Editas Medicine Strengthens Executive Leadership Team with Appointment of Linda C. Burkly, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer

By: Editas Medicine, Inc. via GlobeNewswire

July 24, 2023 at 07:00 AM EDT

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Editas Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq: EDIT), a clinical-stage genome editing company, today announced the appointment of Linda C. Burkly, Ph.D., as the Company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Burkly will lead Editas’ drug discovery team and activities related to Editas Medicine’s pipeline of experimental medicines across all therapeutic areas and indications.

“Earlier this year, we shared our vision to be a leader in programable in vivo gene editing, and I couldn’t be happier that Linda is joining Editas to help make this vision a reality. Linda has an outstanding track record of inventing or contributing to the foundations of multiple approved medicines and late-stage clinical candidates. Specifically, during her career, she has invented or contributed to two approved medicines and one late-stage asset, and she has initiated or advanced projects along the pipeline, delivering multiple other candidates to development,” said Gilmore O’Neill, M.B., M.M.Sc., President and Chief Executive Officer, Editas Medicine. “Linda’s deep scientific knowledge and her translational abilities make her an ideal leader for our drug discovery team and partner to our clinical organization, enabling us to strategically develop and advance our pipeline to the clinic.”

“With our new strategy and target selection criteria, we have a distinctive opportunity to build the Editas pipeline with a focus on gene editing medicines that will substantially differentiate from the current standard of care for serious diseases and ensure our targets maximize the probability of technical, regulatory, and commercial success. I am eager to lead the incredible team of scientists at Editas to reach this goal together for patients and all of our stakeholders,” said Linda C. Burkly, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Editas Medicine.

Dr. Burkly brings to Editas more than 35 years of experience in biotechnology as a research leader spanning the breadth of the drug discovery and development value chain. Her experience encompasses therapeutic areas of immunological, neurological, and rare genetic disorders. Linda also has a track record of contributing to the foundations of approved medicines and late-stage clinical candidates including Trogarzo^®, Tysabri^®, and Dapirolizumab (Phase 3), her role ranging across inventing therapeutic compositions, discovering novel pathway biology and uses of therapeutic compositions, co-authoring INDs, and leading project teams.

Prior to joining Editas, Dr. Burkly held positions of increasing responsibility over a 37-year tenure at Biogen, most recently leading neuroscience-focused research teams as Vice President and Senior Distinguished Investigator from 2014 to 2022. At Biogen, Dr. Burkly invented a novel anti-CD4 mAb that was developed into Trogarzo^®, discovered novel VLA-4/VCAM biology and uses of VLA-4 blockers including for Crohn’s disease, an indication of Tysabri^®, and was Biogen lead on a partnered collaboration with UCB and therein an inventor of Dapirolizumab.

Dr. Burkly holds a Ph.D. from Tufts University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Boston, MA, and a B.S. from Fairfield University. She completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the laboratory of Richard A. Flavell, Biogen Research Corp.

About Editas Medicine
As a clinical-stage genome editing company, Editas Medicine is focused on translating the power and potential of the CRISPR/Cas12a and Cas9 genome editing systems into a robust pipeline of treatments for people living with serious diseases around the world. Editas Medicine aims to discover, develop, manufacture, and commercialize transformative, durable, precision genomic medicines for a broad class of diseases. Editas Medicine is the exclusive licensee of Broad Institute’s Cas12a patent estate and Broad Institute and Harvard University’s Cas9 patent estates for human medicines. For the latest information and scientific presentations, please visit www.editasmedicine.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "target," "should," "would," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. The Company may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: uncertainties inherent in the initiation and completion of preclinical studies and clinical trials, and clinical development of the Company’s product candidates; availability and timing of results from preclinical studies and clinical trials; whether interim results from a clinical trial will be predictive of the final results of the trial or the results of future trials; expectations for regulatory approvals to conduct trials or to market products and availability of funding sufficient for the Company’s foreseeable and unforeseeable operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements. These and other risks are described in greater detail under the caption “Risk Factors” included in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as updated by the Company’s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and in other filings that the Company may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the future. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.

Media and Investor Contact:
Cristi Barnett
(617) 401-0113
cristi.barnett@editasmed.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1d78920d-eae7-40e6-9abc-b0cff2a395a3