Brett P. Monia , Ph.D., age 64, has served as a director of Ionis since March 2019. Dr. Monia was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in January 2020. From January 2018 to December 2019, Dr. Monia served as our Chief Operating Officer, from January 2012 to January 2018, as our Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery, from February 2009 to January 2012, as our Vice President, Drug Discovery, and from October 2000 to February 2009, as our Vice President, Preclinical Drug Discovery. From October 1989 to October 2000, he held various positions within our Molecular Pharmacology department. Dr. Monia has served on the board of directors of Cognition Therapeutics, Inc., a public clinical stage neuroscience company, since October 2020. The Board believes Dr. Monia is uniquely suited to serve on the Board primarily because, as an executive officer of the Company since 2012 and a founder of Ionis, he has dedicated more than 35 years to discovering and developing RNA-based drugs. Dr. Monia is the inventor on over 100 issued patents and has published more than 200 scientific manuscripts.