Management
Insmed's management team is as well-rounded as it is experienced with a proven track record of success in drug delivery and commercialization. By combining a robust research background, industry expertise and sound business vision, we believe that our leadership is well prepared to guide the company into a promising future.
Will Lewis
President and Chief Executive Officer
Will joined Insmed in September 2012 as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors. Will has more than 20 years of executive experience and a track record of success in the pharmaceutical and finance industries both in the US and internationally. He is the former Co-Founder, President and Chief Financial Officer of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AEGR). During his tenure at Aegerion, Will played a pivotal role in re-orienting the company's strategy to focus on orphan disease indications enabling Aegerion to go public in one of the best performing IPOs of 2010. Prior to Aegerion, Will spent more than 10 years working in the US and Europe in investment banking for JP Morgan, Robertson Stephens and Wells Fargo. During his time in banking, he was involved in a broad range of domestic and international capital raising and advisory work valued at more than $20 billion. Will began his career as an Operations Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. He earned a JD and MBA from Case Western Reserve University and a BA with Honors from Oberlin College.
Andrew Drechsler
Chief Financial Officer
Andy joined Insmed as Chief Financial Officer in November 2012. He offers 15 years of financial and operational leadership experience in both public and private life sciences companies. Andy joins Insmed from VaxInnate Corporation, a privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company developing vaccines for infectious diseases, where he was Chief Financial Officer. During his five years with VaxInnate, he led multiple financing transactions totaling more than $55 million. Previously, he was Chief Financial Officer of publicly-traded Valera Pharmaceuticals where he helped raise $35 million through an initial public offering in 2006, completed a licensing and investment agreement with a partner for two products and worked with senior management to build a commercial team. Andy was part of the team that negotiated the sale of the company to Indevus Pharmaceuticals in 2007 in a transaction valued at $150 million. His public company and financial reporting duties have also included serving as controller for a variety of companies, including Abbott Laboratories’ Point of Care Division, which was publicly-traded as i-Stat Corporation prior to being acquired by Abbott, and Biomatrix, Inc., which was publicly-traded prior to being acquired by Genzyme. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Villanova University with a BS in Accounting and received his certified public accountant license in New Jersey.
Andrea (Andi) Holtzman Drucker, JD
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Andi joined Insmed in July 2011. Previously Andi served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for PuriCore plc, a publicly traded biotechnology company, from November 2006 to July 2011. Prior to that, she spent two years with Practical Business Solutions, a private legal consulting firm, during which she served as Acting General Counsel for Novavax, Inc., and as Interim Associate General Counsel for Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., both publicly-traded biotechnology companies. Andi began her career at FMC Corporation, a publicly traded diversified chemicals company, where she spent 17 years serving in a number of positions, including as Group Counsel for the company's Specialty Chemicals Group, FMC BioPolymer. She received her JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a Bachelors of Science with Distinction in Environmental Studies from Cornell University.
Renu Gupta, MD
Executive Vice President, Development and Chief Medical Officer
Renu joined Insmed in December 2010 in connection with the business combination between Insmed and Transave. Renu has more than 25 years of development, regulatory and senior management experience with the biopharm industry. Previously Renu has served as the Executive Vice President Development and Chief Medical Officer of Transave, Inc. since September 2006, and has been a Director of the UK subsidiary, Transave Inhalation Biotherapeutics as of May 2008. From May 2003 to August 2006, she held the position of Senior Vice President Development at Antigenics, Inc. Prior to that, she served at Novartis as Vice President and Head of US Clinical Research and Development and Global Head of Cardiovascular, Metabolics, Endocrine and Gastroenterology Research. Renu also spent almost 10 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where she was responsible for clinical research, business development and global development and marketing strategy for infectious diseases and immunology. She received her bachelor and medical degrees from the University of Zambia and completed her medical and post-doctoral training at Albert Einstein Medical Center, the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and the University of Pennsylvania, where she was Adjunct Assistant Professor until 1997. Her work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals and she has been active in numerous relevant academic and professional societies. Renu is a founding member of the Industrial Management Board at the Harvard Medical School, served as Chair of the Medical Advisory Council for Antigenics, past member of the Scientific Advisory Board at Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, and the Institute of Medicine Forum on Emerging Infections, and is a Board Member of Aim at Melanoma, formerly Charlie Guild Melanoma Foundation.
Matthew Pauls
Chief Commercial Officer
Matthew joined Insmed as our Chief Commercial Officer in April 2013. Prior to joining Insmed, he was with Shire Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded specialty biopharmaceutical company, most recently as Senior Vice President, Head of Global Commercial Operations, Shire Regenerative Medicine. In this role, Matthew led the global commercial function of a business unit with a staff of approximately 300 including a 200-person US sales team and $160 million in sales. Previously he was Vice President, Product General Manager, Shire Specialty Pharmaceuticals Behavioral Health Business Unit, where he had P&L responsibility for the multi-billion dollar ADHD portfolio of Vyvanse in the US and Intuniv globally. Previously, Matthew served in various marketing and management roles with two leading publicly traded pharmaceutical companies: Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Johnson & Johnson, Inc. Matthewearned his JD from Michigan State University College of Law and his MBA and BS degrees from Central Michigan University.
Walter Perkins, PhD
Chief Technology Officer
Walter joined Insmed in December 2010 in connection with the business combination between Insmed and Transave. Prior to this, Walter joined Transave in 2002 and served as Chief Technology Officer. Walter has over 20 years experience utilizing lipid-based drug delivery systems and has authored over 55 scientific publications and patent applications. Prior to joining Transave, Walter spent 15 years with The Liposome Company (later a part of Elan Drug Delivery). At The Liposome Company, Walter was involved in the design of several lipid-based drug delivery systems, including an artificial lung surfactant formulation, and helped in the characterization, development and launch of the company's two commercial products Abelcet® and Myocet®. As a part of Elan's Drug Delivery Division, he played a lead role in the implementation of liposome technology in both inter-divisional projects and corporate partnerships. Walter received his bachelor's and doctoral degrees in Biophysical Chemistry from the University of Virginia where he studied the physical and electrical properties of liposomal membranes.
Peter Clarke, PhD
Vice President, Technical Operations
Peter joined Insmed as Vice President of Manufacturing in April 2013. He offers more than 28 years in the biopharmaceutical industry in positions of increasing responsibility in both Europe and the US. He has worked for biotech start-ups bringing novel products to market as well as with multi-national companies such as Bayer being responsible for the manufacture and supply of established medicinal products. Peter has led international teams that have developed manufacturing processes and their associated analytical methods for several classes of biopharmaceuticals. He has been the technical lead in facility design, commissioning, validation and start-up and has been responsible for the technical content of submissions to the FDA, EMA and other regulatory agencies. Prior to joining Insmed, Peter was Group VP and Chief Technology Officer of Savient Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for manufacturing and supply chain management of Krystexxa and Oxandrin. Previously, he was VP Production and Technical Processes for Introgen Therapeutics where he led the manufacturing team for Advexin and liposome encapsulated DNA vectors. Peter earned his PhD in Microbial Physiology from London University.
Laura Pflug
Vice President, Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls
Laura joined Insmed in December 2010 in connection with the business combination between Insmed and Transave. Laura joined Transave in 2006 and served as Executive Director, Technical Operations. Laura has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with a specialty in the development and manufacture of liposomal delivery systems. Her experience includes securing multiple product approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Medicines Agency (EMEA) and the Medicines Control Agency (MCA). Prior to joining Transave, Laura was employed by Ovation Pharmaceuticals, Biomira USA, and The Liposome Company. At Ovation, she was responsible for the technology transfer efforts, commercial production and the distribution associated with two marketed pharmaceutical products. While at Biomira USA and the Liposome Company, Laura's work included developing liposomal products and she held a key role as a member of the team that developed and commercialized Abelcet®, the first approved lipid based drug. Laura has a BS in Chemistry and has completed additional course work in Pharmaceutics at Rutgers College of Pharmacy.
S. Nicole Schaeffer
Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Corporate Services
Ms. Schaeffer joined Insmed in October 2012. She brings more than 20 years of experience in Human Resources, organizational development, corporate operations and building life science organizations. Most recently Ms. Schaeffer served as Senior Vice President, Administration and Human Resources, for Amicus Therapeutics where she was responsible for the human resources, facilities and IT functions. While at Amicus, Ms. Schaeffer was responsible for the organizational growth and development of this high performing company from its earliest stages to its current position as a late-stage clinical company. During this time, she focused on developing a culture of excellence to support that growth. Prior to Amicus, she served as Senior Director, Human Resources, for three portfolio companies of Flagship Ventures, a venture capital firm, and in that capacity she managed human resources for three life sciences companies. She has also held HR leadership positions with Oak Industries and EMC Corporation. Ms. Schaeffer received her BA from the University of Rochester and her MBA from Boston University.
*Administered once daily using an optimized eFlow® Electronic Nebulizer (PARI Pharma GmbH).
