About ADARx
Providing hope for patients with intractable disease
THE POWER IN OUR NAME
ADAR is an acronym for Adenosine Deaminase Acting on RNA. As such, our name may make you think of RNA editing, but that’s only part of the story. The word “adar” means “wide” or “great” which aptly describes the opportunities for our RNA targeting platform. The power in our name and of our technology is the ability to identify a wide range of disease targets and choose the best RNA targeting approach to deliver transformative precision therapeutics.
Leadership Team
Zhen Li, Ph.D.
President & CEO Dr. Li is a co-founder of ADARx and a successful executive with more than two decades of diverse experience in research and development in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Prior to ADARx, Dr. Li served as Senior VP at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals where she led the discovery and non-clinical development of Arrowhead’s delivery platform and multiple product candidates that are now in clinical studies. Previously, Dr. Li was a director at Merck, leading a team dedicated to siRNA development. Dr. Li received her Ph.D. in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Harvard University, and her B.S. from Peking University.
Christopher Claeboe, Ph.D., MBA
VICE PRESIDENT, CMC AND MANUFACTURING Dr. Claeboe joined ADARx in January 2022 with extensive experience in CGMP drug substance and drug product manufacturing through various stages of clinical development to commercialization. He previously served as Executive Director at ChemoCentryx, Inc., in which he contributed significantly to the CMC development activities for their recently approved drug Tavneos®. Prior positions include Director at Codexis, Inc. Dr. Claeboe received a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Virginia. He then completed his Postdoctoral Fellowship at Indiana University. Dr. Claeboe also earned his MBA from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.
Melissa Fisher, Ph.D., J.D.
VICE PRESIDENT, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY In May 2021, Dr. Fisher joined ADARx as our Vice President of Intellectual Property. Dr. Fisher has over 15 years of oligonucleotide industry experience. Most recently, Dr. Fisher served as an Executive Director at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. holding leadership roles as Senior Patent Counsel and Head of Early-Stage Research/Academic Contract and Alliances. Dr. Fisher received her J.D. from California Western School of Law, her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Riverside and is a registered patent attorney with the USPTO.
Feriandas Greblikas, M.D.
VICE PRESIDENT, CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT Dr. Greblikas joined ADARx in September 2022. He is an established physician-scientist with more than 10 years of extensive experience in drug development, medical oversight, clinical trial planning and execution. Prior to joining, Dr. Greblikas served as a Senior Medical Director at Travere Therapeutics, in which he contributed to the development of pegtibatinase and fosmetpantothenate programs. Prior positions include Medical Director at BioMarin, Baxter and Biogen, and significant contributions to approved drugs Palynziq®, Adynovate® and Eloctate®. Dr. Greblikas received his M.D. in pediatrics from the Vilnius University. Dr. Greblikas also holds an Economics diploma from the International Business School of Vilnius University.
Robert A. MacLeod, Ph.D.
CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER Dr. MacLeod joined ADARx in January 2023 as our Chief Scientific Officer having gained extensive experience in the oligonucleotide field throughout his career. Prior to ADARx, Dr. MacLeod served as the Chief Scientific Officer at Flamingo Therapeutics after holding several positions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, most recently as Vice President and Franchise Head of Oncology. Dr. MacLeod has led the strategic and scientific efforts of several multidisciplinary drug discovery teams in the discovery and clinical development of 15 novel investigational therapeutics and over 100 high impact scientific publications and patents. Dr. MacLeod received his B.S. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from Concordia University in Montreal Canada, and his Ph.D. in Cancer Epigenetics from McGill University.
Chris Prentiss, MBA
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Mr. Prentiss joined ADARx in September 2022 as our Chief Financial Officer. Prior to ADARx, Mr. Prentiss served as Chief Financial Officer of Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he was responsible for leading the finance, investor relations, and information technology functions. During his tenure, Adamas received approval for and commercialized GOCOVRI® until the Company’s acquisition by Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Previous roles include senior finance positions at biopharmaceutical companies including Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc., InterMune, Inc., Dynavax Technologies Corporation, and MannKind Corporation. Prior to joining the biopharmaceutical field, Mr. Prentiss was at KPMG LLP in the assurance practice. Mr. Prentiss received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Accounting from Loyola Marymount University and a MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. Mr. Prentiss is a CPA licensed in California.
Rui Zhu, Ph.D.
VICE PRESIDENT, RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT Dr. Zhu is a founding member of ADARx and joined as our Vice president of Research and Development. Dr. Zhu is an experienced drug hunter with a proven track record in the oligonucleotide field. Prior to joining ADARx, Dr. Zhu was Program Lead at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, where he successfully co-led 5 siRNA discovery programs to Phase I clinical trials. Dr. Zhu completed his postdoctoral research at Yale University and received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Tsinghua University.
Board of Directors
Sheila Gujrathi, M.D.
CHAIR OF THE BOARD Dr. Gujrathi serves as the Chair of ADARx's Board of Directors. She also serves as a Director of Janux Therapeutics and has recently served on several other boards, including Turning Point Therapeutics (as Chair), Five Prime Therapeutics and Ambrx. Dr. Gujrathi co-founded and was the Chief Executive Officer of Gossamer Bio. Prior to Gossamer Bio, Dr. Gujrathi served as Chief Medical Officer of Receptos. Prior to Receptos, Dr. Gujrathi held senior leadership roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and Genentech. Earlier in her career, she was a management consultant in McKinsey & Company's healthcare practice. Dr. Gujrathi received both her M.D. and her B.S. in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University. She completed her internal medicine internship and residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and additional fellowship training in allergy/immunology at UCSF and Stanford.
Erez Chimovits
PARTNER ORBIMED ADVISORS Mr. Chimovits has 14 years of operational experience, including 10 years of senior managerial experience in public companies. Prior to joining OrbiMed Mr. Chimovits was the CEO of NasVax (TASE:NSVX). Previously, Mr. Chimovitz spent seven years with Compugen (Nasdaq:CGEN), as President, Compugen USA Inc. and Executive V.P., Commercial Operations. At Compugen, he had P&L responsibility for more than 100 people and led multiple transactions including with J&J, Novartis, Teva, Abbott, Medarex and others. Mr. Chimovits earned his M.B.A., M.Sc. in Microbiology and his B.Sc. from Tel Aviv University.
Simeon George, M.D.
CEO SR ONE CAPITAL Simeon George, M.D. has served on our Board of Directors since August 2021. Dr. George joined SR One in 2007 and is CEO of the fund. He earned his M.D. and M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine / Wharton and B.A. from Johns Hopkins University. Previously, he worked in management consulting (Bain & Co.) and investment banking (Goldman Sachs). Simeon led SR One’s investments in several deals including CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), Principia Biopharma (PRNB, acquired by Sanofi for $3.7bn), Turning Point Therapeutics (TPTX), Design Therapeutics (DSGN), Progyny (PGNY), and Nkarta Therapeutics (NKTX), which he co-founded.
Carl Gordon, Ph.D., CFA
CO-HEAD GLOBAL PRIVATE EQUITY AT ORBIMED ADVISORS Carl L. Gordon, Ph.D., is a founding member, Managing Partner, and Co-Head of Global Private Equity at OrbiMed Advisors LLC, an investment firm. Dr. Gordon currently serves on the boards of directors of several public and private companies. He received a B.A. in Chemistry from Harvard College, a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a Fellow at The Rockefeller University.
Lorence Kim, M.D.
Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Ascenta Capital Dr. Kim is the co-founder and a Managing Partner of Ascenta Capital. Previously, he was a Venture Partner at Third Rock Ventures from 2020 to 2022. He served as the Chief Financial Officer of Moderna from April 2014 to June 2020, raising $4.4 billion of capital for the company and deploying resources to discover and advance a pipeline of 24 development candidates across infectious disease, oncology, rare disease and autoimmune disease, including the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Kim joined Moderna after an investment banking career at Goldman Sachs from 2000 to 2014, where he was a managing director and co-head of the U.S. biotechnology investment banking effort. Dr. Kim graduated from Harvard University, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with an A.B. in biochemical sciences in 1995. He earned an MBA in healthcare management as a Palmer Scholar from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine in 2000.
Judith J. Li
Partner Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) Ms. Li is a Partner at LAV, based in San Francisco, and focused on early and growth stage investments across biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, and diagnostics both domestically and cross-border. Ms. Li holds board appointments at a variety of LAV’s portfolio companies. Her prior experience includes McKinsey’s New York office, hospital administration at Partners Healthcare, and co-founding an interventional nephrology medical device venture. Ms. Li holds a B.A. in Neurobiology from Harvard and M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Ms. Li is currently splitting her time between Hong Kong, Shanghai, and the Bay Area.
Zhen Li, Ph.D.
PRESIDENT & CEO Dr. Li is a co-founder of ADARx and a successful executive with more than two decades of diverse experience in research and development in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Prior to ADARx, Dr. Li served as Senior VP at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals where she led the discovery and non-clinical development of Arrowhead’s delivery platform and multiple product candidates that are now in clinical studies. Previously, Dr. Li was a director at Merck, leading a team dedicated to siRNA development. Dr. Li received her Ph.D. in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Harvard University, and her B.S. from Peking University.
Ricky Sun, Ph.D.
PARTNER AT BAIN CAPITAL LIFE SCIENCES Dr. Sun joined Bain Capital Life Sciences in 2016 and is a Partner. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Savara (NASDAQ: SVRA), Emalex, Avistone and Tenacia. Previously he was a board member of Arcutis (NASDAQ: ARQT), Annexon (NASDAQ: ANNX), and served as board observers of Pharvaris (NASDAQ: PHVS) and Replimune (NASDAQ: REPL). He is also a member of the Boston Museum of Science Advisors. Prior to joining Bain Capital, from 2013 to 2016, he was a Director of Corporate Development and Strategy at Biogen. Prior to Biogen, Dr. Sun served as a Vice President at BlackRock, as a member of the Fundamental Equity division of BlackRock's Alpha Strategies Group and senior analyst for BlackRock's Fundamental Large Cap Growth equity team, covering the health care sector. Prior to that, he was a senior healthcare analyst at Citadel and Alyeska Investment Group in Chicago and worked as a pharmaceuticals equity research analyst on Wall Street, spending time at Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley. Dr. Sun began his career as a senior scientist at Ironwood Pharmaceutical where he was involved in the discovery and development of the drug Linzess for irritable bowel syndrome. Dr. Sun received a PhD degree in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Harvard University and was an NIH post-doctoral fellow in Biological Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School. He also received an MBA from New York University Stern School of Business, where he was a Mildred Elperin Scholar. He graduated summa cum laude from Berea College with a BA in chemistry.
Yuan (Eliza) Sun
Founder, Sirona Capital Ms. Sun is the founder of Sirona Capital, a life science-dedicated investment firm with investments in the U.S., China and Europe. She currently serves as an executive board member of Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Company Limited (Hong Kong Stock Exchange Ticker: 3692). Ms. Sun is in charge of Hansoh’s research, business development, and capital market department. Prior to joining Hansoh, Ms. Sun worked in healthcare investment management and industry research. She has a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences from Trinity College, University of Cambridge..
Chen Yu, Ph.D.
Founder and Managing Partner of TCGX Dr. Yu is the founder and Managing Partner at TCGX. Prior to founding TCGX, Dr. Yu spent sixteen years as a Managing Partner at Vivo Capital, a life sciences focused investor with $4.5 B AUM. Dr. Yu has extensive operating experience with leadership roles at both private and public companies, including stints as the COO of Sagent Pharmaceuticals and CBO of China KangHui, both of which went public and were ultimately acquired. Dr. Yu has served on the board of over a dozen private/public companies, including Artios, Upstream Bio, Structure Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GPCR), Arbor Biotechnologies, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TARS), Sagent Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SGNT, acquired by Nichi-I-Ko), China Kanghui (NYSE:KH, acquired by Medtronic), Rempex (acquired by Medicines Company), Kala (NASDAQ:KALA), Nabriva (NASDAQ: NBRV), Surgical Specialties (acquired by GTCR), Sentre Heart (acquired by Atricure), and NKF Pharma (SHA: 603707). While at Vivo, he also led investments in Zai Labs (NASDAQ: ZLAB), RiverVision (acquired by Horizon), CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP), Intellia (NASDAQ: NTLA), Durata (acquired by Actavis), Precision Biosciences (NASDAQ: DTIL), Trauson (acquired by Stryker), and Revolution Medicines (NASDAQ:RVMD). Dr. Yu also serves on the California Leadership Council for the Nature Conservancy and was previously a member of the Stanford Medical School Alumni Board of Governors. Dr. Yu received his M.D. and M.B.A. from Stanford University and graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Biology from Harvard University.