Locana Expands Leadership Team with Appointment of Micah Mackison, as Chief Business Officer

SAN DIEGO, April 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Locana, Inc., a leading RNA-targeting gene therapy company, today announced the appointment of Micah Mackison, as Chief Business Officer. Bringing more than 20 years of leadership, corporate strategy and business development experience, Mr. Mackison will lead strategic planning and execution of all business development and corporate communication activities related to the company’s RNA-targeting gene therapy platform.

“Micah is a proven business leader in the biopharma industry, and we are pleased to welcome him to our executive team,” said Jim Burns, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Locana. “Micah’s successful track record of executing strategic transactions and growing organizations will further strengthen our team.”

Before joining Locana, Mr. Mackison was Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy at Assembly Biosciences where he led business development efforts since 2015. Prior to his work at Assembly, he was Senior Director, Corporate Investment at Jabil Healthcare & Life Sciences where he led healthcare transactions. Previously, Mr. Mackison served as Head of Corporate Strategy and Senior Director, New Ventures at H. Lundbeck A/S focused on neuroscience. Prior to the acquisition by Lundbeck, he was Director, Corporate Development and M&A at Ovation Pharmaceuticals, a rare disease, neuroscience company that launched the first product for Huntington’s Disease. He previously held financial roles at Eli Lilly and Pfizer. Mr. Mackison earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Indiana University.

“I believe this is a pivotal time for the company as it pursues novel therapies across multiple genetic diseases,” said Mackison. “I think that Locana is well positioned to make important advances with a unique gene therapy approach and I am excited to join such a talented team.”

About Locana, Inc.
Locana’s platform directly addresses the central role dysfunctional RNAs play in genetic and non-genetic diseases. The company’s platform has reassembled elements of nature’s evolutionary repertoire of RNA engagement functions, including binding, degradation, splicing, editing and translational control and delivers these to cells by gene therapy. This powerful approach is orthogonal to gene editing and provides tractable and durable therapeutic advantage over other gene therapy approaches. Locana is based in San Diego, CA. For more information, visit www.locanabio.com

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SOURCE Locana, Inc.