Kathleen Gallagher joined Avidity Biosciences in April 2021 and serves as Senior Vice President and Global Program Head, Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 (DM1). She previously held the role of Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations where she built the foundational communications strategy for Avidity. 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.

John W. Wallen III has served Avidity Biosciences as its head of intellectual property since inception and is presently General Counsel. Prior to Avidity, Dr. Wallen served as VP Intellectual Property & Corporate Legal at Ambrx, Inc. until its acquisition in 2014. Previously, Dr. Wallen was a partner in the Technology/Intellectual Property and Patent Litigation practices at Preston Gates & Ellis, LLP, in San Diego, a member of the Johnson & Johnson Law Department, and a Patent Attorney at Merck & Co., Inc. Prior to becoming a patent attorney, he was a scientist in the Cancer Research Department of Merck & Co., Inc. Dr. Wallen received a J.D. from Seton Hall Law School, a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. degree in clinical microbiology from Long Island University Brooklyn and a B.S. degree in biology from the State University of New York and is a registered patent attorney with the USPTO.

Eric Mosbrooker has over 20 years of experience in global commercial operations, with demonstrated leadership and experience in global pricing, marketing, distribution, product launches, and compliance. In addition to his commercial experience, Mr. Mosbrooker has expertise in gene therapy, rare metabolic diseases, additional orphan conditions and oncology. Most recently, Mr. Mosbrooker served as the Chief Operations Officer for Cognoa, leading the commercial, program management, product, and business operations functions. Before Cognoa, he was the Chief Commercial Officer at Audentes Therapeutics overseeing the gene therapy business unit and the 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.

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.

Michael MacLean is Chief Financial and Business Officer at Avidity Biosciences Inc. Mr. MacLean brings decades of relevant financial industry experience to Avidity, with deep experience in funding biotechnology companies to advance novel therapies in the rare and orphan disease space. Most recently, Mr. MacLean served as Chief Financial Officer of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. where he led the buildout of Akcea’s financial and commercial infrastructure. Prior to Akcea, Mr. MacLean served as Chief Financial Officer of PureTech Health, plc, as well as Chief Accounting Officer of Biogen Inc. where he led the company’s worldwide finance operations.

W. Michael Flanagan, Chief Scientific and Technical 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.

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.

Arthur Levin, a founding member of Avidity, serves as Distinguished Scientist and Strategic Leader at Avidity Biosciences and is a member of the Board of Directors. He previously held the position of Chief Scientific Officer at Avidity. Dr. Levin is a key opinion leader in the RNA therapeutics field who has led teams responsible for the development of many oligonucleotides. Prior to joining Avidity, Dr. Levin was the Executive Vice President of Research and Development at miRagen Therapeutics and held senior drug development roles at Ionis (formerly Isis) Pharmaceuticals and Santaris Pharma.

Dr. Levin has played key roles in the development of numerous oligonucleotides including the first approved antisense drugs and the first microRNA-targeted therapeutic in clinical trials. He has a combined three decades of experience in all aspects of drug development from discovery through drug registration, both in large pharma and biotech companies. Dr. Levin has published more than 100 scientific articles and several of the most cited reviews in the field. He is on the scientific advisory boards of multiple institutions. Art received a doctorate in toxicology from the University of Rochester, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Muhlenberg College.

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 OmniAb, Inc. Sarah holds a BSc (Hons) degree in microbiology from the University of Manchester, England.