Ms. McBrinn is President and CEO of Axerion Therapeutics. She has over 35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including positions at Vernalis, Andrx, Pharmacia and Upjohn. Ms. McBrinn was Senior Vice President, Vernalis Pharmaceuticals from June, 2005 through December, 2008. She was responsible for the start up and growth of the British company’s operations in the US until its sale as a turn-key Neurology business to Ipsen Pharmaceuticals. Before joining Vernalis, she was the Executive Vice President, Branded Pharmaceuticals, at Andrx. Earlier, Ms.McBrinn was held numerous leadership positions at Pharmacia (previously Upjohn) including Global Vice President responsible for the launch of Bextra® and Global VP for the Neurology Franchise. Ms. McBrinn hold a B.S.Degree in Biology and an MBA in Marketing.
Sean Cassidy CPA, Chief Financial Officer, Vice President of Finance and Administration
Mr. Cassidy is the Vice President of Finance and Administration and CFO of Axerion Therapeutics. He has over 18 years experience in life sciences finance, including Chief Financial Officer of CuraGen Corporation (NASDAQ: CRGN), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company; Director and Controller of 454 Life Sciences Corporation, a life sciences company that develops and commercializes next generation DNA sequencing instrumentsand reagents; and Deloitte and Touche, one of the big four public accounting firms serving a broad base of clients in the health care space. Mr. Cassidy holds an MBA and BS from theUniversity of Connecticut and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Connecticut.
Dr. Eric Frieden, Vice President, Process Science and Manufacturing
Dr. Frieden has 25 years of experience in the biotechnology industry, where he has extensive experience in the development of protein therapeutics. Prior to joining Axerion, he spent 10 years at Alexion Pharmaceuticals in management roles in both Manufacturing and Process Development. In those roles, Dr. Frieden had key responsibilities in advancing clinical candidates produced in both bacterial and mammalian hosts. Prior to his role at Alexion, Dr. Frieden was a senior scientistat Immunex Corporation, and was responsible for the development of numerous clinical candidates. Dr. Frieden has a BSChE in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
Dr. George D. Maynard, Vice President, PreClinical Development
Dr. Maynard has 21 years of pharmaceutical industry experience including extensive experience in leading small molecule drug discovery efforts. Prior to joining Axerion, Dr. Maynard was employed at Neurogen Corporation for over 12 years where he led drug discovery teams and brought forward several development compounds. After his promotion to Vice President of Early Development in 2007, Dr. Maynard oversaw all nonclinical development activities at Neurogen. He has also held positions in medicinal chemistry at Hoechst Marion Roussel and DuPont Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Maynard received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Marietta College and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from The Ohio State University.
