ARRAKIS THERAPEUTICS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Associate Professor of Chemistry
Adrian Whitty is Associate Professor of Chemistry and of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at Boston University. Dr. Whitty earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago and B.Sc. in Chemistry from King's College, University of London. Prior to joining the Boston University faculty in 2008, Dr. Whitty worked for 14 years at Biogen. He rose from Scientist to the position of Director in the Drug Discovery Department and Head of Physical Biochemistry, leading a department that encompassed quantitative biochemistry, assay development and compound profiling, structural biology, and molecular modeling. During his tenure at Biogen, Dr. Whitty participated in or led multiple drug discovery project teams. He also maintained an active research program in the areas of receptor signaling and protein-ligand binding. In addition, he directed the Biogen Idec Postdoctoral Program, developing a highly regarded reputation as a post-doctoral mentor.
The Whitty Group studies protein-protein and protein-ligand recognition, with an emphasis on how binding energy from these intermolecular interactions can be utilized to achieve biological function or inhibition.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
Amanda E. Hargrove is Associate Professor of Chemistry at Duke University.
Dr. Hargrove joined the Duke faculty in 2013. Congruent with the interdisciplinary nature of her program, Dr. Hargrove holds a secondary appointment in the Biochemistry Department and membership in the Duke Cancer Institute, the Pharmaceutical Sciences Training Program, and the Center for Biological and Tissue Engineering. Dr. Hargrove earned her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin followed by an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Hargrove currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Medicinal Research Reviews.
The Hargrove laboratory has focused on developing small molecule probes to investigate the structure and function of RNA molecules relevant to human disease. The lab works to understand the fundamental drivers of selective small molecule-to-RNA recognition and to use this knowledge to functionally modulate viral and oncogenic RNA structures.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Partner at Pfizer Ventures
Dr. O'Donnell is a Partner at Pfizer Ventures and Executive Director, Pfizer Worldwide Research, Development & Medical. He is responsible for identifying, evaluating, making and managing equity investments aligned with the future directions of Pfizer. He brings 20+ years of scientific leadership, a strong track record of delivering clinical candidates across multiple disease areas and modalities, and a proven ability to build and lead highly productive and successful teams. He currently has responsibility for Pfizer's investments in Arrakis, Adapsyn Biosciences, ARKUDA Therapeutics, Mitokinin, Parthenon, Pyxis Oncology (PYXS), Storm Therapeutics (UK) and Strata Oncology. He is also responsible for managing Pfizer's investment in the Mission BioCapital and Phoenix Venture Partners funds. Prior to joining Pfizer Ventures, Dr. O'Donnell built and led the Applied Synthesis Technologies group within R&D to accelerate the delivery of every small molecule project within Pfizer's internal portfolio. Prior to that, Chris built and led Pfizer's Antibody Drug Conjugate Oncology Medicinal Chemistry group resulting in 7 conjugates entering clinical development. Chris started his career in the Neuroscience Medicinal Chemistry where he invented and helped deliver over 10 clinical candidates. Chris earned his BS in Chemistry from the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign and his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and joined Pfizer after completing post-doctoral studies at the University of California - Irvine.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Partner
- Partner, Canaan Partners
Dr. Cuffaro is a Partner on Canaan Partner's healthcare investment team. She currently serves on the boards of Comet Therapeutics and the NEVCA (New England Venture Capital Association). She also serves as a board observer at RallyBio and Antiva Biosciences. Previously she was a board observer at Spyryx Biosciences, NextCure (NXTC), Arvinas (ARVN), and Novira Therapeutics which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson. Prior to joining Canaan in 2014, Colleen was an analytical chemist at Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Research Services (PMRS, Inc), where she worked with small and large pharmaceutical companies on drug product development, ranging from preclinical feasibility studies to commercial supply. She also served as a bioscience analyst for Entrepreneurship Lab NYC, an accelerator program for healthcare startups. Colleen holds a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Physiology from Yale University and a BA in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
Daniel Herschlag, PhD, is a biochemist known for deep and creative investigation of molecular and atomic behavior of RNA and proteins. He has served as Professor of Biochemistry at Stanford University since 1992. His research uses an interdisciplinary approach to advance our understanding of the fundamental behavior of RNA and proteins. He is well known for his application of rigorous kinetic and mechanistic approaches to RNA and protein systems.
Dr. Herschlag has defined how molecular properties define and delineate biological function and evolution. More specifically, he has identified new concepts in macromolecular folding, in RNA and protein catalysis, and in molecular evolution. He has also uncovered new principles of cellular RNA processing and organization, including the RNA chaperone hypothesis and the concept of ‘catalytic promiscuity'.
Dr. Herschlag has received numerous awards recognizing his contributions to the field of RNA, including the Biophysical Society Founders award (2020) and election to the National Academy of Sciences (2018), the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) William Rose award (2010), and the Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society (2000). Prior to joining the Stanford University faculty, Dr. Herschlag earned his PhD in biochemistry at Brandeis University and he conducted postdoctoral work at the University of Colorado. He received a BS in biochemistry from SUNY Binghamton.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Senior Vice President
- Vice President, Program & Alliance Management and Operations
Ms. Lounsbury is Senior Vice President, Program & Alliance Management and Operations of Arrakis Therapeutics. Heather is a proven leader with over 20 years in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Previously Heather served as the Executive Director of Strategy & Operations at Celgene Corporation following the acquisition of Avila Therapeutics, Inc. by Celgene in 2012. Heather was the Operational Site Head for Celgene's team in Cambridge and led the integration efforts of first Avila and later Quanticel, into the global Celgene R&D organization. At Avila, Heather was the head of Project & Alliance Management, where she was responsible for a dynamic portfolio of programs including Avila's clinical programs and strategic alliances with Clovis Oncology, Sanofi, and with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Prior to joining Avila in 2008, Heather was Director, Project Leadership at Praecis Pharmaceuticals until the acquisition of Praecis by GSK. From 1995-2003 Heather held positions of increasing responsibility at UCB Pharma, ranging from bench scientist to research operations to Development Project Leadership. Heather is a graduate of Colby College.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Partner at Nextech Invest
Dr. Loven is Partner at Nextech Invest. A scientific entrepreneur and biotech venture capitalist, Jakob has extensive experience in creating, launching, and building early stage therapeutic companies in the US and most recently led the $57M launch of Relay Therapeutics from Third Rock Ventures, joining the company full time to lead corporate strategy, business development, and operations. Prior to Relay, Jakob was a Scientific Co-Founder of Syros Pharmaceuticals and was involved from its inception in April 2013 to advancing the pipeline to its first clinical candidate and growing the company to 30+ employees, culminating in its initial public offering in July 2016. Jakob holds a BA in Biomedical Sciences from the Anglia Ruskin University of Cambridge, earned his PhD in Medical Sciences from Karolinska Institutet, and conducted his postdoctoral fellowship at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research/MIT. Jakob currently serves as Director or Observer on the Boards of Arvinas, A2 Biotherapeutics, Turning Point Therapeutics, and has previously served as Board Observer for Autolus.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Biotech Industry R & D Leader
Jim is a PhD scientist and biopharmaceutical executive with thirty years of industry experience in drug discovery and development and nine years of academic research experience. Prior to retirement in 2021, Jim was the Senior Vice President of Research for Arrakis Therapeutics. Previously, he was the Chief Scientific Officer at RaNA Therapeutics, a biotechnology company using oligonucleotides to target noncoding RNA for the selective upregulation of gene expression to increase the levels of therapeutic proteins. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President and Head of Research at Synta Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on small molecule drug discovery and development in oncology and inflammatory diseases. For many years, Jim held various leadership roles at Biogen, primarily focused on technology development and biological therapeutics (protein and gene therapies). Jim received a PhD in Biology from MIT and held postdoctoral fellowship positions at Stanford University and the Whitehead Institute at MIT.
Job Titles:
- Chief Business Officer
- Member of the Management Team
Dr. Mutamba leads corporate strategy, business development, investor relations and finance at Arrakis. He has broad experience in company formation, strategy and growth in the biotech and life sciences industry.
Prior to joining Arrakis, Dr. Mutamba was Vice President of Business and Corporate Development at Pyxis Oncology (Nasdaq: PYXS) where he was responsible for leading strategy and business development for the company culminating in a worldwide licensing agreement with Pfizer and financing transactions, including the company's Series B financing and subsequent initial public offering. Prior to Pyxis Oncology, Dr. Mutamba was a Principal at Longwood Fund, where he built and supported portfolio companies. Previously, he was a Senior Associate at PureTech Health where he was a co-founder of Commense, Inc., and was a co-founder and inventor of Glyph Biosciences and Calix Biopharma (now Orasome). Earlier in his career, Dr. Mutamba was a strategy consultant and played multiple roles in research and product development at Pathogenica, Inc., a biotech startup out of Harvard University. He received his BS in Biochemistry from University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and earned his PhD from MIT in the Department of Biological Engineering and completed coursework at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Professor
- Scripps in 1998 As Professor
- Scripps Research
James Williamson, PhD, is a Professor in the Departments of Integrative Structural & Computational Biology and Chemistry, and is a member of the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at Scripps Research in La Jolla, CA.
His research involves the study of RNA structure, RNA-protein interactions, and RNA-ligand interactions using biochemistry, biophysics, and structural biology approaches. The Williamson lab is focused on the study of the structure and function of ribonucleoprotein complexes using a wide variety of biophysical approaches.
Dr. Williamson received his PhD in chemistry from Stanford University, and following postdoctoral work at the University of Colorado, he joined the faculty in the Chemistry Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he attained the tenured rank of Associate Professor. He was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2010, and as a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2022.
Dr. Williamson joined Scripps in 1998 as Professor, and in 2001 he became the Associate Dean for the Chemistry Program. In 2008, he accepted the role of Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for the Kellogg School of Science and Technology and in 2015 became the Vice President and in 2017 the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs until 2022. He is currently Professor, engaged in full time research.
Job Titles:
- Chief Scientific Officer
- Founder
- Member of the Management Team
Jennifer Petter, Ph.D., is a Founder & Chief Scientific Officer of Arrakis Therapeutics. An experienced drug hunter, scientist, and life science executive, Dr. Petter's research has spanned different fields over the years, with a current focus on RNA at Arrakis. She is the author or co-author on over 50 papers and over 50 patents and/or patent applications. Prior to creating Arrakis, Dr. Petter was Vice President of Chemistry at Celgene. She joined Celgene after the acquisition of Avila Therapeutics, a startup, in 2012. She has also held roles at Mersana Therapeutics, Biogen, and the Sandoz Research Institute (now a part of Novartis). She is a member of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), the Society of Neuro-Oncology, and the RNA Society and an associate member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Dr. Petter serves on the scientific advisory boards for Cygnal Therapeutics and PIC Therapeutics, and on the boards of directors for OUTBio and Theon Therapeutics. Dr. Petter received her bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and her Ph.D. from Duke University. She completed her post-doctorate research at Columbia University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Vice President, Platform Biology
Dr. McGinness is Vice President, Platform Biology for Arrakis. She is an established leader with a proven record of innovation and success developing novel therapeutic platforms and driving early drug discovery programs towards clinical development across a broad range of therapeutic modalities and disease areas. Previously, she served as Senior Director, Platform Technologies at Unum Therapeutics where she led teams responsible for driving platform development, drug discovery, and process and analytical development. While at Unum, she contributed to regulatory submissions for several engineered T-cell therapies in oncology and drove the development and evolution of the cellular engineering platform. Prior to that, she was Director, In Vitro pharmacology at the Broad Institute in a role focused on target validation and therapeutic discovery leveraging genetic data in psychiatric disease. Prior to the Broad Institute, Kathleen worked in roles with increasing responsibilities at Archemix Corp, and subsequently Baxter Healthcare following the acquisition of Archemix' assets in hemophilia. In these roles, she led teams that drove the discovery, characterization, and optimization of nucleic acid aptamer therapeutics, with a focus on the treatment of hematologic disease, and supported the clinical development of an aptamer therapeutic for the treatment of hemophilia. She has over fifteen years of experience in the biotech industry and has been working with RNA for three decades. Dr. McGinness holds bachelor's degrees in both chemistry and psychology from the University of Maryland, a PhD in chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute, and completed postdoctoral studies in the department of biology at MIT.
Katrine Bosley is a proven biotechnology entrepreneur with nearly 30 years of experience in the biotech industry as a leader of emerging companies with broad platforms for innovative medicines. Most recently, Ms. Bosley served as the Chief Executive Officer of Editas Medicine (NASDAQ: EDIT), and previously as CEO of Avila Therapeutics until its acquisition by Celgene Corporation. Ms. Bosley currently serves as a Board member of Galapagos NV (EURONEXT and NASDAQ: GLPG), of Genocea Biosciences (NASDAQ: GNCA) and of the Mass Eye and Ear Institute. Through her career, Ms. Bosley has built and led high-growth companies (Editas Medicine - CEO; Avila Therapeutics - CEO; Adnexus Therapeutics - VP Business Development) and developed innovative products and technologies (CRISPR genome editing, Tysabri (natalizumab), covalent drugs). Her experiences include Chairing the Emerging Companies Section of the Board of BIO; serving as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at The Broad Institute; and leading a wide range of business transactions (financings, acquisitions, alliances). Ms. Bosley has been recognized as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company, as CEO of the Year by Xconomy, as one of 30 Global Game Changers by Forbes, as Entrepreneur of the Year by the New England Venture Capital Association, and as one of the Top Ten Women in Biotech by FierceBiotech.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Vice President at Pfizer
Kim Arndt, PhD, is Vice President at Pfizer where he leads the Oncology Target Discovery group whose mission is to identify and validate novel targets for cancer. He got his PhD in 1981 from the University of Pennsylvania, where he used NMR to study protein/DNA interactions. He subsequently was a postdoctoral researcher in Gerry Fink's laboratory at Whitehead Institute/MIT working on growth control using yeast as a model organism. After completing his postdoc, Dr. Arndt was a Senior Staff Investigator for 9 years at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where his group studied cell cycle control and identified novel regulators of cell cycle entry. In 1996, Dr. Arndt moved to Wyeth Research, which was subsequently acquired by Pfizer. While employed by Wyeth, Dr. Arndt's group discovered bosutinib, which is currently approved for CML.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board of Directors
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Management Team
Dr. Gilman is CEO of Arrakis and Chairman of the Board of Directors. In addition, Mike currently serves on the Board of Directors of Novartis Venture Fund, Obsidian Therapeutics, and Scholar Rock and on the Scientific Advisory Board of FutuRx. Previously, Mike was Chief Executive Officer of Obsidian Therapeutics, a venture-funded company focused on applying synthetic biology to gene and cell therapies. Prior to Obsidian, Mike was Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Padlock Therapeutics, a venture-funded company focused on autoimmune disease, acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2016. From 2012-2013, Mike served as Senior Vice President, Early-Stage Pipeline, at Biogen Idec, with responsibility for managing the company's development programs through clinical proof-of-concept. He joined Biogen Idec in March 2012 following its acquisition of Stromedix, a venture-funded company focused on fibrosis and organ failure, where he was Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to founding Stromedix in 2006, Mike served as Executive Vice President, Research at Biogen Idec, with responsibility for the company's discovery research activities in Cambridge and San Diego. From 1994 to 1999, Mike was at ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, where he was Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. From 1986 to 1994, Mike was on the scientific staff of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, where his research focused on mechanisms of signal transduction and gene regulation. Mike was a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Robert Weinberg at the Whitehead Institute. He holds a PhD in Biochemistry from University of California, Berkeley, and a SB in Life Sciences from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Vice President, Human Resources
Mr. Renzetti is responsible for all aspects of human resources and will be a key contributor to the company's plans for continued growth. He is an experienced human resources leader with broad expertise at dynamic high-growth companies, both large and small, including Agios Pharmaceuticals, Lilly, and Procter & Gamble.
Patrizio has twenty years of human resources experience building cultures that attract, retain and develop world class talent at high-growth companies, including leading biopharmaceutical companies. He joins Arrakis from Agios Pharmaceuticals where he most recently served as Vice President of Human Resources for R&D, Technical Operations, and Europe, and previously led the Talent Acquisition group. Patrizio previously held HR leadership roles at Eli Lilly and Company, including in Global Clinical Development, the Diabetes Business Unit, and the Italian Manufacturing site. Earlier in his career, he served in several HR roles for Procter & Gamble in Italy.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Senior Vice President
Peter is Senior Vice President, Integrative Sciences at Bristol-Myers Squibb. For approximately the last 10 years, Peter has been actively identifying and creating collaborations (academic and corporate) that extend the reach of the company's internal Research & Development Programs and expanding into new therapeutic areas or new technologies. He has been integral to creating over 30 collaborations with biotechnology companies in that period, both within the US and abroad. He leads a group of senior and experienced scientists focused on continually working to maximize the value of existing partnerships and identify new potential that complements the company's strategic plan. Prior to this, Peter had responsibility for Experimental Therapeutics at Celgene. Before Celgene, Peter held leadership positions at both large and small companies (Pharmacia, Mitotix, Millennium) and while at Pharmacia oversaw the academic collaboration with the European Institute of Oncology. After completing his PhD in the Clinical Pharmacology Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Australia, Peter worked as a Visiting Scientist at the NCI in Bethesda for several years before entering Industry. He has been a major contributor for a number of molecules, both small molecules and biologics entering clinical development.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Scientific Biotech Entrepreneur
Rachel Meyers, PhD, is a scientific biotech entrepreneur with more than 20 years of drug discovery and development expertise. She is an expert in the innovative field of RNAi therapeutics, where she worked in drug R&D roles as this new field of RNA medicines emerged from 2003 to 2016.
Most recently, she served as the Chief Scientific Officer of Faze Medicines, a biotech startup seeking to develop small molecules to target biomolecular condensates. She was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Third Rock Ventures, where she evaluated multiple nascent startup concepts, and was the major driver in the creation of Faze Medicines. Previously, Dr. Meyers worked for more than 13 years at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals where she served as Senior Vice President of Research and RNAi Lead Development. Earlier in her career, she was a senior scientist at Millennium Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Meyers serves on several scientific advisory boards, consults on nucleic-acid drug development and entrepreneurship, is listed as an inventor on many patents and patent applications, and has numerous peer-reviewed publications. She received her PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and completed her postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- General Partner, Advent Life Sciences
Dr. Parekh joined Advent in 2005 bringing over 20 years of experience in biomedical research and as an entrepreneur and investor. After gaining an MA and DPhil from Oxford University, he pursued a successful academic career in molecular medicine before co-founding Oxford GlycoSciences (IPO on LSE and NASDAQ). Following its sale to UCB-Celltech, he became Chairman of Galapagos nv, a member of the Supervisory Board of the Novartis Venture Fund and a founding Director of Celldex Therapeutics. Since joining Advent, he has been involved with those portfolio Companies primarily engaged in the discovery of new medicines, including Avila, EUSA and Thiakis. Raj currently serves on the Board of several portfolio companies including Aura Biosciences and Levicept.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Partner at VenBio
Dr. Gaster is a partner at venBio with experience as a physician, entrepreneur, and life science investor. He currently serves on the board of Arrakis Therapeutics, Aeovian Pharmaceuticals, and NorthSea Therapeutics, and as a board observer for Harmony Biosciences and Impel NeuroPharma. Prior to joining venBio, Richard served as the head of translational medicine at Pliant Therapeutics. As a key member of the initial management team, Richard participated in the formation and launch of Pliant Therapeutics from Third Rock Ventures where he previously served as a Senior Associate. During his tenure at Third Rock Ventures, Richard was responsible for company creation to transform new areas of science into innovative drug discovery companies. He began his career as a resident physician in Harvard's Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Program. Richard has published numerous articles in top-tier peer-reviewed journals including Nature Medicine and Nature Nanotechnology, holds more than a dozen patents, and was named one of Forbes "30 Under 30" in Science and Healthcare. Richard holds a BSE in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated summa cum laude. He received his MD and PhD in Bioengineering from Stanford University in the Medical Scientist Training Program.