Biopharma industry veteran to lead advancement of company’s transcription factor-focused pipeline into clinical stage and expand discovery efforts
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Flare Therapeutics, a biotechnology company targeting transcription factors to discover precision medicines for cancer and other diseases, today announced the appointment of Amit Rakhit, M.D., MBA, as President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Rakhit has over 20 years of life sciences leadership experience and joins at a pivotal time as Flare transitions into a clinical-stage company. He succeeds interim CEO Abbie Celniker, Ph.D., a partner at Third Rock Ventures, who will continue to serve as Chair of the Company’s Board of Directors.
“Flare’s pioneering approach to drugging transcription factors stands to profoundly impact medical practice globally for people living with cancer and other difficult to treat diseases. I am excited to join such a dynamic and experienced leadership team at this important inflection point for the company,” said Dr. Rakhit. “The team’s swift progress in identifying dozens of novel druggable pockets, or ‘switch sites’, within therapeutic transcription factor targets of interest and rapid advancement of the lead precision oncology program both inspired my belief in Flare and compelled me to join to help catapult the company into its next stage of growth.”
“Dr. Rakhit’s experience includes a rare mix of business acumen, clinical development expertise and passion for leading innovation in new treatment modalities that can benefit patients,” said Dr. Celniker. “His leadership and experience will be extremely valuable in driving the strategy forward as we transition our first precision oncology program into the clinic and grow our pipeline of discovery targets in multiple new therapeutic indications.”
For more than two decades, Dr. Rakhit has served in key leadership, clinical and operational roles in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies spanning diverse therapeutic areas including rare disease, neurology, oncology and cardiology. Most recently, he has focused on launching and growing start-up biotechnology companies, overseeing clinical development and commercialization strategy in roles as CEO of Sporos BioVentures and President and Chief Medical Officer of Ovid Therapeutics. Earlier in his career, he was Senior Vice President and Head of Worldwide Medical Affairs at Biogen, Inc. where he led global external collaborations with key stakeholders and executed post-marketing development strategies for the launch and commercialization of key products in rare disease, including Spinraza®, and in neurology. Prior to Biogen, he held multiple roles of increasing seniority in global clinical development and medical affairs at Bristol-Myers Squibb, including spearheading global initiatives for Plavix®. Dr. Rakhit holds an M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine and dual MBAs from Columbia University and London Business School. He completed his fellowship in pediatric cardiology at Harvard Medical School and was previously on staff at Boston Children’s Hospital.
About Flare Therapeutics
Flare Therapeutics is a biotechnology company pioneering a new therapeutic space with a novel approach to decipher the biology of transcription factors to develop small molecule medicines. Based on insights from the seminal work of its scientific founders, Flare’s team has uncovered ‘switch sites,’ druggable regions that are key targets for transcription factor regulation, to address mutations that cause disease. Flare’s drug discovery efforts to target switch sites has rapidly advanced, resulting in an emerging pipeline of drug programs that address well-validated transcription factors, initially focused on precision oncology with future potential in neurology, rare genetic disorders, immunology and inflammation. Flare Therapeutics was launched in 2021 and is backed by founding investor Third Rock Ventures, as well as Boxer Capital, Nextech Invest, Casdin Capital, Invus Financial Advisors and Eventide Asset Management. For more information, please visit www.flaretx.com.
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