NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New Leaf Venture Partners (NLV Partners) today announced the appointment of Martin Mackay, Ph.D., as Senior Advisor, effective immediately. Dr. Mackay has extensive experience in drug discovery and development, overseeing multinational teams working across many therapeutic areas as well as in the rare disease space. He most recently co-founded Rallybio and now serves in an executive leadership role within the Company.
“We are very pleased to have Martin join our team,” said Liam Ratcliffe, Managing Director, NLV Partners. “Martin brings extensive R&D experience, an unrivaled professional network, and a proven track record in both big pharma and biotech. Our firm’s portfolio companies have already started to benefit from Martin’s keen eye for big pharma’s R&D interests and needs, as well as his invaluable insight into all phases of product development in biotech.”
Dr. Mackay added: “I am honored and excited to join NLV Partners to help deliver on the firm’s mission to nurture and build companies that will revolutionize healthcare. I look forward to working with an incredible team of innovators and applying my experience to help overcome real challenges in unique ways.”
Dr. Mackay’s more than 30 years of experience in drug discovery and development have included multiple executive leadership positions. Prior to his current role at Rallybio, Dr. Mackay served as Executive Vice President, Global Head of R&D at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw the development of multiple pre-clinical and clinical programs, resulting in new ultra-rare indications, for Soliris® (eculizumab), as well as new approvals for the ultra-orphan therapies Strensiq® (asfotase alfa) and Kanuma® (sebelipase alfa).
Previously, Dr. Mackay also served as President, R&D at AstraZeneca, where he led all R&D functions on a global level, from discovery research through clinical development, regulatory affairs and related functions. Prior to AstraZeneca, he held positions of increasing responsibility at Pfizer, rising to the position of President, Head of Pfizer Pharmatherapeutics, R&D, working across nine therapeutic areas.
Dr. Mackay currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Charles River Laboratories and Novo Nordisk. He obtained a First Class Honours degree in Microbiology from Heriot-Watt University and his Ph.D. in molecular genetics from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
About NLV Partners
New Leaf Venture Partners is a leader in healthcare technology venture investing. Our investment professionals bring a unique blend of technical, clinical and operational experience to our investments, working closely with our entrepreneurs and management teams to help build successful companies. New Leaf Ventures invests in both public and private biopharmaceutical companies as well as healthcare-related information technology companies. New Leaf currently manages over $1 billion in assets through several funds. New Leaf was formed in 2005 as the healthcare spinoff from the Sprout Group, one of the oldest U.S. venture capital funds. For more information please visit www.nlvpartners.com.