Industry veterans John Maraganore, Ph.D., and Rachel Meyers, Ph.D., to provide strategic guidance on the company’s RNA Actuating platform to develop a new class of RNA medicines that upregulate protein coding genes
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CAMP4 Therapeutics Corporation (“CAMP4”) (Nasdaq: CAMP), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a pipeline of regRNA-targeting therapeutics designed to upregulate gene expression with the goal of restoring healthy protein levels across a range of genetic diseases, today announced the appointments of John Maraganore, Ph.D., and Rachel Meyers, Ph.D., as strategic advisors to the Company.
For nearly 20 years, Dr. Maraganore served as the founding Chief Executive Officer and Director of Alnylam where he led the company’s programs in RNA interference through global commercialization, resulting in the launch of the first four RNAi therapeutics, ONPATTRO®, GIVLAARI®, OXLUMO®, and LEQVIO®. Additionally, Dr. Meyers brings more than two decades of life sciences leadership, research, and development experience in RNA-based medicines, having spent nearly 14 years at Alnylam where she most recently served as Senior Vice President of Research and RNAi Lead Development. She currently sits on the company’s Scientific Advisory Board.
“We feel privileged and are delighted to welcome Drs. Maraganore and Meyers to our CAMP4 team as strategic advisors,” said Josh Mandel-Brehm, Chief Executive Officer of CAMP4. “We view their joining the team as a testament to the promise and potential of our approach for upregulating gene expression to potentially address a broad range of diseases. As we prepare for 2025, we look forward to benefiting from their insights and expertise as we advance our efforts in bringing potentially transformative RNA medicines to patients in need of disease-modifying solutions.”
Dr. Maraganore added, “The targeted upregulation of gene expression has been a long-standing challenge for the field, and by applying established and clinically validated antisense oligonucleotide technology to groundbreaking science, CAMP4 could potentially make a meaningful impact on patients across a broad range of diseases. I look forward to working with them as they pioneer the field of upregulation.”
Prior to his role at Alnylam, Dr. Maraganore led the product franchises in oncology, cardiovascular, inflammatory, and metabolic diseases for Millennium Pharmaceuticals, in addition to leadership of M&A, strategy, and biotherapeutics. Earlier in his career, Dr. Maraganore invented and spearheaded the development of ANGIOMAX® (bivalirudin) for injection while at Biogen and was also a scientist at ZymoGenetics, Inc., and the Upjohn Company. He currently serves as a Venture Partner at ARCH Venture Partners, a Venture Advisor at Atlas Ventures, an Executive Partner at RTW Investments, a Senior Advisor for Blackstone Life Sciences, and a Senior Advisor for Jeffries Financial Group. Beyond his leadership roles in the investment community, Dr. Maraganore also sits on the Board of Directors for multiple publicly traded companies, including Beam Therapeutics, Kymera Therapeutics, Rapport Therapeutics, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals. He received his B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Chicago.
Dr. Meyers currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Korro Bio (Nasdaq: KRRO), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing a new class of genetic medicines based on editing RNA, and also holds a variety of advisory roles within the biotech community. Most recently, she served as Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Faze Medicines, a Third Rock Ventures-spawned biotech company focused on treating diseases of high unmet need through the perturbation of biomolecular condensates. Earlier in her career, Dr. Meyers was a senior scientist at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and today serves on multiple scientific advisory boards, including the National Advisory Board on Innovation and Entrepreneurship through the Department of Commerce. Furthermore, she is listed as an inventor on numerous patents and patent applications and has authored many peer-reviewed publications.
Dr. Meyers received her postdoctoral training with Lew Cantley at Harvard Medical School in signal transduction and earned her Ph.D. in biology from Nobel laureate Phil Sharp at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in in vitro transcription. She earned her BA in Biochemistry from Brandeis University.
“I’ve had the unique opportunity to work alongside tremendously talented professionals who have led the shaping of the RNA medicines space,” said Dr. Meyers. “Having been at the forefront of these scientific breakthroughs, I believe now more than ever RNA-based therapies are poised to continue transforming how we treat patients with complex diseases. Having the opportunity to advise CAMP4 as they continue advancing the field is an extension of the work to which I’ve committed my career.”
About CAMP4 Therapeutics
CAMP4 is developing disease-modifying treatments for a broad range of genetic diseases where amplifying healthy protein may offer therapeutic benefits. Our approach amplifies mRNA by harnessing a fundamental mechanism of how genes are controlled. To amplify mRNA, our therapeutic ASO drug candidates target regRNAs, which act locally on transcription factors and are the master regulators of gene expression. CAMP4’s proprietary RAP Platform™ enables the mapping of regRNAs and generation of therapeutic candidates designed to target the regRNAs associated with genes underlying haploinsufficient and recessive partial loss-of-function disorders, of which there are more than 1,200, in which a modest increase in protein expression may have the potential to be clinically meaningful. Learn more about us at www.CAMP4tx.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X.
Forward-Looking Statements
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