Pioneer in Taking RNA Therpeutics Through the Clinic Joins Skyhawk Therapeutics as Chief Medical Officer

Skyhawk signals progression toward the clinical stage with the hire of CMO Dr. Roberto Guerciolini, M.D., who brings deep experience as a clinician who took several of the earliest RNA targeting drugs successfully to patients.

WALTHAM, Mass., Feb. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Skyhawk Therapeutics, Inc. ("Skyhawk"), today announced Dr. Roberto Guerciolini has joined the company as its Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Guerciolini will lead the clinical development of Skyhawk's novel RNA-targeting small molecule drugs, for therapeutic areas ranging from neurology to oncology and inflammation. 

Dr. Guerciolini joins Skyhawk with 30 years of experience in drug development, and a unique background in RNA-targeting therapeutics as one of the first clinicians to bring a variety of  RNA-targeting modalities to the clinic while at WaVe Life Sciences (NASDAQ: WVE), SIRNA Therapeutics (Acquired by Merck 2006) and Dicerna Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: DRNA), a company he co-founded.

"We are delighted to welcome Roberto, a gifted clinician with deep expertise in novel RNA-modulating therapies, to a leading role at Skyhawk," said Bill Haney, Co-founder and CEO of Skyhawk Therapeutics. "As a pioneering clinician who helped drive some of the first siRNAs, dicer-substrate siRNAs, and stereopure oligonucleotides to patients, Roberto's depth of knowledge and talent will be invaluable in bringing our novel RNA-targeting small molecule therapeutics to the clinic."

As SVP of Development and Chief Medical Officer of SIRNA Therapeutics, Dr. Guerciolini led clinical development and regulatory affairs, conducting the first ever clinical trial with optimized siRNA. At WaVe, he served as Development Lead with responsibility for progressing research programs for Huntington's Disease and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy to clinical development. Roberto also held positions as Co-founder & SVP of Pharmaceutical Development at Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, VP and Product General Manager of GI & Inflammation at Shire, and Senior Director of Clinical Pharmacology & Experimental Medicine at Millennium Pharmaceuticals where he was responsible for overseeing the conduct of early stage clinical trials in the areas of oncology, inflammation and metabolic diseases. Dr. Guerciolini provided significant contributions toward the successful filing and approval of an NDA for CAMPATH® and VELCADE®, and in clinical development in multiple roles at Roche, contributing to the  filing and registration, among others, of  TAMIFLU®, PEGASYS® and XENICAL® in EU and USA. Dr. Guerciolini received his MD & Board certification in Internal Medicine at University of Perugia Medical School in Italy, and his Postdoc in Clinical Pharmacology at the Mayo Clinic. He is certified by the American Board of Clinical Pharmacology.

"Skyhawk's SkySTAR^TM platform is a game-changing approach that can apply to hundreds of diseases across a wide variety of therapeutic areas," said Dr. Guerciolini, "The team's unique backgrounds developing the small molecule RNA splicing modifier for Spinal Muscular Atrophy – the first RNA-targeting small molecule with clinical validation – and the rapid progress of Skyhawk's first two drugs to the clinic, are compelling reasons for joining the company."

About Skyhawk
Skyhawk Therapeutics is committed to discovering and developing RNA-targeting small molecule drugs that that use its novel SkySTAR^TM platform (Skyhawk Small molecule Therapeutics for Alternative splicing of RNA), to provide breakthrough treatments to patients.

For more information visit: www.Skyhawktx.com, https://twitter.com/Skyhawk_tx, https://www.linkedin.com/company/skyhawk-therapeutics/ .

Media Contact: 
Maura McCarthy
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SOURCE Skyhawk Therapeutics