Nautilus Biotechnology Appoints Karen Akinsanya, Ph.D., to Board of Directors
March 31 2022 - 4:05PM
Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: NAUT; or “Nautilus”), a
company pioneering a single-molecule protein analysis platform for
quantifying the proteome, today announced the appointment of Karen
Akinsanya, Ph.D., to its Board of Directors.
Dr. Akinsanya brings more than 25 years of experience in drug
discovery and development, commercialization, partnerships, and
licensing from across academia and pharmaceutical research and
development (R&D). In her current role as President of R&D,
Therapeutics at Schrödinger, she leads the company’s therapeutics
group that leverages Schrödinger's leading physics-based platform
for preclinical drug discovery and is responsible for translational
research and early development, in addition to business development
and collaborations.
Prior to joining Schrödinger, Dr. Akinsanya held positions of
increasing responsibility during more than a decade at Merck
Research Laboratories, as Associate Director of Clinical
Pharmacology driving first-in-human studies through late-stage
label studies; Executive Director and therapeutic area lead in
Discovery Preclinical and Early Development; and AVP of Business
Development and Licensing where she managed the search and
evaluation of pre-proof of concept therapeutic assets and enabling
technologies as well as execution and alliance management of a
number of significant licensing and partnering deals. Dr. Akinsanya
received her B.Sc. in biochemistry at Queen Mary University of
London, and her Ph.D. in endocrine physiology from the Royal
Postgraduate Medical School at Imperial College in London.
“Dr. Akinsanya’s proven leadership in realizing and
strategically executing on the potential of high-impact clinical
and translational programs as well as transformative technologies
is unrivaled in the biopharmaceutical industry,” said Sujal Patel,
co-founder and CEO of Nautilus. “We are excited to welcome her as
the newest member of our board, expanding the breadth and depth of
business and scientific acumen that will bolster our go-to-market
and commercialization strategy for widening access and
understanding of the human proteome to improve human health.”
Dr. Akinsanya is currently a member of the Board of Directors of
the Imperial College Foundation, the Board of Trustees of The
Rockefeller University, the Scientific Advisory Boards of Variant
Bio and Thermo Fisher Scientific, and was previously a Scientific
Advisor at CQDM. While at Merck, she provided leadership to the
National Medical Fellowships to increase diversity in medicine and
access to quality healthcare in underserved communities, and as
Executive Ambassador to Merck For Mothers to improve maternal
health in more than 30 countries. She founded My Tech Learning and
served as a mentor at The Prince’s Trust to connect students to
educational opportunities in science and technology.
“I’m thrilled to serve on Nautilus’ Board of Directors among
renowned business leaders who have brought revolutionary
innovations in the fields of genomics, cancer therapeutics, and
technology to market and are now guiding an innovative approach
that has enormous potential for democratizing access to proteomics
for all,” said Dr. Akinsanya. “The possibilities that Nautilus’
platform for unlocking the proteome will present are significant
for the future of healthcare, from powering the discovery of
breakthrough science to enabling disease diagnosis and the
development of therapeutics for unmet needs with greater
precision.”
Dr. Akinsanya joins a Board of Directors that includes:
- Matt Posard, Board Chair and Founding
Principal at Explore DNA, former Senior Vice President and Head of
Sales at Illumina
- Michael Altman, Managing Director at
Perceptive Advisors
- Melissa Epperly, Chief Financial Officer at
Zentalis Pharmaceuticals
- Parag Mallick, Ph.D., Founder and Chief
Scientist, Nautilus Biotechnology
- Matt McIlwain, Managing Director at Madrona
Venture Group
- Farzad Nazem, Former EVP Engineering and Chief
Technology Officer at Yahoo
- Vijay Pande, Ph.D., General Partner at
Andreessen Horowitz
- Sujal Patel, Founder and CEO, Nautilus
Biotechnology
About Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc.With its
corporate headquarters in Seattle and its research and development
headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area, Nautilus is a
development stage life sciences company creating a platform
technology for quantifying and unlocking the complexity of the
proteome. Nautilus’ mission is to transform the field of proteomics
by democratizing access to the proteome and enabling fundamental
advancements across human health and medicine. To learn more about
Nautilus, visit www.nautilus.bio.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking
StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of federal securities laws.
Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are
not limited to, statements regarding Nautilus’ expectations
regarding the company’s business operations, financial performance
and results of operations; expectations with respect to the
suitability of the Nautilus product platform to investigate
proteins and proteoforms; and expectations with respect to the
functionality and performance of Nautilus’ product platform, its
potential impact on pharmaceutical development and drug discovery.
These statements are based on numerous assumptions concerning the
development of Nautilus’ products and target markets and involve
substantial risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause
actual results to be materially different from the information
expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Risks and
uncertainties that could materially affect the accuracy of
Nautilus’ assumptions and its ability to achieve the
forward-looking statements set forth in this press release include
(without limitation) the following: Nautilus’ product platform is
not yet commercially available and remains subject to significant
scientific and technical development, which is inherently
challenging and difficult to predict, particularly with respect to
highly novel and complex products such as those being developed by
Nautilus. Even if our development efforts are successful, our
product platform will require substantial validation of its
functionality and utility in life science research. In the course
of Nautilus’ scientific and technical development and associated
product validation and commercialization, we may experience
material delays as a result of unanticipated events. We cannot
provide any guarantee or assurance with respect to the outcome of
our development, collaboration, and commercialization initiatives
or with respect to their associated timelines. For a more detailed
description of additional risks and uncertainties facing Nautilus
and its development efforts, investors should refer to the
information under the caption “Risk Factors” in the Registration
Statement on Form S-1 filed with the SEC as well as in our Annual
Report on Form 10-K filed for the year ended December 31, 2021. The
forward-looking statements in this press release are as of the date
of this press release. Except as otherwise required by applicable
law, Nautilus disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking
statements. You should, therefore, not rely on these
forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date
subsequent to the date of this press release.
Media ContactThermal for Nautilus
BiotechnologyKaustuva Daspress@nautilus.bio
Investor
Contactinvestorrelations@nautilus.bio
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/471795c6-1377-46d0-8c6b-2904017d95dd
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