Editas Medicine Appoints Gilmore O’Neill as Chief Executive Officer
Editas Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq: EDIT) appointed Dr. Gilmore O’Neill as President and CEO, effective June 1, 2022. James C. Mullen will transition to Executive Chairman. Dr. O’Neill brings nearly 20 years of experience in genetic medicine and has successfully led various clinical programs, including marketing approvals for multiple medicines. He previously served at Sarepta Therapeutics and Biogen. Mullen expressed confidence in O’Neill's leadership to drive growth and advance clinical trials, ultimately aiming to deliver transformative genomic medicines to patients.
- Dr. Gilmore O’Neill’s leadership experience could enhance Editas' clinical development efforts.
- O’Neill has a proven track record of achieving marketing approvals for several biotech medicines.
- Transition in leadership may cause temporary disruptions in company operations.
James C. Mullen to Serve as Executive Chairman
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Editas Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq: EDIT), a leading genome editing company, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Dr. Gilmore O’Neill, M.B., M.M.Sc., as President and Chief Executive Officer. James C. Mullen will serve as Executive Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors. These changes are effective June 1, 2022.
Dr. O’Neill brings to Editas nearly 20 years of experience in genetic medicine, neurobiology, and clinical development. Dr. O’Neill also has a track record of driving and leading several of biotech’s most successful clinical programs and achieving marketing approvals for several medicines, including Amondys®, Vyondys®, Spinraza®, Plegridy®, and Tecfidera®. He most recently served as Executive Vice President of R&D and Chief Medical Officer at Sarepta Therapeutics. During his tenure at Sarepta, he led the R&D leadership team accountable for creating and driving discovery, preclinical and clinical development, and global regulatory strategy of its RNA and gene therapeutic portfolio. Prior to that, Dr. O’Neill held several leadership roles at Biogen over a 15-year period, most recently serving as Senior Vice President responsible for all late-stage clinical development. During his tenure at Biogen, Dr. O’Neill oversaw development programs for rare disease, gene and cell therapy, neuromuscular disease, pain, multiple sclerosis, acute neurology, movement disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, we are delighted to appoint a leader of Gilmore’s caliber as the Company’s CEO,” said James C. Mullen, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer. “As more of our experimental medicines progress into and through clinical development, Gilmore’s significant drug development experience, proven leadership, passion for genetic medicine, and focus on patients add critical skills to Editas. I look forward to serving as Executive Chairman and partnering closely with Gilmore to ensure continuity and build on the progress Editas has made in service of those living with serious diseases and to deliver value to our shareholders.”
“I’m incredibly excited to join Editas Medicine, which has made significant strides in realizing the potential of gene editing to address previously untreatable diseases,” said Dr. O’Neill. “It is a great privilege to lead the Company and its talented team through its next phase of growth as we continue to transform the platform and advance clinical trials to develop and ultimately commercialize potentially life-changing medicines for people living with serious diseases.”
Dr. O’Neill currently serves as a Board Member at UNITY Biotechnology, Inc., a biotechnology company developing therapeutics to slow, halt, or reverse diseases of aging, and at Aptinyx Inc., a biotechnology company developing therapies for the treatment of brain and nervous system disorders.
Dr. O’Neill received a Bachelor of Medicine degree from University College Dublin and a Master of Medical Sciences degree from Harvard University. He is licensed to practice medicine in the state of Massachusetts.
About Editas Medicine
As a leading genome editing company, Editas Medicine is focused on translating the power and potential of the CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/Cas12a genome editing systems into a robust pipeline of treatments for people living with serious diseases around the world. Editas Medicine aims to discover, develop, manufacture, and commercialize transformative, durable, precision genomic medicines for a broad class of diseases. For the latest information and scientific presentations, please visit www.editasmedicine.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the Company’s expectation for advancing its development programs and its pipeline and its goal of delivering gene-editing medicines to patients. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "target," "should," "would," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. The Company may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including: uncertainties inherent in the initiation and completion of preclinical studies and clinical trials and clinical development of the Company’s product candidates; availability and timing of results from preclinical studies and clinical trials; whether interim results from a clinical trial will be predictive of the final results of the trial or the results of future trials; expectations for regulatory approvals to conduct trials or to market products and availability of funding sufficient for the Company’s foreseeable and unforeseeable operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements. These and other risks are described in greater detail under the caption “Risk Factors” included in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and in other filings that the Company may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the future. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c41b5111-6008-4098-a74f-52f43f525679
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