Robert Connelly

Biography

Robert Connelly has 30+ years of experience starting, financing, building and leading companies in the life sciences sector. He is the former CEO of Domantis, Pulmatrix, and WikiCell Designs, and has served as Chairman of the Board for Aero Designs and as a Director for Pulmatrix and Rainier Wines. Connelly began his career with the Medical Diagnostics Division of Abbott Laboratories, spending 11+ years in sales, marketing and management positions. After leaving Abbott in 1994, he spent six years with BioVeris (formerly IGEN International; acquired by Roche for $1.6 billion) in the roles of Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing and General Manager of IGEN’s Life Sciences unit. In 2001, Connelly became the founding CEO and first employee of Domantis, a private UK-based biotechnology company founded by world-renowned scientist entrepreneurs Ian Tomlinson and Greg Winter. In 2007, Connelly was appointed CEO of Pulmatrix (NASD:PULM), a pharmaceutical company developing inhaled drugs for respiratory diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) and cystic fibrosis (CF). In 2012, Connelly co-founded WikiCell Designs with Pulmatrix Founder David Edwards to utilize biotechnology tools to develop sustainable, edible forms of packaging for food, beverage and nutrition products. In 2013 WikiCell Designs merged with Aero Designs to form Quantum Designs.

Research Interest

Amino acid-based therapeutics Cell-specific sets of amino acids