Board of Directors
Sarah Boyce has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2024. Currently, Ms. Boyce serves as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors of Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNA). Prior to joining Avidity, Ms. Boyce served as a Director and President of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKCA), and as Chief Business Officer at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: IONS), where she was responsible for business development, alliance management, patient advocacy and investor relations. Before Ionis, Ms. Boyce served as Vice President, Head of International Business Strategy and Operations at Forest Laboratories, Inc., and held various positions of increasing responsibility with Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., Novartis Group AG (NYSE: NVS), Bayer AG and F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG. Ms. Boyce also previously served on the Board of Directors of Berkeley Lights Inc. (Nasdaq: BLI) and currently serves on the board of directors of OmniAb, Inc. Ms. Boyce received a B.S. degree in microbiology from the University of Manchester, England.
Todd R. Brady has served as a member of our board of directors since November 2019. Mr. Brady has served as the Director of Finance and Investments at Brace Pharma Capital since 2014. He currently serves on the board of directors of Vero Biotech LLC since July 2015 and Tyrogenex since April 2015, and as board observer for HotSpot Therapeutics since May 2020. He previously served as a board member of Avidity Biosciences (May 2017 to January 2021), Cocrystal Pharma Inc. (February 2019 to March 2020), and as a board observer for Precision Biosciences (June 2018 to March 2019), and Miragen Therapeutics (October 2015 to February 2017). Mr. Brady has an extensive and diverse background in Capital Markets, working in equity research, asset management, private equity, and corporate banking over the duration of his career. Mr. Brady received a Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business (York University) in 2007 and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Mr. Ignelzi currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer at Rapport Therapeutics, Inc., a precision neuromedicines company, where he has served since November 2023. Prior to that, he was Chief Financial Officer at Karuna Therapeutics, Inc., a neurological disease company, (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb), where he led the team in the execution of a private crossover round, the company’s IPO and multiple follow-on financings. Prior to Karuna, Mr. Ignelzi served as Chief Financial Officer at Juventas Therapeutics and scPharmaceuticals. Mr. Ignelzi began his career at Eli Lilly, and then held roles of increasing responsibility at several biotechnology companies including Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. and Insys Therapeutics, Inc. Previously, Mr. Ignelzi served on the board of CinCor Pharma, Inc., where he advised on the company’s sale to AstraZeneca in early 2023. He currently serves on the boards of Vedanta Biosciences and Abivax and is an Executive Advisor for Sofinnova Investments. Mr. Ignelzi is a graduate of Ferris State University, where he earned his B.S. in accounting.
Ms. Lyons-Williams is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Abdera Therapeutics. Lori M. Lyons-Williams has served as a member of our board of directors since August 2020. Most recently, Lori Lyons-Williams served as chief operating officer of Neumora Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to that, from December 2016 to May 2020, Ms. Lyons-Williams served as Chief Commercial Officer at Dermira, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, where she was responsible for the strategic, financial, and operational leadership of the company’s product portfolio. From January 2002 to August 2016, Ms. Lyons-Williams worked at Allergan, Inc., a public biotechnology company, where she held positions of increasing responsibility, most recently as Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Urology. Ms. Lyons-Williams also served as a member of the Allergan Commercial Leadership Team and the Operational Leadership Team. Since June 2019, Ms. Lyons-Williams has served on the board of directors of Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. Ms. Lyons-Williams received a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and an M.B.A., Marketing from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.
Evert (Eef) Schimmelpennink has served as a member of our board of directors since January 2022. Mr. Schimmelpennink is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ: LENZ), a late-stage biotechnology company. From August 2017 to October 2020 he was the Chief Executive Officer of Pfenex Inc. (NYSE: PFNX), which he led through a turnaround and its first FDA approval resulting in an acquisition by Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. in late 2020. From October 2015 to July 2017, Mr. Schimmelpennink was Chief Executive Officer of Alvotech (NASDAQ: ALVO), a specialty biopharmaceutical company, where he led the company through a critical growth phase, and aligned R&D, manufacturing and commercial capabilities across a portfolio of monoclonal antibodies. Prior to that, he held senior positions at Pfizer Inc. and Hospira, Inc. within their global specialty injectables businesses, as well as Synthon BV. Mr. Schimmelpennink also serves on the board of directors of iBio, Inc. (NYSE:iBIO). Mr. Schimmelpennink earned a M.Sc. in bioprocess engineering from the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands and a Business Degree from the Arnhem Business School.
Carmine has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and on our board of directors since October 2018. Previously, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Avelas Biosciences, Inc. from January 2014 to October 2018, where he has also served on the board of directors since January 2014 and as Chief Business Officer from May 2012 to January 2014. Before that he served as Senior Vice President, Business Development for COI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from May 2013 to October 2018, where he helped co-found five new biotechnology companies. Mr. Stengone also served as Vice President of Corporate Development for Afraxis, Inc. from 2010 to 2013 and co-founder and CEO of Araxes, Inc., a spin-out company from Araxes Holdings, Inc. from 2013 to 2014. Before that, he was with Phenomix Corporation as the Senior Director of Business Development from 2006 to 2010, and previously held positions of increasing responsibility at Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc., from 2004 to 2006 and Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development from 2003 to 2004. Mr. Stengone also currently serves on the board of directors of Kiora Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KPRX). Carmine received his MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University in 2003. He also received an M.S. degree in Organic Chemistry from Duke University in 1999 and a B.S. in Chemistry from Wake Forest University in 1997.
Olivia Ware has served as a member of our board of directors since March 2024. Ms. Ware has more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical drug development, commercialization and healthcare management. From November 2019 to March 2021, Ms. Ware served as the Senior Vice President, BTK Franchise Head at Principia Biopharma Inc., which was acquired by Sanofi S.A. in 2020, where she was responsible for developing overall portfolio strategy for the company’s three BTKi molecules. From August 2018 to November 2019, Ms. Ware served as Senior Vice President, U.S. Market and Franchise Development at Proteus Digital Health, Inc. From 2011 to 2018, Ms. Ware worked in a number of public and private biopharma firms as a private consultant. From 2016 to 2017, Ms. Ware was the Chief Commercial Officer at CytRx, Inc. From 1997 to 2010, Ms. Ware worked at Genentech, Inc. in a variety of roles of increasing responsibility in commercial, team leadership and product development. During her time at Genentech, Ms. Ware played a key role in the launch of several commercial drug products, including Rituxan®, Herceptin®, Avastin® and Lucentis®, and as Head of Oncology Team Leadership was responsible for molecule, disease and platform strategic plans and oncology portfolio management. Ms. Ware has served as a member of the board of Arcellx, Inc. since June 2022, Revance Therapeutics, Inc. since March 2021 and Ambrx Biopharma Inc. from April 2021 until June 2022. Ms. Ware holds an A.B. in Psychology from Davidson College and an M.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
