BIO Special: Advancing heart disease treatment, Faraz Ali, CEO, Tenaya Therapeutics

Synopsis: Faraz Ali is the CEO of Tenaya Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company with a mission to discover, develop and deliver potentially curative therapies that address the underlying causes of heart disease. Faraz discusses his non-traditional background as an electrical engineer before he found his passion for applying science and technology to healthcare problems. He talks about his experience working at Genzyme and what aspects from his time there he still carries with him today. Faraz also discusses his perspective on the application of genetic modalities, and his team’s work pursuing treatment for both rare and prevalent forms of heart disease. Finally, he talks about what it’s like being a first time CEO and his thoughts on team building. Biography: Faraz Ali, MBA, is the CEO of Tenaya Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company with a mission to discover, develop and deliver potentially curative therapies that address the underlying causes of heart disease. He was most recently Chief Business Officer at REGENXBIO, where he had accountability for corporate development, commercial planning, portfolio strategy, alliance management and corporate communications. Prior to that, Mr. Ali was a Vice President at bluebird bio, where he was responsible for new product planning, program management, patient advocacy and external affairs. He also held roles of increasing global commercial leadership at Genzyme Corporation, where he helped launch multiple first-in-class enzyme replacement therapies for rare diseases. He started his career at General Electric, including technical roles at GE Healthcare and business assignments at GE Corporate. Mr. Ali received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his B.S. from Stanford University. He was appointed to the Board of Directors for The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), the leading international advocacy organization dedicated to realizing the promise of regenerative medicines and advanced therapies, in 2022.