Codexis has established a Strategic Advisory Board (SAB) to support the development and advancement of Codexis’ existing and future products and technologies. The SAB is comprised of both internal and external experts and thought leaders and will play a pivotal role in shaping the strategic direction of the Company through engaging with fellow thought leaders, providing valuable insights and contributing to the advancement of cutting-edge research and innovation in the field of oligonucleotide synthesis.
John Maraganore, PhD
Founder and Former CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
John Maraganore, PhD, served as the founding CEO and a Director of Alnylam from 2002 to 2021, where he built and led the company from early platform research on RNA interference through global approval and commercialization of the first five RNAi therapeutics, creating a whole new class of medicines. At Alnylam, Dr. Maraganore built a leading, global biopharmaceutical company with over 1500 employees in over 20 countries around the world. He led the company’s value creation strategy, building over $25B in market capitalization. Prior to Alnylam, he held scientific and business leadership roles at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., at Biogen, Inc. - where he invented and led the discovery and development of ANGIOMAX® (bivalirudin), at ZymoGenetics, Inc., and at the Upjohn Company. Dr. Maraganore is currently the principal and owner of JMM Innovations, LLC. He serves as an advisor to a number of venture and public company investment firms, and a member of the Board of Directors of multiple publicly traded companies, including Beam Therapeutics, Kymera Therapeutics, ProKidney Corp., and Takeda Pharmaceuticals. He is on the Board of a number of private companies and non-profit organizations, and also serves as a strategic advisor to other public and private biotechnology companies. Finally, Dr. Maraganore is on the Board of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, or “BIO,” where he was Chair from 2017-2019 and is Chair Emeritus. Dr. Maraganore received his BA, MS and PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Chicago.
Carole Cobb, MBA
Biotechnology Consultant
Ms. Cobb has forty years of bio-based industry experience and is currently a business consultant for biotechnology companies. Most recently, she served as the Chief Operating Officer at GreenLight Biosciences where she led the Company’s efforts to scale their proprietary bioprocessing methods. Prior to joining GreenLight, Ms. Cobb served as Chief Operating Officer at Cobalt Technologies. Earlier in her career, Ms. Cobb held senior leadership roles at Danisco A/S and Genencor International. She holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Rochester and Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry and Cell & Molecular Biology from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Masad Damha, PhD
Distinguished James McGill Professor, McGill University
Masad Damha, PhD, is the Distinguished James McGill Professor at McGill University. His research has been instrumental in the development of new therapeutic drugs based on RNA targeting and gene editing, and he has authored more than 200 publications. Dr. Damha is a co-founder of Anagenis, Inc., a start-up with proprietary antisense technologies (ANA and FANA). His FANA technology is being applied by multiple research laboratories and industries to assess and develop modified oligonucleotides against several biological targets, including cancer and infectious diseases. Dr. Damha has served as the President of both the International Society of Nucleosides, Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids and the Oligonucleotide Therapeutic Society, and currently serves on the Editorial Board of the journal Nucleic Acids Therapeutics. He received both his PhD and BSc in Organic Chemistry from McGill University.
Jim Lalonde, PhD
Biotechnology Consultant and Director
Jim Lalonde, PhD, is a biotechnology consultant for start-up companies in enzyme engineering and biotechnology. Presently, Dr. Lalonde serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Willow Biosciences and as a Scientific Advisory Board member at Bota Biosciences, bitBiome, Curie Co. and Invizyne. Most recently, Dr. Lalonde served as the head of the Microbial Digital Genome Engineering Business at Inscripta. Prior to Inscripta, he spent nearly 15 years at Codexis, culminating in the role of Senior Vice President of Research and Development, where he oversaw the development of more than 50 enzymes for biotherapeutics, drug manufacturing, nutrition and molecular diagnostics applications. Earlier in his career, Dr. Lalonde held leadership roles in biocatalysis and chemical development at Altus Biologics and in scientific research at Vista Chemical Company. Dr. Lalonde earned a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Texas A&M University and a BS in Chemistry from Lakehead University.
Rahul Singhvi, ScD
Director
Rahul Singhvi is a global leader in the Life Sciences industry and is cofounder and CEO of the biomanufacturing company, Resilience (National Resilience, Inc.). Prior to cofounding Resilience in 2020, Rahul was an Operating Partner at Flagship Pioneering, where he was responsible for founding and operating companies launched from Flagship’s innovation foundry, Flagship labs. Before joining Flagship, Rahul was the Chief Operating Officer of Takeda’s Vaccine Business Unit where he was responsible for worldwide vaccine CMC and manufacturing operations. Before Takeda, Rahul was President and CEO of Novavax, Inc. where he transformed the company from a specialty pharmaceutical business into a leading vaccine company. Rahul’s career began at Merck & Co in 1994, where he held several positions of increasing responsibility in R&D and manufacturing. Rahul graduated as the top ranked chemical engineer from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur in India and earned both his masters and doctoral degrees in Chemical Engineering from MIT. He earned his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated as a Palmer Scholar. Rahul serves on the Board of Trustees of the Keck Graduate Institute, and on the Board of Directors for Codexis (Nasdaq: CDXS), and Garuda Therapeutics (private).