciences: Avidity Biosciences is a biotech company that delivers nucleic acid therapeutics against genetic drivers of disease.
Kathryn E. Falberg
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Kathryn Falberg was appointed our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in March 2012. She served as our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 2009 to 2012. Her responsibilities include finance, strategy, corporate development and IT. From 1995 through 2001, Kathryn Falberg was with Amgen, Inc., where she served as Senior Vice President Finance, Strategy and Chief Financial Officer, and before that as Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer, and Vice President, Treasurer. From 2001 through 2008, Kathryn Falberg was President of Canyon Capital & Consulting, a private investment and consulting firm, where she worked with a number of smaller companies while also serving as a corporate director and audit committee chair for several companies. From February to November 2009, she was Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at ARCA biopharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. Kathryn Falberg received an M.B.A. and B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive). Kathryn Falberg currently serves on the boards, and is chair of the audit committees, of biopharmaceutical companies Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. and Medivation, Inc.
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About Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Jazz Pharmaceuticals is a specialty pharmaceutical company that identifies, develops and commercializes innovative treatments.
Steven Fasman
Senior Vice President & General Counsel of Catalent Pharma Solutions
Steven Fasman is Senior VP & General Counsel at Catalent Pharma Solutions.
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About Catalent Pharma Solutions, Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services: Catalent provider of advanced delivery technologies, development, and manufacturing solutions for drugs, biologics, cell and gene therapies.
John Ruesch
Vice President of Biogen Idec
John Ruesch is the associate director in QC/Stability/Compliance in the Analytical Research and Development of Pfizer Global Biologics.
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About Biogen Idec: Biogen Idec is an American biotechnology company that provides therapeutics for neurological, autoimmune, and rare diseases.
Daniel Van Plew
Executive Vice President and General Manager, Industrial Operations and Product Supply of Regeneron
Daniel Van Plew has been Executive Vice President and General Manager, Industrial Operations and Product Supply since July 2007. He joined the company in July 2007 and previously served as Senior Vice President, Vice President, and General Manager, Industrial Operations and Product Supply.
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About Regeneron: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases.
Bari Kowal
Senior Vice President, Head Development Operations & Portfolio Management of Regeneron
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About Regeneron: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases.
Goncalo Abecasis
Vice President of Regeneron
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About Regeneron, University of Michigan: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases.
Ned Braunstein
Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs of Regeneron
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About Regeneron: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases.
Hanne Bak
Senior Vice President Preclinical Manufacturing and Process Development of Regeneron
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About Regeneron: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases.
David Weinreich
Executive Vice President, Head, Global Clinical Development of Regeneron
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About Regeneron: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases.
Aris Baras
Senior Vice President, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, General Manager, Regeneron Genetics Center of Regeneron
Aris Baras serves as Vice President and Head of the Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC), one of the largest human genetics programs in the world, spanning large-scale sequencing, informatics, and translational sciences using human genetics to advance and guide the development of Regeneron’s pipeline of important new medicines. He has established and leads several foundational genomics collaborations, such as with the Geisinger Health System to sequence at least 250,000 participants and with the UK Biobank to sequence 500,000 participants. The RGC has produced many high impact discoveries identifying new drug targets, validating existing development programs, and contributing important new gene discoveries. The RGC has sequenced more than 250,000 individuals to date, collaborating with more than 50 institutions around the world. Previously, Aris Baras held roles and responsibilities at Regeneron across R&D and business development. Prior to Regeneron, Aris Baras contributed to other biotechnology ventures and conducted research spanning antibody based therapeutics, cancer research, and nanotechnology applications in drug development. Aris Baras received his Bachelor’s of Science, M.D., and M.B.A., all from Duke University.
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About Regeneron: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases.
Joseph LaRosa
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Regeneron
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About Regeneron: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases.
Juan Andres
Senior Vice President Technical Development, Manufacturing and Quality of Moderna Therapeutics
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About Moderna Therapeutics: Moderna Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that specializes in drug discovery and drug development based on messenger RNA.
George Lloyd
Executive Vice President, Investments and General Counsel of Royalty Pharma
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About Royalty Pharma: Industry leader in investing in marketed and late stage biopharmaceutical products
Jim Reddoch
Chief Scientific Officer, Executive Vice President, Head of Research and Investments of Royalty Pharma
Jim Reddoch is the Chief Scientific Officer and EVP, Research & Investments, Royalty Pharma
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About Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Memorial Sloan – Kettering Cancer Center, Royalty Pharma: Industry leader in investing in marketed and late stage biopharmaceutical products
Georgianna Harris
Vice President of Regulatory Affairs of Alkermes
Georgianna Harris leads the regulatory affairs department at Alkermes. In this role, Dr. Harris provides regulatory strategy and guidance for development candidates and commercial products. Prior to joining Alkermes, Dr. Harris spent 25 years at Merck, in positions of increasing responsibility spanning laboratory research and regulatory affairs. During her tenure with Merck’s regulatory affairs organization, Dr. Harris oversaw global development, registration and post-registration activities for multiple small-molecule and biologic medicines for obesity, bone, oncology, diabetes and women’s health indications. Dr. Harris received a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston College and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin. She was subsequently a postdoctoral research fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the Department of Chemistry.
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About : Alkermes is a biotechnology company that develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines for the treatment of chronic diseases.
Mike Landine
Senior Vice President of Corporate Development of Alkermes
Mike Landine oversees Alkermes’ corporate development activities. Prior to leading corporate development, Mr. Landine served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Alkermes from March 1988 until June 1998. Mr. Landine is a member of the Board of Directors of Kopin Corporation, a publicly traded manufacturer of components for electronic products. He also previously served on the Board of Directors of GTC Biotherapeutics, a biotechnology company, from 2005 to 2010. Mr. Landine received a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Bentley University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
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About : Alkermes is a biotechnology company that develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines for the treatment of chronic diseases.
Blair Jackson
Vice President of Business Development of Alkermes
Blair Jackson leads business development at Alkermes, encompassing licensing efforts, new product evaluation and alliance management. Since joining Alkermes in 1999, Mr. Jackson has served in various roles within the company in both a scientific and corporate capacity. Mr. Jackson also serves on the board of Civitas Therapeutics, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative pulmonary delivery therapies. Mr. Jackson received a Bachelor of Arts degree in biochemistry from the University of Calgary, a Bachelor of Arts in chemical engineering and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Alberta, and a Master of Science in chemical engineering practice from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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About : Alkermes is a biotechnology company that develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines for the treatment of chronic diseases.
Madeline Coffin
Vice President of Human Resources of Alkermes
Madeline Coffin leads Alkermes’ human resources team, with responsibility for global compensation and benefits, talent acquisition, employee engagement and growth and organization development. Ms. Coffin has held a number of senior human resource positions at companies including Analog Devices, Sun Microsystems, Wang Software and Bay Networks. Prior to joining Alkermes, she founded her own company, which focused on the strategic human resource needs of growing companies for clients in a broad range of industries. Ms. Coffin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Penn State University and a Master of Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.
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About : Alkermes is a biotechnology company that develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines for the treatment of chronic diseases.
David Franklin
Vice President, Commercial Operations of Intarcia Therapeutics
Mr. Franklin joined Intarcia in March 2006 as Vice President, Commercial Operations. Prior to joining Intarcia, Mr. Franklin was Senior Vice President, US Business Unit and Acting Senior Vice President, Global Marketing for Idenix Pharmaceuticals. As head of the US Business from March 2005 through March 2006, Mr. Franklin developed and executed plans for the commercialization of telbivudine, an antiviral for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B, and built the US Business Unit, an organization comprising approximately 40 Medical, Marketing and Sales personnel. From June 2003 until March 2005, Mr. Franklin served as Vice President, Commercial Operations, leading the Idenix Global Marketing group, directing brand development for telbivudine and for a phase II hepatitis C drug candidate and leading commercial efforts to form a global co-promotion and licensing alliance with Novartis AG. Prior to these responsibilities, Mr. Franklin held positions of increasing responsibility with Idenix as Executive Director, Marketing and Corporate Communications and Director, Marketing and played key roles in multiple private and public financing transactions and in business development and licensing transactions. Prior to joining Idenix in 1998, Mr. Franklin was Senior Product Manager, HIV Products for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. with responsibility for Zerit and Videx, two antiviral therapies for the treatment of HIV infection. Prior to joining the HIV Products Division, Mr. Franklin held sales and sales administration positions within the Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology Division from 1990 to 1995, responsible for sales force support, incentive compensation and alliance management. Mr. Franklin received a BA from Gettysburg College in 1988.
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About Intarcia Therapeutics: Intarcia Therapeutics develops therapies for diseases that require long-term chronic treatment.
Ved Srivastava
Vice President, Chemistry of Intarcia Therapeutics
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About Intarcia Therapeutics, U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (The United States Pharmacopeial Convention): Intarcia Therapeutics develops therapies for diseases that require long-term chronic treatment.
