CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Scholar Rock (NASDAQ: SRRK), a Phase 3, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of serious diseases in which protein growth factors play a fundamental role, today announced the appointment of Jing L. Marantz, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Marantz is an accomplished biopharmaceutical executive with over 20 years of industry experience spanning multiple specialties, including neurology, hematology/oncology, and rare diseases.
“We are thrilled to welcome Jing to Scholar Rock as Chief Medical Officer. Her broad and deep expertise in leading development and medical affairs will be instrumental in helping us advance our clinical programs and differentiated platform in targeting the TGFβ superfamily,” said Jay Backstrom, M.D., M.P.H., Chief Executive Officer of Scholar Rock. “She is an esteemed former colleague, an industry veteran, and will be an integral member of our executive leadership team.”
“Scholar Rock’s revolutionary approach of selectively targeting latent growth factors is very exciting, and the safety and efficacy data from the Phase 2 TOPAZ trial gives me confidence about apitegromab’s transformative potential for people living with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA),” said Dr. Marantz. “I look forward to overseeing future clinical development, including the Phase 1 DRAGON proof-of-concept trial of SRK-181 in patients with advanced cancer, and progressing the Phase 3 SAPPHIRE trial of apitegromab for the treatment of SMA towards potential regulatory approval.”
Most recently, Dr. Marantz served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer at Krystal Biotech. Previously, she was Senior Vice President and Head of Medical Affairs at Acceleron Pharma, where she was also a member of the R&D leadership team, safety committee, and product development committee that oversaw the research, development, and commercialization strategy. Prior to that, Dr. Marantz was Senior Vice President and Head of Medical Affairs at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, where she successfully launched ONPATTRO® & GIVLAARI® and built the medical team’s global footprint across 19 countries. She also served as Vice President of Global Affairs and the Head of U.S. Medical Affairs and interim Head of Latin America Medical Affairs at Alexion, where she led the complement franchise in hematology, nephrology, and neurology. Earlier, Dr. Marantz held leadership positions at Biogen, ARIAD and Millennium Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Marantz holds an M.B.A. with a concentration in Finance from the University of California at Berkeley, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Medical University of South Carolina, and an M.D. from Tongji Medical College. She currently serves on the board of Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ARCT).
About Scholar Rock
Scholar Rock is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines for the treatment of serious diseases in which signaling by protein growth factors plays a fundamental role. Scholar Rock is creating a pipeline of novel product candidates with the potential to transform the lives of patients suffering from a wide range of serious diseases, including neuromuscular disorders, cancer, and fibrosis. Scholar Rock’s approach to targeting the molecular mechanisms of growth factor activation enabled it to develop a proprietary platform for the discovery and development of monoclonal antibodies that locally and selectively target these signaling proteins at the cellular level. By developing product candidates that act in the disease microenvironment, the Company intends to avoid the historical challenges associated with inhibiting growth factors for therapeutic effect. Scholar Rock believes its focus on biologically validated growth factors may facilitate a more efficient development path. For more information, please visit www.ScholarRock.com or follow Scholar Rock on Twitter (@ScholarRock) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/scholar-rock/).
