Stoke Therapeutics Appoints Eric Olson, MS, MBA as Chief Business Officer
– Mr. Olson brings two decades of successful corporate business development experience with an emphasis on rare diseases and RNA therapeutics –
Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STOK), a biotechnology company dedicated to restoring protein expression by harnessing the body's potential with RNA medicine, today announced the appointment of Eric Olson as Chief Business Officer. Mr. Olson has two decades of experience in life sciences business development and strategy with a track record of success, completing numerous transactions to maximize value for company pipelines across a variety of therapeutic areas, including rare genetic diseases, neurology and ophthalmology. In his new role, Mr. Olson will be responsible for leading and executing the Company's global corporate strategy and business development.
"We see a significant opportunity to expand the potential of Stoke's first-in-class, disease-modifying approach to the treatment of many genetic diseases by upregulating protein expression with RNA based medicines," said Edward M. Kaye, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Stoke Therapeutics. "Eric's deep experience leading global business development and corporate strategy teams, and in particular his most recent experience working for the foremost leader in RNA medicine, will make him instrumental in driving Stoke's next phase of growth. With Eric and other recent executive hires, we are building a world-class leadership team with the expertise and commitment to Stoke's mission of delivering new medicines to people living with severe diseases."
"I've had the opportunity to work on significant advances in RNA therapeutics and rare diseases and look forward to working with the leadership team at Stoke by contributing my experience and commitment to patients to fully realize the potential of the TANGO platform," said Mr. Olson. "The landmark data announced earlier this year have generated a lot of excitement and made clear the opportunity zorevunersen presents to change the way Dravet syndrome is treated. Just as exciting to me is the opportunity to play a role in helping the team expand this unique approach to upregulating protein expression to the treatment of other severe diseases of the central nervous system and the eye."
Throughout his career, Mr. Olson has led and supported more than $15 billion in transaction value for premiere biopharma companies. Prior to joining Stoke, Mr. Olson served as Vice President, Head of Business Development at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, where he led the Company's business development strategy, which included overseeing multiple strategic partnerships. Before joining Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Olson was Vice President, Head of Rare Disease and Immunology Global Business Development at Takeda where he led two newly-created global business development therapeutic areas subsequent to the acquisition of Shire. Mr. Olson held head and director level roles in business development at Shire, AGCT and Genzyme, and began his professional career in investment banking as well as academic research. Mr. Olson holds a MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, an MS in Cellular & Molecular Biology from New York University, and a BA in Zoology from Connecticut College.
About Stoke Therapeutics
Stoke Therapeutics (NASDAQ:STOK), is a biotechnology company dedicated to restoring protein expression by harnessing the body's potential with RNA medicine. Using Stoke's proprietary TANGO (Targeted Augmentation of Nuclear Gene Output) approach, Stoke is developing antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) to selectively restore protein levels. Stoke's first compound, zorevunersen (STK-001), is in clinical testing for the treatment of Dravet syndrome, a severe and progressive genetic epilepsy. Dravet syndrome is one of many diseases caused by a haploinsufficiency, in which a loss of ~50% of normal protein levels leads to disease. Stoke is pursuing the development of STK-002 for the treatment of autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA), the most common inherited optic nerve disorder. Stoke's initial focus is haploinsufficiencies and diseases of the central nervous system and the eye, although proof of concept has been demonstrated in other organs, tissues, and systems, supporting its belief in the broad potential for its proprietary approach. Stoke is headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts with offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://www.stoketherapeutics.com/.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the ability of zorevunersen to treat the underlying cause of Dravet syndrome, the timing and expected progress of clinical trials, regulatory decisions and successful development of zorevunersen and other product candidates, and the Company's ability to design medicines to increase protein production and the expected benefits thereof. Statements including words such as "will," "expect," "plan," and "potential" and statements in the future tense are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions, which, if they prove incorrect or do not fully materialize, could cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to: the Company's ability to advance, obtain regulatory approval of, and ultimately commercialize its product candidates, including STK-001; positive results in a clinical trial may not be replicated in subsequent trials; successes in early stage trials may not be predictive of results in later stage trials; the Company's ability to fund development activities and achieve development goals; and other risks and uncertainties described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and the other documents it files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.
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