Paragon Therapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to developing best-in-class biologics, announced today that biotech industry veteran Susanna High, MBA, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer. In this newly created role, High will lead the team’s continued efforts to propel the development of a pipeline of transformative therapies and accelerate their potential impact.
“I have been impressed and inspired by the Paragon’s mission, scientific excellence, and sense of urgency to advance important novel treatments to patients and I am excited to be working with such a dedicated and accomplished team to maximize the potential of Paragon’s technology and rapidly progress our pipeline,” said High.
“Susanna brings the optimal set of expertise to further Paragon’s mission,” said Evan Thompson, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer at Paragon. “An experienced and innovative leader, her industry acumen and drug development expertise will ensure we continue to fuel the development of novel biologics with the power to improve lives.”
“Evan’s leadership in driving the build of Paragon has been remarkable,” added High. “I look forward to collaborating with him in taking Paragon into its next phase of growth.”
High most recently served as Chief Operating Officer at Dyne Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company focused on developing life-transformative therapies for neuro-muscular diseases leveraging their proprietary antibody-conjugate platform. At Dyne, she contributed to bringing two programs onto their current path for global registrations, helped grow the organization five-fold, and played a role in a very successful IPO and more than $1B in subsequent raises. High previously served as Chief Operating Officer of bluebird bio, where she led the company’s severe genetic disease franchise and established its European organization. Prior to that, she was at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals for 10 years, with roles of increasing responsibility—most recently as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Integration, where she helped establish the company’s robust and pioneering RNAi therapeutics platform, grow the organization, and advance multiple products towards registration and launch preparation. Earlier in her career, High held positions in corporate strategy and operations at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda Oncology) and in management consulting in the pharmaceutical practice of Accenture. She holds an M.S. in economics and business management from Università Bocconi and an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Since April 2021, five companies have been formed around biologics discovered by and licensed from Paragon: Apogee Therapeutics, Spyre Therapeutics, Oruka Therapeutics, Jade Biosciences, and Crescent Biopharma. They have collectively raised approximately $2.7 billion and currently have four programs in clinical development.
About Paragon Therapeutics
Paragon Therapeutics, Inc., is a biotechnology company applying cutting-edge science and technology to shape the next generation of novel best-in-class complex biologics for major medical needs. The company is fueling a pipeline of transformative therapies and rapidly advancing them into clinical development. Founded by Fairmount in 2021, Paragon is based in Waltham, MA. For more information, please visit www.paragontherapeutics.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.
