Jay Kranzler, MD, PhD
Chairman
Dr. Kranzler joined our Board of Directors in February 2017 and became Chairman in March 2023. Dr. Kranzler has been a Founder, CEO, Board Member, and Advisor to leading life science companies for over 30 years. He is currently acting as Chief Executive Officer of Regenovation, a regenerative medicine company, and is a Board Member of Methylation Sciences, Pastorus, and ImmunoBrain Checkpoint, all companies focused on developing therapeutics for psychiatric or neurological disorders. Dr. Kranzler started his career at McKinsey & Company where he established the Firm’s pharmaceutical practice. He served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cytel Corporation, a company focused on the development of immunomodulatory drugs. Following Cytel, Dr. Kranzler became the CEO of Cypress Bioscience, where he was credited for the development of Savella™ (milnacipran) for the treatment of fibromyalgia. Dr. Kranzler was also Vice President, Head of External R&D Innovation and Worldwide R&D Strategic Investments at Pfizer. During his career, Dr. Kranzler has developed drugs, medical devices, as well as diagnostics, and is the inventor on over 30 patents. Dr. Kranzler graduated from Yale University School of Medicine with MD and PhD degrees with a focus in psychopharmacology.
Alexandra MacLean, MD
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Alix MacLean was appointed as Avenue’s Chief Executive Officer in August 2022 and became a member of the Board of Directors in March 2023. She was previously an Entrepreneur in Residence at Fortress Biotech. She has a broad background in business development investments in multiple therapeutic areas in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Previously she served as General Partner and Principal at TVM Capital, an international life sciences venture capital firm. Prior to this she was Head of Licensing and Business Development at Imbrium Therapeutics and before that held medical affairs and business development roles at Purdue Pharma. Dr. MacLean also held leadership roles in the medical device industry with Plasma Surgical and Covidien. She began her career in the pharmaceutical industry at Merck & Co. in cardiovascular clinical development.
Alix received a B.Sc. in Physiology from McGill University and an M.D. from Columbia University. She completed her residency in general surgery at NYU Medical Center, fellowships in Trauma Surgery and Critical Care at the University of Miami Medical Center and vascular surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. She also holds a M.Phil. from Cambridge University and an MBA from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
David Jin
Interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Jin was appointed as Avenue’s Interim Chief Financial Officer in May 2022and has served as Chief Operating Officer since March 2022. He previously served as Avenue’s Interim Chief Executive Officer from March 2022 through August 2022. He also serves as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Fortress Biotech (an affiliate of Avenue) and serves on the Board of Directors of Mustang Bio (a Fortress partner company) and Crystalys Therapeutics. Previously, he was on the investment team in the Private Equity & Real Assets group at Barings, Director of Corporate Development at Sorrento Therapeutics, Vice President of Healthcare Investment Banking at FBR & Co., and was in the management consulting group at IMS Health (now IQVIA). He holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences with a double-major in Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences from Northwestern University.
