BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ROME Therapeutics, a biotechnology company harnessing the power of the dark genome to develop breakthrough medicines for serious diseases, today announced the appointment of biopharma executive leader and finance expert Kyle Kuvalanka as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer. In addition, ROME announced that Dennis Zaller, Ph.D., ROME’s founding Chief Scientific Officer, has transitioned to a newly formed role as Chair of the company’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and Distinguished Fellow.
“We are thrilled to welcome Kyle to the ROME team, bringing decades of experience and accomplishments in business operations, finance, business development and corporate strategy which will prove invaluable as we continue to grow and transition to a clinical-stage company,” said Rosana Kapeller, M.D., Ph.D., President, CEO and Co-founder of ROME. “In addition, we are overjoyed to continue to benefit from Dennis’ wealth of knowledge in immunology and early drug discovery in his new role as Chair of our SAB. His contributions as CSO since founding have been innumerable and include discoveries in disease biology that have advanced the field, the buildout of a leading data sciences platform and achieving preclinical validation with our lead program targeting LINE-1 for autoimmune disease. 2023 has been an important year in the evolution of ROME, and we stand well-positioned to advance both our platform and pipeline, with meaningful steps toward bringing forward new therapies that impact patients’ lives.”
“I am excited to join forces with the ROME team and contribute to the important advancement of new therapies for patients who have few or no treatment options,” said Mr. Kuvalanka. “ROME stands at the front-edge of an exciting untapped field of biology. The combination of compelling preclinical data with the lead program, an industry-leading platform to identify and drug novel targets and a recognized leadership team and board of directors of company builders and scientific innovators, makes ROME a highly attractive company. The successful closing of the oversubscribed Series B extension financing with participation from blue chip investors is a testament to the interest in ROME’s mission and programs, and I am excited for the opportunities in front of us.”
Kyle Kuvalanka joins ROME Therapeutics with over twenty years of experience in senior leadership roles in the biopharmaceutical industry, and an established track record of implementing and overseeing corporate strategy, executing financings and strategic collaborations and building and managing business and finance functions at both private and public companies. Mr. Kuvalanka most recently served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Goldfinch Bio, where he oversaw the business, finance, commercial and strategy functions and out licensed the lead assets as the successful outcome of a strategic process.
Previously, he served as Chief Operating Officer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer at Syros Pharmaceuticals and Chief Business Officer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer at Blueprint Medicines. In these roles, Mr. Kuvalanka helped to transition the companies from early-stage start-ups to publicly traded, clinical-stage organizations, having built the business and finance functions, led the execution of financings, including the companies’ initial public offerings, and led the negotiations of the companies’ early strategic collaborations. Before joining Blueprint Medicines, Mr. Kuvalanka worked in roles of increasing responsibility over twelve years at Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, including as Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Strategy. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. with Honors from Wesleyan University.
About ROME Therapeutics
ROME Therapeutics is developing novel therapies for a range of serious diseases, including autoimmune disease, cancer, and neurodegeneration, by illuminating the role of the dark genome — the vast genomic expanse beyond the traditional genes, which includes virus-like repetitive elements and non-coding sequences — in human health and disease. Leveraging the company’s unprecedented data sciences platform, ROME has built a deep pipeline of therapies targeting the dark genome. To lead this exploration, ROME has assembled a team of world-class leaders in drug discovery and development across immunology, oncology, chemistry, and machine learning. ROME is based in Boston, Mass. For more information, please visit www.rometx.com.
