John was the Co-Founder, President and CEO of Aceragen as well as a member of the Board of Directors. Following Aceragen’s merger with Idera Pharmaceuticals in 2022, he was appointed Idera’s President and CEO and joined its Board of Directors. He has extensive experience in the orphan and rare disease field, having spent a significant portion of his career developing therapeutic products in this area.
Prior to Aceragen, John co-founded and was President and CEO of Spyryx Biosciences, a company he spun out of UNC-Chapel Hill to develop inhaled peptides as a treatment for cystic fibrosis. Under his leadership, Spyryx raised $23 million in venture capital with a top syndicate of investors, executed a $5 million development award with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and advanced the lead program into the clinic.
Previously, John was Vice President, Corporate Development with Synageva BioPharma, a biotechnology company developing enzyme replacement therapies for untreated lysosomal storage disorders. He played key roles in establishing Synageva’s product portfolio and in taking the company public via a reverse merger with Trimeris. Earlier, John was the Vice President, Business Development for Javelin Pharmaceuticals and a senior business development leader with Eurand Pharmaceuticals.
John holds a BS in Biological Sciences from Clemson University and an MS in Technology Management from the University of Pennsylvania.
