CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Beam Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing precision genetic medicines through base editing, today announced multiple leadership appointments, strengthening the company’s management team. Christine Bellon has joined as senior vice president and chief legal officer; Susan O’Connor has joined as chief human resources officer; and Suzanne Fleming has joined as senior vice president, finance. In addition, Courtney Wallace has been promoted to senior vice president and head of business development and strategy.
“In the past year, we have made tremendous progress in advancing the research and preclinical development of our base editing platform and pipeline. 2019 continues to be a year of significant growth for Beam, and I am very pleased to welcome Christine Bellon, Susan O’Connor, and Suzanne Fleming to the team to continue this momentum,” said John Evans, chief executive officer of Beam. “I am also thrilled to share the promotion of Courtney Wallace, a key early member of our management team, to senior vice president and head of business development and strategy. Together, these key appointments will be instrumental to Beam as we continue to grow our organization and expand our investment in base editing, a next generation technology in gene editing that may offer important new treatment options for patients suffering from serious diseases.”
Dr. Christine Bellon brings to Beam more than 25 years of experience in the life science industry. Prior to joining Beam, she served as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Forma Therapeutics, where she built and led a legal team, negotiated changes to the company’s operating structure, and played a key role in negotiations with Forma’s strategic partner. Prior to Forma, Dr. Bellon was senior vice president of legal affairs for Relay Therapeutics, where she helped obtain foundational partnerships for the company and formulated its intellectual property strategy. Prior to Relay, she served as vice president of legal affairs and corporate secretary at Blueprint Medicines, where she was instrumental in building its global IP portfolio, securing strategic partnerships and executing its initial public offering. Earlier in her career, Dr. Bellon practiced law and served in legal leadership roles at Hydra Biosciences and Infinity Pharmaceuticals. She holds a B.S. in chemistry from Yale University; a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she did research in the laboratory of K. Barry Sharpless; and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. Dr. Bellon is a trustee of the Boston Museum of Science.
Susan O’Connor is an accomplished executive with progressive and diversified experience in the biotechnology sector. With more than 25 years of experience in human resources, she has made significant contributions in building and leading companies from the initial startup phase and scaling through commercialization. Her expertise includes overall talent management, culture building, strategic recruitment and selection, IPO planning and execution, leadership development as well as board development and engagement. Prior to Beam, Ms. O’Connor launched O’Connor & Associates, a strategic human resources consulting firm, in 2008. She has partnered with several venture capital firms, including Third Rock Ventures, acting as the chief human resources executive for a number of biotech companies, including Celsius Therapeutics, Relay Therapeutics, Blueprint Medicines, Voyager Therapeutics and Fulcrum Therapeutics, among others. Prior to launching O’Connor & Associates, Ms. O’Connor was vice president, human resources at Johnson & Johnson, where she also served as a board member for several operating companies within the medical devices sector of the company. Ms. O’Connor holds a bachelor’s degree from Providence College.
Suzanne Fleming brings to Beam more than 25 years of experience in finance leadership roles in the life science industry. Prior to joining Beam, Ms. Fleming was senior vice president, finance and treasurer at Epizyme, Inc., where she was responsible for all finance and accounting functions. Before Epizyme, she was vice president, finance at Foundation Medicine, where she worked closely with Roche after their purchase of a majority stake in the company. Ms. Fleming also held senior finance positions at Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Transform Pharmaceuticals and Transkaryotic Therapies. She holds a B.S. degree in accounting from Stonehill College and earned her CPA in Massachusetts.
Courtney Wallace joined Beam in 2018 as vice president and head of business development and strategy. Prior to Beam, she was a senior director of business development at Celgene Corporation, where she was responsible for leading collaborations, licensing transactions, equity investments, and mergers and acquisitions across a variety of therapeutic areas. Prior to joining Celgene, Ms. Wallace was a consultant with Easton Associates (now part of Navigant Consulting), a boutique healthcare management consultancy. While with Easton, she advised clients on general corporate strategy, pipeline and portfolio planning, clinical development, sales and marketing activities, and business development. Ms. Wallace holds an A.B. from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
About Beam Therapeutics
Beam Therapeutics is developing precision genetic medicines through base editing, a next-generation gene editing technology. Founded by leading scientists in gene editing, Beam is pursuing therapies for serious diseases using its proprietary base editing technology, which can make precise edits to single bases (A, G, C, T) in DNA and RNA. Beam is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. For additional information, visit www.BeamTx.com.
