Management Team

Since joining the company as a founding scientist in 1990, Dr. Agrawal has served in senior scientific and leadership roles including Chief Scientific Officer from 1993-2010. He was appointed President in February 2000, Chief Executive Officer in August 2004, and Chairman in September 2010. Dr. Agrawal has published over 300 research papers/reviews and has edited two volumes on oligonucleotide chemistry and one on antisense therapeutics. He has also authored over 300 patents, issued or pending in countries around the world.

Dr. Agrawal received his D. Phil. in Chemistry in 1980 and carried out his post-doctoral research at the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, U.K. While working at Worcester Foundation of Experimental Biology, he carried out work in antisense technology with Paul Zamecnik, MD, and based on this technology, the Company was founded.

Mr. Arcudi joined the Company in 2007 as Chief Financial Officer. From 2003-2007, Mr. Arcudi served as Vice President of Finance and Administration and Treasurer for Peptimmune, Inc. and was responsible for all financial business and operations. Prior to joining Peptimmune, Mr. Arcudi was Senior Director of Finance and Administration at Genzyme Molecular Oncology Corporation from 2000-2003 and Director of Finance Business Planning and Operations International at Genzyme Corporation from 1998-2000. Prior to joining Genzyme, he held finance positions with increasing levels of responsibility at Cognex Corporation, Millipore Corporation and General Motors Corporation.

Mr. Arcudi received a Master of Business Administration from Bryant College and a Bachelor of Science Degree in accounting and information systems from the University of Southern New Hampshire.

Dr. Sullivan joined the Company in 2002 as Senior Director, Preclinical Drug Development and subsequently rose to his current position, Vice President, Development Programs and Alliance Management. His prior professional experience includes a variety of technical management roles with pharmaceutical companies, including Purdue Pharma and Adria, contract research organizations, including Oread, Battelle and Roma Toxicology Centre, and in veterinary medicine at International Minerals & Chemical. Dr. Sullivan brings broad expertise in the design, execution, and application of nonclinical drug development programs. His publications, presentations, and reports submitted to regulatory authorities have covered topics in preclinical models of efficacy, safety pharmacology, pharmacokinetics/ADME, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and reproductive toxicology as well as general toxicology/pathology.

Dr. Sullivan earned his B.S. in Microbiology from Michigan State University. His graduate studies were at Purdue University, where he earned a M.S. degree in Health Physics and a Ph.D. in Toxicology.

Dr. Arbeit joined the Company in 2009 as Vice president of Clinical Development. From 2003 to 2007, he initially served as Executive Director of Clinical Research and subsequently as Vice President of Clinical Development for Paratek Pharmaceuticals. From 2001 to 2002, he worked with Cubist Pharmaceuticals as Executive Medical Director. From 1979 to 2000, Dr. Arbeit held increasing levels of responsibility at the VA Medical Center in Boston, where in 1991 he was appointed Associate Chief of Staff for Research and in 1995, Chief of the Infectious Diseases Section. He has also served as Professor of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. He is currently an Attending Physician in the Infectious Diseases Section and an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Arbeit has authored or co-authored over 100 publications, textbook chapters and peer-reviewed articles.

Dr. Arbeit earned a B.A. degree from Williams College in 1968 and received a medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine in 1972. He conducted his medical residency at Yale and completed a Clinical Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Beth Israel Hospital, Children's Hospital Medical Center and Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Dr. Kandimalla joined the Company as a Senior Research Scientist in 1992 with extensive experience in chemistry and biochemistry of nucleic acids. From 1993-1999, Dr. Kandimalla served as Senior Scientist, and from 1999-2004 he was Director of Functional Genomics. In 2004, he served as Senior Director of Research. Dr. Kandimalla is a co-author of over 120 research publications and a co-inventor on 14 issued patents.

Dr. Kandimalla received his M.Sc. in Biochemistry and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Andhra University, India, and carried out postdoctoral research at the Indian Institute of Science, and the University of Alberta prior to joining the Company.

Dr. La Monica joined the Company in 2009 as Vice President of Biology. From 1991 to 2009, Dr. La Monica served most recently as Director of Antiviral Research at the Istituto di Ricerche di Biologia Molecolare (IRBM), Rome, Italy, a research site of Merck Research Laboratories. Prior to that, he held the positions of Director of Oncology and Director of Cancer Immunology and Genomics. During his career, Dr. La Monica has led drug discovery efforts in the area of Hepatitis C Virus and oncology, as well as development programs for cancer immunotherapy. In addition, he has authored or co-authored over 84 publications and is co-inventor on 13 patents, issued or pending worldwide.

Dr. La Monica earned his B.A. degree in Biology from the University of Rochester in 1982. His graduate studies were completed at Columbia University, where he earned a Ph.D. in Microbiology in 1988.

Dr. Ritter joined the Company in January 2006 as Intellectual Property Counsel. Prior to joining the Company, Dr. Ritter spent nine years assessing, patenting, licensing, and partnering a number of technologies created by academic institutions. From 1997 - 2005, Dr. Ritter served as the Associate Director of Technology Management at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC-H), and from 2005 - 2006 he was a Senior Licensing Associate with Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Ritter has extensive experience in contracting, as well as preparing, prosecuting, and managing patents in many fields.

Dr. Ritter earned a B.S. in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Vermont in 1991, a Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry from The Pennsylvania State University in 1995, completed a PhRMA Foundation post-doctoral fellowship in Molecular Pharmacology at UTHSC-H in 1997, and earned a J.D. from South Texas College of Law in 2004.