- Former Novartis veteran brings deep expertise in drug development and commercialization
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., September 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Omega Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: OMGA) (“Omega”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the first systematic approach to using mRNA therapies as a new class of programmable epigenetic drugs leveraging its OMEGA™ epigenomic programming, today announced the appointment of Rainer Bohm as an independent director on its board of directors. Mr. Boehm will serve on Omega’s audit and compensation committees.
“Rainer’s growth-oriented perspective and global strategic management experience will be invaluable to Omega in this next phase of the company’s trajectory,” said Noubar Afeyan, Ph.D., co-founder and chairman of the board of Omega Therapeutics and founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering. “I look forward to working closely with him as Omega continues to advance its clinical pipeline and demonstrate the broad capabilities of its pioneering drug development platform.”
“We are delighted to welcome Rainer to our Board of Directors and look forward to leveraging his significant drug development expertise, strategic leadership and executive management skills as we work to make advance our new class of programmable epigenetic drugs,” said Mahesh Karande, Chairman and CEO of Omega. “Rainer is a recognized industry leader with a strong track record of working with innovative clinical-stage and growth companies and has extensive experience managing drug development and commercialization globally. “
“Omega is at the forefront of a new class of programmable mRNA therapies that have the potential to transform the way we approach hard-to-treat diseases,” said Boehm. “This is an exciting time for the company, and I look forward to partnering with this accomplished board and management team and sharing their insights as they continue to blaze new trails through to the discovery and development of epigenomic controllers for patients in need. »
Mr. Boehm brings over 30 years of clinical and managerial experience to Omega. He held several leadership positions during his long tenure at Novartis Pharma AG and its predecessor, CIBA-Geigy, from 1988 to 2017, most recently as Director of Commercial and Medical Affairs. He played a key role in the successful creation of Novartis Oncology. He has overseen the launch and lifecycle management of many successful brands in different geographies around the world, including Femara, Zometa and Glivec in oncology, as well as Cosentyx and Entresto and immunology and cardiovascular disease areas. . Prior to joining Novartis, he was Unit Head at Zwiefalten Psychiatric Hospital, Germany. Mr. Boehm sits on the boards of directors of Cellectis SA (Nasdaq: CLLS), Humanigen Inc. (Nasdaq: HGEN), BioCopy, AG (private) and Berlin Cures, AG (private). He holds a medical degree from the University of Ulm in Germanyand a Master of Business Administration from Schiller University, Strasbourg Campus in France. Recently, he started a master’s program in public health at the universities of Basel / Bern / Zürich in Swiss.
About Omega Therapeutics
Omega Therapeutics, founded by Flagship Pioneering, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the first systematic approach to using mRNA therapies as a new class of programmable epigenetic drugs. The company’s OMEGA Epigenomic Programming™ platform harnesses the power of epigenetics, the mechanism that controls gene expression and every aspect of an organism’s life, from genesis, growth and cell differentiation to cell death. Using a suite of technologies, coupled with Omega’s process of Systematic, Rational, and Integrative Drug Design, the OMEGA Platform enables control of fundamental epigenetic processes to correct the root cause of disease by returning aberrant gene expression to a normal range without altering the native nucleic acid. sequences. Omega’s modular and programmable mRNA drugs, Omega Epigenomic Controllers™, target specific epigenomic loci in isolated genomic domains, EpiZips™, among thousands of unique DNA sequences, mapped and validated at scale of the genome, with high specificity to sustainably tune one or more genes to treat and cure disease with Precision Genomic Control™. Omega is currently advancing a wide range of development candidates spanning a range of disease areas, including oncology, regenerative medicine, multigenic diseases including immunology, and certain single gene diseases including alopecia.
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Forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in this press release that do not relate to historical facts should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our product candidate pipeline, including our development of OTX-2002 and other drug candidates and Mr. Boehm’s impact on the Company. These statements are not promises or guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements. expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. statements, including, but not limited to, the following: the novel technology upon which our product candidates are based makes it difficult to predict the time and cost of preclinical and clinical development and subsequent regulatory approval , if applicable; the substantial development and regulatory risks associated with epigenomic controller machines due to the novel and unprecedented nature of this new class of drugs; our limited operating history; the occurrence of material losses and the fact that we expect to continue to incur additional material losses for the foreseeable future; our need for substantial additional funding; our investments in research and development efforts that further improve the OMEGA platform, and their impact on our results; uncertainty regarding preclinical development, particularly for a new class of drugs such as epigenomic controllers; that our product candidates may be associated with serious adverse events, adverse side effects, or have other properties that could halt their regulatory development, prevent their regulatory approval, limit their commercial potential, or result in material adverse consequences; the impact of increased manufacturing demand for mRNA and LNP-based vaccines to treat COVID-19 on our development plans; difficulties in manufacturing the new technology upon which our OEC candidates are based; our ability to adapt to rapid and significant technological changes; our reliance on third parties to manufacture materials; our ability to successfully acquire and establish our own manufacturing facilities and infrastructure; our dependence on a limited number of suppliers for the lipid excipients used in our product candidates; our ability to advance our product candidates into clinical development; and our ability to obtain, maintain, enforce and adequately protect our intellectual property rights. These and other important factors discussed under “Risk Factors” in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, and our other filings with the SEC could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. These forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this press release. Although we may choose to update these forward-looking statements at some time in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events change our views.
contacts
Investor contacts:
Kevin Murphy
Slang Partners
212.600.1902
[email protected]
Media contact:
Jason Braco
LifeSci Communications
646.751.4361
[email protected]
SOURCE Omega Therapeutics
