CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), the leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that after 17 years, Barry Greene, President, has decided to leave the Company at the end of the third quarter to pursue outside interests in the biopharmaceutical industry. Mr. Greene will remain a consultant to the Company for up to two years to ensure an orderly transition, while the search for a new Chief Commercial Officer is underway. In addition, Dr. Yvonne Greenstreet, MBChB, MBA, who currently serves as Chief Operating Officer, has been named President and Chief Operating Officer effective October 1, 2020.

“It has been my tremendous privilege to serve as President of Alnylam for such a long period of time. I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish during my 17 years, having built a global, fully integrated, multi-product company that is recognized for excellence in R&D, and for our commercial strength and innovation as well,” said Barry Greene. “As I consider my next move, I plan to remain close to the science, medicine, and patients. I am fully confident Alnylam will achieve its goals with quality and excellence, and I’m grateful to have been a part of creating an entirely new class of medicines for patients. I will continue to support Alnylam in this transition and have no doubts about the Company’s future prospects as a top tier biopharmaceutical company.”

“I know that I speak for everyone at Alnylam in thanking Barry for his exceptional contributions and dedication to the Company, to patients and to our employees. We all owe him tremendous gratitude for his outstanding leadership and track record that have contributed to the delivery of a new class of medicines for patients and enabled life-changing advances in science and healthcare,” said John Maraganore, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Alnylam. “We respect his decision to pursue other interests and strongly believe that he will continue to be a highly impactful leader in life sciences. We are, however, pleased that he will remain involved with Alnylam as a consultant sharing his in-depth knowledge, extensive network and experience. Furthermore, as we conduct the search for a Chief Commercial Officer, we anticipate no impact to our ongoing commercial execution.”

“I would like to thank all of the employees, investigators, customers, partners, patient advocates and other stakeholders, as well as the Management Board and Alnylam Board of Directors, for your contributions, loyalty, guidance and collaboration over the years. I’m departing with the greatest admiration and respect as I take on the next chapter in my career,” added Mr. Greene.

“After nearly four very successful years at Alnylam and more than twenty years of experience across all facets of the biopharmaceutical sector, we are thrilled to have Yvonne step into an expanded role as President and Chief Operating Officer, given her strong command of our business, strategic perspective and proven ability to drive results,” added Dr. Maraganore. “Alnylam is on a positive trajectory and we are very well-positioned to continue building on our strong momentum. Yvonne has the leadership, track record, and breadth of experience that make her uniquely suited for this role. I look forward to our continued close partnership in this next phase of Alnylam’s evolution.”

About RNAi

RNAi (RNA interference) is a natural cellular process of gene silencing that represents one of the most promising and rapidly advancing frontiers in biology and drug development today. Its discovery has been heralded as “a major scientific breakthrough that happens once every decade or so,” and was recognized with the award of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. By harnessing the natural biological process of RNAi occurring in our cells, a new class of medicines, known as RNAi therapeutics, is now a reality. Small interfering RNA (siRNA), the molecules that mediate RNAi and comprise Alnylam's RNAi therapeutic platform, function upstream of today’s medicines by potently silencing messenger RNA (mRNA) – the genetic precursors – that encode for disease-causing proteins, thus preventing them from being made. This is a revolutionary approach with the potential to transform the care of patients with genetic and other diseases.

About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

Alnylam (Nasdaq: ALNY) is leading the translation of RNA interference (RNAi) into a whole new class of innovative medicines with the potential to transform the lives of people afflicted with rare genetic, cardio-metabolic, infectious, and central nervous system (CNS)/ocular diseases. Based on Nobel Prize-winning science, RNAi therapeutics represent a powerful, clinically validated approach for the treatment of a wide range of severe and debilitating diseases. Founded in 2002, Alnylam is delivering on a bold vision to turn scientific possibility into reality, with a robust RNAi therapeutics platform. Alnylam’s commercial RNAi therapeutic products are ONPATTRO® (patisiran), approved in the U.S., EU, Canada, Japan, Switzerland and Brazil, and GIVLAARI® (givosiran), approved in the U.S., EU and Brazil. Alnylam has a deep pipeline of investigational medicines, including six product candidates that are in late-stage development. Alnylam is executing on its “Alnylam 2020” strategy of building a multi-product, commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company with a sustainable pipeline of RNAi-based medicines to address the needs of patients who have limited or inadequate treatment options. Alnylam is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. For more information about our people, science and pipeline, please visit www.alnylam.com and engage with us on Twitter at @Alnylam or on LinkedIn.