About Alkeus

David Arkowitz has more than 30 years of finance, operations, business development and commercial leadership experience in the life sciences and biotech industries. In addition to his track record leading finance functions and operations, Mr. Arkowitz has extensive business development and commercial product launch experience.

Prior to joining Alkeus, Mr. Arkowitz served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Business Development of Seres Therapeutics. Previously he served as the Chief Financial Officer of Flexion Therapeutics, a biotechnology company acquired by Pacira Biosciences.

Prior to Flexion, Mr. Arkowitz served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Visterra, which was acquired by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. He also previously served as Chief Financial Officer at Mascoma, AMAG Pharmaceuticals and Idenix Pharmaceuticals and held additional leadership positions within each company.

Mr. Arkowitz spent more than 13 years at Merck, where he was Vice President and Controller of the U.S. pharmaceutical business, Controller of the global research and development division and the Chief Financial Officer of Merck’s Canadian subsidiary.

In addition, Mr. Arkowitz currently serves on the board of directors of Kineta and has previously served on the boards of directors of F-star Therapeutics, Yumanity Therapeutics, Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals, Proteostasis Therapeutics, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, and ImpactRx.

He has a B.A. in mathematics from Brandeis University and an M.B.A. in finance from Columbia University Business School.

Michel Dahan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is an accomplished biotech leader with more than two decades of experience in the life sciences industry transforming companies from early pre-clinical stage development to successful product launch and commercialization.

A member of the Alkeus Board since January 2023, Mr. Dahan has served in various roles with biopharma companies, including the development and commercialization of rare disease therapeutics. Prior to Alkeus, Mr. Dahan served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Akebia Therapeutics, overseeing manufacturing, quality, alliance management, program management, strategic planning and business development. During Mr. Dahan’s 13 years at Akebia, the company went public, grew from less than 20 employees to more than 400 and raised $1.5 billion in capital.

Prior to Akebia Mr. Dahan held several positions at Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals, most recently as Vice President, Commercial Development and Strategic Planning, and led global marketing and commercial development in preparation for two global launches in rare diseases. Previously, Mr. Dahan served in various roles for Ipsen, in business development, global marketing, strategic planning and R&D program leadership.He began his career in investment banking and holds a graduate degree in business administration from HEC Paris (France), a ‘maîtrise’ in mathematics from Sorbonne University (France) and completed the Harvard Business School Program for Leadership Development (PLD).

Tamara Dillon, Chief Human Resources Officer at Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is an accomplished Human Resources leader with extensive commercial experience building small and large organizations, as well as driving organizational growth, talent management and cultural transformation.

Prior to joining Alkeus, Ms. Dillon served as the Chief People Officer at Butterfly Network, Inc., where she led all aspects of the company’s people practices and corporate communications. This included its approach to culture, talent acquisition, learning and development. Ms. Dillon’s experience also includes Akebia Therapeutics, where she was Chief People Officer. During her almost eight years at Akebia, she played an integral role in scaling the company. She was instrumental in developing the leadership team, spearheaded a multi-year culture transformation, and managed enterprise-wide change initiatives including merger integration. Her responsibilities also included serving as Chief of Staff to the CEO, as well as leading their culture programs and patient advocacy functions.

Ms. Dillon’s experience also includes global leadership roles at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and Genzyme, a Sanofi Company. In these roles Ms. Dillon worked closely with the senior management teams to ensure that the business strategies were translated into impactful and effective human resources programs. Ms. Dillon holds a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources Management and Policy from Cornell University as well as a Certificate of Achievement for the Front-end Coaching Intensive (FEIC) from Columbia University.

Seemi Khan, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., Chief Medical Officer of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is an accomplished executive with a track record of bringing rare disease treatments to patients in need across multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to joining Alkeus, Dr. Khan served as Chief Medical Officer at Reata Pharmaceuticals through its acquisition by Biogen, where she oversaw all clinical programs from early stage to commercialization. Dr. Khan was instrumental in the approval and launch of the first treatment for Friedreich’s ataxia. Dr. Khan’s experience also includes senior leadership roles at Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Quark Pharmaceuticals, Abbott and AbbVie.

An internist and nephrologist with expertise in rare disease, immunology and rheumatology, she has served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. She further has received an M.P.H. from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an M.B.A. from Brandeis University.

Leonide Saad, Ph.D., is Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Since founding Alkeus in 2010 with Ilyas Washington, Ph.D., Dr. Saad has pioneered the development of ALK-001 for Stargardt disease:conducting IND-enabling preclinical studies, securing funding for clinical development including NIH and FDA grants, designing and executing multiple clinical trials, generating clinical data to support Breakthrough Therapy Designation for ALK-001 from the FDA, and raising $150 million in institutional capital to support a rapid path to NDA submission and launch for ALK-001. Prior to founding Alkeus, Dr. Saad worked in management consulting and venture capital, focused on the biotechnology and life science industries.

Dr. Saad holds a Ph.D. with a focus on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine from MIT, a Financial Technology certificate from MIT Sloan School of Management, a MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, a BS and MS in Applied Mathematics from University of Paris VI, and is a graduate from Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, with a concentration in organic chemistry and physics.

David Setboun is an operations and commercial leader with foundational experience driving innovative therapies into and through clinical development at multiple biotechnology companies, and he has broad functional expertise across strategy, operations, commercialization, business development. Prior to Alkeus, David was EVP and Chief Operating Officer at Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics and Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy at Life Biosciences. Prior to these roles, David was Vice President and Managing Director for France at Biogen and Country President, Portugal at AstraZeneca and Global Brand Director at Eli Lilly. David has a reputation for inventive, mission-focused leadership and for the last 10 years David has dedicated his career to promoting and developing targeted therapies for rare diseases. He is also an angel investor and the founder of a nonprofit in longevity science. David earned an MBA from HEC Paris and a PharmD from the University of Paris Saclay. He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School (AMP 194).

Eric Trachtenberg, J.D., M.B.A., is the Chief Legal Officer of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals. He brings significant legal, compliance and strategic leadership with over two decades of experience navigating biopharmaceutical companies through transformational change. His expertise includes corporate transactions, corporate governance, rare disease drug development, SEC compliance and launching products. Prior to joining Alkeus, Eric was Chief Legal Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary of Kala Bio, Inc., an ophthalmology company focused on the research and development of innovative therapies for rare and severe eye diseases. Eric’s experience also includes senior leadership roles at Aralez Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Enobia Pharma, Inc., Sepracor Inc., and Kos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Eric began his career at Blank Rome LLP where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions and securities law. He holds a Juris Doctorate and Master of Business Administration from Temple University and a Bachelor of Science in Management from Tulane University.

Dr. Ilyas Washington is a professor, inventor, scientist, and co-founder with backgrounds in university and industry research and development. In 2010, Dr. Washington co-founded of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals with Dr. Leonide Saad. In 2018, Dr. Washington started biOOrg3.14 to invent therapies differently using radically different approaches. Before starting biOOrg3.14, Dr. Washington was the Michael Jaharis Assistant Professor at Columbia University Medical Center in the Department of Ophthalmology. His research has focused on understanding how unavoidable environmental phenomena such as light, gravity, magnetic fields and diet influence and dictate human health on a molecular level. Dr. Washington holds a PhD in organic chemistry from UCLA and a BA in chemistry from Bard College. He completed postdoctoral work at Columbia University and trained under the mentorship of Koji Nakanishi, Nick Turro (Columbia University), Ken Houk (UCLA) and Hilton Weiss (Bard).

Dr. Adams has served as a member of our Board of Directors since November 2022. He has more than 30 years of experience on the business side of pharmaceutical and orphan drug development, including business strategy, commercial planning, product management, licensing, mergers and acquisitions. In 2013, he co-founded Cydan, an orphan drug accelerator focused on improving the lives of patients with rare genetic diseases. Together with the Cydan team, Dr. Adams raised more than $200M and co-founded and three new companies: Vtesse, Imara and Tiburio Therapeutics. Prior to Cydan, he served as Chief Business Officer of FoldRx Pharmaceuticals, where he contributed to the development of VYNDAQEL® (tafamidis) for TTR amyloidosis. Previously, he served in various business development and marketing roles at ViaCell, Transkaryotic Therapies and Ciba-Geigy. Dr. Adams also serves on the Board of Directors of Aviceda Therapeutics and Reveal Pharmaceuticals. He was previously also on the boards of Cydan II, and Kinetix Pharmaceuticals. He holds a PhD in organic chemistry and a diploma in organic chemistry and biochemistry from the University of Zurich, and an MBA from INSEAD of Fontainebleau, France.

Joshua Boger, Ph.D., Chair of the Alkeus Board of Directors, founded Vertex Pharmaceuticals in 1989. He retired as Vertex’s Chief Executive Officer in 2009 and continued to serve on the Vertex Board and Chair Vertex’s Science & Technology Committee until 2017. Dr. Boger served as Executive Chairman at Alkeus from June 2023 to June 2024. Prior to founding Vertex, Dr. Boger was Senior Director of Basic Chemistry at Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories in Rahway, N.J., where he headed both the Departments of Biophysical Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry of Immunology & Inflammation. During his ten years at Merck, Dr. Boger developed an international reputation in the application of computer modeling to the chemistry of drug design and was a pioneer in the use of structure-based rational drug design as the basis for drug discovery programs. Dr. Boger holds a bachelor of arts degree in Chemistry and Philosophy from Wesleyan University (Connecticut) and a master’s and doctorate degrees in Chemistry from Harvard University. His postdoctoral research in molecular recognition was performed in the laboratories of the Nobel-prize winning chemist, Jean-Marie Lehn in Strasbourg, France. He is the author of over 50 scientific publications and holds 32 issued U.S. patents in pharmaceutical discovery and development.

Michel Dahan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is an accomplished biotech leader with more than two decades of experience in the life sciences industry transforming companies from early pre-clinical stage development to successful product launch and commercialization.

A member of the Alkeus Board since January 2023, Mr. Dahan has served in various roles with biopharma companies, including the development and commercialization of rare disease therapeutics. Prior to Alkeus, Mr. Dahan served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Akebia Therapeutics, overseeing manufacturing, quality, alliance management, program management, strategic planning and business development. During Mr. Dahan’s 13 years at Akebia, the company went public, grew from less than 20 employees to more than 400 and raised $1.5 billion in capital.

Prior to Akebia Mr. Dahan held several positions at Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals, most recently as Vice President, Commercial Development and Strategic Planning, and led global marketing and commercial development in preparation for two global launches in rare diseases. Previously, Mr. Dahan served in various roles for Ipsen, in business development, global marketing, strategic planning and R&D program leadership.He began his career in investment banking and holds a graduate degree in business administration from HEC Paris (France), a ‘maîtrise’ in mathematics from Sorbonne University (France) and completed the Harvard Business School Program for Leadership Development (PLD).

Dr. Hack is a Partner of Bain Capital Life Sciences, LP, a private equity fund that invests in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics, and enabling life science technology companies globally. From July 2015 to March 2019, he was Chief Financial Officer of Editas Medicine where he had responsibility for finance, investor relations, business development, information technology, and operations. Previously, Dr. Hack served as a portfolio manager at Millennium Management where he ran a healthcare hedge fund focused on investing in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and life sciences companies from 2011 to 2015. Earlier in his investment career, he was a securities analyst at a number of healthcare-focused hedge funds and investment banks in New York. Dr. Hack currently serves on the boards of directors of Dynavax Technologies Corporation, Imperative Care, JenaValve Technology, Mersana Therapeutics, and Nuvalent. He previously served on the boards of directors of Affinivax, Atea Pharmaceuticals, Allena Pharmaceuticals, BCLS Acquisition Corporation, and Xilio Therapeutics. Dr. Hack received an A.B. in biology with special honors, an M.D., and a Ph.D. in molecular genetics and cell biology from the University of Chicago.

Leonide Saad, Ph.D., is Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Since founding Alkeus in 2010 with Ilyas Washington, Ph.D., Dr. Saad has pioneered the development of ALK-001 for Stargardt disease:conducting IND-enabling preclinical studies, securing funding for clinical development including NIH and FDA grants, designing and executing multiple clinical trials, generating clinical data to support Breakthrough Therapy Designation for ALK-001 from the FDA, and raising $150 million in institutional capital to support a rapid path to NDA submission and launch for ALK-001. Prior to founding Alkeus, Dr. Saad worked in management consulting and venture capital, focused on the biotechnology and life science industries.

Dr. Saad holds a Ph.D. with a focus on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine from MIT, a Financial Technology certificate from MIT Sloan School of Management, a MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, a BS and MS in Applied Mathematics from University of Paris VI, and is a graduate from Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, with a concentration in organic chemistry and physics.

Ian Smith is a biotechnology leader with more than 25 years of strategic leadership, corporate and business development, finance and operations experience. He currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Bain Capital Life Sciences, Executive Chair of Solid Biosciences and a member of the Board of Directors of Foghorn Therapeutics. He also provides executive advisory services to multiple biotech companies. Previously, he was Executive Chair of Viacyte, and a member of the Board of Directors of Acorda Therapeutics, Aavanti Bio and Infinity Pharmaceuticals. Ian was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, as well as Chief Financial Officer between 2001 and 2019, during which Vertex grew from a research-based organization to a global commercial company with multiple successfully launched medicines. Prior to joining Vertex, Ian was a Partner in the Ernst & Young Life Science Practice.

Dr. Yu is the founder and Managing Partner at TCGX. Dr. Yu has extensive operating experience with leadership roles at both private and public companies, including as Chief Operating Officer at Sagent Pharmaceuticals and Chief Business Officer of ChinaKangHui. Dr. Yu has served on the board of over a dozen private/public companies, including Structure Therapeutics, Artios, Upstream Bio, Arbor Biotechnologies, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Sagent Pharmaceuticals, China Kanghui, Rempex, Nabriva, Surgical Specialties, Sentre Heart, and NKF Pharma. While at Vivo, his previous firm, he also led investments in Zai Labs, RiverVision, CRISPR Therapeutics, Intellia, Durata, Precision Biosciences, Trauson, and Revolution Medicines. Dr. Yu received his M.D. and M.B.A. from Stanford University and graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Biology from Harvard University.