Alnylam Pharmaceuticals is seeking a new chief commercial officer as the biopharma announced that its six-year CCO veteran Tolga Tanguler is leaving the company.
No reason was given for his departure, and Tanguler did not offer a quote in the release.
The change appears to be immediate, and the company is now “working with an executive search firm to support the selection of its next Chief Commercialization Officer," per the announcement. Alnylam added that it "anticipates providing an update in due course."
Yvonne Greenstreet, M.D., CEO of Alnylam, thanked Tanguler for his tenure in a statement and said Alnylam under his guidance has “significantly expanded its global commercial organization and marketed portfolio, establishing a strong foundation for future growth.”
Thing have not however been going to plan on the commercial front this year. Alnylam’s stock plummeted 20% this week on its quarterly earnings release as sales of its pivotal commercial drug Amvuttra continued to disappoint analysts and investors.
The RNA interference therapy was first approved in 2022 for polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis in adults and then in 2025 this was expanded to include certain patients with wild-type or hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy.
Amvuttra’s sales, which are seen as key to Alnylam’s future, got off to a strong start but its trajectory has faltered this year, leading the company to cut guidance and weather major drops in its stock.
Back in July, Alnylam’s stock price plummeted as much as 29% when it released its second quarter earnings that saw disappointing Amvuttra sales, leading to a lowered full-year forecast and triggering more fears over the transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) franchise.
During its call to investors and journalists in that Q2, Tanguler spent quite some time on assuring investors that Amvuttra’s launch was progressing well and that the drug's long-term potential remained intact.
A similar story played out on October 29 during Alnylam's third quarter earnings. Amvuttra made $1.13 billion for the period, which was in line with Wall Street expectations, but this was apparently not enough to convince investors, who sent its stock down 20%.
William Blair analyst Myles Minter summed up the concerns in a note to clients: “The back-to-back quarters of headwinds undoubtedly call into question the growth outlook for the franchise and make it difficult to assess near-term 2027 revenue estimates as well as the longer-term trajectory.”
"As we look ahead, we have significant opportunities to reach more patients with our medicines, advance our pipeline and continue building a sustainable, high-performing business,” said Greenstreet in the release.
Alongside news of Tanguler's departure, Alnylam simultaneously announced a $1 billion share repurchase program. “Today’s repurchase authorization reflects our confidence in that future and our commitment to disciplined capital allocation,” explained Amy Schulman, chair of Alnylam's board, in a statement.
“We are committed to continuing to evaluate opportunities to build on Alnylam’s strengths and create value for our shareholders."