Ciara Kennedy

Independent Board Chair

Ciara Kennedy, Ph.D., joined the Aristea Board of Directors in May 2019. Currently, Dr. Kennedy serves as President and CEO of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to Amplyx, Dr. Kennedy was COO of Lumena Pharmaceuticals, driving the development of assets licensed from Pfizer and Sanofi and securing venture capital financing. Lumena was acquired by Shire Pharmaceuticals in June 2014. Prior to Lumena, she was a senior strategist and VP of operations at Cypress Bioscience, where she played a key role in obtaining FDA approval for Savella®, a therapy for fibromyalgia. Additionally, Dr. Kennedy held several positions in the program and alliance department of Biogen Idec, managing projects spanning the drug discovery and development continuum.

Dr. Kennedy received her doctorate at the Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and continued her research in the field of apoptotic proteases at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla, California. In 2004, she became a member of the inaugural class of the Rady School of Management at University of California, San Diego, where she earned her MBA.

Kenneth Harrison

Partner, Novo Ventures

Kenneth Harrison joined Novo Ventures (US) Inc. in San Francisco, California in 2015.

Ken brings experience as a Senior Market Planning Manager at Genentech, where he helped guide strategic decision making for the Ophthalmology and HER2 franchises. Prior to Genentech, Ken worked as a management consultant at L.E.K. Consulting and as the Entrepreneurship Program Manager at QB3/Mission Bay Capital, where he helped create new programs to launch and support life sciences companies in the Bay Area.

Ken studied cellular lipid storage and metabolism as an A.P. Giannini Foundation Fellow at the J. David Gladstone Institutes, earned a PhD in Pharmacology from Yale University, and has a BS in Molecular Biology from Texas Tech University, where he was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute undergraduate research fellow.

Loretta Tse

VP, Tekla Capital Management LLC

Loretta TSE, Ph.D., joined Tekla Capital Management LLC in 2015, where she is responsible for all aspects of executing on and managing venture investments on behalf of the Tekla Funds.

Previously, Dr. Tse ran a biotech consulting business and worked with various venture funds and start-up companies. Prior to that, Dr. Tse was Managing Director, Technology Transfer and Industry Relations at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where she ran an office that was responsible for protection and commercialization of research output and formation of start-up companies. She was also an Associate at Oxford Biosciences Partners, an early-stage Life Sciences venture fund, and worked in business development at several early-stage biotech companies prior to joining Oxford.

Dr. Tse holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where her research involved EBV gene regulation. She also studied the HIV CCR5 coreceptor as a post-doctoral fellow at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation and has a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Davis.

James Mackay

President & CEO

James Mackay, Ph.D., Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, has over 25 years of development and commercialization expertise in the pharmaceutical industry, including 6 drug product approvals across multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to founding Aristea, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Ardea Biosciences, Inc., following the company’s acquisition by AstraZeneca in 2012. James was instrumental to setting up an innovative model for Ardea Biosciences that retained the biotech’s independence and accountability for the development of the gout franchise while also developing a synergistic and collaborative relationship with the parent company, AstraZeneca. Prior to Ardea, James held senior executive positions at AstraZeneca where he led the development and commercialization of drugs across a range of therapy areas. and managed significant global functional departments.

James plays a pivotal role in the San Diego Ecosystem and currently sits on the Board and Executive Committee of CONNECT and sits on the Board of BIOCOM. He is a former Board member of the San Diego Economic Development Corporation (EDC). James holds a BS in Genetics and Ph.D. in Medical Genetics from Aberdeen University, Scotland.

Daniel O’Connell

Partner at Novo Ventures

Dr. O’Connell, a Partner at Novo Ventures, has a proven track record in venture capital investments and corporate development. He was previously Executive Director of Equity and Venture Capital at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he was responsible for managing and operationalizing the $4.5B equity portfolio, comprising both direct equity investments and LP positions in venture funds. While at BMS, he was also a transaction lead in the 2020 acquisition of MyoKardia for $13.1 billion. Dr. O’Connell started in venture investing at OrbiMed Advisors and Arix Bioscience, where he led and supported investments in oncology, orphan diseases, and novel science developing technologies to address unmet medical needs. Dr. O’Connell received his M.D. and Ph.D. at the Tufts University School of Medicine and holds a B.S. from MIT.

Mark Gergen

Independent Board Member

Mr. Gergen is an experienced biopharma leader with a proven track record of creating and executing strategies that have the power to build and transform businesses and create value. His therapeutic experience includes oncology, rare diseases, endocrine/metabolic, and CNS. He is currently the CEO of Poseida Therapeutics, a genetic engineering company developing novel cell and gene therapies with the capacity to cure. His experience includes multiple public offerings, and he has been involved in raising several billion dollars in capital in both private and public financings. His experience also includes driving multiple significant strategic transactions including a $3.6 billion strategic gene therapy collaboration between Poseida and Takeda and a $6 billion strategic allogenic CAR-T collaboration with Roche. Prior to Poseida, he held senior leadership positions at Halozyme Therapeutics, an oncology and drug-delivery company; Mirati Therapeutics, a targeted oncology company; Amylin Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on chronic diseases; and Cardionet, a medical technology diagnostic company. Mr. Gergen holds a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School and a B.A. from Minot State University.

Michael S. Vincent

Board Observer

Dr. Vincent is Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of the Inflammation and Immunology Research Unit at Pfizer, leading the scientific pipeline for Rheumatology, Gastroenterology, and Dermatology specialties through the end of Phase 2. Since joining Pfizer in 2011, he has held several scientific leadership roles, most recently as Clinical Head for Pharmatherapeutics in Cambridge, MA. Over this period, he has had responsibility for clinical and translational science in the Inflammation and Immunology, Rare Disease and the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Research Units, and the Centers for Therapeutic Innovation. Before joining Pfizer, Dr. Vincent held positions of increasing responsibility within Medical Sciences at Amgen, ultimately leading early clinical development for the Immunology and Neuroscience therapeutic areas. Dr. Vincent earned his BA, Ph.D., and MD degrees from Indiana University, and completed his residency and began his post-doctoral and rheumatology training at the University of Vermont, completing his fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Tyrell Rivers

Board Observer

Dr. Rivers is Executive Director of Corporate Development & Ventures at AstraZeneca, where he is responsible for creating and executing innovative, value-enhancing business strategies. Prior to assuming this role in 2014, he worked at MedImmune Ventures, specializing in biotechnology investing. Earlier in his career, Dr. Rivers held various positions at Merck & Co., where he led technical support for commercial vaccines and directed global business initiatives for assessing key technologies for research and development. He currently serves as a Board member of ADC Therapeutics, Cerapedics, Goldfinch Bio, and VaxEquity. Dr. Rivers holds his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and an M.B.A. from the New York University Stern School of Business.