Obsidian Therapeutics Announces Strengthening of Executive Leadership Team
Expanded Leadership Supports Company Evolution into Development-Stage Biotechnology Company using cytoDRiVE™ Technology to Regulate Cell and Gene Therapies
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Obsidian Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering controllable cell and gene therapies, today announced executive management appointments that organizationally support the Company's long-term strategy. Specifically, the Company announced the appointment of Catherine Stehman-Breen, M.D., as Chief Development Officer, Ryan Daws as Chief Financial Officer, and Karen Brown, Ph.D., J.D., as Senior Vice President, Intellectual Property and Legal Affairs.
"We are pleased to have recruited highly experienced talent of the caliber of Catherine, Ryan and Karen," said Paul K. Wotton, Ph.D., CEO of Obsidian Therapeutics. "The addition of these experienced and tested biopharmaceutical leaders strengthens Obsidian for continued execution on its vision to pioneer controllable cell and gene therapies for the treatment of intractable diseases, such as cancer."
Dr. Catherine Stehman-Breen joins Obsidian as the Chief Development Officer, where she will lead the Company's development strategy and execution. Dr. Stehman-Breen brings over 15 years of experience in preclinical and clinical drug development including extensive knowledge of clinical development and regulatory affairs. She was most recently an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Atlas Venture, where she served as the Chief Medical Officer of Dyne Therapeutics and Disarm Therapeutics. Prior to her role with Atlas, Dr. Stehman-Breen served as the Chief Medical Officer of Sarepta Therapeutics. Before that, she was the Vice President of Global Development and Regulatory Affairs at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. She also served as Vice President Global Development at Amgen, leading several therapeutic areas. Dr. Stehman-Breen holds a B.A. in Biology and Psychology from Colby College, an M.S. in Epidemiology from the University of Washington and an M.D. from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine.
Mr. Ryan Daws joins Obsidian as the Chief Financial Officer and Head of Business Development, a role in which he will define and drive the financial and corporate growth of the Company. Mr. Daws brings over 20 years of biotech operating and transactional experience combined with significant investment banking experience. Mr. Daws most recently served as a Managing Director in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Robert W. Baird & Co. with a focus on life sciences companies. Prior to Baird, Mr. Daws was the Chief Financial Officer of Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Daws was a life science-focused investment banker at Stifel and Cowen. Mr. Daws holds a B.S. in Finance and an International M.B.A. from The Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina.
Dr. Karen Brown joins Obsidian as the Senior Vice President, Intellectual Property and Legal Affairs, where she will develop and lead corporate legal and intellectual property strategy. Dr. Brown brings over 20 years of experience in planning and executing on IP and business strategies in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Dr. Brown most recently served as the Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Counsel at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where she formulated its global patent strategy, managed patent litigation and administrative proceedings and negotiated IP-related transactions. Prior to Ironwood, she served as Senior Patent Counsel at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Schering-Plough. Dr. Brown was an Associate at Fish & Neave (now part of Ropes & Gray, LLP) and a Patent Examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Dr. Brown holds an A.B. in Biology from Princeton University, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Boston University and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.
About Obsidian Therapeutics
Obsidian Therapeutics is a biotechnology company pioneering controllable cell and gene therapies to deliver transformative outcomes for patients with intractable diseases. Obsidian's proprietary cytoDRiVE™ platform provides, for the first time, a technology to develop a new generation of cell and gene therapies in which the level and timing of protein activity are fully controlled in a dose-dependent manner by an FDA-approved small molecule. A controllable protein designed using the cytoDRiVE™ platform comprises a therapeutic protein of interest fused to a drug-responsive domain (DRD). In the absence of the small molecule drug, the DRD-tagged protein is degraded before it becomes active. In contrast, when the small molecule drug is present, the DRD-tagged protein is stabilized and active, permitting precise control of the timing and level of protein expression. The platform can be applied to design controllable intracellular, membrane and secreted proteins for cell and gene therapies as well as other applications. Based on the research of Professor Thomas Wandless of Stanford University, Obsidian was founded in 2015 and is funded by a strong syndicate of venture investors. The Company is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. For more information, please visit www.obsidiantx.com.
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SOURCE Obsidian Therapeutics
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