Management Team

Chairman and CEO

Lawrence M. Blatt, Ph.D., has served as our Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors since February 2018. Prior to co-founding the Company, Dr. Blatt served as the Global Head of Infectious Diseases and Vaccines at Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, a pharmaceutical company, from November 2014 to February 2018. Dr. Blatt co-founded Alios BioPharma, Inc., a biotechnology company, and served as its Chief Executive Officer, President and Director from January 2009 until its acquisition by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson in November 2014. Prior to Alios, he served as Chief Scientific Officer at InterMune, Inc., a biotechnology company, from 2002 to 2008. Dr. Blatt currently serves on the board of directors of ReViral Ltd. and previously served on the boards of directors of Alveo Technologies, Inc., which he co-founded in 2014, and Meissa Vaccines, Inc. Dr. Blatt received a B.S. in Microbiology from Indiana University Bloomington, an M.B.A. from California State University, Northridge, and a Ph.D. in Public Health Administration from the University of La Verne. We believe that Dr. Blatt’s extensive experience as an executive of several companies in the biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, his extensive knowledge of our company and his educational background provides him with the qualifications and skills necessary to serve as a member of our board of directors.

President and Director

Leonid Beigelman, Ph.D., has served as President and a member of our board of directors since March 2018. Dr. Beigelman has over 30 years of experience in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery of small molecules and oligonucleotides. Prior to co-founding the Company, he was Vice President of Medicinal Chemistry and Global Head of Discovery of Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, a pharmaceutical company, from September 2014 to March 2018, where he established the Center of Excellence in Nucleic Acids. Prior to that, Dr. Beigelman co-founded Alios BioPharma, Inc. and served as its Chief Scientific Officer before it was acquired by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson in November 2014. From 2005 to 2009, Dr. Beigelman served as Vice President, Technical Operations at InterMune, Inc. leading teams in hepatitis C virus (“HCV”) drug discovery. From 2002 to 2005, Dr. Beigelman worked at Transgenomic, Inc., a biotechnology company, as Vice President of Nucleic Acids Chemistry. While at Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biotechnology company, from 1992 to 2002 (which became SiRNA Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), Dr. Beigelman assumed positions including Senior Director of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Dr. Beigelman received his Ph.D. in Bioorganic Chemistry from The Institute of Molecular Biology (USSR Academy of Sciences) and completed his post-doctoral training at the Department of Pharmacology, Yale University Medical school. We believe that Dr. Beigelman’s extensive experience as an executive of several companies in the biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, his extensive knowledge of our company and his educational background provides him with the qualifications and skills necessary to serve as a member of our board of directors.

Lead Independent Director

Jack B. Nielsen has served as a member our board of directors since August 2018. Since August 2017, Mr. Nielsen has also served as a Managing Director at Vivo Capital LLC, a healthcare focused investment firm. Prior to March, 2017, Mr. Nielsen worked within the Novo Holdings A/S organization and its venture activities since 2001 in several roles, most recently being employed as a Senior Partner based in Copenhagen, Denmark. From 2006 to 2012, Mr. Nielsen was employed as a Partner at Novo Ventures (US) Inc. in San Francisco, where he established the office which provides certain consultancy services to Novo Holdings A/S. Mr. Nielsen is currently a member of the board of directors of Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and ALX Oncology Holdings Inc., both of which are publicly traded companies, and a number of private companies. Mr. Nielsen, in the past, has served on the boards of directors of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc., Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Merus, N.V. and Apollo Endosurgery, Inc., each of which is publicly traded. Mr. Nielsen received a M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and a Masters in Management of Technology and Economics from the Center for Technology, Economics and Management, Technical University of Denmark. We believe that Mr. Nielsen’s experience as a venture capital investor in and director of life sciences companies provides him with the qualifications and skills necessary to serve as a member of our board of directors.

Director

K. Peter Hirth, Ph.D., has served as a member of our board of directors since August 2018. In 2001, Dr. Hirth co-founded Plexxikon, Inc., a pharmaceutical company, and served as its Chief Executive Officer until April 2013. Dr. Hirth currently serves on the boards of directors of Vaxcyte, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company, and several private companies. Dr. Hirth holds a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from Heidelberg University, Germany and completed his post-doctoral work at the University of California, San Diego. We believe that Dr. Hirth’s extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industries and his educational background provides him with the qualifications and skills necessary to serve as a member of our board of directors.

Director

Carole Nuechterlein, J.D., has served as a member of our board of directors since August 2018. Ms. Nuechterlein joined F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. in 2001 and currently serves as a Deputy Director and Head of the Roche Venture Fund. She currently serves as a member of the boards of directors of Millendo Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, and a number of private companies, including Entrada Therapeutics, Inc., MacuLogix, Inc., Vivet Therapeutics, CiVi Biopharma, Inc., Mission Therapeutics Ltd., Arch Oncology, Inc., Second Genome, Inc., and Lysosomal Therapeutics Inc. Ms. Nuechterlein previously served as a member of the board of directors of the publicly traded gene therapy company AveXis, Inc., from October 2014 to May 2017, prior to its acquisition by Novartis International AG. She received a B.A. in English and Humanities from Valparaiso University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan. We believe that Ms. Nuechterlein’s extensive experience as a venture capital investor in, and director of, several biotechnology companies, provides her with the qualifications and skills necessary to serve as a member of our board of directors.

Director

Thomas Woiwode, Ph.D., has served as a member of our board of directors since August 2018. Dr. Woiwode has served in various roles at Versant Venture Management, LLC, a healthcare investment firm, since 2002, including serving as a Managing Director since July 2014. He also served as the Chief Operating Officer of Okairos AG, a biopharmaceutical company developing genetic vaccines for major infectious diseases, from April 2011 until May 2013 when it was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline plc. Prior to Okairos, Dr. Woiwode co-founded EuroVentures, a wholly owned biotechnology incubator within Versant Ventures, and in this role, served as the founding Chief Business Officer for three biotechnology companies created within Versant Ventures. Before joining Versant Ventures, Dr. Woiwode served as a Research Scientist at XenoPort, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Gritstone Oncology, Inc., a publicly traded immuno-oncology company, Passage Bio, Inc., a publicly traded genetic medicines company, and Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc., a publicly traded gene therapy company, as well as several private companies. He previously served on the board of directors of Audentes Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly traded AAV-based genetic medicines company, from July 2013 to July 2017 and CRISPR Therapeutics AG, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, from April 2014 to June 2019. Dr. Woiwode holds a B.A. in English and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stanford University. We believe that Dr. Woiwode’s experience in the biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, his educational background and his experience as a venture capital investor in life sciences companies provides him with the qualifications and skills necessary to serve as a member of our board of directors.

Director

James Scopa has served as a member of our board of directors since April 2021. Mr. Scopa served as a Managing Director of MPM Capital from May 2005 to June 2017. Mr. Scopa spent the prior 15 years working at Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown and Thomas Weisel Partners advising growth companies in biopharmaceuticals and medical devices. At Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown Mr. Scopa served as Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Healthcare Investment Banking, and at Thomas Weisel Partners Mr. Scopa served on the Investment Committee for TWP’s Health Care venture fund as well as Co-Director of Healthcare Investment Banking. Mr. Scopa currently serves on the board of directors of various biotechnology companies, including Neuron 23 Inc., DiCE Molecules, Blade Therapeutics, Inc., and Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc. He previously served on the boards of Semma Therapeutics (sold to Vertex Pharmaceuticals), True North Therapeutics (sold to Bioverativ), iPierian, Inc. (sold to Bristol Myers Squibb), Conatus, Inc. and Solasia KK. Mr. Scopa also currently serves as a member of the Investment Advisory Committee and Advisory Board of One Ventures, an Australian based venture capital firm. Mr. Scopa holds an A.B. from Harvard College, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. We believe that Mr. Scopa’s extensive experience in the biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals industries and his service as a director for numerous companies provides him with the qualifications and skills necessary to serve as a member of our board of directors.