A TEAM ON A MISSION TO CHANGE HOW WE TREAT DISEASE

Michael Gilman, PhD, Chief Executive Officer

Michael is CEO of Arrakis. In addition, Mike currently serves on the Boards 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.

Jennifer C. Petter, PhD, Founder & Chief Scientific Officer Emerita

Jennifer Petter, Ph.D., is a Founder & Chief Scientific Officer Emerita 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.

Heather Lounsbury, Chief Operating Officer

Ms. Lounsbury is Chief Operating Officer 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.

Kathleen McGinness, PhD, Chief of Staff

Dr. McGinness is Chief of Staff 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.

James Mutamba, PhD, Chief Business Officer

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 (now Seaport Therapeutics) 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.

Domi Stickens, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer

Domi is CSO at Arrakis Therapeutics. Domi has 20 years of drug discovery and translational research experience across multiple therapeutic areas in both large pharma and small biotechs. Prior to joining Arrakis, Domi was Head of Translational Sciences at Mitobridge, which was acquired by Astellas after initiation of several clinical stage programs. Previously, Domi was at Merck, where he held increasing roles of responsibility, leading programs from early discovery to clinical development across multiple therapeutic areas. His drug discovery experience includes therapeutic areas such as autoimmune diseases and inflammation, immuno-oncology, sarcopenia, urology and hematological disorders. Domi initiated his career in healthcare during his academic research, which focused on rare diseases, principally disorders of dysregulated bone development. Connecting with patients and patient advocacy groups catalyzed a long-term passion and career commitment to the advancement of treatments for diseases with a high unmet medical need. Domi received his BS degree in Biology from Antwerp University, Belgium and his PhD in developmental genetics from UTSW Medical Center, Dallas (TX). After his thesis research, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Zena Werb at UCSF in San Francisco, CA.

Eric Schwartz, PhD, Sr. Vice President, Chemistry

Eric is Senior Vice President of Chemistry at Arrakis, responsible for the discovery and early development chemistry activities. He has 35 years of experience in small molecule drug discovery in a variety of mid-size pharma and private biotech companies. Eric’s most recent previous role was Vice President of Drug Discovery at Cedilla Therapeutics, where he helped develop a novel and highly selective CDK2/Cyclin E1 inhibitor program that was licensed to Bayer. He has a PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BS in Chemistry from The Ohio State University.

Craig Blain, PhD, Vice President, Biology

Craig is Vice President of Biology at Arrakis, responsible for core discovery functions and development of the Arrakis platform. He brings over a decade of experience in biotech building teams and technology platforms that bridge chemistry and biology to enable novel therapeutic approaches. Prior to Arrakis, Craig was a Group Leader at Ra Pharmaceuticals where he oversaw the advancement of Ra’s platform and contributed to the discovery of enlicitide through Ra’s collaboration with Merck. He has a PhD in Genetics from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Queen’s University in Canada.

Katrine Bosley, Chairman of the Board

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.

Niresh Berinpanathan, Principal, Nextech Invest

Niresh Berinpanathan joined Nextech Invest Ltd. in 2019 and is currently a principal in the investment team. He is excited to work in the interface of innovative science and business. Niresh holds a B.S. in biotechnology and an M.Sc. in biotechnology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH), where he did his thesis in the field of synthetic biology in the research group of Professor Martin Fussenegger. Further, he gained research experience at Roche and LimmaTech Biologics AG.

Colleen Cuffaro, PhD, 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.

Richard Gaster, MD, PhD, Partner, 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.

Raj Parekh, PhD, 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.

Christopher O’Donnell, PhD, Partner, 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.

Michael Gilman, PhD, CEO

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.