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Ionis announces Dr. Richard Geary, chief development officer, to retire; Dr. Holly Kordasiewicz to assume role in January 2026
CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: IONS) today announced that Richard Geary, Ph.D., executive vice president and chief
About this update from Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":" CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nIonis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: IONS) today announced that Richard Geary, Ph.D., executive vice president and chief development officer, will retire effective January 2026 and that Holly Kordasiewicz, Ph.D., currently senior vice president, neurology, will succeed him in the role.\n\n\n“Richard has made tremendous contributions to Ionis over his 30-year tenure during which he spearheaded dozens of development programs and brought six innovative medicines through regulatory approvals, including TRYNGOLZA, our first independent commercial medicine. We thank him for his leadership and unwavering dedication to patients in need,” said Brett P. Monia, Ph.D., chief executive officer, Ionis. “Holly is a deeply respected and innovative leader who will champion our vision to bring a steady cadence of transformational medicines to people in need and support Ionis’ continued growth as a fully integrated biotechnology company. Her broad experience across research and development, strong operational and management skills, and deep neurology expertise, position Holly to successfully guide our portfolio, which includes eight wholly owned neurology medicines in clinical development.”\n\n\nDr. Kordasiewicz has 20 years of experience in research and development and joined Ionis in 2011. An expert in neurology drug development, she currently oversees Ionis’ industry-leading neurology program, including medicines for Alexander disease, Angelman syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, prion disease and multiple system atrophy. Dr. Kordasiewicz also played an integral role in the discovery and development of our Biogen-partnered programs QALSODY® (tofersen) for a genetic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and IONIS-MAPTRx (BIIB080), a promising Alzheimer’s disease medicine in Phase 2 development. Dr. Kordasiewicz holds a B.A. from SUNY-Geneseo and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Minnesota. She completed postdoctoral work at the University of Minnesota and the University of California San Diego.\n\n\nDr. Geary joined Ionis in 1995 and has been involved in nearly every aspect of discovery and development. Under Dr. Geary’s leadership, Ionis submitted more than 50 investigational new drug applications to regulatory agencies and achieved six FDA and EU approvals, including TRYNGOLZA® (olezarsen). Dr. Gea...