Management and Key Personnel

Sanj K. Patel

President & Chief Executive Officer


Sanj Patel was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer and to the Company's Board of Directors in June 2008. Sanj brings 18 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. He joins Synageva from Genzyme Corporation (1999 to 2008), where most recently, he was Head of US Sales, Marketing and Commercial Operations for Genzyme Therapeutics and led the commercial US launch for Myozyme®. Previously, Sanj held several cross-functional senior leadership roles at Genzyme including Vice President, Clinical Research and Head of the Global Clinical Research Operations Council. He was responsible for clinical operations and development for all cross-business Genzyme products and was instrumental in the path to commercialization for several treatments. Notably, Sanj led the Fabrazyme® clinical operations team and development program to FDA approval in April 2003. Prior to Genzyme, Sanj held roles in clinical research and commercial development with increasing levels of responsibility at Burroughs Wellcome, Hoechst Marrion Roussel and Fujisawa Pharmaceuticals. Sanj obtained his B.Sc. with Honors in Pure and Applied Biotechnology from South Bank University, London. He attained his post-graduate management and business degree from Ealing College, London, and completed his Doctorate program in Clinical Pharmacology from King's College and The Wellcome Foundation.

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Marc Corrado

Chief Business Officer


Marc Corrado is Chief Business Officer for Synageva. Prior to joining Synageva, he held various positions of increasing responsibility in Global Business Development, Global Marketing and Mergers & Acquisitions at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer in Paris, France, and at Aventis in Bridgewater, New Jersey. In 2005, following Aventis' merger with Sanofi, Mr. Corrado became a corporate officer and Vice President, Corporate Development of EntreMed, a publicly-traded biotechnology company based in Rockville, Maryland. Mr. Corrado earned his J.D. degree from the American University in Washington, D.C., and his M.B.A. from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

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AJ Joshi, M.D.

Senior Vice President, Medical Operations and Commercial Development


Dr. Joshi is responsible for medical operations as well as the clinical development and commercialization strategy for Synageva. He brings over fifteen years of experience in the biotech and healthcare industry, as well as clinical practice. Most recently he was Vice President of US Medical Affairs and Operations at Genzyme Corporation, where he was responsible for leading the Medical Affairs strategy, as well as the reimbursement and distribution functions for the US Lysosomal Storage Diseases business unit. Dr. Joshi earned his B.A. and M.D. from Boston University and completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at Yale.

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Mark C. Leavitt, Ph.D.

Vice President, Research and Product Development


Mark Leavitt is responsible for Synageva's R&D and Product Development programs. In this role, Dr. Leavitt oversees candidate protein evaluation, regulatory affairs, clinical production and quality control. Dr. Leavitt has over fifteen years of research and industry experience in the areas of gene therapy, molecular biology, and development of therapeutic products at Immusol Inc. and Agouron Pharmaceuticals (a subsidiary of Pfizer Corporation). Dr. Leavitt holds a B.S. and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Arizona and has completed extensive post-doctoral training in Molecular Virology at the University of California, San Diego.

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Alex Harvey, Ph.D.

Director, Molecular Biology


Alex Harvey is responsible for the introduction of new products into the SEPTM pipeline, design of biopharmaceutical expression vectors, generation and characterization of production lines, preclinical analysis of egg white-derived products and implementation of novel R&D programs. He has acquired a National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Technology Program grant, two NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grants and one NIH SBIR Phase II grant. Dr. Harvey obtained a B.A. in biology from The Johns Hopkins University and his Ph.D. from the Department of Molecular Biology at Vanderbilt University. He completed his post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Genetics at the University of Georgia.

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Leandro Christmann, DVM, Ph.D.

Director, Technology and Toxicology


Dr. Christmann is responsible for Synageva's overall pre-clinical/toxicology program. He has over fifteen years of experience in a variety of technologies, including transgenesis, microinjection technology, embryonic stem cell development, and nuclear transplantation. Prior to Synageva, Dr. Christmann was at PPL Therapeutics where he focused broadly on various aspects of human recombinant therapeutic protein development. Dr. Christmann holds DVM and M.S. degrees from the Federal University (Brazil) and a Ph.D. in developmental biology from Cambridge University (U.K.).

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Michael Chen, Ph.D.

Director, Process Development and Production


Dr. Chen is responsible for all downstream process development and for protein manufacturing for Synageva's clinical trials. Dr. Chen has over 15 years experience in the biopharmaceutical and diagnostic industries. Prior to joining Synageva, he served as Director, Downstream Process at Favrille, Inc. and Director, Process Development and Manufacturing at Applied Biotech, Inc. Dr. Chen holds an M.S. in Chemistry from Texas A&M, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from The University of Georgia and he completed his postdoctoral fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute.

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Chris Oliver

Director, Operations


Chris Oliver is responsible for Synageva's manufacturing and facilities operations. Mr. Oliver has 25 years of experience in production operations with deep expertise in project management and facilities operation and design. Prior to joining Synageva, Mr. Oliver held various leadership positions for over eight years with Cobb-Vantress, Inc, most recently as South Eastern Complex Manager. Before joining Cobb he held various management positions at Con Agra. Mr. Oliver holds a B.S. in agriculture from the University of Georgia.

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Dawn Eberhardt, Ph.D.

Director, Quality Assurance


Dawn Eberhardt is responsible for setting the overall quality assurance compliance objectives, and establishing procedures and policies to ensure these are fulfilled. Prior to joining Synageva, Dr. Eberhardt conducted post doctoral research focused on somatic cell nuclear transfer with applications for possible xenotransplantation, and the role of vitamin A in in vitro fertilization (IVF) and subsequent embryonic development. Prior to obtaining her Ph.D., Dr. Eberhardt was an embryologist in a human IVF center. Dr. Eberhardt received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Missouri, her Masters of Science from Clemson University and was awarded her doctorate from the University of Tennessee. Dr. Eberhardt was also a postdoctoral fellow at Texas A&M University.

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Mark Hites

Director, Operations


Mark Hites is responsible for regulatory affairs activities at Synageva. He has over twenty years of experience in regulatory affairs, operations, and research and development across the pharmaceutical, biologics, and medical device industries. Prior to Synageva, Mark held positions as Director of Regulatory and Quality at Greer Laboratories, Inc., and Product and Quality Manager at Arlington Scientific, Inc. He also worked for REAADS Medical Products as a Technical Director, and BioStar Medical Products, where he was focused on the R&D, commercialization and regulatory submissions for in vitro assays for the detection of autoimmune diseases. Mark received a B.A. from Arizona State University (ASU) and also performed graduate studies in immunology and microbiology at ASU.

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Chris Heberlig

Director, Finance and Administration


Chris Heberlig is responsible for finance, human resources and the administrative functions at Synageva. He has over a decade of experience in finance with broad expertise in biotech and pharmaceutical companies spanning budgeting, strategic planning, equity and debt financing, and financial reporting. Prior to joining Synageva, Chris served as Director of Finance and Controller at Panacos Pharmaceuticals Inc., a publicly traded pharmaceutical company, and held senior financial management positions at EPIX Pharmaceuticals Inc. and NetGenesis Corp. Chris holds a B.A. in Economics from Saint Lawrence University, an M.B.A. from Boston University, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

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Kyle D. Yesland, Ph.D., Esq.

Director and Counsel, Intellectual Property


Kyle Yesland is responsible for managing Synageva's patent portfolio and for aligning the portfolio with the Company's strategic objectives. Prior to joining Synageva, Dr. Yesland was in law firm practice where he serviced companies and public institutions such as Allergan and the University of California. He has also held positions as a senior scientist at Beckman Coulter and as a post-doctoral fellow at Rice University. Dr. Yesland earned his J.D. from Baylor Law School and holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Wyoming.

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