Stoke Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company dedicated to restoring protein expression by harnessing the body’s potential with RNA medicine, announced the appointment of Eric Olson as Chief Business Officer. Mr. Olson has two decades of experience in life sciences business development and strategy with a track record of success, completing numerous transactions to maximize value for company pipelines across a variety of therapeutic areas, including rare genetic diseases, neurology and ophthalmology. In his new role, Mr. Olson will be responsible for leading and executing the Company’s global corporate strategy and business development.
“We see a significant opportunity to expand the potential of Stoke’s first-in-class, disease-modifying approach to the treatment of many genetic diseases by upregulating protein expression with RNA based medicines,” said Edward M. Kaye, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Stoke Therapeutics. “Eric’s deep experience leading global business development and corporate strategy teams, and in particular his most recent experience working for the foremost leader in RNA medicine, will make him instrumental in driving Stoke’s next phase of growth. With Eric and other recent executive hires, we are building a world-class leadership team with the expertise and commitment to Stoke’s mission of delivering new medicines to people living with severe diseases.”
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“I’ve had the opportunity to work on significant advances in RNA therapeutics and rare diseases and look forward to working with the leadership team at Stoke by contributing my experience and commitment to patients to fully realize the potential of the TANGO platform,” said Mr. Olson. “The landmark data announced earlier this year have generated a lot of excitement and made clear the opportunity zorevunersen presents to change the way Dravet syndrome is treated. Just as exciting to me is the opportunity to play a role in helping the team expand this unique approach to upregulating protein expression to the treatment of other severe diseases of the central nervous system and the eye.”
Throughout his career, Mr. Olson has led and supported more than $15 billion in transaction value for premiere biopharma companies. Prior to joining Stoke, Mr. Olson served as Vice President, Head of Business Development at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, where he led the Company’s business development strategy, which included overseeing multiple strategic partnerships. Before joining Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Olson was Vice President, Head of Rare Disease and Immunology Global Business Development at Takeda where he led two newly-created global business development therapeutic areas subsequent to the acquisition of Shire. Mr. Olson held head and director level roles in business development at Shire, AGCT and Genzyme, and began his professional career in investment banking as well as academic research. Mr. Olson holds a MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, an MS in Cellular & Molecular Biology from New York University, and a BA in Zoology from Connecticut College.
SOURCE: Stoke Therapeutics