Distinguished executives from across biotech and pharma come with decades of experience and diverse career paths
CAMBRIDGE, MA (Thursday, April 25, 2024)—Today, MassBio announced the appointment of eight life sciences executives to the organization’s Board of Directors, along with new board leadership, who were formally approved at Wednesday’s MassBio State of Possible Conference. These members will direct and support MassBio’s mission to advance Massachusetts’ leadership in the life sciences to grow the industry, add value to the healthcare system, and improve patient lives. Collectively, the Board will leverage its leadership to implement the strategies put forth in MassBio’s forthcoming 2030 five-year strategic report.
“As MassBio prepares to celebrate forty years of supporting and growing the local life sciences industry, we will enter our fifth decade with a new strategic plan and a renewed 10-year public-private partnership in the pending Life Sciences Initiative,” said MassBio CEO and President Kendalle Burlin O’Connell. “These eight new board members, who come from a diverse cross-section of the biopharma industry, will help the world’s oldest and largest biotech trade association continue to deliver for our members and this ecosystem through their exceptional experience and knowledge. I welcome each of them to the MassBio Board and congratulate newly elected Board Chair Tamar Thompson.”
The eight industry leaders joining the Board of Directors this year are:
- Carolina Alarco, Founder and Principal, Bio Strategy Advisors and Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Latinos in Bio
- Jake Becraft, CEO and co-founder, Strand Therapeutics
- Sharon Cunningham, CEO, Co-Founder and board member, Shorla Oncology
- Brian Foard, Executive Vice President, Head of Specialty Care, Sanofi
- Natacha Gassenbach, Head of Corporate Affairs, Chief Communications Officer, Biogen
- Marie-Louise Hovgaard-Sveen, MD, PhD, US R&D Operations, Novo Nordisk
- Emma Lees, PhD, Senior Vice President, Oncology Discovery, Bristol Myers Squibb
- Evan Lippman, Chief Corporate Development & Strategy Officer, Alnylam
In addition to the new members, the Executive Committee roster has been updated:
- Chair: Tamar Thompson, Vice President, Head, Corporate Affairs, Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease
- Vice Chair: Jeff Elton, Chief Executive Officer, ConcertAI
- Treasurer: Mike O’Hara, Partner, Deloitte
- Clerk: Jason Cole, Chief Executive Officer, SalioGen Therapeutics
- Counsel: Larry Wittenberg, Partner, Goodwin
- Immediate Past Chair: Pam Randhawa, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Empiriko
“I look forward to working in partnership with Kendalle, the MassBio Board and our members on efforts to reinforce the long-term sustainability and resilience of our biotech ecosystem,” said Tamar Thompson, Vice President, Head, Corporate Affairs, Alexion/AstraZeneca Rare Disease, and new Board Chair. ”Through policies that improve outcomes for patients, strong workforce development programs and a commitment to promoting economic opportunities across the state, we can ensure that Massachusetts continues to lead in setting the global pace for innovation.”
About the New Chair
Tamar Thompson, Vice President, Head, Corporate Affairs, Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease
As a transformational life sciences executive and market access champion, Tamar Thompson has an impressive track record focused on leading and developing health policy, launch and pharmaceutical commercialization strategies for breakthrough and curative therapies. Prior to joining Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease, Tamar led the US government affairs and policy efforts for Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Tamar also served as a market access and commercialization advisor for three Washington, DC-based firms, ADVI, Kimbell & Associates and Avalere Health, where she managed a diverse portfolio of clients, including medical device, biotech, pharmaceutical, diagnostics and specialty drug companies. (View full bio)
About the New Board Members
Carolina Alarco, Founder and Principal, Bio Strategy Advisors and Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Latinos in Bio
Carolina is a senior biotech executive with more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry in Massachusetts. She is the Founder and Principal at Bio Strategy Advisors, a strategic business consulting firm specializing in start-up formation, corporate strategy, investor-readiness, strategic partnerships and geographical expansion. She is an Advisory Board Member for Cell and Gene Therapy at Informa Connect Life Sciences. Carolina is also a Strategic Consultant at Interlink Markets, a boutique Investment Bank which specializes in early-round fund-raising. Previously, Carolina was a Vice-President at Genzyme Corporation where she spent 15 years in progressive P&L leadership roles until the acquisition by Sanofi in 2011. After that, she was a President at Aegerion Pharmaceuticals and then a President at Novelion Therapeutics, until their respective exits. Both were commercial-stage, publicly-traded Biotech companies. (View full bio)
Jake Becraft, CEO and co-founder, Strand Therapeutics
Jake Becraft is the CEO and co-founder Strand Therapeutics, the leading next-generation mRNA therapeutics company. Beginning with his research at MIT spanning back more than a decade, together with colleagues at MIT’s renowned Synthetic Biology Center, he led the development of the world’s first programmable platform for mRNA therapeutics. This technology enabled the delivery of therapies to areas of the body currently unreachable by traditional mRNA technologies and promises to revolutionize how medicines are designed for oncology, cell therapy, gene editing, and beyond. (View full bio)
Sharon Cunningham, CEO, Co-Founder and board member, Shorla Oncology
Sharon Cunningham is CEO, Co-Founder and board member of Shorla Oncology (‘Shorla’), a commercial stage U.S.-Ireland specialty pharmaceutical company. The company has an innovative pipeline of oncology drugs focusing on women’s, orphan and pediatric cancers, solving unmet needs and delivering a significant contribution to patient care. In 2023, Shorla launched two oncology drugs in the U.S.. A chartered accountant by profession, Sharon has spent over 14 years in leadership roles in the pharmaceutical industry. (View full bio)
Brian Foard, Executive Vice President, Head of Specialty Care, Sanofi
As the leader of Sanofi’s Specialty Care unit, Brian oversees a wide portfolio of key assets and growth drivers across immunology, neuro inflammatory, rare disease and oncology. Brian and his teams are responsible for the launches of first and best-in-class treatments in these areas and setting the strategy for bringing Sanofi’s next generation of breakthrough science to patients. Brian joined Sanofi in March 2017 as the global head of Dermatology and Respiratory and held roles of increasing responsibility, including as Head of Global Immunology and then Head of Specialty Care North America and U.S. Country Lead. Brian, who has more 20 years of specialty biopharma experience, began his career with Galderma where he spent more than 10 years in the U.S. before relocating to Paris to lead global marketing and launch readiness. During his time at Galderma, Brian also served in roles including General Manager for Australia & New Zealand and Vice President & General Manager of the global prescription business unit.
Natacha Gassenbach, Head of Corporate Affairs, Chief Communications Officer, Biogen
Natacha Gassenbach joined Biogen in October 2018 and is the Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer. In her role, Natacha leads the global corporate affairs function including external and internal communications, branding and reputation, patient advocacy, and corporate responsibility. She also has responsibility for the Biogen Foundation and philanthropy. Prior to joining Biogen, Natacha spent more than 20 years in various leadership roles in the biopharmaceutical industry with experience in medical devices, vaccines and pharmaceuticals, spanning from early-stage companies to large corporations. She led communications and engagement with key stakeholders during major, complex transformations and participated in the launch of breakthrough therapies. Prior to joining Biogen, Natacha was Head of Corporate Affairs at Baxalta (acquired by Shire), Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics and Boston Scientific. Natacha earned a master’s degree in journalism and communication from the University of Paris Sorbonne.
Marie-Louise Hovgaard-Sveen, MD, PhD, US R&D Operations, Novo Nordisk
Marie-Louise Hovgaard-Sveen, MD, PhD, joined Novo Nordisk in 2012 and is the Vice President, US Research & Development Operations at the organization’s US R&D Hub located in greater Boston. In her role, Marie-Louise leads a cross-functional R&D Operations leadership team responsible for managing the Hub’s infrastructure and processes to enable a best-in-class R&D organization across the full value chain from drug discovery to development. Marie-Louise’s broad leadership experience within Novo Nordisk spans from medical affairs to global and local product launches across the R&D portfolio; including managing clinical trials to leading the building of a new Clinical innovation center where early phase studies can be conducted. Marie-Louise holds a BSc in Biology and Psychology from Duke University and earned her Medical degree, and PhD in Neuromuscular Diseases from Copenhagen University.
Emma Lees, PhD, Senior Vice President, Oncology Discovery, Bristol Myers Squibb
Dr. Emma Lees holds a PhD from Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London England and performed post-doctoral work for Cold Spring Harbor labs and Harvard Medical school, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. Her industry career began at DNAX Research Institute/Schering Plough in Palo Alto, California, where she was responsible for building and leading the Oncology Research group. From there, Emma joined Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research (NIBR) as Site Head and Vice President of Oncology in Emeryville, California, and later became Vice President of Oncology Biotherapeutics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Emma transitioned to Jounce Therapeutics, also in Cambridge, a leading immuno-oncology biotech company where she served as Head of Discovery and Translational Research. Emma joined Bristol Myers Squibb in 2018 as Senior Vice President, Oncology Discovery and she also serves as Site Head for Bristol Myers Squibb’s R&D site in Cambridge, MA. (View full bio)
Evan Lippman, Chief Corporate Development & Strategy Officer, Alnylam
Evan Lippman joined Alnylam in September of 2022 as Chief Corporate Development and Strategy Officer bringing with him many years of experience in corporate finance, business development, operational, and commercial roles spanning both large pharmaceutical and emerging biotechnology companies. Evan joined Alnylam from Intima Bioscience where he served as President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to Intima, he was Senior Vice President Head of Corporate Development, M&A and Valuation for Takeda Pharmaceuticals for nearly five years. In this position he was responsible for developing, structuring, and negotiating global acquisitions, divestments, and commercially focused licensing/strategic collaborations. Before his time at Takeda, Evan was Chief Business and Financial Officer of Aileron Therapeutics, General Manager at both EMD Serono and AstraZeneca and was at Pfizer as a senior business development executive. Evan holds an MBA in Finance from Cornell University.
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About MassBio
MassBio’s mission is to advance Massachusetts’ leadership in the life sciences to grow the industry, add value to the healthcare system, and improve patient lives. MassBio represents the premier global life sciences and healthcare hub, with 1,600+ members dedicated to preventing, treating, and curing diseases through transformative science and technology that brings value and hope to patients. Founded in 1985, MassBio works to advance policy and promote education, while providing member programs, events, industry information, and services for the #1 life sciences cluster in the world.