CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Repare Therapeutics, a precision oncology company pioneering synthetic lethality to develop novel therapeutics that target specific vulnerabilities of tumors in genetically defined patient populations, announced today that it has made three key additions to its leadership team and Board of Directors. Maria Koehler, MD, PhD, is joining May 1st as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer and will lead Repare’s transition to a clinical-stage company. Katina Dorton has joined as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and will lead financial, capital markets and administrative operations. Carol Schafer has been appointed to the Board of Directors as an independent director.
“We are pleased to make these important additions to our executive and governance leadership as Repare embarks on a clinically-driven path to bring important new cancer medicines to the patients who need them,” said Lloyd M. Segal, President and Chief Executive Officer of Repare Therapeutics. Dr. Koehler and Ms. Dorton will be based in Repare’s offices in Cambridge, MA.
Maria Koehler
Dr. Koehler is a hematologist/oncologist with 20 years in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. She has experience in both early drug development and bringing new drugs to global markets, having developed strategies for all stages of cancer drug development and medical affairs. Prior to joining Repare, Dr. Koehler was Chief Medical Officer at Bicycle Therapeutics. Prior to Bicycle she was VP, Strategy and Innovation for Pfizer Oncology, spearheading major acquisitions and strategic oncology portfolio decisions. Dr. Koehler also served as Oncology Integrated Development Leader at Pfizer, where she led the clinical development of Pfizer’s first-in-class breast cancer medicine, Ibrance® (palbociclib), first approved in 2015 and with sales of more than $4 billion in 2018.
Dr. Koehler received her MD and PhD from the Silesian Medical School in Poland and has co-authored over 150 publications, book chapters and patents.
Katina Dorton
Prior to joining Repare, Ms. Dorton was Chief Financial Officer of Avrobio (Nasdaq: AVRO), a clinical-stage gene therapy company. At Avro, Katina led the raise of $175M in equity capital, including the Company’s $114M IPO. Prior to Avro, Katina was Chief Financial Officer of Immatics Biotechnologies, a T-cell-based immuno-oncology company. Katina has more than 15 years of investment banking experience advising corporate clients and their boards on capital markets, fund raising, mergers and acquisitions, and other strategic transactions. She was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and a Managing Director at Needham & Co. She practiced law as an M&A and securities law attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell prior to her investment banking career. Katina currently serves as Lead Director at US Ecology (Nasdaq: ECOL), an environmental services company.
Katina holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, an M.B.A. from George Washington University, and a B.A. from Duke University.
Carol Schafer
Ms. Schafer is a seasoned financial professional with more than 25 years of experience in investment banking, equity capital markets, corporate finance and business development. She most recently served as Vice Chair, Equity Capital Markets at Wells Fargo Securities. Prior to Wells Fargo, Ms. Schafer served as Vice President of Finance and Business Development at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in her career, she was a Managing Director and equity capital markets sector head at J.P. Morgan. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: IDRA). Ms. Schafer received a B.A. from Boston College and an M.B.A from New York University.
About Repare Therapeutics
Repare Therapeutics is pioneering synthetic lethality to develop novel therapeutics that target specific vulnerabilities of tumors in genetically defined patient populations. The company’s initial focus is on novel targeted therapies in cancer types harboring defective DNA-damage response (DDR)- or genome instability-related functions. Repare’s SNIPRx™ platform combines a proprietary, high throughput, CRISPR‐enabled gene editing target discovery technology with high‐resolution protein crystallography, computational biology, medicinal chemistry and clinical informatics to rapidly generate small molecules for clinical investigation. The company is backed by leading global healthcare investors including Versant Ventures and MPM Capital. For additional information, please visit www.reparerx.com.
