SAB Members

Dr. Robert Perni performed his graduate work in the total synthesis of indole alkaloids at Dartmouth College where he was awarded a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry and held a post-doctoral appointment at the University of Rochester. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from Northeastern University (1979). He is the author or coauthor of more than 170 research publications, abstracts, review articles, invited lectures, issued patents and published IP applications. Dr. Perni was previously Vice President, Chemistry at Sirtris Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA). His efforts leading Sirtris Chemistry resulted in the identification of three clinical candidates for multiple indications as well as numerous publications. Dr. Perni initially joined Sirtris following nine years at Vertex Pharmaceuticals where he led HCV protease inhibition research team at Vertex. This effort led to the discovery of Incivek™ (VX-950, telaprevir) which was approved for sale in 2011 in the US, Europe and Japan. Prior to joining Vertex, Dr. Perni was Director of Chemistry at Avid Therapeutics focusing on antiviral drug discovery and development against hepatitis B. He began his career in the Medicinal Chemistry Department at Sterling Winthrop (Albany NY and Upper Providence, PA), working in antibacterial, antiviral and oncology drug discovery research where he was responsible for the identification of multiple clinical candidates.