Peter Hecht, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Our Team
We are led by an accomplished team with an exceptional track record of discovering, developing, and commercializing meaningful therapies for patients while creating value for stockholders. Our founding team has deep knowledge and significant experience in cGMP pathway research and development.
Our Chief Executive Officer, Peter Hecht, PhD, served as the co-founder and chief executive officer of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from 1998 to 2019. Under his leadership, Ironwood grew from nine Ph.D. scientists to a commercial biotechnology company that discovered, developed and is now commercializing LINZESS® – the branded prescription market leader in its class. Additionally, during his tenure the company pioneered new areas of science, delivered a promising development portfolio with multiple innovative drug candidates and established a valuable network of global partnerships. Through a combination of private and public equity, structured debt and partnerships, Peter and his team raised over one billion dollars to fund these efforts. He also served on the Ironwood board from 1998 to 2019, and currently serves on the board of Kallyope Inc., a privately held biotechnology company. Prior to founding Ironwood, Peter was a research fellow at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. Peter earned a B.S. in mathematics and an M.S. in biology from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of California at Berkeley.
Our Chief Scientific Officer, Andy Busch, PhD, has extensive R&D and portfolio leadership experience across a broad range of therapeutic categories, including significant expertise in rare and orphan diseases and in the discovery and development of sGC stimulators. In his role at Cyclerion, Andy is primarily focused on delivering the greatest possible patient impact and shareholder value creation from Cyclerion’s current pipeline. Before joining Cyclerion, Andy led R&D at Shire Plc as executive vice president, head of R&D, chief scientific officer and a member of the executive committee. Previously, Andy spent 13 years at Bayer, where he was most recently executive vice president, head of drug discovery and a member of the executive committee. Prior to Bayer, Andy served as global head of cardiovascular research at Hoechst and Sanofi-Aventis, where he started his work with sGC modulators and brought the first sGC activator to the clinic. Andy currently serves on the supervisory board of CENTOGENE, and on the board of Absci.
Our Chief Operating Officer, Cheryl Gault, has nearly 20 years of biopharma industry experience. Cheryl is currently responsible for corporate and business development, program management, portfolio strategy, new product planning, and corporate strategy functions. Her experience includes marketing, sales, new product planning, launch and commercial strategy in various therapeutic areas including gastroenterology, rheumatology, and orthopedics. Cheryl played a central role while at Ironwood in the successful launch of LINZESS®, the $1B market leader in IBS. Prior to that, Cheryl was at Genzyme Corporation in a variety of sales and marketing roles in the biosurgery division, including a leadership role in the launch of Synvisc-ONE, an injectable for the treatment of osteoarthritis. Cheryl brings a unique commercial perspective to our drug development team.
Our Chief Financial Officer, Anjeza Gjino, played a pivotal role in executing the Cyclerion spin-off and in building the company’s systems and management processes. Anjeza oversees the finance, IT, and human resources teams and activities, including strategic funding and capital allocation efforts. Anjeza also serves as Corporate Secretary. Prior to joining Cyclerion, Anjeza served as head of Financial Planning and Analysis at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals where she built the financial infrastructure to help the company launch its first product, LINZESS®, and to transition from a research organization to a commercial one. Previously, Anjeza held various finance roles at PerkinElmer leading and supporting capital allocation and business transformation initiatives. During her 13 years at Ironwood and PerkinElmer, Anjeza provided financial advice and business partnering to all functions across the organization, including strategic planning, portfolio optimization, business development valuations and commercial execution. Anjeza holds an M.B.A from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S in Corporate Finance from Bentley University.
Our Senior Vice President of External Innovation, Todd Milne, PhD, brings more than 20 years of experience in the biopharma industry. Prior to Cyclerion, Todd was a co-founder of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals where he held a number of scientific program and functional leadership roles, including leading sGC stimulator discovery and early development efforts at Ironwood. He is also one of the inventors of LINZESS®, a market-leading treatment for irritable bowel syndrome with constipation and chronic idiopathic constipation. Prior to founding Ironwood, Todd was a postdoctoral research fellow at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. Todd earned a B.S. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University and a Ph.D. in microbiology and molecular genetics from Harvard University.
Our Vice President of Information Technology and Facilities, Kevin Durfee, draws on almost 30 years of broad IT experience, including over 20 years working in biopharma and academic research in a variety of technical and leadership positions. Kevin is responsible for all aspects of the company’s IT and digital strategy in addition to managing Cyclerion’s facility needs. Prior to Cyclerion, Kevin held various management roles at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, where he worked to design, build, and manage IT systems and services that supported the rapid growth of the company and the discovery, development, registration, launch, and commercialization of LINZESS©, now a $1B market leader in IBS. Prior to Ironwood, Kevin provided IT consulting services to a variety of companies and academic research groups including Harvard Medical School’s Research Computing Center, Institute of Chemistry and Cell Biology, and the Structural Biology, Cell Biology, and Neurobiology departments. Kevin holds a BS in Management from the University of Massachusetts.
Our Vice President of Clinical Strategy, Jennifer Chickering, PhD, has over 20 years of experience in biotech, holding diverse roles spanning multiple therapeutic areas including CNS, cardiovascular/cardiometabolic, GI, and rare diseases. Jennifer leads teams across development, building clinical plans with a focus on innovative early designs to support successful later-stage development. Additionally, she oversees medical writing and works with business development on in- and out-licensing efforts. Prior to Cyclerion, Jennifer held roles at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals across Medical Writing and Clinical Research. Before that, Jennifer worked with multiple biotechs authoring regulatory documents, white papers, and grant applications, including a Grand Challenges in Global Health Proposal for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation ($2.7M awarded). Jennifer earned a BS in Biology from Rhodes College and a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Brown University.
Our Vice President of Clinical Development, Bruce J. Kinon, M.D., is a clinical research psychiatrist with a productive career in the field of neuropsychopharmacology spanning many years in academic research at Zucker Hillside Hospital, New York City, and later in clinical drug development in the pharmaceutical industry. He is an internationally recognized expert who has contributed significantly to the development of first-in-class treatments for unmet needs in serious mental disorders, outcomes research for real-world evidence of psychiatric morbidity, and to the comprehensive foundational knowledge of the schizophrenia and affective disorder disease states. He has been a clinical leader in the development of innovative drug treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders and the effective delivery into clinical practice of new pharmacologic therapies for the psychoses and affective disorders. Prior to joining Cyclerion, Bruce was the Vice President of Psychiatry Clinical Research and Development at Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals LLC, where he led multi-functional teams investigating potential and novel therapies for the disabling negative symptoms associated with schizophrenia and for treatment resistant schizophrenia. Prior to that, Bruce spent 18 years at Eli Lilly and Company, where he led, in part, the development and commercialization of the eminently successful atypical antipsychotic drug Zyprexa® and, later, the development of novel glutamate-based schizophrenia therapies, including the metabotropic glutamate 2/3 receptor agonist pomaglumetad methionil. Bruce has published extensively in internationally recognized peer-reviewed journals. He received his M.D. and psychiatry training at the New York University-Bellevue Hospital Medical Center in N.Y.C.
Our Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development, Bill Kissel, PhD, brings more than 20 years of pharmaceutical development experience in the biopharma industry. As the leader of Pharmaceutical Development, Bill is responsible for Analytical Development, Chemical Development, Formulation Development, and Clinical Supplies. Prior to Cyclerion, Bill held several leadership positions in Pharmaceutical Development and Technical Operations at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and played a key role in bringing LINZESS® to market. Prior to Ironwood, Bill was in Chemical Development at Pfizer and Parke-Davis where he played an important role in the LYRICA® approval. Bill earned a BS in Chemistry from University of Illinois and a PhD in Chemistry from Indiana University and was a postdoctoral research fellow at Emory University.
Our Vice President of Translational Medicine & Development Program Lead, Chris Winrow, PhD, has an extensive background in CNS diseases with over 20 years of neuroscience drug discovery and development experience. Chris currently oversees drug development for CY6463, a CNS-penetrant sGC stimulator under clinical evaluation in Alzheimer’s disease with vascular pathology, MELAS, and Cognitive Impairment Associated with Schizophrenia. Prior to Cyclerion, Chris led development activities at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals focused on CNS and ophthalmic indications. He joined Ironwood after spending 15 years at Merck & Co., where he headed teams delivering molecules from screening through clinical POC and commercial launch. He led the Belsomra® discovery team from screening to regulatory approval in less than 10 years, resulting in approvals and launches in the U.S., Japan, Australia and Canada, and contributed to the expanded regulatory approval for Bridion®. Chris has authored more than 75 publications, is co-inventor on multiple patents, and was an author on 15 eIND/INDs. He also currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation and is Principal Investigator on the Alzheimer’s Association-Gates Foundation Part the Cloud grant, awarded to Cyclerion in 2020. Chris completed his Ph.D. at the University of Alberta and post-doctoral fellowship at the Salk Institute.
Our Scientific Advisors
The women and men on our advisory boards bring diverse, global perspectives from basic science, clinical practice and industry to help us create better medicines for CNS disorders.
Claudio Babiloni, PhD
Associate Professor of Physiology & Head of the Laboratory of Neurosciences of Human Higher Functions, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology “V. Erspamer” at Sapienza University of Rome, Immediate Past Chair of the Alzheimer’s Association’s International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART) Electrophysiology Professional Interest Area, and Senior Co-Chair of the Special Interest Group on Advanced EEG/MEG Techniques in Clinical Neurophysiology at the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN)
Andrew E. Budson, MD
Chief of Cognitive & Behavioral Neurology and Director of the Center for Translational Cognitive Neuroscience at the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Associate Director and Education Leader of the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Professor of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, and Lecturer in Neurology at Harvard Medical School
Mark Currie, PhD
Chair of Scientific Advisory Board at Cyclerion Therapeutics; Director at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals; and Director at Science Exchange
Marni J. Falk, MD
Executive Director, Mitochondrial Medicine Frontier Program, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Professor, Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Michael Heneka, MD, PhD
Unit Leader of Neuroinflammation at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Disease, Professor of Neurodegenerative Disease and Geronto-Psychiatry-Neurology at the University of Bonn, and Adjunct Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School
Robert C. Malenka, MD, PhD
Pritzker Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Director of the Nancy Pritzker Laboratory, and Deputy Director of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University
David H. Salat, PhD
Director, Brain Aging and Dementia (BAnD) Laboratory, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital; Associate Professor in Radiology at Harvard Medical School; and Director, Neuroimaging Research for Veterans (NeRVe) Center, Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System.
Daniela Salvemini, PhD
Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology and Director of the Henry and Amelia Nasrallah Center for Neuroscience at St. Louis University
Harald H.H.W. Schmidt, MD, PhD, PharmD
Professor of Pharmacology and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology and Personalized Medicine at Maastricht University
Eric Smith, MD
Professor of Neurology and the Katthy Taylor Chair in Vascular Dementia at the University of Calgary, Calgary Stroke Program
M Brandon Westover, MD, PhD
Physician Investigator in Neurology at Mass General Research Institute, Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Associate Neurologist in Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Co-Founder, Beacon Biosignals
Chris Wright, MD, PhD
Chief Medical Officer at AavantiBio, Advisory Board Member at Clora, Inc., and Affiliate Member, Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics at McGill University
