CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Editas Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq: EDIT), a leading genome editing company, today announced that Bruce E. Eaton, Ph.D., has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer. In his new role, Dr. Eaton oversees the Company’s corporate strategy, business development, and alliance management.
“I am thrilled to announce the promotion of Bruce to Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer. Bruce has been a vital member of our team for many years, driving performance and demonstrating extraordinary leadership. With his deep knowledge of our Company, our science, and our strategy, and his strong relationships, I am confident that Bruce is the right leader in this role to help propel our long-term success,” said James C. Mullen, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Editas Medicine. “I look forward to working closely with Bruce to advance our pipeline and bring more gene editing medicines into the clinic for people living with serious diseases.”
Dr. Eaton has worked alongside Editas Medicine since 2015, first as a consultant, then as a research collaborator, and finally officially joined the Company as Senior Vice President, Chemistry, and Site Head, Boulder, in January 2018 with Editas Medicine’s acquisition of assets from i2 Pharmaceuticals where he was Founder and CEO.
“I believe Editas is poised for substantial growth in its products, technology, and strategic partnerships. We have a cohesive leadership team with a shared vision and commitment to develop the highest quality medicines. With two medicines in the clinic, emphasis on the pipeline strategy, and commensurate commitment to value adding technology, we can set a new pace for the future of gene editing medicines. My team will focus on adding value to the Company through creative approaches to our business strategy, partnerships, collaborations, and alliances, while retaining discipline in execution,” said Bruce Eaton, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer, Editas Medicine.
Dr. Eaton continued, “It is an honor and a pleasure to transition into this role and work alongside our accomplished executive team and talented employees. We all share the passion to develop and deliver transformative gene editing medicines to patients.”
Dr. Eaton has more than 30 years of biotech scientific, operations, business development, and corporate strategy experience in both public and private companies. He has a deep understanding of biochemistry and biophysics for the innovation and development of medicines. Throughout his career, Dr. Eaton has founded multiple companies in both life sciences and human therapeutics and has served in C-level and director level roles. In addition, he has acted as an advisor to numerous government and academic research institutions.
Prior to joining Editas Medicine, Dr. Eaton was Founder and CEO of i2 Pharmaceuticals. Before founding i2, Dr. Eaton was Chief Operating Officer of SomaLogic, where he was responsible for operations, business development, and corporate strategy. Earlier in his career, Dr. Eaton served as Vice President of NexaGen and was on the integration team responsible for the merger with Vestar and the formation of NexStar Pharmaceuticals, where he built and led the groups responsible for good manufacturing practice (GMP) synthesis and analytics for an investigational new drug (IND) application for the Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) drug Macugen™ (Bausch + Laumb). At NexStar, Dr. Eaton was also responsible for alliance management of all research and process development efforts to support the liposomal delivery technology related to the drug Ambisome™ (Gilead Sciences, Inc., and Astellas Pharma, Inc.).
Dr. Eaton received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. He earned B.S. degrees in chemistry and biology from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Bioscience Association.
The Company also announced that Gad Berdugo stepped down from his role at Editas Medicine and is leaving the Company.
About Editas Medicine
As a leading genome editing company, Editas Medicine is focused on translating the power and potential of the CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/Cpf1 (also known as Cas12a) 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. For the latest information and scientific presentations, please visit www.editasmedicine.com.
