Biography

Manmeet S. Soni was appointed to our Board of Directors in November 2017. Mr. Soni currently serves as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for patients with serious or life-threatening diseases by targeting molecular pathways involved in the regulation of cellular metabolism and inflammation.  From May 2017 to August 2019, Mr. Soni served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.  From March 2016 to February 2017, Mr. Soni served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of biopharmaceutical company ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he played a central role in the strategic review, turnaround, and subsequent acquisition of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Before joining ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Mr. Soni joined Pharmacyclics, Inc. in 2012 as Corporate Controller and held various other roles there until becoming Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer in February 2014. He also played a vital role in the acquisition of Pharmacyclics, Inc. by AbbVie, Inc. for $21 billion. Previously, Mr. Soni worked at Zeltiq Aesthetics, Inc., and PricewaterhouseCoopers San Jose, in the Life Science and Venture Capital Group. Prior to that, he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers India. Mr. Soni graduated from Hansraj College at Delhi University in India. He is recognized as a Certified Public Accountant, licensed by the State of California, and as a Chartered Accountant in India.  Mr. Soni currently serves as director of Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Summit Therapeutics plc.