Yvonne Greenstreet

Yvonne Greenstreet is a British biotechnology executive. She is chief operating officer of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, and from 1 January 2022 Alnylam's CEO. She is one of a small number of Black women leading a drug company.^[1]

Yvonne Greenstreet is the daughter of a Ghanaian mother, Miranda Greenstreet, and a white Englishman. The pair met in the 1950s as students at the London School of Economics. Born in London, she moved to Ghana when her parents were appointed professors at the University of Ghana. She was sent to a girls' boarding school in England, studied medicine at Leeds University and began practising obstetrics and gynecology in the UK.^[1]

Wanting to "impact more than the hundred or so patients I would see in a year", Greenstreet switched career, gaining a master's degree at the INSEAD Business School in France. In 1992, she joined the pharmaceutical firm Glaxo, which later became GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).^[1] There, she was vice-president and medical director on the executive team of GSK's UK subsidiary. She then became GSK's Senior Vice President and Chief of Strategy and R&D. She was named in the 2011 Powerlist of Britain's Most Influential Black People.^[2] In the 2012 Powerlist she was named at number five.^[3]

As SVP of medicines development at Pfizer, Greenstreet in 2013 was named by Fast Company among the 100 "most creative people in business".^[4] She was again named in the 2013 Powerlist of Britain's Most Influential Black People.^[5]

Greenstreet became Alnylam's chief operating officer in 2016. In 2021, it was announced that John Maraganore would step down as Alnylam's CEO on 1 January 2022, and would be succeeded by Greenstreet.^[1]

• Miranda Greenstreet
• Ivor Greenstreet