ReCode Therapeutics, which recently raised $80 million for development of inhaled genetic therapies for cystic fibrosis and primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), has announced the appointment of former Theravance Biopharma executive Shehnaaz Suliman as CEO and a member of the company’s board of directors. She succeeds David Lockhart as CEO; Lockhart will continue as President of the company and will take on the role of Chief Scientific Officer.
Suliman was most recently President and COO of Alector Therapeutics. Prior to that, she was Senior VP Corporate Development and Strategy at Theravance Biopharma. Her previous experience also includes executive positions at Roche, Genentech, and Gilead.
Lockhart said, “Dr. Suliman has an exceptional track record of building and transforming small and large life science companies into leading biotechnology companies. Her impressive business acumen, ability to advance assets through the clinic and competency in deal-making make her an outstanding fit for CEO as we enter our next chapter of growth. I am personally very excited to partner with Dr. Suliman, and we are invigorated by her arrival and look forward to leveraging her expertise as we advance our powerful LNP platform and robust pipeline of treatments for patients with life-limiting genetic diseases.”
Suliman commented, “I am excited about furthering the development of transformative therapeutics for patients with ReCode’s first-in-class LNP platform and promising genetic medicines pipeline. There is vast untapped potential in RNA medicines and the delivery of genetic payloads to modify and potentially remedy a wide variety of life-limiting diseases. I am humbled to lead ReCode into its next stage of growth and look forward to partnering with Dr. Lockhart and the team to continue to execute our mission to develop a new generation of first-in-class mRNA-based and gene editing therapies for patients.”
Read the ReCode Therapeutics press release.
