– USA, MA – Centessa Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company consisting of 10 subsidiary companies advancing a portfolio of high conviction programs with strong biological validation, today announced the appointments of Dr. Mary Lynne Hedley, Ph.D., Dr. Robert Califf, M.D., MACC, and Dr. Samarth Kulkarni, Ph.D., to its board of directors, effective February 23, 2021, while Dr. Gregory Weinhoff, M.D., MBA, joined the team as CFO.
“Centessa launched last month with a goal of redefining pharmaceutical R&D productivity through an asset-centric model that we believe has the potential to support the advancement of novel programs by industry-leading experts in their respective fields,” said CEO, Dr. Saurabh Saha. “Each member of our team brings industry-leading qualifications and differentiated perspectives to help guide the expansion of our organization. We are thrilled to welcome Greg, Mary Lynne, Robert and Samarth to Centessa and look forward to partnering together to build one of the most respected medicine companies in the world.”
About Dr. Mary Lynne Hedley
Dr. Mary Lynne Hedley, Ph.D., is a senior fellow and strategic advisor at the Broad Institute and former president, co-founder, and COO at TESARO, Inc. She has extensive experience in the discovery and development of new medicines, formerly serving as executive vice president and chief scientific officer at MGI PHARMA, EVP of Eisai Corporation of North America, EVP of operations, and CSO of Abraxis BioScience.
Dr. Hedley holds a Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and a B.S. in microbiology from Purdue University. Also, she completed two consecutive postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard University.
About Dr. Robert Califf
Dr. Robert Califf, M.D., MACC, is an internationally recognized expert in the development of medicines and quality healthcare delivery with more than 40 years of clinical research and health outcomes expertise. He currently works as the head of strategy and clinical policy for Verily and Google Health. Dr. Califf served as the 22nd Commissioner of Food and Drugs for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from 2016 to 2017 and has directed major initiatives targeted at improving methods and infrastructure for clinical research.
As a graduate of the Duke University School of Medicine, he became the vice chancellor for health data science for the Duke University School of Medicine, is the founding director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute, and remains a board-certified cardiologist.
About Dr. Samarth Kulkarni
Samarth Kulkarni, Ph.D., is the CEO of CRISPR Therapeutics. Dr. Kulkarni brings expertise in strategy and operations in biotech with a wide range of cutting-edge therapeutic technologies. Before CRISPR, he was a partner at McKinsey & Company, where he had a leading role in the pharmaceutical and medical products practice.
Dr. Kulkarni earned a Ph.D. in bioengineering and nanotechnology from the University of Washington and a bachelor of technology from the Indian Institute of Technology.
About Dr. Gregory Weinhoff
Dr. Weinhoff joins Centessa after most recently co-founding and serving as chief financial and business officer of Arvelle Therapeutics B.V., which was acquired by Angelini Pharma in 2021 for $960 million. While with Arvelle, he raised a $207.8 million Series A financing and led the asset identification and in-licensing of cenobamate, a novel anti-seizure medicine with best-in-class efficacy. Previously, Dr. Weinhoff served as CFO at Axovant Sciences, Inc., where he led financial functions and the execution of several private and public financings. Before Axovant, Dr. Weinhoff spent 15 years as an early-stage healthcare venture capitalist at CHL Medical Partners, where he was founding CEO of Amicus Therapeutics and his firm was the sole Series A investor.
“The enhanced scale and resources of Centessa, combined with the benefits of asset-centricity, can further accelerate development of important therapies,” said Dr. Weinhoff. “I am excited to work with the management team, board of directors, top healthcare investors, and the industry leaders and subject matter experts at our Centessa subsidiaries to advance this bold new R&D model. We want to make Centessa a partner of choice for scientific entrepreneurs looking to accelerate the development of their discoveries and ultimately deliver impactful medicines for patients.”
Dr. Weinhoff holds an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and an A.B. in economics from Harvard College. Before graduate school, Dr. Weinhoff was a financial analyst in Morgan Stanley & Co.’s healthcare corporate finance group.
About Centessa Pharmaceuticals
Centessa Pharmaceuticals Limited is a next-generation biopharmaceutical company that aims to reshape the traditional drug development process. The company applies an asset-centric R&D model at scale to advance a portfolio of highly validated programs led by industry-leading teams. Each program is developed by a Centessa subsidiary and supported by a centralized infrastructure and the Centessa management team. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass.
For more information: https://www.centessa.com/
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