John Maraganore, Ph.D., officially stepped down as CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals at the end of 2021. In his last year leading the RNA interference specialist, the former helmsman got $10.18 million in total compensation.
The number represents a 30% increase over 2020’s level, mainly thanks to an additional $2.12 million contribution from his stock options, which totaled $7.86 million. Alnylam modified the face value of Maraganore’s stock options to reflect the additional value that will continue to vest through March 2024, a proxy filing (PDF) shows.
Meanwhile, Maraganore’s successor, Yvonne Greenstreet, received a pay package that, at $8.58 million, was nearly triple her compensation for 2020.
Option awards are also behind Greenstreet’s big pay jump. Thanks to a welcome grant for her promotion from president and chief operating officer to CEO, Greenstreet got $7.34 million in equity awards, versus $1.8 million for 2020.
Despite the big spikes in equity awards, Maraganore and Greenstreet saw their cash bonuses drop 1.3%, to $1.1 million and about $429,000, respectively, last year.
In an increasingly competitive market for the rare disease transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis, Alnylam’s Onpattro, along with two other products, met the commercial goals endorsed by the company's board. Its RNAi technology is also behind Novartis’ Leqvio, which in December secured a belated FDA nod to lower cholesterol levels in certain high-risk patients.
At the start of 2021, Alnylam launched the “Alnylam P5x25” strategy, setting out to become a top-5 biotech as measured by market capitalization in the next five years. Achieving that ambition depends on Alnylam’s ability to continue producing new therapies.
For 2021, Alnylam exceeded its late-stage development pipeline goals, the proxy filing said. That effort included the positive 18-month readout for Onpattro follow-up drug vutrisiran in hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis. But the firm lagged in advancing its early-stage pipeline, which was the only weak spot in the assessment of executive pay, the filing said.
All told, the board determined that in Maraganore’s farewell year, Alnylam achieved 115% of its corporate goals.
As Maraganore shifts to a scientific advisory role at Alnylam, Greenstreet faces a critical 2022 while holding the reins for the first time at the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech.
Meanwhile, the company just hit a hiccup. The FDA delayed the review timeline for vutrisiran by three months to July after Alnylam tapped a new production facility. The FDA needs more time to inspect and approve a contractor’s packing and labeling plant, Alnylam said Monday. The new drug bears a 2026 sales estimate of $1.8 billion, according to Evaluate Vantage.
As Alnylam awaits that initial vutrisiran decision, all eyes are on the pivotal Apollo-B trial for Onpattro in the much bigger transthyretin amyloidosis cardiomyopathy indication, which is expected mid-2022.