Cynthia Mazareas has more than 30 years of experience in serving as a trusted adviser to companies in the life sciences industry. She applies her deep knowledge to provide strategic business counsel to boards, management teams and in-house counsel, representing high-growth private and public companies in day-to-day corporate matters and helping companies navigate through complex business transactions. Ms. Mazareas is Chambers recognized, named in Best Lawyers in America for biotechnology and life sciences, and has been named a Life Sciences Star by LMG Life Sciences.

Ms. Mazareas has counseled numerous public life sciences companies throughout their lifecycle. Representative clients have included Agios Pharmaceuticals, AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Beam Therapeutics, Cue Biopharma, Curis, IMARA, Schrödinger, Syros Pharmaceuticals, Translate Bio and Xilio Therapeutics. Representative emerging growth private company clients include Auron Therapeutics, Bectas Therapeutics, Cardurion Therapeutics, Mediar Therapeutics, Roshon Therapeutics and Volastra Therapeutics.

Clients rely on her combination of industry knowledge, legal experience and business acumen. One interviewed by Chambers described her as “substantive, diligent, bright and technically strong”, and another told Chambers, “Ms. Mazareas is a very real gold-standard attorney for companies in life sciences.”  

Ms. Mazareas is also dedicated to using her skills to provide legal advice to organizations that are doing impactful work in the community.  She represents MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, an organization that aims to fuel the quality and quantity of mentoring relationships for young people and to close the mentoring gap for the one in three young people growing up without this critical support. She also provides advice to Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Boston’s foremost agency providing life-changing services for homeless, runaway and in-risk youth. 

Community Involvement

Ms. Mazareas serves on the Board of Directors for Life Science Cares, a national nonprofit organization that brings together companies in the life sciences industry to eliminate the impact of poverty, and chairs the organization’s Nominating and Governance Committee. She previously held board positions for Prize4Life and Shore Country Day School.

Professional Activities

Ms. Mazareas is an author and frequent speaker on corporate transactions, governance and other matters relating to life sciences and biotechnology companies. Her speaking engagements have included the BIO General Counsels Committee Conference, the Black In-House Counsel Network’s Elevating Black Excellence Regional Summit Series, the Women in the Enterprise of Science and Technology’s Women in Venture panel, and the Corporate Counsel Women of Color Conference.

Ms. Mazareas is a member of the Society of Corporate Secretaries & Governance Professionals and serves on the advisory committee of the Eastern New England Chapter.

She is a member of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Boston Bar Association, and the Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys Bar Association. She also plays an active role at WilmerHale as a member of the firm's Management Committee, Compensation Committee, Hiring Committee and Women's Leadership Initiative.

  • Cynthia Mazareas Named Among the 2021 Best Lawyers in America®

    Cynthia Mazareas is recognized by her peers as an outstanding lawyer in the areas of biotechnology and life sciences.

    August 26, 2020
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  • LMG Life Sciences Recognizes Cynthia Mazareas as US Rising Transactional Star

    In its annual recognition of top law firms, lawyers and in-house counsel in the life sciences industry, LMG Life Sciences named Cynthia Mazareas to its 2017 award shortlist.

    July 20, 2017
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  • Cynthia Mazareas Joins Life Science Cares Board

    Cynthia Mazareas joined the board of directors of Life Science Cares, an organization seeking to eliminate the impact of poverty in the greater Boston-area through collective effort.

    June 6, 2018
    Read More

Experience

  • OVERVIEW

    Ms. Mazareas represents a wide range of publicly traded life science companies in SEC compliance, governance and capital raising transactions, including IPOs and underwritten follow-on offerings, and alternative capital raising and strategic equity transactions. She also represents numerous privately held life science companies in formation and general corporate matters as well as early-stage, bridge, mezzanine and cross-over venture capital transactions. 
  • FINANCINGS

    • Agios Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering therapies in the field of cellular metabolism, in its initial public offering, side-by-side strategic private placements and numerous subsequent follow-on offerings for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $1.75 billion
    • Arsanis, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing monoclonal antibodies for infectious diseases, in its $46.0 million initial public offering
    • Asylia Therapeutics, Inc., a private development stage biotechnology company, in its $7.5 million Series A financing
    • Auron Therapeutics, a privately held oncology company, in its $15.4 million Series Seed financing, its $48 million Series A financing and its $55 million Series B financing
    • AVEO Oncology, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, in its initial public offering of nearly $90 million, and several subsequent follow-on public offerings and private placements
    • Beam Therapeutics, a biotechnology company conducting research in the field of gene therapies and genome editing, in its $500 million at-the-market offering and its $500 million follow-on offering
    • BlinkBio Inc., a developer of drug conjugate therapies designed to facilitate the treatment of cancer, in its $12.17 million Series A financing; and $12 million Series B financing
    • Cue Biopharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel class of injectable biologics, in its $30 million private placement and $20 million underwritten offering
    • Curis, a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, in several financings, including recent follow-on public and registered direct offerings for aggregate proceeds of $450 million, as well as successive royalty financings to leverage an approved product
    • Denali Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on therapies for neurodegenerative and lysosomal storage diseases, in its $217 million Series A financing; and $122.3 million Series B financing
    • IMARA, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing novel therapeutics to treat patients suffering from rare inherited genetic disorders of hemoglobin, in its $86.5 million initial public offering and subsequent $50 million follow-on public offering
    • Infinity Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing an oral, immuno-oncology macrophage reprogramming drug candidate, in public offerings with aggregate proceeds of $172 million, in its reverse merger/going public transaction, and its royalty sale of an FDA approved product to HealthCare Royalty Partners
    • KEW Group, a personalized oncology management company that provides DNA based genomic testing, in its venture capital financings
    • Larkspur Biosciences, a developer of cancer immunotherapies, in its $5.5 million Series Seed financing 
    • Mediar Therapeutics, a clinical stage company advancing first-in-class therapies to halt fibrosis progression, in the completion of its $85 million Series A financing
    • Nuvalent, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating precisely targeted therapies for patients with cancer, in its follow-on public offerings with aggregate proceedings of approximately $510 million
    • Schrödinger, a developer of a physics-based computational platform that enables discovery of novel molecules for drug development, in its initial public offering and subsequent follow-on public offering for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $579 million, along with its prior Series E financing round led by WuXi AppTec and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $110 million
    • Syros Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for blood cancers and other diseases by controlling gene expression, in its initial public offering and subsequent PIPEs, follow-on offerings and side-by-side strategic private placements for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $373 million 
    • Translate Bio, a clinical-stage mRNA therapeutics company, in its initial public offering and subsequent PIPE and follow-on offerings, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $376 million, and a $125 million strategic equity investment by collaborator Sanofi
    • Tvardi Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for fibrosis-driven diseases, in its $74 million Series B financing, and its $9 million Series A financing 
    • Volastra Therapeutics, a drug-discovery company specializing in new cancer treatments, in its $44 million Series Seed financing and $60 million Series A financing
    • Xilio Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing tumor-activated immuno-oncology therapies, in its initial public offering with aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $130 million, its prior Series C cross-over financing for proceeds of approximately $95 million and it underwritten offering of pre-funded and Series A, B and C warrants with aggregate proceedings of approximately $50 million
  • STRATEGIC TRANSACTIONS

    • Achillion Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing treatments for infectious diseases and rare disorders, in its $225 million strategic equity investment by Johnson & Johnson Innovation-JJDC, Inc., JJDC's subsequent secondary underwritten public offering, and Achillion's registered direct offering with a privately-owned hedge fund sponsor
    • Arsanis, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing monoclonal antibodies for infectious diseases, in its merger with X4 Pharmaceuticals
    • AVEO Oncology, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, in its sale to LG Chem for approximately $566 million
    • IMARA, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing novel therapeutics to treat patients suffering from rare inherited genetic disorders of hemoglobin, in its sale of assets to Cardurion Pharmaceuticals and its subsequent merger with Enliven Therapeutics
    • Infinity Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing an oral, immuno-oncology macrophage reprogramming drug candidate, in is proposed merger with MEI Pharma, as well as in its strategic equity transactions with Purdue Pharma, and Purdue Pharma's subsequent $450 million secondary underwritten public offering
    • Mediar Therapeutics, a clinical stage company advancing first-in-class therapies to halt fibrosis progression, in its global licensing agreement with Lilly
    • Syros Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for blood cancers and other diseases by controlling gene expression, in its acquisition of Tyme Technologies for $60 million

Recognition

  • Ranked in the 2023 - 2025 Editions of Chambers USA for Capital Markets (Massachusetts) and Life Sciences (Massachusetts)
  • Selected by peers for inclusion in the 2019–2025 editions of the Best Lawyers in America for biotechnology and life sciences.
  • Named a 20202025 "Life Sciences Star" and to the 2017 awards shortlist for US Rising Transactional Star by LMG Life Sciences.
  • Named to Profiles in Diversity Journal Women Worth Watching in STEM 2023.
  • Named a “Go To Business Transactions Lawyer” by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
  • Named to Boston Magazine’s annual Top Lawyers list in 2021-2025 in the area of corporate law. 
  • Named a 2021 Top Women of Law Honoree by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
  • Recommended in the 2019 edition of The Legal 500 United States in the category of capital markets: equity offerings - advice to issuers.
  • Recognized as a Black Biopharma Industry Leader by Timmerman Report.
  • Named to Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court 2023 and 2024 Pro Bono Honor Roll.

Insights & News

Credentials

  • Education

    • JD, Georgetown University Law Center, 1993

    • BS, Boston University, 1985

  • Admissions

    • Massachusetts

Credentials

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