ERS Genomics Appoints Eric Rhodes as Chief Executive Officer

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ERS Genomics (ERS) today announced the appointment of Eric Rhodes as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Rhodes joins the company from Horizon Discovery where he held the role of Senior Vice President of R&D and Chief Technology Officer and will succeed founder Shaun Foy who has built and led the company since inception. Mr. Foy will become Chairman of the Board of Directors.

“We are excited to welcome him to the ERS team.”

In his most recent role at Horizon Discovery, Mr. Rhodes was responsible for commercializing Horizon’s genome editing technologies as well as overseeing research and development. Over the course of his career he has held various positions focused on gene editing technologies including the positions of Director Business Development at Sigma-Aldrich and Vice President Business Development & Alliance Management at Sangamo Biosciences where he was responsible for commercializing gene-editing technologies and executed licensing deals with more than 25 major biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Eric holds a degree in microbiology and immunology from the University of California, Berkeley.

“With his deep understanding of the gene-editing landscape and extensive experience in marketing and commercializing gene-editing technologies, Eric is a perfect fit to help ERS Genomics accelerate our commercialization activities,” said Shaun Foy. “We are excited to welcome him to the ERS team.”

“ERS Genomics is at the forefront of a transformative technological revolution and I am enthusiastic to be able to support the company in making this foundational technology available to a broad range of companies and expand our portfolio of licensees,” commented Eric Rhodes.

ERS Genomics holds the rights to the foundational CRISPR-Cas9 technology patent portfolio from Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier, an inventor of the breakthrough gene-editing technology. Her research unveiled the key components and mechanisms of the CRISPR-Cas9 system, which laid the groundwork for the use of CRISPR-Cas9 as a highly versatile and precise genome editing tool.

About ERS Genomics

ERS Genomics was formed to commercialize the foundational CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property held by Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier. Licenses are available for research and commercialization of products and services across multiple fields including: research tools, kits, and reagents; discovery of novel targets for therapeutic intervention; cell lines and preclinical models for discovery and screening of novel drug candidates; GMP production of healthcare products; enhanced livestock; production of industrial materials such as enzymes, biofuels and chemicals; and synthetic biology. For additional information please visit http://www.ersgenomics.com/.