Leadership

He brings more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and has a combination of scientific, clinical, and commercial skills. He took Kiniksa public on the NASDAQ Global Market in May 2018. Kiniksa gained approval for ARCALYST®, the first and only FDA-approved treatment for recurrent pericarditis, in March 2021, and the company has a pipeline of immune-modulating assets also aimed at making a meaningful impact on patient lives. Sanj previously created Synageva in 2008 to focus on rare diseases and designed and initiated its lead program, (Kanuma®) for lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LAL-D), in July 2008. Kanuma was approved globally in 2015 as the first therapy for patients suffering from this devastating, previously terminal disease. He took Synageva public on the NASDAQ Global Market in November 2011 and raised over $1 billion in capital in less than 5 years. In June 2015, Synageva was sold to Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $9.5B (including cash), which represented the highest premium ever paid for a biotech company valued over $5B. Prior to founding Synageva, Sanj was an executive at Genzyme Corporation (1999–2008), where he was head of US sales, marketing, and commercial operations for the Genzyme Therapeutics franchise, and led the US launch of Myozyme® in addition to holding sales and marketing responsibility for Cerezyme®, Fabrazyme®, and Aldurazyme®. Previously, he held several cross-functional senior leadership roles at Genzyme, including as Vice President, Clinical Research and as Head of the Global Clinical Research Operations Council for all Genzyme divisions, including therapeutics, oncology, and transplant. He was responsible for clinical operations for all Genzyme products and was instrumental in the path to commercialization of several treatments. Notably, Sanj led the Fabrazyme® clinical operations team and development program to FDA approval in April 2003. Prior to Genzyme, he held senior roles in clinical research and commercial operations at Burroughs Wellcome, Hoechst Marrion Roussel, and Fujisawa/Otsuka Pharmaceuticals. Sanj obtained his BSc with Honors in biotechnology from the University of the South Bank, London. He successfully completed his management and business studies at Ealing College, London, and his pharmacology research program at the Wellcome Foundation. He has dedicated much of his career and philanthropy to rare diseases, such as sarcoma, immunological diseases, and genetic inborn errors of metabolism, including diseases closely linked to Ashkenazi Jewish populations and other ethnic groups.

Sanj is the founder and a director of the Sanj & Kristin Patel Family Foundation, a philanthropic organization which supports various charities focused on patients with rare and devastating diseases, including the Sarcoma Foundation of America.

Sanj has three amazing children and an incredibly brilliant and supportive wife, Kristin, all of whom support the Every Second Counts!™ mantra and the generational mission Kiniksa is on.

Ross joined the Kiniksa team in 2019 and brings over 18 years’ experience in biopharmaceuticals, having led sales, marketing, commercial operations, market access and diagnostic functions within orphan and ultra-orphan disease fields. Prior to joining Kiniksa, Ross played a lead role towards the successful commercialization efforts for innovative gene therapies at Novartis Gene Therapies and Spark Therapeutics. Additionally, Ross served as the metabolic franchise commercial head at Alexion following the acquisition of Synageva.  At Synageva, he was General Manager, UK & Ireland. Ross received his first-class BA (Honors) degree in Business Management from Middlesex University Business School in London.

Maddy joined Kiniksa in 2020 prior to the company’s first commercial drug launch and has over 18 years of legal experience in the life science industry. Before Kiniksa, Maddy was Vice President, Legal and Corporate Secretary at Verastem Oncology where she provided strategic advice and legal support for all domestic commercial operations and alliance management with international business partners. Prior to Verastem, Maddy was Vice President, Associate General Counsel at NxStage Medical where she was responsible for drafting and negotiating a broad range of contracts and reviewing product marketing materials. Before NxStage, Maddy started her career as a transactional attorney in the life sciences group of Ropes & Gray LLP in Boston, Massachusetts. Maddy received her JD degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a BS in Biology from Duke University.

Mark joined Kiniksa prior to the company’s initial public offering in 2018. Mark oversees financial operations, investor relations, and information technology. Before his promotion to Chief Financial Officer in 2021, Mark served as the Vice President of Investor Relations and Finance. He joined Kiniksa from Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, where he was a member of the investor relations team. Prior to Ironwood, Mark was a vice president in the equities division at Goldman Sachs, where he built strategic relationships with key hedge fund and mutual fund companies and helped raise capital for private and public companies. Mark also held roles of increasing responsibility within the equities divisions of Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Securities. Mark has over 20 years of experience in the financial services and life sciences industries. He has a strong understanding of institutional investor needs as well as an extensive knowledge of finance and equity markets.

Mark holds a BA in government and history from Bowdoin College and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Eben joined Kiniksa as it was founded in 2015. He was initially Chief Business Officer where he oversaw long-range strategic planning, forecasting, decision analysis, business development, licensing, valuation, and new product strategy.  In January 2022, Eben was promoted to Chief Operating Officer where he oversees our functional leadership teams in business development, program management, clinical development, manufacturing, and research. Before Kiniksa, he was Senior Director and Head of Business Development at Synageva BioPharma. Prior to that he was Director, Business and Corporate Development for Civitas Therapeutics. There he played a lead role in managing the company through a dual-path IPO process which led, ultimately, to a successful acquisition by Acorda Therapeutics. Before joining Civitas, he worked in a variety of roles with increasing responsibility at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Zalicus, and EPIX Pharmaceuticals. Eben holds a BS in behavior neuroscience from Northeastern, an MS in biomedical engineering from Boston University and both a JD and MBA from Suffolk University. 

Martina joined the Kiniksa team in 2018 and brings over 25 years of global regulatory affairs experience (US, Europe, and Japan/Asia) across all stages of drug development, with biologics and small molecules in a variety of therapeutic areas such as metabolism, cardiovascular, oncology, and neuroscience. She has led the successful submission and approval processes of many regulatory filings, including multiple original New Drug Applications/Marketing Authorization Applications, and numerous Investigational New Drug Applications and Clinical Trial Applications, many of which resulted in life cycle management extensions for new indications and dosage forms (Lenvima®, Halaven®, Fycompa®, Banzel®, Exelon®, Comtan®, Stalevo®). Martina has broad experience in rare diseases and orphan drugs, including regulatory submissions that resulted in Breakthrough Therapy designation and/or Fast Track designation. Martina was most recently the head of global regulatory affairs at Eisai Inc., where she was instrumental in building a global regulatory affairs group and leading regulatory filings, including priority and accelerated approvals in the US, EU, and Japan. Martina previously held regulatory positions of increasing responsibility at Novartis AG in both Switzerland and the US. She started her regulatory career as a group leader at the Swiss Health Authority (Swissmedic). Martina has a PhD in biochemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. 

John joined the Kiniksa team in 2016 with over 25 years of experience spanning from basic biological/medical science through all phases of clinical development and regulatory strategy for small molecules and biologics. He was most recently clinical research head of the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Research Unit at Pfizer Inc., where he was responsible for bringing forward programs in diabetes, heart failure, lipids, and metabolic liver disease from preclinical through early clinical development and proof of concept. John previously served as Chief Medical Officer of Cerenis Therapeutics in France, a publicly traded company on the Euronext exchange. He was responsible for designing and executing clinical trials and regulatory strategy for a portfolio of products relating to HDL and reverse lipid transport and also played an instrumental role in the company’s capital-raising efforts, including its initial public offering. Before moving to France, John was Global Clinical Leader at Bayer HealthCare Pharma, where he was responsible for the Phase III program, NDA filing, and launch of Xarelto® in atrial fibrillation as well as Xarelto Life Cycle Management. He started in the pharmaceutical industry at Merck & Co., Inc., in cardiovascular clinical research and clinical pharmacology, leading programs in thrombosis and dyslipidemia that spanned the early- and late-stage portfolio, including Zocor® and Aggrastat®, the Vytorin®, Zetia®, and Tredaptive® clinical development programs and NDAs, as well as in-licensing activities in cardiovascular disease. John obtained an MD, PhD from Duke University, where his PhD work focused on the protein chemistry of immune mediators. He subsequently completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, including a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology researching the role of inflammatory mediators in vascular disease and restenosis. He received Board certification in internal medicine and cardiology and is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. He was a member of the clinical faculty at the University of Pennsylvania as a clinical associate and served as an attending physician for 10 years, precepting cardiology fellows in the HUP outpatient cardiology clinic. John has authored more than 75 peer-reviewed journal articles and abstracts. He received a bachelor of arts, summa cum laude, and a bachelor of science, summa cum laude, from Tulane University.

Mei joined the Kiniksa team in 2018 bringing extensive experience in all phases of process development, GMP manufacturing and overall CMC strategy. She oversees the process development and GMP manufacturing of drug substance and drug product, analytical development, quality control, as well as clinical and commercial supply chain and logistics. Mei joined Kiniksa in 2018 and was promoted to VP of CMC in 2020 and to Group VP of Technical Operations in 2021. Before joining Kiniksa, Mei was the head of biologics downstream process development and manufacturing and the CMC program lead at Tesaro (now part of GSK). Prior to Tesaro, Mei held positions of increasing responsibilities and the CMC lead role for multiple programs at Shire (now part of Takeda). Mei holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biochemistry from the Ohio State University and was a postdoctoral research fellow at Dana Farber Cancer Institute/ Harvard Medical School.

Mike, joined Kiniksa in 2018, has over 20 years of experience in financial management and operations, primarily focused on the life sciences industry. Prior to joining Kiniksa, Mike spent over six years at LFB USA Inc., formerly rEVO Biologics, Inc., in roles of financial and operational leadership, most recently serving as senior vice president of finance and accounting. He played a key role in the financial carve-out of rEVO Biologics to create a focused commercial entity to finance a follow-on indication of the company’s previously approved biologic product, ATryn®. At LFB USA, his most recent responsibilities included financial operations, human resources, information technology, and program management. Prior to LFB USA, he held senior financial management positions at BioSphere Medical, Inc., a publicly traded medical device company. Mike began his career in public accounting, including at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he worked with a variety of public and private audit clients. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from Siena College. Mike is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Randy joined the Kiniksa team in 2017 bringing over 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience to the Medical Affairs team.  He has led and assisted in the build out of medical affairs functions at multiple companies, and in 2019, was promoted to Vice President of Global Field Medical Affairs at Kiniksa. Prior to joining Kiniksa in 2017, he held positions of increasing responsibility at Merck, Synageva, and Sarepta Therapeutics.  Throughout his career, Randy has been a part of multiple teams working on first-in-class scientific advancements and clinical treatments, both in rare diseases and chronic health challenges.  He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Public Health from Walden University and degrees from the University of Michigan and Indiana State University.  Randy is a member of the Medical Affairs Professional Society and the Medical Science Liaison Society.

Aaron joined Kiniksa as it was founded in 2015 and has over 20 years of IP experience in the life sciences industry. Before Kiniksa, Aaron was Vice Present of Intellectual Property at Synageva Biopharma Corp., where he was responsible for all aspects of IP and was closely involved in corporate strategies for research and development, and business development.  Prior to joining Synageva, Aaron was Senior Patent Counsel at Genzyme Corporation, where he provided lead IP support for the Rare Diseases, Cell Therapy, Endocrine, Transplant and Genetic Testing business units, and developed patent portfolios for several commercial products, including enzyme replacement therapies, adjunct hormone therapy and oncology diagnostics.  Prior to joining Genzyme, Aaron was a patent attorney at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals where he provided IP support to the Biological Technologies research division and process manufacturing group.  Prior to Wyeth, Aaron was an attorney in the IP group at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP in Boston, Massachusetts.  Aaron has a BA in Biological Sciences from the University of Southern California, a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and a JD from the Franklin Pierce Law Center.

Joseph joined Kiniksa in early 2016 as part of the business development team. This team drove the identification, diligence, and acquisition processes that resulted in Kiniksa’s current commercial and clinical stage pipeline. Over a five and half year period, Joseph held roles of increasing responsibility across business development and new product strategy at Kiniksa. He now holds the position of Chief Business Officer, where he is responsible for leading all business development and strategic transactions, as well as new product planning and portfolio optimization. Prior to his current role, Joseph was Executive Director, Business Development for Astria Therapeutics, where he led search and evaluation efforts focused in the areas of rare disease and immunology. Earlier in his career, Joseph was a Senior Consultant with Navigant Consulting (now Guidehouse) where he provided support for biotech and pharma clients in areas of business development, new product development, portfolio prioritization, and launch strategy. Joseph holds a BS in biomedical engineering from Boston University and a M.E.M. from Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College.

Jennifer joined the Kiniksa team in 2018 bringing over 15 years of biopharmaceuticals and life sciences industry experience. Jennifer is responsible for cross-functional team leadership in advancing our programs through all phase of development and life cycle management, as well as management of our strategic alliances. Prior to joining Kiniksa, Jennifer held roles of increasing responsibility in research and development and alliance management at KEW, Inc., Verastem and Makoto Life Sciences where she led and supported teams advancing the development of novel therapeutics and diagnostics across a range of therapeutic areas and strategic markets. Jennifer holds a BA in biochemistry from Smith College and an MBA from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne.

Chad joined Kiniksa in 2020 as our first Chief Compliance Officer, overseeing all aspects of our Quality and Compliance programs. Before Kiniksa, Chad was Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer for bluebird bio, Inc., where he was responsible for establishing the global compliance & ethics and privacy programs. Prior to joining bluebird bio, Chad was the head of compliance at ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was responsible for all aspects of compliance through their acquisition by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. Before ARIAD, Chad was with Cubist Pharmaceuticals, where he served in several roles of increasing leadership responsibility until their acquisition by Merck & Co., Inc. Chad started his life science career at Boston Scientific Corporation in compliance operations. He is a graduate of The Citadel, Babson College’s F. W. Olin School of Business, and a veteran of the US Navy.