Yvonne Greenstreet: Answering the Call

Yvonne Greenstreet, CEO, Alnylam

It’s no surprise that Yvonne Greenstreet is winning awards.

On Jan. 9, the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) announced the Alnylam CEO as its 2024 Woman of the Year. In the release, the HBA said that Greenstreet had earned the honor through her “notable and remarkable commitment and valuable contributions to women in the healthcare ecosystem.” It went on to describe Greenstreet as a trailblazer, advocate, and a true leader.

Specifically, Greenstreet’s leadership at Alnylam, an RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics company, was recognized. Since being appointed CEO in October 2021, she has helped steer Alnylam to being named one of Fortune’s Best Workplaces for Women. Greenstreet also helped earn the organization a spot on Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Responsible Companies. Cambridge, Mass.-based Alnylam focuses in four core areas: genetic medicines, cardio-metabolic diseases, infectious diseases, and central nervous system and ocular disorders.

“Clearly, it’s an enormous honor and privilege to be selected as woman of the year for 2024,” she tells Pharmaceutical Executive in an interview. “It’s just so important for us to recognize success in the industry and acknowledge all the efforts that go into the hard work that we do. It also ensures that we can represent that success so that the whole industry can celebrate that.”

Greenstreet first joined Alnylam in 2016 as its chief operating officer. In 2020, she was promoted to president and COO. Finally, in late 2021, she became CEO just five years after joining the company. Greenstreet credits her experience working with Alnylam’s former CEO, John Maraganore, as being highly influential on her career path. According to Greenstreet, she was able to learn so much from the people she worked with that by the time she became CEO, she already felt like she had years of experience.

“I really understood the business and the opportunity that we had [and still have] in front of us,” says Greenstreet. “I was very honored to be offered the CEO role, and I really have not looked back since taking it. We’ve been able to move the company forward in a number of different dimensions: building the pipeline, growing the commercial organization, and delivering really strong commercial performance last year.”

Alnylam reported $1.24 billion in net product revenue for 2023. Greenstreet believes the growth is a testament to the commercial organization that she and her colleagues have built. As the executive describes it, Alnylam has a rich pipeline of 15 programs, but there are plans to double this to 30 programs. Her plan is to continue to spring-load the company for success by focusing on moving forward with innovations.

Looking back at her career, Greenstreet is quick to point out that she originally started off on the medical side. However, she quickly realized where she felt she could make the most difference.

“I trained as a physician,” Greenstreet tells Pharm Exec, “and I really enjoyed treating patients. However, I wanted to have more of an impact, so, therefore, I decided to get my MBA (in 1991) and get some business training so I could join the industry. I believed that’s where I would be able to bring together my experiences in medicine, my passion for patients, and the excitement about being able to build businesses. After that, I joined GlaxoSmithKline, where I was for a number of years. It was a great place for me to experience many different aspects of the business. I worked in multiple functions and then I joined Pfizer, which, again, was an opportunity to move forward an exciting portfolio of medicines.”

Greenstreet explains that she was excited to join Alnylam’s team due to the scope it afforded. She realized that working at a company like this would provide her with an opportunity to help develop new technologies that could have a massive impact.

“That really was part of my dream,” she says. “When I left medicine, I moved from being able to treat maybe hundreds of patients to a situation where I could positively impact the lives of millions of patients. Alnylam was an incredible company for me to join. I came onboard as chief operating officer, which gave me a great front-row seat in understanding the company. The opportunity that we had in front of us and the culture that we were building really gave me a sense of the enormity of the potential that we would be able to move forward.”

Greenstreet started her career leading a small group in one of her first roles at GlaxoSmithKline. This allowed her to practice the skills she would need to move forward in the industry, such as finding ways to set direction, work toward a shared vision, develop people, set specific goals, and create an enabling culture. While she describes her career as being “thrown in the deep end,” Greenstreet is grateful for these experiences, as they’ve shaped her into the leader she is today.

THE CURRENT STATE OF PHARMA

“Personally, I believe there’s never been a more exciting time for biomedical innovation, just based on all the recent advances,” says Greenstreet, when asked about the complexion of the life sciences industry today. “Obviously, there are the multitude of projects that we’re working on at Alnylam, such as our research in RNAi therapeutics. There are a number of other exciting innovations, however, that have been progressed across the industry, such as CRISPR/CAS9 gene editing. This is a really exciting time for many people in the industry who are working on translating these new technologies into medicines that are going to transform patients’ lives. I’m very optimistic about the industry and its ability to continue to meet the needs of patients.”

As is often the case for those working in the life sciences, Greenstreet is motivated by a desire to meet the needs of patients. It’s this purpose, she says, that fuels what she does. Throughout her career, Greenstreet’s always made it a goal to put patients front and center. In her current role, she continues to make this a driving force by starting off each board meeting with patient stories. This way, everyone attending can be reminded of the challenges that patients face on a regular basis.

When asked what advice she would give anyone looking to get into the industry, Greenstreet reiterates the compelling dynamics she believes are converging at the moment.

“I think I’d say there’s never been a more exciting time to join the industry,” she says. “Also, make sure that you continue to be curious. Learn about the industry so you can build the skills and experiences that are going to allow you to make a difference—and then jump in.”

Greenstreet also believes that it’s important to be willing to take chances.

“Without taking risks, you’re not going to be able to innovate,” she says. “One of the special aspects of Alnylam has really been around our culture. We have a culture that is prepared to move forward with bold ideas because without doing that, I don’t think you’re ever going to be able to create transformative medicines. You’re never going to be able to change patients’ lives. This is a culture that we foster with a purpose, and we call ourselves fiercely innovative.”

Greenstreet adds that the prevailing cultural driver is an understanding that “patients are waiting.”

“There really is a sense of urgency, and moving forward we believe that we have a duty to develop very important medicines as quickly and robustly as we can and get them to patients in need,” she says.

ACCESS TO CARE

Greenstreet recounts a desire to be a physician from a very young age, influenced by time spent in Ghana in early childhood. “I often came into contact with people who were facing significant challenges because of lack of access to healthcare,” she tells Pharm Exec. “Due to this experience, I was orientated to really start thinking about how I could make a difference in this regard. Fortunately, I was able to be exposed to a number of physicians and follow them in their day-to-day work, and that really catalyzed my desire to pursue a career in medicine. I ended up going to medical school and achieving that ambition.”

Her early childhood experiences stayed with her, however. As Greenstreet climbed the leadership ladder in pharma and biotech, she never forgot about seeing people suffer because they couldn’t get access to the care they needed. Now that Greenstreet’s in a position to do something about that, she’s doing what she can.

Greenstreet works with a variety of charitable organizations and advisory councils, such as The American Funds, the Discovery Council of Harvard Medical School, and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization Health Section Governing Board.

She’s also been affiliated with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for about eight years, serving on its Scientific Advisory Committee.

When asked about her experiences with the foundation, she points again to her time growing up in Ghana in instilling that passion and motivation to keep finding new ways to contribute to global health. “Having the opportunity to be able to participate in supporting the Gates Foundation has been something that’s been important to me over the last several years,” says Greenstreet. “What’s very exciting about being active in global health is how much progress we’ve being able to make to address diseases that disproportionately impact people in the developing world. I’m excited about the innovation that we’re bringing forward in the industry.”

For example, she notes Alnylam’s drug administration platform that allows delivery of subcutaneous injections every six months and then once a year for a number of diseases. “We’re also progressing a program focused on hypertension,” adds Greenstreet. “You can imagine how helpful it be would if you had an intervention that could be given like a vaccine once a year to help patients. We’re always thinking about how that kind of innovation could really make an impact in all corners of the world.”

IMPROVING CLINICAL TRIALS

Over the past several years, the industry has recognized the need to improve diversity in clinical trials. Greenstreet has been a part of this movement, as she recognizes the need for better, more accurate data.

“It’s important when we’re developing medicines to think about broad populations that might benefit from the therapeutics that we progress,” says Greenstreet. “One of the areas that I think we have been very forward-looking at Alnylam has been around clinical trial diversity and aiming to make sure that we’re able to enroll patients from underserved populations in our studies. When we do this, we are able to actually generate the data set that reflects the needs and benefits of a variety of different patient populations.”

Improving access to healthcare doesn’t just require innovative ways of delivering medicine, however. The industry also needs to find new and more effective ways of building relationships with patient populations.

“An important aspect of this is building relationships and collaborating with centers around the US and in other parts of the world that are able to enroll patients from underserved populations,” says Greenstreet. “Then you have to build those relationships over time. If you make those sorts of investments in these centers, then when you set up studies, you know that the people that lead those centers are very connected with the local population. We participated in a collaboration called the Beacon of Hope that was all about trying to bring the innovations that we’re developing at Alnylam to patients from underserved populations.”

Greenstreet isn’t just a leader in the sense that she has a certain job title that gives her authority over the people she works with. The qualities of true leadership usually arise from having clear goals and a desire to succeed. For Greenstreet, in her role, it’s not about lifting herself up, but striving to support those in the world around her; whether it’s the people she leads at her company or improving the situations of patients struggling to access the medicine and care they need.