Anish Bhatnagar, MD
Chief Executive Officer
Anish Bhatnagar, MD
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Bhatnagar was appointed as our Chief Executive Officer in February 2014. Prior to that, he served as our President and Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Bhatnagar joined us in 2006, and has held positions of increasing responsibility since then. Dr. Bhatnagar is a physician with over 15 years of experience in the medical device and biopharmaceutical industries. His experience spans development of biologics, drugs, drug-device combinations and diagnostic as well as therapeutic medical devices. His prior experience includes working at Coulter Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 1998 to 2000 and Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2000 to 2006. He is the author of several peer-reviewed publications, abstracts and book chapters. He obtained his medical degree at SMS Medical College in Jaipur, India and completed his Residency and Fellowship training in the U.S. at various institutions, including Georgetown University Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania.
Dawn Carter Bir
Dawn Carter Bir
Ms. Bir recently served as Executive Vice President, member of the core executive team, and Chief Commercial Officer of Reata Pharmaceuticals for over 7 years through the company’s first product approval and launch and $7.3B acquisition by Biogen in September 2023. Prior to Reata, Ms. Bir served as Vice President Sales and member of the Pharmacyclics executive leadership team through the launch of the company’s first product, a novel, first-in-class and blockbuster hematology therapeutic. Pharmacyclics was acquired by AbbVie in 2015 for $21B. Ms. Bir currently serves on the Geron Corporation board of directors, a public, commercial-stage oncology company with a first in class telomerase inhibitor.
William G. Harris
William G. Harris
Mr. Harris has been a member of our Board of Directors since June 2014. From 2001-2016, he was the Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Xenoport, Inc. Arbor Pharmaceuticals, LLC, a specialty pharmaceutical company, acquired Xenoport in 2016. From 1996 to 2001, he held several positions with Coulter Pharmaceutical, Inc., a biotechnology company engaged in the development of novel therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, the most recent of which was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Corixa Corp., a developer of immunotherapeutic products, acquired Coulter Pharmaceutical in 2000. Prior to Coulter Pharmaceutical, from 1990 to 1996, Mr. Harris held several positions at Gilead Sciences, Inc., the most recent of which was director of finance. Mr. Harris received a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego and an M.B.A. from Santa Clara University, Leavey School of Business and Administration.
Matthew Pauls, JD, MBA
Matthew Pauls, JD, MBA
Mr. Pauls brings more than three decades of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Since 2020, Mr. Pauls has served as Chair of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Savara, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on rare respiratory diseases. He is also a member of the Board of Directors at Amplo Biotechnology, a private gene therapy company focused on rare neuromuscular disorders, and Pelthos Therapeutics, a private biopharmaceutical company focused on dermatologic infectious diseases. From 2014 to 2019, Mr. Pauls was President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Strongbridge Biopharma plc., a publicly traded rare-disease focused biopharmaceutical company that he took public via IPO on the NASDAQ. Prior to 2014, he served as Chief Commercial Officer of Insmed, Inc., where he led both the global Commercial and CMC/Technical Operations teams. Prior to Insmed, Mr. Pauls worked at Shire Pharmaceuticals, most recently as Senior Vice President, Head of Global Commercial Operations, and earlier in his career held senior U.S. and global commercial leadership positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson. In addition to his Board positions at Savara and Strongbridge, Mr. Pauls has also served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Mast Therapeutics and was a member of the Board of Directors of Zyla Life Sciences. Mr. Pauls holds B.S. and M.B.A. degrees from Central Michigan University and a J.D. from Michigan State University College of Law.
Andrew Sinclair, PhD
Abingworth LLP
Andrew Sinclair, PhD
Abingworth LLP
Dr. Sinclair has been a member of our Board of Directors since December 2018. Since 2008, Dr. Sinclair has held various positions at Abingworth LLP, a life sciences investment group, where he is currently a Partner and Portfolio Manager. Dr. Sinclair currently sits on the boards of Sierra Oncology Inc. and Verona Pharma plc, Adicet Bio, Inc., and Locki Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Sinclair is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Dr. Sinclair received a BSc in Microbiology from King's College London and his Ph.D. in Chemistry and Genetic Engineering at the BBSRC Institute of Plant Science, Norwich.
Birgitte Volck MD, PhD
Birgitte Volck MD, PhD
Dr. Volck joined our Board of Directors in June 2019. Since July 2021, Dr. Volck has served as Senior Vice President, Head Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Ascendispharma, and since October 2022, she has also served as Interim Chief Medical Officer. From December 2018 to October 2020, Dr. Volck served as the President R&D at AVROBIO Inc., a clinical stage gene therapy company. From 2016 to 2018, she served as head of Research and Development, Rare Diseases, for GlaxoSmithKline. From 2012 to 2016, Dr. Volck served as the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Development at Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB. Prior to this, from 2007 to 2012, she held various positions at Amgen Inc., including Executive Development Director, Bone, Neuroscience & Inflammation. From 2004 to 2007, Dr. Volck served as Nordic Medical Director and Project Director at Genzyme A/S, and from 2001 to 2004, she served as Head of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Pharmexa. Since May 2021, Dr. Volck has served as a director for Nykode A/S. Dr. Volck served as a director for Ascendis Pharma A/S from 2016-2021. She also served as a director for Wilson Therapeutics AB from May 2017 to May 2018 until it was acquired by Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $850 million. Dr. Volck served as a director of TFS International AB from 2016-2020. Dr. Volck received her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Copenhagen University, Denmark.
Developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of rare diseases