Sanj Patel Biography and Net Worth

He brings more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and has a combination of scientific, clinical, and commercial skills. He took Kiniksa public on the NASDAQ Global Market in May 2018. Kiniksa gained approval for ARCALYST®, the first and only FDA-approved treatment for recurrent pericarditis, in March 2021, and the company has a pipeline of clinical-stage assets targeting serious diseases with unmet need with a focus on cardiovascular indications.

Sanj previously created Synageva in 2008 to focus on rare diseases and designed and initiated its lead program, (Kanuma®) for lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LAL-D), in July 2008. Kanuma was approved globally in 2015 as the first therapy for patients suffering from this devastating disease, previously a terminal diagnosis in infant populations. He took Synageva public on the NASDAQ Global Market in November 2011 and raised over $1 billion in capital in less than 5 years. In June 2015, Synageva was sold to Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $9.7B (including cash), which represented the highest premium ever paid for a biotech company valued over $5B.

Prior to founding Synageva, Sanj was an executive at Genzyme Corporation for almost a decade, where he led US sales, marketing, and commercial operations for the Genzyme Therapeutics franchise, and the US launch of Myozyme® in addition to holding sales and marketing responsibility for Cerezyme®, Fabrazyme®, and Aldurazyme®. Previously, Sanj held several cross-functional senior leadership roles at Genzyme, including Vice President, Clinical Research and Head of the Global Clinical Research Operations Council for all Genzyme divisions, including therapeutics, oncology, and transplant. He was responsible for clinical operations for all Genzyme products and was instrumental in the path to commercialization of several treatments. Notably, he led the Fabrazyme® clinical operations team and development program to FDA approval in April 2003.

Prior to Genzyme, he held several leadership roles in clinical research and commercial operations at Burroughs Wellcome, Hoechst Marrion Roussel, and Fujisawa/Otsuka Pharmaceuticals. Sanj obtained his BSc with Honors in Biotechnology from the University of the South Bank, London. He successfully completed his management and business studies at Ealing College, London, and his pharmacology research program at the Wellcome Foundation.

He has dedicated much of his career and philanthropy to rare diseases, such as sarcoma, immunological diseases, and genetic inborn errors of metabolism, including diseases closely linked to Ashkenazi Jewish populations and other ethnic groups. Sanj is the founder and a director of the Sanj & Kristin Patel Family Foundation, a philanthropic organization which supports various charities focused on patients with rare and devastating diseases, including the American Heart Association and the Sarcoma Foundation of America.

Sanj has three amazing children and an incredibly brilliant and supportive wife, Kristin, all of whom support the Every Second Counts!™ mantra and the generational mission Kiniksa is on.