Cerulean brings Elixir vet Roberts in to lead finance, admin

By Mass High Tech staff

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Cambridge biopharmaceutical Cerulean Pharma Inc. has named Karen Roberts as senior vice president, finance and administration, and appointed John Ryan as chief medical officer.

Roberts comes to Cerulean after serving as vice president, finance and administration, at Elixir Pharmaceuticals Inc., since Elixir’s founding in 2001. Prior to joining Elixir, Roberts held senior financial positions, where she was responsible for financial operations, at Frontline Group, Dyax Corp. and T Cell Sciences. Prior to working in the life sciences field, Roberts worked at Avery Dennison Corp., where she held numerous financial positions of increasing responsibility. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Salem State College.

Ryan joined Cerulean in July of 2009, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience in clinical research and development at AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth (formerly Genetics Institute) and Merck Research Laboratories. Before joining Cerulean, Ryan served as chief medical officer at AVEO. Prior to jumping into the pharmaceutical industry, Ryan held associate professorships at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Yale University School of Medicine.

Cerulean is focused on developing novel nanotechnology-based therapeutics in the areas of oncology, cardiovascular, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. At the same time that Ryan joined the company, Cerulean closed a $10 million Series B-1 funding round, featuring participation from existing investors Polaris Venture Partners of Waltham, Bessemer Venture Partners of Wellesley, and Venrock and Lux Capital, both of New York.

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