President & Chief Executive Officer

Stephen G. Dilly, MBBS, PhD, has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our Board of Directors since June 2020. Previously, Dr. Stephen Dilly brings three decades of executive management experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Most recently, Dr. Dilly served as CEO and Board Member of Aimmune Therapeutics. Dr. Dilly has served in executive roles at Genentech, Chiron and SmithKline Beecham and has been associated with the development and launch of many marketed drugs across multiple therapeutic areas. Dr. Dilly also currently serves on the Board of Directors of one public biotechnology company and several private companies. He holds an MBBS from the University of London and a PhD in Cardiac Physiology from University of London.

Chief Financial Officer

Sukhi Jagpal joined Sierra Oncology in February 2015 as our Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Previously, Sukhi was the CFO of QLT Inc., a dual-listed biotechnology company also based in Vancouver (Nasdaq:QLTI; TSX:QLT). During his tenure, he assisted QLT in developing its finance capabilities to deal with several growth phases which included raising capital and completing several acquisitions. Prior to joining QLT in 2003, Sukhi held senior finance positions with Pivotal Corporation, 360networks Inc., and KPMG LLP. Sukhi is a Chartered Professional Accountant, a Chartered Business Valuator, and holds a MBA from the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University and a MBA from Queen’s University, Kingston.

Chief Development Officer

Dr. Klencke is an accomplished oncology drug developer with a demonstrable track record of success, having made substantial contributions to the development and approval of numerous significant oncology products. Previously, Dr. Klencke served as the Senior Vice President, Development at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Amgen Inc., from January 2011 to June 2015, and prior to that was the Group Medical Director in Product Development, Oncology at Genentech, Inc., having joined the company in July 2003. In this period, she led a variety of oncology programs including those for Kyprolis (carfilzomib), Kadcyla (ado-trastuzumab emtansine), Avastin (bevacizumab), and Tarceva (erlotinib). Prior to that, Dr. Klencke served as the Medical Director at Chiron Corporation, a biotechnology company later acquired by Novartis International AG, and as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. Dr. Klencke holds a BS from Indiana University and an MD from the University of California, Davis.

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Mark Kowalski has extensive experience in Phase I through Phase IV drug development and clinical trial execution in a wide variety of therapeutic areas, including oncology. Dr. Kowalski was most recently the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President at Arbutus Biopharma, a biotechnology company devoted to discovering and developing a cure for chronic Hepatitis B. Prior to that, he held the same position at Tekmira, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapeutics based on RNA interference utilizing lipid nanoparticle delivery technology in oncology, infectious disease, metabolic and other clinical indications. Prior to joining Tekmira, Dr. Kowalski worked in the oncology and inflammation therapeutic area at Gilead Sciences, Inc. following Gilead’s $510-million acquisition of YM BioSciences Inc., at which Dr. Kowalski had been CMO and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. Dr. Kowalski’s experience also encompasses being the CMO and Vice President of Medical/Regulatory Affairs at Viventia Biotechnologies Inc. and the Senior Director of Medical Affairs at AAIPharma Inc. Dr. Kowalski holds a B.A. from Rutgers University and an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He completed his postgraduate training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Duke University and Harvard Medical School and is Board certified in both.

Chief Business Officer

Mr. Kevin Norrett brings more than 20 years of experience to Sierra and over the course of his career has become an expert at helping clinical stage companies transition to full commercialization. Most recently, Kevin was Chief Commercial Officer at Angion Biomedica, a clinical stage company with a focus in acute organ injury and fibrosis. Prior to Angion, he served as Vice President of Marketing, Market Access & Commercial Operations at Aimmune Therapeutics, where he helped build the commercial department and launch strategy for the first product approved to treat peanut allergy. Prior to joining Aimmune, Kevin was Vice President, Market Access and Commercial Development at ZS Pharma (acquired by AstraZeneca), where he was instrumental in launching Lokelma^®, the company’s first therapeutic to treat hyperkalemia. Before ZS Pharma, he held commercial leadership roles at Exelixis and Genentech, where he launched multiple new products and line extensions in oncology and hematology. Kevin’s career also includes several years of corporate finance and manufacturing experience with SG Cowen’s Health Care Investment Banking Group and with SyStemix, a stem-cell therapy company acquired by Novartis. Mr. Norrett earned an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, an M.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from University of California, Los Angeles and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Davis.

General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

Christina Thomson serves as General Counsel for Sierra Oncology. Christina is a seasoned legal executive who has served as General Counsel for several public, private and non-profit life sciences companies, including Athira Pharma, Infectious Disease Research Institute, APT Pharmaceuticals and Avigen, in addition to representing clients in private practice. She began her career as a patent attorney and has been registered to practice with the USPTO for more than two decades. With a Master’s degree in Biology, Ms. Thomson worked as a scientist at Myriad Genetic Laboratories prior to law school, where she helped with troubleshooting and validation of the data analysis process for the launch of the BRACAnalysis test.

Chief Regulatory and Technical Operations Officer

Mr. William Turner has more than 25 years of drug development and drug commercialization experience, leading organizations through all phases of product development including commercial drug process, method and facility validations, all phases of clinical programs, numerous drug application filings and several global approvals. William was Senior Vice President of Technical Operations and Regulatory Science at Aimmune Therapeutics for several years. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Global Quality at Dynavax Technologies Corporation as well as several years in a leadership position at MedImmune (now AstraZeneca). He has significant experience in both small molecule and biologic development and has led teams in many therapeutic areas including vaccinology, oncology, hematology, allergy and respiratory. Mr. Turner holds a degree in Medical Microbiology with a minor in Chemistry from California State University at Long Beach.

Robert Pelzer has served as a member of our Board of Directors since May 2015. From September 2008 to March 2013, Mr. Pelzer served as the President of Novartis Corporation, a pharmaceutical company. From 2002 to 2008, Mr. Pelzer served as General Counsel at Novartis Pharma AG. Prior to 2002, Mr. Pelzer held various positions, including serving as General Counsel and Senior Vice President at DuPont Pharmaceuticals from 1998 to 2001. Mr. Pelzer currently serves on the Board of Directors of Qu Biologics and previously served on the Board of Directors of Aquinox Pharmaceuticals and Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mr. Pelzer holds a BComm and an LLB from the University of Alberta.

Gaurav Aggarwal, MD, has served as a Managing Director of Vivo Capital LLC, a healthcare focused investment firm, since October 2016, where he focuses on investments in life sciences companies. Dr. Aggarwal previously served as the Chief Business Officer of Ocera Therapeutics, as Managing Director of Investor Growth Capital, and as a General Partner at Panorama Capital, L.P., a venture capital fund. Earlier in his career, Dr. Aggarwal was an associate with JPMorgan Partners, LLC, a private equity division of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Dr. Aggarwal previously served on the Boards of Directors of Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by Horizon Pharma plc) and Microlin Bio, Inc. and on several privately held biopharmaceutical companies. Dr. Aggarwal received his MD from Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons, and his BS in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University.

Dr. Allen is a co- founder of Gritstone Oncology (NASDAQ:GRTS) and serves as its President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of its Board of Directors. He was a Co-Founder of Clovis Oncology (NASDAQ: CLVS) where he served as Executive Vice President of Clinical and Preclinical Development and Chief Medical Officer, leading the in-licensing and global development of Rubraca™, a PARP inhibitor approved for treatment of ovarian cancer. Prior to that, he was Chief Medical Officer at Pharmion Corporation, which was sold to Celgene Corporation for $2.9 billion following the global development of Vidaza™ for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes and Thalomid™ for the front-line treatment of multiple myeloma in Europe. Previously, Dr. Allen served in clinical development leadership roles at Chiron Corporation and Abbott Laboratories, and worked at McKinsey & Company, where he advised life science companies on strategic issues. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the epigenetic cancer therapy company, Epizyme (NASDAQ: EPZM), the cancer cell therapy company TCR2 Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TCRR), and Revitope Oncology, a private bispecific T cell-engager antibody company. Dr. Allen received a medical degree from Oxford University and a PhD in immunology from Imperial College London.

Mona Ashiya, PhD, is currently a Partner at OrbiMed Advisors, LLC, a healthcare focused investment firm. She has been at OrbiMed since 2010 where she has been involved with a number of investments in public and private biotech companies. Dr. Ashiya received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley and her PhD in Cellular, Molecular and Developmental Biology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Mr. Craig Collard is currently the CEO of Veloxis Pharmaceutics, Inc., a transplant focused pharmaceutical company, now a subsidiary of Asahi Kasei after its acquisition of Veloxis for $1.3 billion in 2020. Prior to this, he served as the CEO and Chairman of Cornerstone Therapeutics, Inc., a pharmaceutical company he founded in 2004, until February 2014 when the company was purchased by Chiesi Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Before founding Cornerstone, Mr. Collard served as President and CEO of Carolina Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company he founded in May 2003. From 1998 to 2003, Mr. Collard served in various commercial roles at Verum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and DJ Pharma, Inc. Mr. Collard is a member of the Board of Directors of Veloxis, Opiant Pharmaceutics, Inc. and TerrAscend Corporation. Mr. Collard holds a B.S. in Engineering from the Southern College of Technology (now Southern Polytechnic State University) in Marietta, Georgia.

Jeffrey Cooper has served as an independent consultant for life science companies since January 2014. Previously, Mr. Cooper served at KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, as a senior advisor from November 2013 until December 2013, and as the Chief Financial Officer from July 2012 until October 2013. Prior to joining KaloBios, Mr. Cooper served in positions of increasing responsibility at BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc., a pharmaceutical company, beginning as Vice President, Controller, to his most recent position as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 2007 to May 2012. He has also served as Vice President of Finance at Matrix Pharmaceutical, Inc. and held numerous finance-related positions within the heath care and pharmaceutical industries, including Corporate Controller at Foundation Health Systems and Director of Business Analysis at Syntex Corporation. He previously served on the board of directors of Tobira Therapeutics, Inc. until it was acquired by Allergan plc in November 2016. Mr. Cooper received a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles and an MBA from Santa Clara University. He is a Certified Public Accountant, under inactive status, in the State of California.

Stephen G. Dilly, MBBS, PhD, has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our Board of Directors since June 2020. Previously, Dr. Stephen Dilly brings three decades of executive management experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Most recently, Dr. Dilly served as CEO and Board Member of Aimmune Therapeutics. Dr. Dilly has served in executive roles at Genentech, Chiron and SmithKline Beecham and has been associated with the development and launch of many marketed drugs across multiple therapeutic areas. Dr. Dilly also currently serves on the Board of Directors of one public biotechnology company and several private companies. He holds an MBBS from the University of London and a PhD in Cardiac Physiology from University of London.

Josh Richardson, MD, has served as Managing Director of Longitude Capital since February 2016 where he focuses on investments in biotechnology companies. From September 2014 to February 2016, Dr. Richardson served as a Public Equities Analyst at HealthCor Management where he managed small and mid-cap biotechnology investments. Dr. Richardson received his BS in Biomedical Science from the University of South Florida, and his MD from the University of Virginia.

Andrew Sinclair, PhD, has served in various positions since November 2008 at Abingworth LLP, a life sciences investment group, where he currently serves as a Partner and Portfolio Manager. Dr. Sinclair currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Soleno Therapeutics, Inc. and Verona Pharma plc. Dr. Sinclair is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Dr. Sinclair received his BSc in Microbiology from King’s College London and his PhD in Chemistry and Genetic Engineering at the BBSRC Institute of Plant Science, Norwich.