WilmerHale

Capital Markets Corporate Governance and Disclosure; Cross-Border Transactions; Emerging Company and Venture Capital; Life Sciences; Mergers and Acquisitions

Partner

Cynthia Mazareas brings more than 25 years of experience and a passion for medical and scientific innovation to her role as a trusted adviser to companies in the life sciences industry. She provides ongoing, strategic business counsel to boards, management teams and in-house counsel, representing high-growth private and public companies in corporate matters, complex business transactions, including public offerings and venture capital financings, and corporate governance, SEC, stock exchange and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Ms. Mazareas is named in Best Lawyers in America for biotechnology and life sciences, has been named a Life Sciences Star by LMG Life Sciences and was recommended for The Legal 500 United States for capital markets: equity offerings – advice to issuers.

Ms. Mazareas has counseled a range of public life sciences companies throughout all stages of growth, including Agios Pharmaceuticals, AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Beam Therapeutics, Cue Biopharma, Curis, IMARA, Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Schrödinger, Syros Pharmaceuticals, Translate Bio and Xilio Therapeutics. Her emerging growth private company clients include Auron Therapeutics and Volastra Therapeutics.

Clients rely on her combination of industry knowledge, legal experience and business acumen. One told Best Lawyers that she gives “great practical advice.” Another told Chambers and Partners, “I think very highly of Cynthia Mazareas, in life sciences in particular. She’s someone who truly does live the life of her clients. She’s been doing this for a long time and she understands a great deal of the challenges that smaller companies face and is very adept at trying to help folks work through the types of challenges encountered by those companies.”

Ms. Mazareas’ involvement with the biopharmaceutical industry predates her legal career: she began her professional life in healthcare, a background that gives her insight into the real-world concerns that shape the landscape for such companies.

Community Involvement Ms. Mazareas’ engagement with the life sciences industry extends to her community involvement. She serves on the Board of Directors for Life Science Cares, a nonprofit organization that brings together companies in the life sciences industry to eliminate the impact of poverty in the greater Boston area, and chairs the organization’s Nominating and Governance Committee. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of Prize4Life, a nonprofit that works to find treatments and cures for ALS. She and her husband received the Courage Award from Prize4Life in 2014.

Ms. Mazareas has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Shore Country Day School and as chair of its Diversity Committee and a member of its Committee on Trustees.

Professional Activities Ms. Mazareas is an author and frequent speaker on corporate transactions, governance and other matters relating to life sciences and biotechnology companies.

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 also a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

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 Women's Leadership Initiative, and Hiring Committee.

Bar Admissions: Massachusetts

Other Organizations: Boston Bar Association Massachusetts Bar Association

Georgetown University Law Center , J.D. (1993) Boston University , B.S. (1985)