Synlogic Names Aoife Brennan as President and CEO
Synlogic, Inc. (Nasdaq: SYBX), a biology-focused clinical-stage company focused on living medicines, has just today announced that effective immediately, Aoife Brennan, M.B., B.Ch., has been appointed as president and chief executive officer (CEO). According to their website, the company is “dedicated to bringing innovative living medicines to patients by using the tools and principles of synthetic biology to genetically re-program beneficial bacteria. Using our Synthetic Biotic platform, we are developing engineered probiotic bacteria to perform specific therapeutic functions with established links to disease. We can deliver these living, Synthetic Biotic medicines orally, where they act from the gut microbiome to correct missing or dysfunctional metabolic activities throughout the body. We also aim to deliver Synthetic Biotic medicines at the site of disease in cases where local activity is critical, as in stimulation of immune effectors to combat certain tumors.”
Dr. Brennan fits perfectly into the innovative biological medicine company, having recently spent two years as vice president and head of the Rare Disease Innovation Unit at Biogen. She worked at the company for a total of 5 years and 4 months, gradually working her way up from Director of Clinical Research in May of 2011 to Sr. Director of Medical research by March of 2013, focusing on Global Hemophilia Medical Research. Her vice president title was earned by September of 2014. She then moved to Synlogic, Inc. in 2016 to become Chief Medical Officer before earning her role as CEO and president. In her biography on Linked-In, she quotes that she’s “passionate about clinical research development of treatments for rare and neglected diseases, endocrinology and metabolism, nutrition, clinical trials, methodology, GCP (Good Clinical Practice) regulatory strategy, and STEM education.”
“After conducting a thorough search process, it was clear to the board of directors that Aoife is the right person to lead Synlogic at this time in the company’s evolution. Aoife stepped into the interim role and rapidly demonstrated her effectiveness,” offered Peter Barrett, chairman of Synlogic’s board of directors. “Her broad experience across multiple stages of drug development and therapeutic areas, her demonstrated leadership abilities, and her ambitious vision for Synlogic, make her uniquely qualified for the job. We are confident that under her leadership, Synlogic will be well-positioned to deliver Synthetic Biotic™ medicines to patients.”
Before stepping into the role as interim president and CEO of Synlogic from May of 2018, Dr. Brennan’s time as head of the Rare Disease Innovation Unite at Biogen included a range of pre-clinical to commercial programs. “She has also led programs across multiple therapeutic areas including the late phase development of nusinersen for spinal muscular atrophy and ALPROLIX® and ELOCTATE®, treatments for Hemophilia B and Hemophilia A. Prior to joining Biogen, she was director of clinical development at Tolerx, a start-up biotech company focusing on immunotherapy for Type 1 diabetes. Aoife holds a medical degree from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and has completed post-graduate training in internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism. She has completed post-doctoral training in clinical research and metabolism at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and is a graduate of the Harvard Medical School Scholars in Clinical Science Program,” adds her Synlogic website biography.
“I appreciate the confidence and support of the board of directors and am thrilled to be selected to lead Synlogic as we pioneer the development of a completely new class of living medicines.“We have made great progress to date, advancing two Synthetic BioticTM programs into the clinic,” stated Dr. Brennan. “I look forward to continuing to execute on our plans for the clinical development of our lead candidates while capitalizing on the broad applicability and potential of our novel platform to build a pipeline of therapies for patients with serious and life-threatening diseases.”