Dr. Reardon to lead strategic development of Ribometrix platform for
novel RNA drug discovery
Appointment of two vice presidents to boost expanded research and
discovery operations
DURHAM, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ribometrix,
a biotechnology company developing small molecule therapeutics that
directly target RNA to treat human diseases, announced today the
appointment of John Reardon, Ph.D., as its chief scientific officer, who
brings over 30 years of drug discovery and development experience to the
company. Ribometrix also recently appointed Don Hertzog, Ph.D., as vice
president, drug discovery; and Bill Janzen as vice president, lead
discovery and research operations. All three are highly experienced
research leaders that will accelerate the expansion and maturation of
Ribometrix’s unique platform, focused on discovering and developing
small molecule therapeutics that target 3D RNA structures for a variety
of diseases.
“I welcome the invaluable expertise of John to our leadership team
during an exciting period of rapid expansion for Ribometrix as we
continue to enhance our capabilities and progress our discovery
programs,” said Michael Solomon, Ph.D., chief executive officer. “In
addition, Bill and Don’s extensive experience in all aspects of drug
discovery and operations are adding incredible value to the development
of our core platform and preclinical pipeline.”
Dr. Reardon brings more than 30 years of biopharmaceutical industry
experience to Ribometrix, with the last 12 focused on growing
early-stage therapeutic developers. Most recently, he was head of
research and development at HemoShear Therapeutics, a rare disease drug
developer, and chief scientific officer at Revivo Therapeutics. Dr.
Reardon was also previously chief scientific officer at Cardioxyl
Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2015 for
$2.2 billion. He also brings extensive pharma experience to Ribometrix
including 19 years with Burroughs Wellcome, Glaxo Wellcome and
GlaxoSmithKline, where in his final role he oversaw all early lead
discovery activities as senior vice president of discovery research
biology.
“Small molecule targeting of RNA is an area of incredible potential and
structural expertise like Ribometrix’s will be key to unlocking a huge
variety of compelling targets. This field is growing rapidly so I’m
thrilled to join Ribometrix at this juncture, to help navigate this new
frontier and consolidate the company’s leadership in RNA-targeting
therapeutics,” said Dr. Reardon.
Dr. Don Hertzog brings more than 20 years of industry experience across
both biotech and pharma to his role as Ribometrix’s vice president, drug
discovery. He formerly served as head of chemistry at HemoShear and as
vice president of early lead identification at Abide Therapeutics where
he led a chemistry team focused on lead identification. Earlier in his
career Dr. Hertzog served in multiple roles of increasing responsibility
over 17 years at GlaxoSmithKline, most recently as the site head for the
Molecular Discovery Research Department of Medicinal Chemistry and
director of medicinal chemistry for metabolic disease.
Mr. Bill Janzen joins Ribometrix as vice president, lead discovery and
research operations following 30 years of experience across over 500
drug discovery projects. His experience in strategic lead generation
activities spans academia, start-up ventures and large pharmaceutical
companies. He has held executive and operational positions including
executive director of lead generation at Epizyme, director of assay
development and compound profiling at the University of North Carolina,
president and chief operating officer of Amphora Discovery and director
of lead generation technologies at Eli Lilly and Company.
About Ribometrix
Ribometrix is a biotechnology company developing small molecule
therapeutics that directly target RNA to treat human diseases. The
Ribometrix team leverages its world-leading expertise in 3D structural
analysis of RNA to drive its discovery platform, drawing on technologies
invented in the laboratory of Ribometrix scientific founder Kevin Weeks,
Ph.D. In November 2018, the Company announced a $30 million Series A
funding round which was led by M Ventures, the strategic corporate
venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. The round was
supported by Amgen Ventures, Pappas Capital and Illumina Ventures as
well as Ribometrix’s founding investor syndicate: SV Health Investors,
AbbVie Ventures, Hatteras Venture Partners, MP Healthcare Venture
Management, the Dementia Discovery Fund and Alexandria Venture
Investments. Ribometrix is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina. For
more information, visit www.ribometrix.com.
Contacts
Tom Donovan, Ten Bridge Communications
tom@tenbridgecommunications.com
+1
857-559-3397