Alnylam Pharmaceuticals is a leading RNAi therapeutics-based company. RNAi is the process whereby mRNA is effectively knocked down. The purpose of RNAi is to reduce protein transcription levels.
Alnylam is based out of Cambridge, MA (U.S.). They announced on June 20th that they have appointed Masako Nakamura as the Senior Vice Presidenct and the Head of Asia. Prior to, she was the Vice President and GM of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals (Japan). She was also in top leadership positions at Genzyme. Jing Marantz will also be joining Alnylam as the Senior Vice President and Head of Medical Affairs. She was previously the VP of Global Medical Affairs at Alexion. She was was also the Global Medical Lead at Biogen.
The following are direct quotes (source)
Masako Nakamura, Senior Vice President, Head of Asia
“Extending Alnylam’s operations into the Asian region, particularly Japan, is a critical step in preparing to launch RNAi therapeutics globally,” commented Ms. Nakamura. “Leveraging my expertise in introducing and commercializing orphan drugs in Asian and global markets, I look forward to charting the Company’s course from a research and development organization to a multi-product commercial organization and improving the lives of patients with rare diseases one patient at a time.”
In this role, Ms. Nakamura will be responsible for the strategic direction and execution of Alnylam’s operations in the Asian region with an initial focus on Japan. This will include building capabilities and sequencing the potential commercial launches in Asia of patisiran in 2019 and givosiran and lumasiran thereafter.
Ms. Nakamura comes with over 25 years of rare disease/orphan drug biotech industry experience. Most recently, she served as Head of Asia & Vice President/General Manager, Japan at Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, K.K. Previously, Ms. Nakamura held several senior positions at Genzyme Corporation including the roles of Vice President, International Marketing and Strategic Planning, and General Manager, Japan, where she led the expedited approvals and successful launches of several rare disease drugs. Prior to her tenure at Genzyme, she held commercial leadership roles at Genetics Institute within the Hemophilia and Oncology space.
Jing L. Marantz, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Head of Medical Affairs
“It’s a pleasure to join Alnylam, a company with a patient-focused mindset and a robust patient access philosophy,” said Dr. Marantz. “Integration of clinical and commercial strategy is critical to seamless entry of novel medicines into the rare disease marketplace, while keeping patient needs top of mind. I hope to offer many learnings to help facilitate this integration.”
In her role, Dr. Marantz will be responsible for the strategic direction and oversight of Alnylam’s Medical Affairs expertise area. She and her team will serve as a key interface between clinical and commercial activities, responsible for building and executing scalable global medical affairs strategies across product life cycles. Under her leadership, the Medical Affairs organization will continue to be highly patient focused and responsible for providing scientific and medical expertise and support for Alnylam’s products and pipeline to all external stakeholders. It will also help establish Alnylam as a trusted scientific partner with medical and patient communities.
Dr. Marantz brings over 18 years of pharmaceutical experience with an extensive background in medical affairs. Most recently, she was Vice President, Global Medical Affairs, Complement Franchise at Alexion after serving as Head of U.S. Medical Affairs, responsible for three marketed rare disease products across hematology, nephrology, metabolic, and neurology indications. Previously, she was the Global Medical Lead for TECFIDERA®, Biogen’s flagship product in neurology. Prior to her role at Biogen, Dr. Marantz held senior leadership positions at ARIAD Pharmaceuticals and Millennium Pharmaceuticals.
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 people afflicted with rare genetic, cardio-metabolic, and hepatic infectious diseases. Based on Nobel Prize-winning science, RNAi therapeutics represent a powerful, clinically validated approach for the treatment of a wide range of severe and 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 four product candidates that are in late-stage development. 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 to address the needs of patients who have limited or inadequate treatment options. Alnylam employs over 800 people in the U.S. and Europe and is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. For more information about our people, science and pipeline, please visit www.alnylam.com and engage with us on Twitter at @Alnylam or on LinkedIn.
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 global commercialization of investigational RNAi therapeutics, including the potential timing for the launch of patisiran and other investigational medicines in Asian territories, and expectations regarding “Alnylam 2020” guidance for the advancement and commercialization of 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, which may affect the design, initiation, timing, continuation and/or progress of clinical trials or result in the need for additional pre-clinical and/or clinical testing, delays, interruptions or failures in the manufacture and supply of its product candidates, 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.
Patisiran, givosiran, and lumasiran have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency, or any other regulatory authority and no conclusions can or should be drawn regarding the safety or effectiveness of these investigational therapeutics.
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Source: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Christine Regan Lindenboom, 617-682-4340
(Investors and Media)
or
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(Investors)
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