Akcea Therapeutics CEO and leadership

Dr. McDevitt is CEO of Akcea and has been a member of the company’s board of directors since October 2018. He was previously Chief Business Officer at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, where he led corporate development activities including business development, competitive intelligence, alliance management, investor relations and corporate communications. He joined Ionis in June 2018 from ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development. Prior to joining ACADIA, Dr. McDevitt spent more than two decades at GSK in a variety of global and strategic business roles where he was instrumental in completing more than 70 transactions, building and supporting the commercial business, and helping to drive the strategic expansion of GSK in the western United States and Asia. He has served in various roles with increasing responsibility including Vice President, Head of Business Development for R&D Extended Therapy Areas, Head of Worldwide Business Development Asia and Head of GSK’s R&D West Coast Innovation Center. He also worked at GSK Ventures and in anti-infective discovery. Dr. McDevitt is an author of 70 scientific publications and published patents. He attended Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, where he earned his Ph.D. and undergraduate degree, both in microbiology.

Carla Poulson has 20 years of experience in human resources in the United States and Europe. Before Akcea, she most recently served as vice president, senior human resources business partner at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. While at Vertex she helped build the company’s international headquarters from the ground up and led talent strategies in Europe during a period of significant global growth. She also supported the leadership team in Europe during the approval, launch, and reimbursement process for 2 innovative medicines in Europe, Brazil, and Australia.

Ms. Poulson believes that creating an environment where people are free to speak their minds, challenge the status quo, and act with a sense of urgency is essential to providing the right work culture for our people and delivering high-quality results for patients.

She received her bachelor’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology and her master’s degree in human resources and industrial relations from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Daniel Moynihan is a Chief Compliance Officer at AKCEA THERAPEUTICS, INC..

Kyle Jenne has 2 decades of commercial experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and has led the buildout and leadership of organizations in many therapeutic areas including cardiovascular and lipid-driven diseases, rare diseases and oncology. Mr. Jenne joined Akcea in May 2017 and currently serves as Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to his appointment as Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Jenne was Akcea’s U.S. Commercial Head and, in this role, directly engaged with U.S. healthcare providers, patients and payers to support improved diagnosis and treatment of patients affected by the rare diseases that Akcea targets. He was appointed Chief Commercial Officer in October 2019.

Mr. Price has 35 years of financial experience, more than 25 of which are in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Akcea Therapeutics in May 2020, he served as executive vice president, CFO, and board member at Novelion Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on research, development, and marketing of biologics for the treatment of ultra-rare diseases including homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia and generalized and partial lipodystrophy. Prior to Novelion, Mr. Price was vice president and chief financial officer at Noven Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company focused on women’s health and central nervous system disorders, until its acquisition by Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Co., Inc., in 2016. Before that, he was at Bentley Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 1992 to 2006 where he served as vice president, chief financial officer, treasurer, and secretary. He began his career with Price Waterhouse (now PWC) in 1982 and was also a member of Bentley’s board of directors for 9 years. Mr. Price, a licensed CPA, holds a BS in accounting from Auburn University and an MBA from Florida State University.

Dr. William Andrews has 2 decades of life sciences experience in clinical development, medical affairs, and medical/commercial strategy-including more than 13 years in rare diseases and 7 product launches. Dr. Andrews was previously chief medical officer with Acer Therapeutics where he managed and led clinical development programs for rare diseases in multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to Acer, he was principal consultant at Aletheia Lifesciences where he provided biopharmaceutical companies with consulting and product-specific work in clinical trial design, clinical development, medical affairs, and premarket strategy and planning. Before that, he was with Aegerion Pharmaceuticals where he served as senior vice president of business development and vice president of medical affairs. He also previously worked at Santhera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Sepracor, Inc. (now Sunovion Pharmaceuticals).

Dr. Andrews practiced internal medicine full-time for 7 years before joining the life sciences industry and continued practicing through 2012. During this time, he served as clinical faculty in internal medicine at Harvard Medical School and attending physician in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from Yale University School of Medicine and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Harvard College.