President, Chief Executive, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals
Anzalone was named president and chief executive of Arrowhead in 2007. Arrowhead develops drugs using an RNA platform that silences genes that cause cancers or other diseases. After its most promising drug failed to win Food and Drug Administration clearance in 2016, Anzalone retooled the company’s platform. Then he inked a series of licensing and drug development deals with major pharmaceutical companies, bringing in much-needed revenue. In recent months, as Arrowhead’s lead drug candidates have entered expensive later-stage clinical trials, Anzalone has led an initiative to prioritize drugs to treat pulmonary diseases and disorders as well as heart-related diseases and conditions and diabetes; this restructuring is expected to reduce the company’s cash burn by about $100 million. Prior to joining Arrowhead, Anzalone held key posts at two private equity firms focusing on growing biotechnology companies. Before that, he was a National Institutes of Health-supported post-doctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Institution’s Conservation and Research Center.
YEARS ON LA500: 5
