Maria C. Freire, Ph.D.

Maria C. Freire, Ph.D., has served as a director of Biogen Inc. since 2021. She is a member of Biogen’s Compensation and Management Development Committee and Corporate Governance Committee.

Dr. Freire brings to the Biogen Board extensive experience in biomedical innovation, drug development, public–private partnerships, and science policy, with a career spanning biotechnology, global health, and life sciences infrastructure. She has a distinguished record of overseeing complex, mission-critical organizations with a focus on long-term value creation and patient-centric outcomes.

Dr. Freire is Founder and Principal of The Freire Group, a strategic advisory firm serving life sciences organizations. She currently serves on the boards of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., Exelixis, Inc., and Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cell Biology, and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Previously, Dr. Freire served as President and Executive Director of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), where she led large-scale public–private partnerships advancing research and clinical development across oncology, neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases, and managed complex multi-stakeholder collaborations involving government, industry, and philanthropy.

Earlier, Dr. Freire was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), where she built and led a sustainable drug development organization that advanced a range of compounds through the drug development pathway, including pretomanid from preclinical research into clinical trials, (demonstrating capital-efficient development and strategic portfolio management). Pretomanid is now approved for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

She previously served as President of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, which administers the internationally recognized Lasker Awards, and as Director of the Office of Technology Transfer at the National Institutes of Health, where she oversaw intellectual property strategy, licensing, and industry partnerships.

Dr. Freire has served on and chaired the Science Board of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, was a member of the World Health Organization Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health, and was appointed to the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines. Her honors include the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service, the Arthur S. Flemming Award, and the Bayh-Dole Award.

Dr. Freire holds a B.S. from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru, and a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Virginia.