US-based Achillion Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has appointed Brian Di Donato to the position of senior vice president and CFO.
Di Donato has more than 20 years of financial and leadership experience and assumes responsibility for finance, accounting and treasury as well as continuing to lead investor relations.
‘Brian joined the Achillion team in August 2018 and has already made significant contributions alongside the new management team as we accelerate our clinical programs and prepare for registrational trials,’ comments Joseph Truitt, president and CEO of Achillion, in a statement.
‘His significant finance, investing and leadership experience will greatly benefit Achillion as we plan for late-stage development, commercialization and new indications [when a drug has been recognized as being necessary].’
Di Donato says: ‘Achillion’s portfolio of oral, small-molecule complement inhibitors is uniquely positioned to potentially make a difference in the lives of patients with complement-mediated diseases. I look forward to working closely with our experienced leadership team to develop strategies leveraging our strong cash position into near and long-term clinical and commercial opportunities to create value for patients and Achillion shareholders.’
Di Donato is an experienced capital markets banker, investor and fund manager, having previously held positions as managing director and co-portfolio manager at Connecticut-based Sorin Capital Management and president and CIO at equity real estate specialists Capmark Investments.
He previously worked in fixed-income capital markets as an executive director at Morgan Stanley and vice president at UBS Securities.
Di Donato holds an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business as well as BSc degrees in biology from Penn State University and in mechanical engineering from Villanova University in Pennsylvania. Prior to business school, he was an aerospace engineering officer in the US Navy.
