Board of Directors
Insmed’s management team is complemented by the stewardship of our board of directors—a group of individuals who bring impressive business and medical credentials to our company. Our board shares Insmed’s passion for delivering life-altering therapies to small patient populations experiencing big health problems.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Will joined Insmed in 2012 as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the board of directors. He became chairman of the board of directors in November 2018. Will is the former Co-Founder, President, and Chief Financial Officer of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AEGR), and previously spent more than 10 years working in investment banking in the U.S. and Europe. He also previously worked for the U.S. government. Will holds a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Oberlin College as well as a Master of Business Administration and a Juris Doctor with Honors from Case Western Reserve University.
Lead Independent Director
Mr. Brennan joined our board in May 2014, bringing more than 37 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He was appointed lead independent director in November 2018. From 2006 to 2012, Mr. Brennan was the Chief Executive Officer of AstraZeneca PLC, a global biopharmaceutical company. Previously at AstraZeneca, Mr. Brennan served as Executive Vice President of North America from 2001 to 2006; and as Senior Vice President of Commercialization and Portfolio Management from 1999 to 2001. Mr. Brennan also served as a member of the board of directors of AstraZeneca from 2005 to 2012. Prior to AstraZeneca, Mr. Brennan held various positions at Astra Pharmaceuticals, L.P., Astra Merck, Inc. and Merck and Co. Inc. Mr. Brennan also currently serves as chairman of the board of directors of Alexion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALXN) and previously served as Interim CEO from December 2016 to March 2017. Mr. Brennan received a B.A. in Business Administration from Gettysburg College. He is a member of the Compensation Committee.
Director
Mr. Altomari was elected to our board in August 2012. Since October 2016, Mr. Altomari has served as chairman of the board and Chief Executive Officer of Agile Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGRX), a women’s health specialty pharmaceutical company. Mr. Altomari has been a member of Agile’s board of directors since 2004 and served as President and Chief Executive Officer from 2010 to 2016. Previously, Mr. Altomari served as Agile’s Executive Chairman from 2004 to 2010. From 2008 to September 2010, Mr. Altomari was a consultant to Agile. From 2003 to 2008, Mr. Altomari held multiple senior management positions at Barrier Therapeutics, Inc., including Chief Commercial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Executive Officer. In 2008, in his role as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of Barrier’s board of directors, Mr. Altomari completed the successful sale of Barrier to Stiefel Laboratories, which was subsequently acquired by GlaxoSmithKline plc. From 1982 to 2003, Mr. Altomari held numerous executive roles in general management, commercial operations, business development, product launch preparation, and finance with Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Altomari also serves on the board of directors of Recro Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: REPH). Mr. Altomari holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Rider University and Bachelor of Science degrees in finance and accounting from Drexel University. Mr. Altomari is chair of the Compensation Committee and a member of the Audit Committee.
Director
Ms. Anderson has been a member of our board since November 2018, bringing more than 30 years of leadership in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines. Ms. Anderson held senior leadership positions at Johnson & Johnson between 2003 and her retirement in 2014. She most recently served as Worldwide Vice President, Infectious Disease and Vaccines for Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson company, where she directed the commercial development of an extensive portfolio of antivirals and vaccines with responsibility for global strategic marketing, market access, and global analytics for that division. Prior to Johnson & Johnson, Ms. Anderson served as the Vice President and General Manager of Wyeth Lederle Vaccines from 1997 to 2002. She also previously worked at Rhone Poulenc Rorer and the American Red Cross. Ms. Anderson serves on the boards of directors of the private companies Aro Biotherapeutics Inc., REVOLUTION Medicines Inc., and Context Therapeutics, Inc., and the public companies Bavarian Nordic A/S and BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Rutgers University and a Master of Business Administration from Loyola University Maryland. Ms. Anderson is chair of the Nominations & Governance Committee.
Director
Dr. Desjardins has been a member of our board since November 2019, bringing more than 20 years of leadership experience in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and research. Dr. Desjardins founded Clementia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (formerly Nasdaq: CMTA) and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer from 2011 until its acquisition by Ipsen S.A. in April 2019. From 2009 to 2011, Dr. Desjardins served as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a director of the Centre of Excellence in Personalized Medicine (CEPMED). From 1998 to 2007, Dr. Desjardins served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and a director at Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“Caprion”), which she co-founded. Prior to Caprion, Dr. Desjardins co-founded Advanced Bioconcept Inc. in 1992. She served there until 1998, most recently as Vice President, Business Development. Dr. Desjardins currently serves on the Board of Directors of BELLUS Health Inc. (Nasdaq: BLU; TSX: BLU). Dr. Desjardins received a B.Sc. in Anatomical Sciences and History and Philosophy of Science and a Ph.D. in Neurology and Neurosurgery, each from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Dr. Desjardins was a Medical Research Council postdoctoral fellow at Douglas Hospital Research Centre at McGill University. Dr. Desjardins is a member of the Science & Technology Committee.
Director
Dr. Engelsen has been a member of our board since our inception in November 1999 and was a director of Insmed Pharmaceuticals, our predecessor entity, from 1998 to 2000. Since 1996, Dr. Engelsen has been a partner of Teknoinvest AS, a venture capital firm based in Norway. In addition, from January to November 2000, Dr. Engelsen was acting Chief Executive Officer of Centaur Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. From 1989 to 1996, Dr. Engelsen held various management positions within Hafslund Nycomed AS, a pharmaceutical company based in Europe, and its affiliated companies. He also served as Senior Vice President, Research and Development of Nycomed Pharma AS from 1994 until 1996. Dr. Engelsen currently serves on the board of Holberg EEG AS, a privately held eHealth company based in Norway. Dr. Engelsen previously served on the board of Capnia Inc. (Nasdaq: CAPN), a medical device company, until December 2017. Dr. Engelsen holds a Master of Science degree in nuclear chemistry and a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Oslo and is a Certified European Financial Analyst. Dr. Engelsen is chair of the Science & Technology Committee and a member of the Audit Committee.
Director
Mr. Lee has been a member of our board since May 2018. Mr. Lee brings more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical innovation, commercialization, regulatory affairs, and policy, and has worked extensively in North America and Asia. Most recently, Mr. Lee served as President, Japan, for Merck KGaA. Prior to his role, he served as President, Japan, for Allergan plc, a global pharmaceutical company, from 2011 to 2015, and as Vice President of Sales at Merck & Co. from 2008 to 2011. From 2003 to 2008, Mr. Lee held various commercial positions at IQVIA (Cegedim Dendrite), a life sciences services company. Mr. Lee also served in various roles at Accelrys, Inc., a software company serving pharmaceutical and biotech companies, from 1997 to 2003. Mr. Lee serves on the board of directors of Regeneus Ltd, a global pharmaceutical company based in Australia. Mr. Lee received a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Mr. Lee is a member of the Compensation Committee and the Science & Technology Committee.
Director
Mr. McGirr has been a member of our board since October 2013. From March 2013 to June 2014, Mr. McGirr served as a Senior Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company that was acquired by Merck and Co. in January 2015. He previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Cubist from November 2002 to March 2013, and as Treasurer from 2002 until 2003. From 1999 to 2002, Mr. McGirr was the President and Chief Operating Officer of hippo inc., a venture-financed internet technology company, and was also a member the hippo inc. board of directors from 1999 to 2003. From 1996 to 1999, he was the President of GAB Robins North America, Inc., a risk management company, serving also as Chief Executive Officer from 1997 to 1999. Mr. McGirr was a private equity investor from 1995 to 1996. From 1978 to 1995, Mr. McGirr served in various positions within the S.G. Warburg Group, ultimately as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Administrative Officer and Managing Director of S.G. Warburg & Co., Inc., a position held from 1992 to 1995. Mr. McGirr served on the board of directors of Relypsa, Inc. from January 2013 until its acquisition by Galencia AG in September 2016, and Roka Bioscience, Inc. from December 2013 until its acquisition by a subsidiary of the Institute for Environmental Health, Inc. in January 2018. Mr. McGirr serves on the board of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdq: RYTM), Arsanis Inc. (Nasdaq: ASNS), and Menlo Therapeutics (Nasdaq: MNLO), each a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. Mr. McGirr holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Glasgow and a Master of Business Administration degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. McGirr is chair of the Audit Committee.
Director
Ms. Schafer has been a member of our board since April 2020, bringing more than 25 years of experience in investment banking and equity capital markets. She currently serves as a Managing Partner at Hyphen Advisors, LLC. Prior to Hyphen Advisors, Ms. Schafer worked Wells Fargo Securities from 2007 to 2018, most recently as Vice Chair, Equity Capital Markets. She also previously served as the Vice President of Finance and Business Development at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded biotechnology company, from 2003 to 2007, and as a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan, where she held positions of increasing responsibility from 1986 to 2003. Ms. Schafer currently serves on the Board of Directors for the publicly traded companies Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: IDRA) and Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: FPRX), as well as the private company Repare Therapeutics Inc. She holds a Master of Business Administration from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts from Boston College. Ms. Schafer is a member of the Audit Committee.
Director
Dr. Sharoky has been a member of our board since May 2001 and served as chairman of our board from June 2009 to December 2010. Since January 2008, Dr. Sharoky has been retired. From 2007 to 2012, he was a member of the board of directors of Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc., a publicly-traded pharmaceutical manufacturer, which was subsequently acquired by Endo International plc (Nasdaq: ENDP). From 2002 to 2007, Dr. Sharoky was President and Chief Executive Officer of Somerset Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Sharoky continued as a consultant to Somerset until 2007. From 2001 to 2002, Dr. Sharoky was retired. From July 1995 to June 2001, Dr. Sharoky served as President of Somerset Pharmaceuticals. From 1995 through 1998, Dr. Sharoky was President of Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (acquired by Actavis plc), and from 1993 to 1998 he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Watson’s wholly owned subsidiary, Circa Pharmaceuticals, Inc. From 1988 to 1993, Dr. Sharoky held various senior executive positions with Circa Pharmaceuticals. From 1986 to 1988, Dr. Sharoky was Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Pharmakinetics Laboratories, Inc. Dr. Sharoky holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from the University of Maryland in Baltimore County and a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Sharoky is a member of the Nominations & Governance Committee and the Science & Technology Committee.
Management Team
Insmed has built a strong management team with extensive biopharmaceutical experience and a proven track record in research, drug development, and commercialization.
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