– USA, MA – Akili Interactive, a leading digital medicine company today announced the nominees for the board of directors, effective upon its business combination with Social Capital Suvretta Holdings Corp. I (Nasdaq: DNAA).
Akili’s public company board of directors is expected to consist of seven directors including new additions:
- William (BJ) Jones, CCO of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals;
- Christine Lemke, Co-CEO of Evidation Health;
- Ken Ehlert, former CSO at UnitedHealth Group;
- Chamath Palihapitiya, founder, and CEO of Social Capital and Chairman and Managing Partner of SCS.
Nominees also include existing Akili directors:
- Dr. Bharatt Chowrira (Ph.D., J.D.)
- Dr. Adam Gazzaley (M.D., Ph.D.)
- Dr. Eddie Martucci, (Ph.D.)
“Akili is creating a new class of medicine that has the potential to fundamentally change how we think about cognitive health. As we forge this new path, it’s important to have a broad range of expertise, from pioneering leading-edge science to navigating our healthcare system to establishing new standards of patient care. The board and I look forward to supporting Eddie and his team as they bring their first product to market, and hopefully many more breakthrough therapeutics in the coming years.” commented Chamath Palihapitiya, incoming Board chair.
Eddie Martucci, co-founder and CEO added: “We look forward to becoming a publicly-traded company through our merger with SCS and we are proud to nominate this impressive slate of life sciences and technology leaders to constitute Akili’s new public board and help guide our corporate and clinical strategy.”
About Chamath Palihapitiya
Chamath Palihapitiya (chair-elect) founded Social Capital in 2011 and has been its Managing Partner since its inception. Mr. Palihapitiya also serves as CEO and the Chairman of the board of directors of DNAB, DNAC, and DNAD. In addition, Mr. Palihapitiya currently serves as CEO and the Chairman of the board of directors of each of Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. IV and Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. VI. Mr. Palihapitiya previously served as CEO and the Chairman of the board of directors of Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. from May 2017 until the consummation of its business combination with Virgin Galactic in October 2019 and served as the Chairman of the board of directors of Virgin Galactic until February 2022. Mr. Palihapitiya also previously served as CEO and the Chairman of the board of directors of Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. II until the consummation of its business combination with Opendoor Labs Inc. in December 2020 and as CEO and the Chairman of the board of directors of Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. III until the consummation of its business combination with Clover Health Investments, Corp. in January 2021 and as CEO and Chairman of the board of directors of Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. V until the consummation of its business combination with Social Finance, Inc. in May 2021. Mr. Palihapitiya also served as a director of Slack Technologies Inc. from April 2014 until October 2019. Before founding Social Capital in 2011, Mr. Palihapitiya served as VP of User Growth at Facebook and is recognized as having been a major force in its launch and growth. Mr. Palihapitiya was responsible for overseeing Monetization Products and the Facebook Platform. Before working for Facebook, Mr. Palihapitiya was a principal at the Mayfield Fund, one of the United States’ oldest venture firms, before which he headed the instant messaging division at AOL. Mr. Palihapitiya graduated from the University of Waterloo, Canada with a degree in electrical engineering.
About BJ Jones
William Jones, Jr. has served as CCO of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals Holding Company Ltd., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, where he has been responsible for building the company’s commercial capability and launching its first FDA-approved product (Nurtec ODT), since April 2019. Before Biohaven, from January 2016 to March 2019, Mr. Jones served as VP, Head of Sales and Commercial Operations for the general medicine business unit of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company. Mr. Jones holds a B.S. in human factors engineering from the United States Air Force Academy, an M.S. in industrial engineering from Texas A&M University, and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
About Christine Lemke
Christine Lemke has served as a member of Akili’s board of directors since September 2021. Since March 2012, Ms. Lemke has been employed by Evidation Health, Inc., real-world health measurement and engagement platform, where she currently serves as Co-CEO and Director. Since February 2016, she has also served as co-founder and General Partner of Ensemble Labs, GP, an investor in early-stage health technology companies. Before Evidation Health and Ensemble Labs, Ms. Lemke was co-founder and COO of Sense Networks, Inc., developers of the first machine learning platform for mobile phone activity data. Ms. Lemke holds a B.A. in business from the University of Washington and an MBA from HEC Paris.
About Kenneth Ehlert
Ken Ehlert has served as a member of Akili’s board of directors since December 2021. Previously, he held senior leadership positions at UnitedHealth Group, a publicly traded managed healthcare and insurance company, including most recently as CSO from December 2017 to July 2021. From January 2009 until December 2017, Mr. Ehlert served as CEO of Savvysherpa Inc., a research and development firm. Mr. Ehlert holds a B.A. in economics and mathematics from Brigham Young University and an M.S. in applied economics from the University of Minnesota.
About Akili
Akili is pioneering the development of cognitive treatments through game-changing technologies. Our approach of leveraging technologies designed to directly target the brain establishes a new category of medicine – medicine that is validated through clinical trials like a drug or medical device but experienced like entertainment. Akili’s platform is powered by proprietary therapeutic engines designed to target cognitive impairment at its source in the brain, informed by decades of research and validated through rigorous clinical programs. Driven by Akili’s belief that effective medicine can also be fun and engaging, Akili’s products are delivered through captivating action video game experiences.
Shares of the newly public company’s common stock are expected to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “AKLI.”
For more information: https://www.akiliinteractive.com/home
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