About Management
Delivering a World-Class Team
At Avidity Biosciences, our commitment to rigorous and innovative science is matched only by our passion to see people’s lives changed. We consistently challenge ourselves to Be AVID – Agile, Visionary, Integrated and Diverse.
Sarah Boyce joined Avidity as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors in October 2019. She has more than 25 years of global leadership experience in both pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies. Sarah’s tenure at Avidity has been marked by transformative leadership, starting with the company's successful Series C funding round and IPO. She continues to drive the company’s evolution from a research and development entity to a biopharmaceutical company through the advancement of three therapies into clinical development and the expansion of the broad utility of the company’s proprietary RNA technology. Prior to joining Avidity, Sarah held the position of president and a member of the board of directors of Akcea Therapeutics. She previously held executive roles in business development and global operations for leading life sciences companies including Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Forest Laboratories, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Novartis Oncology and Roche. Sarah was named a Healthcare Technology Report Top 25 Biotech CEO in 2022 and has been named one of Fiercest Women in Life Sciences. Sarah currently serves as a member of the board of directors at Contineum Therapeutics, Inc., and Abcuro, Inc. Sarah holds a BSc (Hons) degree in microbiology from the University of Manchester, England.
Dr. Steve Hughes, Chief Medical Officer, joined Avidity Biosciences in February 2022. Dr. Hughes has over 20 years of experience building and leading clinical development and medical affairs teams. He has contributed to over 50 clinical trials for more than 25 drugs across all stages of drug development and in multiple therapeutic areas including cardiovascular, neurology and several rare diseases with successful license approvals for several rare disease drugs. Dr. Hughes’s previous positions include the Chief Medical Officer at Arcturus and Organovo, Chief Clinical Development Officer at Ionis Pharmaceuticals and clinical leadership positions at Biogen, CSL Behring and Sanofi. Dr. Hughes is board certified in pharmaceutical medicine and received his medical degree from Imperial College, London. He also has an MBA from Imperial College Business School.
W. Michael Flanagan, Chief Scientific Officer, joined Avidity Biosciences in January 2021. Dr. Flanagan has extensive experience developing multiple therapeutic modalities, including RNA therapeutics, antibody drug conjugates, and bispecific antibodies. Prior to joining Avidity, Dr. Flanagan served as Senior Director and Project Team Leader, Oncology and Immunology for Genentech, Inc., where he advanced programs through late-stage research to end of Phase 2 development. Prior to Genentech, he served in roles of increasing responsibility in the biology groups at Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Gilead Sciences, Inc., and Merck & Co., Inc. where he was Senior Director of RNA Sciences. Dr. Flanagan received a B.S. in Genetics from the University of California at Davis, a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of California at Irvine and was an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University.
Michael MacLean, Chief Financial Officer, joined Avidity Biosciences Inc in 2020. Mike brings more than 30 years of strategic financial leadership within life sciences and other industries to Avidity, with deep experience in funding biotechnology companies to advance novel therapies in the rare and orphan disease space. In addition, his past roles included working with growing global commercial teams to support multiple product launches. Prior to Avidity, Mike served as Chief Financial Officer of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., another company focused on RNA therapies, where he led the buildout of Akcea's financial and commercial infrastructure, and also served as Chief Financial Officer of PureTech Health, plc. In addition, he held the position of Chief Accounting Officer of Biogen Inc. where he led the company's worldwide finance operations. Mike currently serves as member of the board of directors at Verve Therapeutics.
Sarah Boyce joined Avidity as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors in October 2019. She has more than 25 years of global leadership experience in both pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies. Sarah’s tenure at Avidity has been marked by transformative leadership, starting with the company's successful Series C funding round and IPO. She continues to drive the company’s evolution from a research and development entity to a biopharmaceutical company through the advancement of three therapies into clinical development and the expansion of the broad utility of the company’s proprietary RNA technology. Prior to joining Avidity, Sarah held the position of president and a member of the board of directors of Akcea Therapeutics. She previously held executive roles in business development and global operations for leading life sciences companies including Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Forest Laboratories, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Novartis Oncology and Roche. Sarah was named a Healthcare Technology Report Top 25 Biotech CEO in 2022 and has been named one of Fiercest Women in Life Sciences. Sarah currently serves as a member of the board of directors at Contineum Therapeutics, Inc., and Abcuro, Inc. Sarah holds a BSc (Hons) degree in microbiology from the University of Manchester, England.
Dr. Steve Hughes, Chief Medical Officer, joined Avidity Biosciences in February 2022. Dr. Hughes has over 20 years of experience building and leading clinical development and medical affairs teams. He has contributed to over 50 clinical trials for more than 25 drugs across all stages of drug development and in multiple therapeutic areas including cardiovascular, neurology and several rare diseases with successful license approvals for several rare disease drugs. Dr. Hughes’s previous positions include the Chief Medical Officer at Arcturus and Organovo, Chief Clinical Development Officer at Ionis Pharmaceuticals and clinical leadership positions at Biogen, CSL Behring and Sanofi. Dr. Hughes is board certified in pharmaceutical medicine and received his medical degree from Imperial College, London. He also has an MBA from Imperial College Business School.
W. Michael Flanagan, Chief Scientific Officer, joined Avidity Biosciences in January 2021. Dr. Flanagan has extensive experience developing multiple therapeutic modalities, including RNA therapeutics, antibody drug conjugates, and bispecific antibodies. Prior to joining Avidity, Dr. Flanagan served as Senior Director and Project Team Leader, Oncology and Immunology for Genentech, Inc., where he advanced programs through late-stage research to end of Phase 2 development. Prior to Genentech, he served in roles of increasing responsibility in the biology groups at Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Gilead Sciences, Inc., and Merck & Co., Inc. where he was Senior Director of RNA Sciences. Dr. Flanagan received a B.S. in Genetics from the University of California at Davis, a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of California at Irvine and was an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University.
Michael MacLean, Chief Financial Officer, joined Avidity Biosciences Inc in 2020. Mike brings more than 30 years of strategic financial leadership within life sciences and other industries to Avidity, with deep experience in funding biotechnology companies to advance novel therapies in the rare and orphan disease space. In addition, his past roles included working with growing global commercial teams to support multiple product launches. Prior to Avidity, Mike served as Chief Financial Officer of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., another company focused on RNA therapies, where he led the buildout of Akcea's financial and commercial infrastructure, and also served as Chief Financial Officer of PureTech Health, plc. In addition, he held the position of Chief Accounting Officer of Biogen Inc. where he led the company's worldwide finance operations. Mike currently serves as member of the board of directors at Verve Therapeutics.
Teresa McCarthy, Chief Human Resources Officer, joined Avidity Biosciences in August 2020. Ms. McCarthy is responsible for developing and executing human resource strategies in support of Avidity's overall business plan and strategic direction. She brings to Avidity decades of experience as an organizational development and human resources consultant in the life science industry. Ms. McCarthy has worked with biotech and healthcare companies at all stages of development via her consulting firm, McCarthy Consultants Inc., and her long-term partnership with The Leadership Edge, Inc. Prior to consulting, Ms. McCarthy held leadership positions at Edwards Lifesciences, Baxter Cardiovascular Group, and IVAC Corporation and received an M.A. degree in Organizational Communication with an emphasis in International Business from San Diego State University.
Eric Mosbrooker joined Avidity Biosciences in August 2021 and serves as Chief Commercial Officer. He previously held the roles of Chief Strategy Officer and member of the Board of Directors at Avidity. Mr. Mosbrooker has more than 20 years of experience in global operations, with demonstrated leadership and experience in commercial operations, market access, product launches, and program leadership. He has expertise in multiple rare diseases, encompassing neuromuscular, metabolic, oncology and additional orphan conditions. He has worked in all treatment modalities including one-time gene therapy. Prior to joining Avidity, Mr. Mosbrooker served as Chief Operations Officer for Cognoa, leading the commercial, program management, product, and business operations functions. Before Cognoa, he was Chief Commercial Officer at Audentes Therapeutics, overseeing the gene therapy business unit, and Senior Vice President of the Global Orphan Business Unit at Horizon Pharmaceuticals. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
John B. Moriarty, Jr., J.D. has served as our Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary since August 2024 and brings significant global legal and business leadership expertise to Avidity as a strategic advisor to Boards of Directors and executive management.
He has successfully scaled numerous global biotech companies and most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Mirati Therapeutics through its 2024 acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chief Legal Officer of Olema Oncology through its 2020 initial public offering, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Portola Pharmaceuticals through its 2020 acquisition by Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Alexion Pharmaceuticals as it grew to an S&P 500 global company and where he also directed the company’s global government and corporate affairs teams. Mr. Moriarty previously was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Elan Pharmaceuticals and earlier in his career was a healthcare fraud prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in private practice with a national law firm, and Associate General Counsel at Amgen.
Mr. Moriarty received a B.A. from the University of Virginia and a J.D. cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law.
Teresa McCarthy, Chief Human Resources Officer, joined Avidity Biosciences in August 2020. Ms. McCarthy is responsible for developing and executing human resource strategies in support of Avidity's overall business plan and strategic direction. She brings to Avidity decades of experience as an organizational development and human resources consultant in the life science industry. Ms. McCarthy has worked with biotech and healthcare companies at all stages of development via her consulting firm, McCarthy Consultants Inc., and her long-term partnership with The Leadership Edge, Inc. Prior to consulting, Ms. McCarthy held leadership positions at Edwards Lifesciences, Baxter Cardiovascular Group, and IVAC Corporation and received an M.A. degree in Organizational Communication with an emphasis in International Business from San Diego State University.
Eric Mosbrooker joined Avidity Biosciences in August 2021 and serves as Chief Commercial Officer. He previously held the roles of Chief Strategy Officer and member of the Board of Directors at Avidity. Mr. Mosbrooker has more than 20 years of experience in global operations, with demonstrated leadership and experience in commercial operations, market access, product launches, and program leadership. He has expertise in multiple rare diseases, encompassing neuromuscular, metabolic, oncology and additional orphan conditions. He has worked in all treatment modalities including one-time gene therapy. Prior to joining Avidity, Mr. Mosbrooker served as Chief Operations Officer for Cognoa, leading the commercial, program management, product, and business operations functions. Before Cognoa, he was Chief Commercial Officer at Audentes Therapeutics, overseeing the gene therapy business unit, and Senior Vice President of the Global Orphan Business Unit at Horizon Pharmaceuticals. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
John B. Moriarty, Jr., J.D. has served as our Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary since August 2024 and brings significant global legal and business leadership expertise to Avidity as a strategic advisor to Boards of Directors and executive management.
He has successfully scaled numerous global biotech companies and most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Mirati Therapeutics through its 2024 acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chief Legal Officer of Olema Oncology through its 2020 initial public offering, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Portola Pharmaceuticals through its 2020 acquisition by Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Alexion Pharmaceuticals as it grew to an S&P 500 global company and where he also directed the company’s global government and corporate affairs teams. Mr. Moriarty previously was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Elan Pharmaceuticals and earlier in his career was a healthcare fraud prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in private practice with a national law firm, and Associate General Counsel at Amgen.
Mr. Moriarty received a B.A. from the University of Virginia and a J.D. cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law.
Kathleen Gallagher joined Avidity Biosciences in April 2021 and serves as Chief Program Officer. She previously held the roles of Senior Vice President and Global Program Head, Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 (DM1) and Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations. Ms. Gallagher brings more than 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry leading communications and investor relations in preclinical to commercial stage companies. Prior to joining Avidity, she was Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Akcea Therapeutics (acquired by Ionis Pharmaceuticals), where her communications strategy and relationship building expertise were essential through the development and commercial launches of rare disease therapies Tegsedi® and Waylivra®. Previously, she held roles of increasing responsibility during her 13-year tenure at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, where she provided leadership and direction through multiple financing rounds including an IPO and through the launch of the pancreatic cancer therapy ONIVYDE®. Ms. Gallagher earned her B.S. degree in English from Boston University.
Charles Calderaro III, Chief Technical Officer, joined Avidity Biosciences in January 2025. He has more than 35 years of experience in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and cell and gene therapy company operations and in CMC drug development. Prior to joining Avidity, Mr. Calderaro served as Chief Technical Officer for Shoreline Biosciences, where he was responsible for advancing programs in oncology and autoimmune diseases and developing scalable bioprocesses for manufacturing gene editing and cell therapies. Prior to Shoreline, he served as Global Head of Technical Operations at Kite Pharma, a Gilead Company, and Senior Vice President, Global Manufacturing at BioMarin. In addition, he previously held roles of increasing responsibility during his 14-year tenure at Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, and at Aventis Behring LLC (now CSL Behring). Mr. Calderaro was also previously a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy. He earned his M.B.A. from Texas Christian University, his M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the U.S. Naval Nuclear Power School, and his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame.
Kat Lange joined Avidity Biosciences in December 2024 and serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer. Ms. Lange has spent over 15 years in the life sciences and biotechnology industry, with demonstrated leadership and experience in fundraising, strategic advisory, business development and investor relations to help advance novel therapies for the treatment of neuromuscular diseases. Prior to joining Avidity, Ms. Lange served as Chief Financial Officer at Locanabio, leading the finance, investor relations and operations functions. Before Locanabio, she was an executive director in the healthcare investment banking group at J.P. Morgan where she executed more than $18 billion in equity and equity-linked financings and more than $27 billion in various business transactions. She earned a master's degree in management science from the Judge Business School at Cambridge University and a master's and bachelor's degree in natural sciences also from Cambridge University.
Kathleen Gallagher joined Avidity Biosciences in April 2021 and serves as Chief Program Officer. She previously held the roles of Senior Vice President and Global Program Head, Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 (DM1) and Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations. Ms. Gallagher brings more than 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry leading communications and investor relations in preclinical to commercial stage companies. Prior to joining Avidity, she was Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Akcea Therapeutics (acquired by Ionis Pharmaceuticals), where her communications strategy and relationship building expertise were essential through the development and commercial launches of rare disease therapies Tegsedi® and Waylivra®. Previously, she held roles of increasing responsibility during her 13-year tenure at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, where she provided leadership and direction through multiple financing rounds including an IPO and through the launch of the pancreatic cancer therapy ONIVYDE®. Ms. Gallagher earned her B.S. degree in English from Boston University.
Charles Calderaro III, Chief Technical Officer, joined Avidity Biosciences in January 2025. He has more than 35 years of experience in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and cell and gene therapy company operations and in CMC drug development. Prior to joining Avidity, Mr. Calderaro served as Chief Technical Officer for Shoreline Biosciences, where he was responsible for advancing programs in oncology and autoimmune diseases and developing scalable bioprocesses for manufacturing gene editing and cell therapies. Prior to Shoreline, he served as Global Head of Technical Operations at Kite Pharma, a Gilead Company, and Senior Vice President, Global Manufacturing at BioMarin. In addition, he previously held roles of increasing responsibility during his 14-year tenure at Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, and at Aventis Behring LLC (now CSL Behring). Mr. Calderaro was also previously a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy. He earned his M.B.A. from Texas Christian University, his M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the U.S. Naval Nuclear Power School, and his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame.
Kat Lange joined Avidity Biosciences in December 2024 and serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer. Ms. Lange has spent over 15 years in the life sciences and biotechnology industry, with demonstrated leadership and experience in fundraising, strategic advisory, business development and investor relations to help advance novel therapies for the treatment of neuromuscular diseases. Prior to joining Avidity, Ms. Lange served as Chief Financial Officer at Locanabio, leading the finance, investor relations and operations functions. Before Locanabio, she was an executive director in the healthcare investment banking group at J.P. Morgan where she executed more than $18 billion in equity and equity-linked financings and more than $27 billion in various business transactions. She earned a master's degree in management science from the Judge Business School at Cambridge University and a master's and bachelor's degree in natural sciences also from Cambridge University.