Biopharmaceutical company ReCode Therapeutics announced today the appointment of Dr. Shehnaaz Suliman as chief executive officer and member of the board. She replaces David Lockhart, who will transition to the role of chief scientific officer and will remain president and a member of the board of directors.
ReCode Therapeutics – based in Menlo Park, Calif., and Dallas – is an integrated genetic medicines company developing disease-modifying therapeutics using its powerful LNP delivery technology to target organs and tissues beyond the liver. The company delivers therapies for patients with life-limiting genetic respiratory diseases such as cystic fibrosis and primary ciliary dyskinesia.
“I am excited about furthering the development of transformative therapeutics for patients with ReCode’s first in-class LNP platform and promising genetic medicines pipeline,” Suliman said. “There is vast untapped potential in RNA medicines and the delivery of genetic payloads to modify and potentially remedy a wide variety of life-limiting diseases. I am humbled to lead ReCode into its next stage of growth and look forward to partnering with Dr. Lockhart and the team to continue to execute our mission to develop a new generation of first in-class mRNA-based and gene editing therapies for patients.”
Suliman is a physician and drug developer with more than 25 years of experience building small and large biopharmaceutical companies. She most recently served as president and chief operating officer of Alector, a leading immuno-neurology and immune-oncology company. Prior to Alector, she served as senior vice president, corporate development and strategy at Theravance Biopharma, where she helped deliver a $1 billion profit sharing partnership with Janssen for the company’s lead JAK inhibitor program.
She was named one of the 2017 Fiercest Women in Life Sciences and as one of the National Diversity Council’s Power 50 in 2021 (Most Influential Women in Business). Suliman serves as an independent director on the Board of Directors of Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RARE) and 10x Genomics (NASDAQ: TXG).
Suliman received her medical degree from the University of Cape Town Medical School in South Africa and holds master’s degrees in business administration and philosophy from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
“Dr. Suliman has an exceptional track record of building and transforming small and large life science companies into leading biotechnology companies,” Lockhart said. “I am personally very excited to partner with Dr. Suliman, and we are invigorated by her arrival and look forward to leveraging her expertise as we advance our powerful LNP platform and robust pipeline of treatments for patients with life-limiting diseases.”
