SAGE Appoints CEO, CMO, CFO

Jeffrey Jonas, M.D., has been named chief executive officer of SAGE Therapeutics, succeeding Kevin Starr, who has served in the role on an interim basis. Also, Stephen Kanes, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed chief medical officer, and Kimi Iguchi has been appointed chief financial officer.
 
Dr. Jonas most recently served as president of Regenerative Medicine at Shire, and brings more than 20 years of scientific and business leadership in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, as well as developing and launching drugs for CNS diseases. Prior to Shire, Dr. Jonas served as executive vice president of ISIS Pharmaceuticals, chief medical officer and executive vice president of Forest Laboratories, and held senior leadership positions at Upjohn Laboratories.
 
“SAGE Therapeutics is focused on bringing transformative new CNS products to patients, including those with status epilepticus, traumatic brain injury, procedural sedation and Fragile X Syndrome,” said Mr. Starr, a partner at Third Rock Ventures and director of SAGE. “The company has made significant progress over the past two years and is now poised to make the transition from a discovery stage to a development and commercial stage company. With the addition of Jeff, Stephen and Kimi, we have the right team in place to advance SAGE’s product strategy and move several programs into late stage development by 2015.”