CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Verve Therapeutics, a biotech company pioneering a new approach to the care of cardiovascular disease with single-course gene editing medicines, today announced that Michael F. MacLean, chief financial officer (CFO) of Avidity Biosciences, has joined the company’s board of directors.
“Mike is a highly experienced executive with an established track record of leading financial strategy and execution for a number of life science companies, as well as other industries. His experience will be incredibly valuable to Verve and our evolution toward clinical development,” said Sekar Kathiresan, M.D., co-founder and chief executive officer of Verve. “We look forward to leveraging his insights and knowledge of best practices for financial operations at growing biotechnology companies as we continue to advance our pipeline.”
“Verve’s targeted approach to addressing the causal drivers of cardiovascular disease through single-course gene editing medicines holds significant promise to transforming treatment for people with this highly prevalent and life-threatening disease,” said Mr. MacLean. “I have been impressed by the progress the company has been making, led by an exceptional team of individuals, and am pleased to partner with them to help support the continued growth of the company.”
Mr. MacLean has more than 30 years of experience in financial leadership roles in the life sciences and other industries. In addition, he has been a key player in strategy and operations for high growth companies. He joined Avidity Biosciences as CFO prior to its IPO in June 2020. Prior to Avidity, he served as CFO of Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., where he led the buildout of Akcea's financial and commercial infrastructure, and was the CFO of PureTech Health, plc. Previously, he led Biogen’s worldwide finance operations. Earlier in his career, Mr. MacLean was an audit partner at KPMG and Andersen.
About Verve Therapeutics
Verve Therapeutics is a genetic medicines company pioneering a new approach to the care of cardiovascular disease, transforming treatment from chronic management to single-course gene editing medicines. The company’s initial two programs target PCSK9 and ANGPTL3, genes that have been extensively validated as targets for lowering blood lipids such as low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), a root cause of cardiovascular disease. Verve’s lead product candidate, VERVE-101, is designed to turn off the PCSK9 gene in the liver in order to disrupt blood PCSK9 protein production and thereby reduce blood LDL-C levels, with the goal of reducing a patient’s risk for cardiovascular disease. VERVE-101, currently in IND-enabling studies, is being developed initially for the treatment of patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, a potentially fatal genetic heart disease. For more information, please visit www.VerveTx.com.
