Speakers

Speaker bio.

John Maraganore joined Alnylam in December 2002, bringing over 20 years of experience in Research and Development, and business roles with biotechnology companies. Prior to Alnylam he served as an officer and a member of the management team for Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. As Senior Vice President, Strategic Product Development for Millennium, he was responsible for the company's product franchises in Oncology, Cardiovascular, Inflammation and Metabolic Diseases. He was previously Vice President, Strategic Planning and M&A and prior to that he was General Manager of Millennium BioTherapeutics, Inc., a former subsidiary of Millennium.

Before Millennium he served as Director of Molecular Biology and Director of Market and Business Development at Biogen, Inc. At Biogen, Dr. Maraganore invented and led the discovery and development of AngiomaxTM (bivalirudin for injection, formerly HirulogTM) currently marketed by The Medicines Company. Prior to Biogen, Dr. Maraganore was a scientist at ZymoGenetics, Inc., and the Upjohn Company. Dr. Maraganore received his M.S. and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Chicago.

Fred Middleton has over twenty-eight years experience in the biotechnology and biomedical industries in both corporate management and as a new venture investor. Mr. Middleton joined Dr. McNeil in 1987 as a General Partner of Sanderling. Since 1987, Mr. Middleton has worked on venture capital investments and the corporate development of early-stage biomedical companies at Sanderling, serving as a founder, investor, management team member and director of many start-up ventures in Sanderling’s portfolio.

Over the last several years, he has played active management roles as Chairman, CEO or Director of a number of Sanderling portfolio companies, currently including Stereotaxis (NASDAQ: STXS), Favrille (NASDAQ: FVRL), CardioNet, Novocell, Cylene, Endocyte, and Actimis.

Mr. Middleton began his career as a consultant for McKinsey & Company's San Francisco office from 1973 to 1975. He subsequently worked as a Vice President in planning and corporate development Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. In 1978, Mr. Middleton joined Bob Swanson and Herb Boyer, the founders of biotechnology pioneer Genentech, Inc., as the third member of original management team, where he served in various capacities, including Vice President of Finance, Administration, Corporate Development, Chief Financial Officer, and as President of Genentech Development Corporation. While at Genentech, Mr. Middleton successfully completed over $200 million in corporate partnering and institutional funding transactions, including the Company's successful IPO in 1980.

After Genentech, Mr. Middleton founded Morgan Stanley Ventures in 1984, serving as Managing General Partner of an institutional fund raised to sponsor R&D funding arrangements at leading technology companies in the biomedical sciences and information technology fields.

Mr. Middleton earned his B.S. in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1971 and an M.B.A with distinction from Harvard Business School in 1973.

Speaker bio.

Dr. Dunsire joined Millennium in July, 2005 with nearly 20 years of experience in the commercial, operational, clinical and scientific aspects of a world-leading pharmaceutical business. Dr. Dunsire led the Novartis U.S. Oncology Business, playing a critical role in the broad development and successful launch of a number of products including Zometa, Femara and Gleevec.  She was also responsible for managing the merger and significant growth of the combined Sandoz Pharmaceuticals and Ciba-Geigy oncology businesses and evaluated and implemented key business development initiatives.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Dunsire was a clinical researcher responsible for the implementation of global phase II and phase III studies across multiple therapeutic areas such as immunology, endocrinology, neurology, dermatology, oncology and transplantation. She has also been a practicing physician. Dr. Dunsire was the 2001 recipient of the American Cancer Society Excalibur Award and the 2000 recipient of the Health Care Business Women's Association Rising Star Award. Dr. Dunsire is a graduate of the medical school of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Robert A. Swanson Memorial Entrepreneurship Lectures were created to acknowledge and perpetuate Bob Swanson's special qualities of leadership, passion, and entrepreneurship. Bob was the founder of Genentech, the sparkplug of the Big Bang of the Biotech Industry. He held an S.B. degree in Chemistry from MIT as well as an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.