About
Our Story
We launched Fulcrum Therapeutics with a vision to develop small molecules to improve the lives of patients with genetically defined rare diseases in areas of high unmet medical need. Fulcrum uses proprietary technology to identify drug targets that can modulate gene expression to treat the known root cause of gene mis-expression.
At Fulcrum, we are scientific leaders focused on creating therapies that transform the lives of patients and caregivers. Our patient-centered culture empowers us to attentively address the needs of the rare disease community, guiding our scientific endeavors. This community is the foundation of everything we do and the reason we consistently move forward together every day, no exceptions.
Alex C. Sapir
Alex C. Sapir is an industry veteran and organization builder with over two decades of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, most recently serving as CEO of ReViral Ltd, which was acquired in 2022 by Pfizer. Previously, he served as president and CEO at Dova Pharmaceuticals, leading its transformation from a small, private, pre-commercial company to a 150-person, fully integrated, publicly traded biotech company (later acquired by Sobi, Inc.).
Earlier in his career, Alex was the Executive Vice President for Marketing and Sales at United Therapeutics and held commercial positions of increasing responsibility at GSK and other smaller healthcare companies.
Alex received his BA in Economics from Franklin and Marshall College and his MBA from Harvard Business School where he concentrated in Finance and Strategy.
Patrick Horn, M.D., Ph.D.
Patrick Horn M.D., Ph.D., joined Fulcrum in March 2024 as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Patrick Horn brings over 20 years of experience in the field of rare disease drug development, encompassing all stages from initial research to regulatory approval and commercial launch. Most recently, Dr. Horn served as Chief Medical Officer for HemoShear Therapeutics, specializing in rare metabolic diseases.
Previously, Dr. Horn served as Chief Medical Officer at Albireo Pharma, where he led the team that achieved marketing approvals in the US and Europe for Bylvay TM in progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC). Before his tenure at Albireo, he served as the Senior Vice President of Medical and Clinical Development at Orphan Technologies, directing the advancement of novel treatments for homocystinuria. Prior to this, he was the Chief Medical Officer at Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw the clinical development of antibiotic candidates, including the program leading to the New Drug Application for eravacycline. Before Tetraphase, Dr. Horn led the clinical program at Dyax Corp. that resulted in the approval of Kalbitor® for the treatment of hereditary angioedema.
Dr. Horn received his M.D., and Ph.D., from the University of Chicago and completed his pediatric residency at Boston Children’s Hospital. Prior to transitioning to industry, Dr. Horn was a practicing pediatrician at major academic institutions in Chicago.
Alan Musso
Alan joined Fulcrum in August 2023 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Fulcrum, Alan served for several years as CFO of ReViral, which was acquired by Pfizer in 2022. Previously, he was the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer at Peloton Therapeutics Inc., where he secured a $150 million mezzanine financing and prepared the company for a NASDAQ IPO until the company was acquired by Merck & Co. Alan also served as CFO and Treasurer of other biopharmaceutical companies, including Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Targacept, and Duramed Pharmaceuticals. He spent the early part of his career as a senior internal auditor for Pfizer as well as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for KPMG International.
Alan received a B.S. in Accounting from Saint Mary’s College California and a master’s degree from the American Graduate School of International Management. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Aileron Therapeutics, Inc.
Curtis Oltmans, JD
Curtis Oltmans, JD, joined Fulcrum as General Counsel in November 2020 with over 25 years of experience in corporate law, including senior management positions in legal departments at several leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. He most recently served as Vice President, Head of Litigation at DaVita Kidney Care, Inc., where he led a 30-person team and was responsible for all litigation, workers’ compensation, and employee safety matters. Before DaVita, Curtis was Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary at Array BioPharma Inc., overseeing all legal, corporate governance, patent, and compliance matters. He previously served as Corporate Vice President and General Counsel for Novo Nordisk, Inc., North America, where he was responsible for strategic support in areas including market access, government affairs, communications, and product marketing. He has also served as Assistant General Counsel for Eli Lilly and Company after beginning his legal career, supporting clients in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation matters.
Curtis received a BA in political science from the University of Nebraska and his JD from the University of Nebraska College of Law.
Heather Faulds
Heather Faulds joined Fulcrum in July 2024 from Alkermes, where she served as SVP, Regulatory Affairs. Heather brings over 20 years of experience leading global regulatory strategies across all phases of development, as well as multiple therapeutic areas and modalities. At Alkermes, Heather led the team that achieved FDA approval for LYBALVI® (olanzapine and samidorphan) for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disease. Previously, Heather served as SVP, Regulatory Affairs at Scholar Rock where she led multiple functions spanning regulatory affairs, GxP compliance, pharmacovigilance, and medical writing, and was responsible for regulatory strategies across clinical programs for rare diseases and immuno-oncology. Prior to joining Scholar Rock, Heather spent 12 years at Biogen in roles of increasing responsibility across CMC regulatory and global regulatory strategy. While there, her leadership paved the way for several novel health authority approvals including SPINRAZA® (nusinersen), the first treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, which was approved by FDA in 90 days from submission. Heather also led regulatory activities for programs in Alzheimer’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. Heather holds a B.S. in Biology from the University at Albany and holds a Master’s of Regulatory Affairs and Health Policy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy.
Kim Hazen
Jeff Jacobs, Ph.D.
Dr. Jacobs has more than 25 years of experience in drug discovery and target identification, and has led, co-led and mentored multiple discovery programs from concept stage through development candidate nomination, and from investigational new drug enabling studies through to pivotal clinical trials. Dr. Jacobs was most recently Chief Scientific Officer at Goldfinch Bio, where he led the research and discovery program to help build its portfolio of therapeutics for rare kidney diseases. Before Goldfinch, Dr. Jacobs held roles of increasing responsibilities at Ardelyx, Inc., and was promoted to Chief Scientific Officer. During his time at Ardelyx, he led the discovery effort for IBSRELA®, an oral small molecule for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation, that became its first U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved product. Earlier, Dr. Jacobs held senior roles in development chemistry at Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, along with similar roles leading chemistry teams at Versicor, Inc. (acquired by Pfizer), and Affymax (acquired by Glaxo Wellcome). Dr. Jacobs earned a Ph.D. in bioorganic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. in chemistry from Gonzaga University.
Iain Fraser, MBChB, D.Phil
Iain Fraser, MBChB, D.Phil, was named Senior Vice President, Early Discovery in March 2024. Previously, Dr. Fraser served as our Interim Chief Medical Officer from March 2023 to March 2024. Dr. Fraser brings over two decades of experience advancing therapies through early- and late-stage development and possesses deep expertise in clinical development and regulatory affairs. He most recently served as Vice President and clinical fellow at AlloVir, an Elevate Bio Company.
He previously held clinical development roles of increasing responsibility at Abide Therapeutics (acquired by Lundbeck in 2019) and Merck, where he led the first-in-human clinical trials of a range of compounds across therapeutic areas, and contributed to the development of Zepatier®, Zinplava™ and Recarbrio™, as well as the pediatric development of Januvia® and Maxalt®.
He received a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation from Harvard University and a Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Pathology from the University of Oxford. Dr. Fraser received his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry as well as his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery – MBChB from the University of Cape Town.
Mel Hayes
Mel joined Fulcrum in September 2021 as Chief Commercial Officer and was subsequently appointed to the role of Chief Operating Officer in June 2022. Mel was appointed to Executive Vice President, Patient Experience, in October 2023. In this role Mel is responsible for developing an external facing integrated enterprise model that leverages the intersection of Patient Affairs, Advocacy, Access, Policy, and Communication to support the pipeline in both SCD and FSHD. Mel brings more than 30 years of experience in asset development and management of commercialization strategies in a range of therapeutic areas including many rare, specialty and primary care diseases. Prior to Fulcrum, Mel served as Global Head Commercial, Vice President, Rare Blood Disorders at Sanofi-Genzyme, where he led the commercial organization for hemophilia and complement assets. His previous roles also include U.S. Vice President, Hemophilia and Global Head, Hematology Rare Blood Disorders at Bioverativ (acquired by Sanofi-Genzyme) and Global Vice President, Head of Global Marketing and Launch Excellence at Shire and Global Vice President, Hemophilia at Baxalta (acquired by Shire). He also spent 10 years at Bayer and nine years at Bristol Myers Squibb in progressive leadership roles where he was responsible for launching products in diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurology, rheumatology, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease globally.
Mel earned dual bachelor’s degrees in business and communications from Southern Methodist University and received his MBA from Columbia University.