Mr. Birchler is Ionis’ executive vice president, corporate and development operations. In this role, he provides executive leadership for several functions, including clinical operations and data management, global project and portfolio management, biometrics and clinical supplies. He also provides management support for development and research budgets and product launch excellence. Mr. Birchler is a member of Ionis’ executive leadership team.

Mr. Birchler has over 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries and broad knowledge of the drug development process from concept through launch. Since joining Ionis in 1995 he has held positions of increasing responsibility in development, clinical research and development chemistry. Before Ionis, he held positions at CIBA Vision Corp. and Burroughs Wellcome Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Birchler has a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Dr. Schneider is executive vice president and chief clinical development and operations officer of Ionis Pharmaceuticals. As a member of our executive leadership team, Dr. Schneider oversees all stages of clinical development of Ionis’ antisense medicines across the company’s therapeutic franchises. Dr. Schneider joined Ionis in December 2013 as executive director, clinical development and became vice president, clinical development, severe and rare diseases in April 2015, senior vice president, head of clinical development in August 2018 and executive vice president, chief clinical development officer in January 2021.

Dr. Schneider has two decades of experience in clinical development primarily in the rare diseases space. Prior to joining Ionis, Dr. Schneider was senior medical director at both Synageva BioPharma and Biovail Technologies Ltd.

Dr. Schneider received his medical degree from University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and completed his training in Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Dr. Swayze is executive vice president of Research at Ionis Pharmaceuticals. He is responsible for leading preclinical antisense drug discovery and antisense technology research.

Previously, Dr. Swayze was vice president of Chemistry and Neuroscience Drug Discovery at Ionis, overseeing the advancement of multiple programs to clinical development. He joined Ionis in 1994 and has contributed to key technology advancements, including Ionis’ Generation 2.5 chemistry and Ligand-Conjugated Antisense (LICA) technology.

He is an author on more than 150 scientific manuscripts, several reviews and book chapters, and is an inventor of more than 140 issued US patents. He received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the University of Michigan under the guidance of Professor Leroy B. Townsend.

Mr. O’Neil is the Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Ionis Pharmaceuticals. He is responsible for managing the legal, patent and GCP QA/QC departments. Mr. O’Neil also serves as Ionis’ corporate secretary. Mr. O’Neil joined Ionis in October 2001.

Prior to joining Ionis, Mr. O’Neil was an associate at Cooley LLP.

Mr. O’Neil received his BS in Business Administration, Finance Concentration from the University of San Francisco and his J.D. at UC Davis School of Law.

Dr. Geary is the executive vice president and chief development officer at Ionis Pharmaceuticals. He is responsible for preclinical development, clinical development and clinical-stage manufacturing for Ionis’ antisense medicines. Since joining Ionis in 1995, Dr. Geary has been involved in discovery and development including the regulatory submission of more than 40 investigational new drug applications to U.S. and other regulatory agencies. In his position as head of development, Dr. Geary has led four successful antisense medicine late stage development programs through approvals in multiple jurisdictions.

During his tenure at Ionis, he has authored or co-authored 14 book chapters and more than 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts, which form a body of work that fully characterize the pharmacokinetics and metabolism of antisense medicines and the relationship of drug concentrations to activity and safety. Dr. Geary also serves on the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society (OTS) Board of Directors and co-leads the publication committee for Nucleic Acid Therapeutics.

Prior to joining Ionis, Dr. Geary was senior research scientist and group leader for the bioanalytical and preclinical pharmacokinetics group in the Applied Chemistry Department at Southwest Research Institute. Dr. Geary received his Ph.D. in Biopharmaceutics from the University of Texas, College of Pharmacy, Austin, Texas and his B.S. in Biology from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.