Management

Mark Iwicki has more than 23 years of experience as a pharmaceutical industry leader managing all stages of drug development in multiple therapeutic areas. He has extensive experience managing high-performance teams and has been instrumental in the success of a number of drugs, including Prilosec^®, Diovan^®, Zelnorm^®, Lunesta^®, and Latuda^®. Prior to joining Blend, Mr. Iwicki was CEO of Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, where he provided leadership to the successful launch of Sunovion, which was created after the $2.6 billion acquisition of Sepracor by Dainippon Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals. At Sepracor, Mr. Iwicki served as Chief Commercial Officer for the company’s six marketed products with over $1.2 billion in annual sales. Prior to joining Sepracor in 2007, he was the Senior Vice President and head of the $4 billion cardiovascular business unit at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, and before that held management positions at Astra Merck and Merck.

Craig Dunbar is Vice President of Product Development at Blend, with more than 15 years of experience in drug product development, formulation design, process development, and analytical chemistry. Previously, he was Senior Director of Formulation Development at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where he contributed to the development and approval of Incivek™ and Kalydeco™. Prior to that, Dr. Dunbar served in multiple leadership roles at Alkermes, including Director of Analytical Development and Director of Aerosol Science. Dr. Dunbar received a B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manchester (UK) and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. He conducted postdoctoral studies at the University of North Carolina and GlaxoSmithKline.

Eddy Lee is Vice President of Chemical Development at Blend, with more than 21 years of experience in chemical process development. Previously, he was Vice President of Chemical Process Development at Genzyme Corporation, where he contributed to the development of numerous small-molecule and polymer programs, including Eliglustat™ for Gaucher disease. During his tenure at Genzyme, he built a fully integrated development team, including a state-of-the-art cGMP kilo-lab facility. He facilitated efforts in multiple disease areas, including cystic fibrosis, cancer, multiple sclerosis, lysosomal storage diseases, and phosphate binders. Prior to that, Dr. Lee developed novel chemistry to synthesize phospholipids at Genzyme UK. Dr. Lee received a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Warwick (UK) and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry with a focus on biotransformations from the University of Warwick. He conducted postdoctoral research on Vitamin B12-catalyzed radical cyclizations at the University of Bern.

Mark Bilodeau is Vice President of Medicinal Chemistry at Blend, with more than 16 years of experience in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. Previously, he was Senior Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Merck & Co. Inc., where he developed a broad background in drug discovery for the oncology, pain, neuroscience, ophthalmology, and cardiovascular therapeutic areas. While at Merck, Dr. Bilodeau was an inventor and team leader on seven molecules that advanced into clinical testing and also led a development team that brought one molecule from discovery through Phase I clinical testing. Dr. Bilodeau received a B.S. in Chemistry from Boston College and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Harvard University. He conducted postdoctoral studies at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Michael Aceti is Head of Finance at Blend, with 10 years of experience in the biotechnology industry. Most recently, he was Senior Director at Genzyme, where he held roles in finance and commercial operations. Prior to Genzyme, Mr. Aceti was CFO of Innosight, a consulting firm founded by Harvard Business School Professor and author Clayton Christensen, as well as Vice President of Finance at GenRad. He received a B.A. in Economics at Saint Lawrence University and an M.B.A. in Finance and Strategy at the University of Chicago.