Codiak BioSciences Names Andrea DiFabio Chief Legal Officer

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Andrea DiFabio, Chief Legal Officer, Codiak BioSciences (Photo: Business Wire)

“I had the opportunity to work with Andrea at Biogen and am delighted that Codiak will benefit from her wealth of expertise in life sciences, not only in legal matters but in her significant contributions to the corporate strategy and transactional experience at leading biopharmaceutical companies at various stages of development,” said Dr. Williams. “An innovative thinker and trusted advisor, Andrea is a welcome addition to our executive team as we advance precision exosome therapeutics.”

Ms. DiFabio joins Codiak from Bioverativ, where she served as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, through its acquisition by Sanofi. Prior to Bioverativ, she held multiple counsel positions over the course of 11 years at Biogen, most recently leading the U.S. legal team supporting the company’s global product portfolios as Senior Vice President, Chief Research and Business Development Counsel. Previously, Ms. DiFabio held positions of increasing responsibility in the counsel’s office at Parexel International. She began her career as a litigator for two Boston-area law firms.

“The Codiak team has built an exciting company, grounded by exceptional translational science, a significant manufacturing capability and a drug discovery platform with broad therapeutic potential,” said Ms. DiFabio. “I am delighted to join the team and look forward to helping to shape the company’s trajectory as we seek to bring forward a new class of biological medicines.”

Ms. DiFabio earned a B.A. from Boston University and a J.D. from Northeastern School of Law. A long-time Boston-area resident, Ms. DiFabio recently completed a three-year term on the Board of Overseers for the city’s Museum of Science.

About Exosomes

Exosomes facilitate intercellular communication by transmitting macromolecules between cells. They can be found in all tissues or biological fluids, and it is believed that all cells have the capacity to make, secrete and receive exosomes. Upon contact, exosomes can change the biological functions of recipient cells either by protein-to-protein signaling at the cell surface or according to instructions encoded in molecules contained in the interior, or lumen, of the exosome and conveyed by cellular uptake into the cytoplasm or nucleus of the recipient cell. While many cellular targets and pathways have been identified as attractive areas for potential new drugs, the limitations of existing therapeutic modalities have rendered many of these targets and pathways essentially undruggable.

About Codiak BioSciences

Codiak BioSciences is harnessing exosomes—natural intercellular messengers—to pioneer a new class of biologic medicines, exosome therapeutics. We have developed the engEx Platform, our proprietary and versatile exosome engineering and manufacturing platform, to expand upon the innate properties of exosomes to design novel exosome therapeutics. Using our engEx Platform, we can engineer exosomes to have precise and intentionally chosen properties, to incorporate various forms of biologically active molecules, including small molecules, nucleic acids, proteins, antibodies, enzymes, cytokines and complex ligands, with the goal of delivering potent signals to specific cell targets. We believe our engEx Platform has the potential to produce a broad pipeline of product candidates that will have a transformative impact on the treatment of many diseases, including in the areas of oncology, immune-based diseases, metabolic and fibrotic disorders, neurodegenerative disorders and rare diseases. For more information, visit http://www.codiakbio.com.

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