Mark joins from Evelo Biosciences, where since 2016 he served as Chief Scientific Officer and President of R&D. Previously, Mark held senior pharmaceutical and biotech roles including VP of New Medicines Therapeutics at UCB S.A, Senior Vice President of Immunoinflammation at GSK, and CEO of Hexagen, Lorantis and Biotica. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the BioIndustry Association. Mark holds a PhD in Genetics from the University of Cambridge.
Commenting on the appointment, Mark said: “Nucleome has built a revolutionary technology platform which moves the field of genetics in medicine from its 1-Dimensional linear code to the interactions within its 3-Dimensional structure. This allows us to determine the regulatory wiring of gene function in health and disease in unprecedented detail. Variants in non-coding regions of the genome can be mapped to the genes they control, which are often far away in 1-D but are next-door neighbours in 3-D. Nucleome’s uniquely powerful technology fills a critical gap in the application of genetics to drug discovery and healthcare. The vast majority of genome sequence variants lie outside of protein-coding regions. Yet they play a critical role in shaping biological function and disease. Nucleome’s capability to bridge these sequence variants to biology brings genomics into an entirely new era of the application of genetics to drug target discovery and precision medicine. It is a privilege to be given the opportunity to lead this ground-breaking company into its next phase of growth.”
Dr Russell Greig, Non-Executive Chair of Nucleome, commented: “Our pioneering science and technology are the innovative foundation for the future of Nucleome. In addition to Mark’s R&D background resulting in many marketed medicines, he has broad experience in company-building, business development, financing and M&A. His unusual combination of R&D and commercial expertise in driving great science towards patient benefits will be crucial in delivering Nucleome’s continued development.”
About Nucleome Therapeutics
Nucleome was founded in 2019. The precision of its spatial genomics technology has the potential to improve drug discovery success rates both by discovering genetically-validated medicines, and by more accurately identifying patients who are likely to benefit from particular treatments. Nucleome’s platform can be applied to multiple disease indications and cell types, with an initial focus on inflammatory conditions. The company is also forging external collaborations both in target discovery and validation, and in patient stratification. Nucleome was founded by leading experts in gene regulation from the University of Oxford. The Company is backed by a world-class syndicate of investors that includes M Ventures, the strategic corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA; Johnson and Johnson Innovation-JJDC, Inc. (“JJDC”), the strategic venture capital arm of Johnson & Johnson; Pfizer Ventures, the venture group of Pfizer; British Patient Capital; and founding investor Oxford Science Enterprises.
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