Management Team
Sanj K. Patel
President & Chief Executive Officer
Sanj K. Patel was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer and elected as a director of Synageva in June 2008. He created the vision and strategy for Synageva, launching its focus on rare diseases and raising more than $100 million in capital including taking the company public on the NASDAQ Global Market in November 2011. Sanj has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries and brings a combination of scientific, clinical operations and business skills to Synageva. He joined Synageva from Genzyme Corporation (1999-2008) where most recently he was the head of U.S. Sales, Marketing and Commercial Operations for Genzyme Therapeutics’ Lysosomal Storage Disorder franchise and led the U.S. launch of Myozyme in addition to sales and marketing responsibility for Cerezyme, Fabrazyme and Aldurazyme. 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 BSc with Honors in Pure and Applied Biology (Biotechnology) from the University of the South Bank, London. He completed his post-graduate management and business degree, and doctorate level research program in clinical pharmacology, at Ealing College, London, King’s College and the Wellcome Foundation, respectively.
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Carsten Boess
Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Carsten Boess joined Synageva in May 2011 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He is responsible for leading Synageva’s financial and strategic operations. Carsten has more than 20 years of financial operations and management experience in the life sciences industry with diversified experience across a broad field of areas both in the U.S. and internationally. Prior to joining Synageva, Carsten served in the roles of Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, International of Insulet Corporation, respectively (June 2006-2011) and has also served in the following capacities: Chief Financial Officer of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Executive Vice President of Finance for Serono, Inc. and Vice President Finance, International Operations, Novo Nordisk. Carsten has significant international experience having served as head of finance of companies in the U.S., Denmark, China, Switzerland, and France. He also headed the expansion of Insulet’s business internationally in the role of Vice President, International. Carsten earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in economics and finance from the University of Odense, Denmark.
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Anthony Quinn MBChB (MD), PhD, FRCP
Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer
Anthony G. Quinn, MBChB (M.D.), Ph.D., FRCP joined Synageva as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer in August 2009. He joined Synageva from Roche where, from September 2004 until joining Synageva, he was Vice President and Global Head of Clinical Research & Exploratory Development for Inflammation. While at Roche, Anthony managed programs in rheumatology and respiratory indications in exploratory development, and biomarker and translational medicine activities in the late clinical and registration phase for MabThera™/Rituxan™, Actemra™ and Ocrelizumab. Anthony joined Roche Palo Alto in 2005 to build the translational medicine and exploratory development capabilities at the site across a broad range of therapeutic areas including CNS, virology and inflammation. Prior to joining Roche, he was Director of Experimental Medicine at AstraZeneca, Charnwood in the UK, and before that he was Professor of Dermatology at Barts & The London School of Medicine, London, England. He has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, reviews and editorials, predominantly on Hedgehog signaling and the molecular biology of non-melanoma skin cancer. He received his Bachelor of Medical Science with First class honors and his MBChB (M.D.) with commendation from the University of Dundee, UK. Anthony trained in internal medicine, dermatology and molecular biology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and was also awarded his Ph.D. there. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at University of California, San Francisco, and is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians London.
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Eric Grinstead
Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations
Eric Grinstead joined Synageva as Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations in July 2009. He brings over 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry with responsibilities spanning operations, market access, sales, marketing, reimbursement and government affairs at Alexion, Genzyme, Amgen and GSK. More specifically, his experience includes pricing, health economics, distribution, channel and payor segments, specialty networks, policy, patient and alliance management, patient assistance programs and commercial operations for rare and ultra-rare diseases in both the U.S. as well as ex-U.S. regions. Prior to joining Synageva in 2009, Eric was at Alexion from September 2006 to July 2009, where as a member of the management team, his efforts with the commercial functions helped to support the highly successful launch of Soliris. At Genzyme, Eric was responsible for leading the patient and product services group for the lysosomal storage diseases franchise. Before Genzyme, Eric worked for Amgen with responsibilities for brand economics in rheumatology and anemia business units and state government affairs for all brands. Eric earned a B.A. (cum laude) from Westmont College.
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Mark Goldberg, MD
Senior Vice President, Product Development
Mark Goldberg, M.D. joined Synageva as Senior Vice President of Product Development in September 2011. Dr. Goldberg joins Synageva from Genzyme Corporation, where he most recently served as Senior Vice President, Clinical Development and Global Therapeutic Group Head, Oncology and Personalized Genetic Health. While at Genzyme, he played a central role in the development and approval of some of the benchmark therapies for rare diseases, including Fabrazyme®, Aldurazyme®, Myozyme® and Lumizyme®. Prior to working at Genzyme, he was a full time staff physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where he still holds appointments. He is also an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Goldberg is a board-certified medical oncologist and hematologist and has more than 50 published papers. Reporting directly to Sanj Patel and working very closely with Dr. Anthony Quinn, Synageva’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Goldberg will be responsible for product development and ensuring the successful progress and advancement of pipeline programs. Dr. Goldberg received his A.B. (magna cum laude) from Harvard College and his M.D. (cum laude) from Harvard Medical School.
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