Christoph Westphal: CEO and co-founder of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Inc

User Rating :

/ 0

Saturday, 07 May 2011 11:28

Christoph Westphal, M.D., Ph.D., co-founded Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in 2004 and has since served as Chief Executive Officer. In addition to leading Sirtris as an independent discovery performance unit within GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Dr. Westphal serves as the Senior Vice President of GSK’s Centre of Excellence for External Drug Discovery (CEEDD). At CEEDD, Dr. Westphal and his team are developing a network of external alliances with world-class biotech companies to bring breakthrough medicines into the GSK pipeline. Dr. Westphal is based at Sirtris, which is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Under Dr. Westphal’s leadership, Sirtris has become a recognized pioneer in the research and development of small molecule drugs that target the sirtuins, a family of enzymes that control the aging process. In 2007, Dr. Westphal successfully led the company through its initial public offering, resulting in recognition by the Boston Globe as one of the Globe 100 top IPOs of 2007. In June 2008, GSK acquired Sirtris for $720 million.

Dr. Westphal is a co-founder of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY), Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA), CoNCERT Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Acceleron Pharma, Inc. Prior to establishing Sirtris, Dr. Westphal was a general partner at a venture fund and a consultant with McKinsey & Company. Dr. Westphal earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard University; and he graduated with a B.A. summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University.

Dr. Westphal currently serves on the Board of Directors for Alnara Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the Board of Fellows of Harvard Medical School and the Board of Overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Westphal has been the lead or senior author on several patent applications and scientific papers in journals including Cell, Nature and Nature Genetics.

Dr. Westphal has received a number of industry awards, including the 2009 E-3 Public Company Science & Technology Company Executive Award at the annual Emerald Groundhog Day Investment Forum; 2008 Outstanding Individual of the Year Award at the annual Laguna Biotech CEO Meeting; recognition in the Pharmaceutical Executive “45 Under 45” and PharmaVOICE 100 issues, both in 2008; Mass High Tech All Star Award in 2007; and Ernst & Young’s New England Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Biopharmaceutical category in 2006.

In addition to being interviewed for numerous high-profile articles and broadcast segments, Dr. Westphal has been featured on an ABC News Special hosted by Barbara Walters, 60 Minutes and as the subject of a Fortune cover article.

Dr. Westphal enjoys traveling (he has visited over 130 countries) and playing the cello. He is also fluent in English, German, Spanish and French. Dr. Westphal is married with five young children.