Ben Askew joined Third Rock Ventures in 2011 as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence after more than 20 years serving in senior research positions in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Ben specializes in building high functioning medicinal chemistry organizations, designing selective kinase inhibitors and developing drugs against GPCRs, nuclear receptors, integrin antagonists and protease inhibitors.
In 2005, Ben joined the EMD Serono Research Institute, where he most recently served as Vice President of Research, Global Head of New Chemical Entities (NCE) Technologies. Prior to joining Serono, Ben held escalating positions of seniority at Amgen and Merck. He holds a B.A. from Gannon University and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh.
Year Joined Third Rock
2011
BEN ASKEW, JR., PhD
Entrepreneur-in-Residence Email
Bob Kamen joined Third Rock Ventures in 2010 as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, bringing with him more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Most recently, he served as President of Abbott Bioresearch Center, where he oversaw the discovery and production of Humira®, the first fully human antibody to achieve marketing approval in the U.S. and Europe, and was a member of the Abbott Pharmaceuticals Executive Management Committee. Bob also served as the President of BASF Bioresearch Corp., until it was acquired by Abbott Laboratories in 2001.
In 2005, he co-founded BioAssets Development Corporation, a biotherapeutics company focusing on spinal diseases, and in October, Cephalon exercised its option to acquire the company. Bob serves as a Director of Anchor Therapeutics, Harbour Antibodies, Lycera Corp. and Opsonic Therapeutics and is a member of the GlaxoSmithKline Biopharm Investment Board.
Bob has an undergraduate degree in biophysics from Amherst College and a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from Harvard University.
Dan Lynch joined Third Rock Ventures in 2011 as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, bringing more than 25 years of experience serving in management positions in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Until March, 2012, he was Executive Chairman of the board for two companies – Avila Therapeutics, which was sold to Celgene, and Stromedix, Inc. which was sold to Biogen Idec.
Dan is currently a member of the board of directors for three Third Rock companies: bluebird bio, Edimer Pharmaceuticals, and Ember Therapeutics. Dan spent nearly five years at ImClone Systems, serving as chief executive officer and chief financial officer. As CEO, he led ImClone through a significant turnaround, helping to restore the company's reputation and to secure FDA approval of ERBITUX® (Cetuximab), a novel cancer treatment. As CFO, Dan led negotiations to form the major partnership between ImClone and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Earlier in his career, he served in various financial positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb over a 15-year tenure. He served on the board of directors and the audit committee of U.S. Oncology, Inc. for five years until December, 2010, when it was acquired by McKesson. Dan received his BA in Mathematics from Wesleyan University and his MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia
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Chris Varma joined Third Rock Ventures as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence in 2010, bringing with him experience as an entrepreneur and an investor in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Prior to Third Rock Ventures, Chris was a Partner at Flagship Ventures focusing on life science investments. During his last year at Flagship, Chris also served as the President, CEO, and Director of
Selventa (fka Genstruct), a Flagship portfolio company. At Selventa, he lead a rapid turnaround that achieved profitability by restructuring and growing the business, recruiting fresh leadership, and developing a new strategic direction. Before joining Flagship, Chris oversaw efforts spanning clinical development, business development, and sales and marketing at Novartis AG. Most recently he was Director on Tekturna (aliskiren), where he lead key aspects of its U.S. commercial launch, including marketing, regulatory, and reimbursement activities. Prior to Novartis, Chris was a consultant for Millennium Pharmaceuticals, and before that worked for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Chris holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology, a MS in Management from Stanford University, and both a MS and BS in Computer Science from Stanford University. Chris serves as a member of the Harvard Medical School Therapeutics Advisory Council and as a leadership board member of MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research.
Current Roles
Founding CEO and Board Member of Blueprint Medicines
