CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ribon Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotechnology company, developing first-in-class therapeutics targeting novel enzyme families activated under cellular stress conditions, today announced the appointments of Sudha Parasuraman, M.D., and Edward “Tad” Stewart to the newly created positions of Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Chief Business Officer (CBO), respectively. Dr. Parasuraman is a board-certified hematologist-oncologist with more than 20 years in the healthcare industry and broad experience across the spectrum of oncology drug development. Mr. Stewart brings more than 20 years of executive experience in the biotechnology area with a focus on business development, strategy and commercialization.
“Sudha has had a distinguished career as a successful drug developer in the biopharmaceutical industry with expertise in leading clinical strategy, design and management of novel oncology programs, experience that aligns perfectly with our goal to bring first-in-class therapies to patients in need,” said Victoria Richon, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Ribon Therapeutics. “Tad brings to Ribon significant business development and strategy experience, perfectly suited to help us maximize the opportunities we see with our platform. On behalf of our entire team, I want to welcome both Sudha and Tad and we look forward to their contributions.”
“Ribon has pioneered a completely novel area of human biology and rapidly used translational methods to bring those discoveries forward. Their lead program RBN-2397 is a testament to this approach and is now set to enter the clinic in the third quarter of this year,” said Dr. Parasuraman. “This has established Ribon as the leader in developing potential first-in-class therapeutics that target stress response pathways. When activated, these enzymes are pivotal in disease progression and survival, making them very suitable for therapeutic intervention. I’m excited to join the Ribon team on their journey in bringing this exciting science to patients.”
“Ribon’s platform enables thorough interrogation of stress response pathways, an expanding set of targets and rapid candidate generation,” said Mr. Stewart. “Ribon has identified multiple monoPARP and NADase targets in oncology, neuro-degeneration and inflammatory diseases, and has tremendous capabilities to rapidly develop potent and selective inhibitors to target them. The speed with which the company has been able to execute on bringing their lead program toward the clinic is impressive and I look forward to helping expand the potential value of that platform for the company and for patients.”
Dr. Parasuraman brings more than 20 years of industry and academic practice experience in hematology, oncology, and pediatrics to her work at Ribon. Most recently she served as CMO for X4 Pharmaceuticals, where she led their immuno-oncology and rare disease programs. Prior to X4, she was VP, Global Medical Affairs at uniQure Inc, where she built and led a team developing gene therapies for rare diseases. Prior to uniQure, she held senior positions at Novartis, where she led the early development program for the CDK4/6 inhibitor, ribociclib, and helped pave the way for accelerated registration studies. She was responsible for leading innovative clinical trials in the Signature Program and the commercial strategies for early-stage programs. Dr. Parasuraman also served as Medical Director at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda Oncology) where she was the medical lead for various programs including the clinical development and lifecycle management of the first-in-class cancer therapy, VELCADE®. Before joining industry, Dr. Parasuraman was a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and staff physician at Children’s Hospital of Boston, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Parasuraman completed her fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, and pediatric residencies at Children’s Hospital of Michigan and Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center. She received her medical degree from the University of Madras, India.
Mr. Stewart has more than 20 years of strategic biopharmaceutical business development experience, including over fifteen years at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals. During his time at Merrimack, Tad served in various roles as part of the executive leadership team, including leading the company’s business development efforts and heading the company’s Commercial Business Unit. Tad’s experience at Merrimack spanned its growth from a pre-clinical organization to a clinical development company and, ultimately, to a commercial enterprise, including the successful launch of a marketed oncology product (ONIVYDE®) and the execution of several strategic transactions that supported the long-term growth of the company. Most recently he served as President and CEO of Commense, Inc., a company focused on developing pediatric immunomodulators based on manipulating the human microbiome. Prior to Commense, Tad served as CBO for Crescendo Biologics, a novel antibody platform company. Prior to Merrimack, Tad worked as a consultant with clients across the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Tad holds an M.B.A. from the Johnson School at Cornell University and a B.S. in Biology from Bates College.
About Ribon Therapeutics
Ribon Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing first-in-class therapeutics targeting novel enzyme families activated under cellular stress conditions that contribute to disease. We are exploring novel areas of biology to develop effective treatments for patients with limited therapeutic options. Leveraging a chemical biology approach and our proprietary discovery platform, we are building a pipeline of selective, small molecule inhibitors to numerous NAD+ utilizing enzymes, beginning with monoPARPs, which have applications across multiple therapeutic areas. Our lead program is RBN-2397, a first-in-class PARP7 inhibitor in development for the treatment of cancer. Ribon is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit www.ribontx.com.