– Additions expand biotech and oligonucleotide expertise –
TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Deep Genomics, a leading AI drug development company focused on decoding biology to program life-changing medicines, today announced additions to its Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board which will advance its capabilities to develop oligonucleotides designed to boost protein production across a broad range of genetically driven diseases. New to the Board of Directors are Jacqueline Fok, Ph.D., Investment Vice President at SoftBank Vision Fund, Nessan Bermingham, Ph.D., Operating Partner at Khosla Ventures, and William Baird, Chief Financial Officer at 2Seventy Bio. Oligonucleotide authorities Arthur M. Krieg, M.D. and Mark Edbrooke, Ph.D. have joined the Scientific Advisory Board.
“These industry leaders will lend valuable support and advice to Deep Genomics as we advance our revolutionary AI drug discovery platform toward the goal of bringing programmable RNA medicines to patients,” said Brendan Frey, Ph.D., FRSC, Founder and CEO of Deep Genomics. “Our novel approach to drug discovery has the potential to produce RNA-targeted therapeutics that would have been difficult or impossible to create via more conventional methods. I look forward to working with such an experienced and knowledgeable team as we move toward the clinic across a wide range of potential indications.”
William (Chip) Baird is Chief Financial Officer at 2Seventy Bio (Nasdaq: TSVT), a commercial stage oncology cell therapy company. Prior to 2Seventy, Chip previously served as CFO for Bluebird Bio, Amicus Therapeutics, and PTC Therapeutics. Chip has more than 20 years of experience leading innovative biotech companies and also serves as a Director of Axcella Health. He joins Deep Genomics as Lead Independent Director.
Nessan (Ness) Bermingham, Ph.D., is Operating Partner at Khosla Ventures, where he focuses on life science companies involving nucleic acids, novel delivery systems, gene and cell therapy, novel target identification and data analytics. He is a serial biotech entrepreneur and investor, most notably having founded Intellia Therapeutics, Korro Bio and Liberate Bio. Ness was President and CEO of Intellia from its inception in 2014 until 2017, and during that time he led the company through partnering deals, financings and an IPO in 2016. Ness has held investment roles at Atlas Venture and Omega Fund Management and is Chair of F-star, Executive Chair of Korro Bio, and Executive Chair of Stylus Medicine.
Jacqueline (Jackie) Fok, Ph.D., is an Investment Vice President at SoftBank Vision Fund, focused on life sciences and health tech. She has over 10 years’ experience in the life sciences industry and was previously an investor at IP Group and a scientist in the Oncology R&D unit at AstraZeneca.
Arthur (Art) Krieg, M.D., has worked in the oligonucleotide field since the 1980s. He founded multiple biotech companies, beginning with Coley Pharmaceutical Group in 1997. In 2008, Pfizer acquired Coley and Art became Chief Scientific Officer of Pfizer’s Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Unit until they exited the field in 2011. Subsequently, he co-founded RaNA Therapeutics, serving as its CEO through 2013, was CSO at Sarepta Therapeutics until July 2014, and most recently, was founder, CEO and CSO at Checkmate Pharmaceuticals until it was acquired by Regeneron in 2022. He co-founded the first antisense journal, Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, and the Oligonucleotide Therapeutic Society, for which he recently served as President. Art has published more than 250 scientific papers and is an inventor on more than 50 issued US patents covering oligonucleotide technologies.
Mark Edbrooke, Ph. D., has oligonucleotide experience spanning over two decades at AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and as an independent consultant. After earning his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of London, he ran a transnational gene interference department at GSK that generated target identification and validation data for all therapeutic areas across the company. He founded and led the Discovery Performance Unit (DPU) within GSK focused on the development of therapeutic siRNAs and on therapeutic antisense oligonucleotides. He then joined AstraZeneca, where he worked on alliances with Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Regulus Therapeutics and Moderna Therapeutics.
About Deep Genomics
Deep Genomics is a biopharmaceutical company that aims to revolutionize drug development by leveraging expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) to decode RNA biology. Our proprietary platform, the AI Workbench, enables us to decode the enormous complexity of RNA biology to find novel targets, mechanisms, and molecules that are not accessible through traditional methods. We use this advanced technology to develop steric-blocking oligonucleotides (SBOs) that achieve expression increase for the treatment of genetic disease. Founded in 2015, our multidisciplinary team includes expertise in a diverse range of disciplines including those found in a traditional drug company, as well as machine learning, laboratory automation, and software engineering. Deep Genomics is located in Toronto, Ontario and Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, visit: www.deepgenomics.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Contacts
Matt Crenson
Ten Bridge Communications
mcrenson@tenbridgecommunications.com