Monday, August 4, 2008

Alnylam venture Regulus names new finance exec

By Mass High Tech Staff

Regulus Therapeutics LLC, a joint venture between Cambridge biotech firm Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. of California , has named Garry Menzel as executive vice president of corporate development and finance.

The two companies formed Carlsbad, Calif.-based Regulus to develop and market microRNA-based therapeutics. MicroRNAs are believed to be able to regulate multiple human genes with potential to treat many diseases, according to the companies.

Menzel served as managing director at Credit Suisse, working for biotech and pharmaceutical clients, and prior to that, as managing director and founding member of the Healthcare Group at Goldman Sachs. Previously, Menzel was a strategy consultant for Boston-based Bain & Co., working on a variety of projects in Europe and Asia.

Menzel received a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry from the Imperial College of Science and Technology; a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Cambridge; and a master’s degree in business administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

In April, Regulus formed an alliance with British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC to develop and commercialize Regulus’ microRNA treatments for inflammatory diseases. The GSK deal includes $20 million in initial payments and up to $144.5 million in milestone fees for each of the four treatments developed through the alliance.

Alnylam (Nasdaq: ALNY) develops RNA-interference drugs and Isis (Nasdaq: ISIS) is focused on RNA-based, antisense treatments.