Garuda Therapeutics Announces Appointment of Laurence Reid to Board of Directors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Garuda Therapeutics (Garuda), a company creating off-the-shelf, durable blood stem cell therapies, today announced the appointment of Laurence Reid, Ph.D. to its board of directors. Dr. Reid also serves as Chief Executive Officer of Decibel Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to discovering and developing transformative treatments to restore and improve hearing and balance.

“We are so excited to have a biopharmaceutical and business development veteran of Laurence’s caliber join us on our Board of Directors,” said Dhvanit Shah, Ph.D., Co-Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Garuda. “Laurence’s extensive background as an executive in clinical-stage biotechnology companies will be instrumental in our quest to develop the world’s first, off-the-shelf hematopoietic stem cell platform that could eliminate dependency on donor or patient cells. Laurence’s experience with platform technologies that have vast potential for building a robust pipeline with a variety of therapeutic indications coupled with his work in shaping partnership opportunities will be key to our success as we prioritize the development of novel therapies for patients in need of off-the-shelf, self-renewing blood stem cells.”

Dr. Reid has more than 25 years of biotechnology industry experience. Prior to joining Decibel Therapeutics, Dr. Reid served as an entrepreneur in residence at Third Rock Ventures, where he focused on novel drug discovery and development opportunities. Before Third Rock, Dr. Reid was Chief Executive Officer of Warp Drive Bio, a small molecule company focused on novel oncology and antibiotic drug discovery based on natural products, until its merger with Revolution Medicines in 2018. He also served as Chief Business Officer and Senior Vice President of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for the company’s business development, finance and legal functions. In addition to his professional interests, Laurence is a board member of the Possible Zone and board advisor to Life Science Cares. He earned his Ph.D. from King’s College London and his B.A. from Cambridge University.

Garuda’s platform for generating off-the-shelf, self-renewing blood stem cells is designed to provide patients with rapid and broad access to consistent, durable, HLA-matched, transgene-free blood stem cell therapies. Currently, patients seeking a blood stem cell transplant, must find a suitable human donor as a source of blood stem cells. Racial minority patients face greater barriers than white patients in finding suitable blood stem cell matches. Like bone marrow transplants, Garuda’s technology has the potential to address, and possibly cure, more than 70 diseases. It also overcomes many limitations of current practices and could potentially offer treatment options to patients irrespective of their racial background.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to join the board of Garuda Therapeutics at this exciting time in the company’s development,” Dr. Reid stated, “The potential of Garuda’s technology is massive; the ability to address more than 70 diseases by providing patients rapid and broad access to off-the-shelf, self-renewing blood stem cells would not only improve equitable access to these potentially lifesaving treatments, but it could also revolutionize the broad cell therapy landscape.”

About Garuda Therapeutics

Garuda Therapeutics seeks to create a world that eliminates the dependency on donor or patient cells for blood stem cell transplants. Our platform technology for generating off-the-shelf, self-renewing blood stem cells is poised to provide patients with rapid and broad access to consistent, durable, HLA-compatible and transgene-free blood stem cell therapies. Like bone marrow transplants, our technology could provide potentially curative therapies for more than 70 diseases. https://garudatx.com/

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220105005248/en/