Alltrna Announces Formation of Scientific Advisory Board with World-Leading RNA Experts

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Mar 16, 2022, 08:00 ET

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alltrna, a Flagship Pioneering company unlocking transfer RNA (tRNA) biology and pioneering tRNA therapeutics to regulate the protein universe and resolve disease, today announced the formation of Alltrna's Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) with leading experts in RNA biology and therapeutics. The SAB will work closely with Alltrna's leadership team as they map tRNA biology to systematically design tRNA medicines and encode a completely new, unifying approach to treating both rare and common human diseases driven by shared genetic mutations.

Alltrna’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) comprises leading experts in RNA biology and therapeutics. The SAB will work closely with Alltrna’s leadership team as they map tRNA biology to systematically design tRNA medicines and encode a completely new, unifying approach to treating both rare and common human diseases driven by shared genetic mutations.

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"We are honored to have these remarkable and accomplished scientific leaders join Alltrna's Scientific Advisory Board," said Lovisa Afzelius, Ph.D., Origination Partner at Flagship Pioneering and Founding CEO of Alltrna. "Each person has made significant contributions and pioneered breakthroughs in RNA research and therapeutics, and together, they will be a powerhouse of expertise and experience for Alltrna, as we leverage our deep understanding of tRNA biology and its diverse combinatorial modifications to systematically design, program, and deliver tRNAs to correct disease."

"I've been working closely with Alltrna over the past couple years as the team has built a truly remarkable platform to unlock the entire tRNA biology space with an unprecedented therapeutic opportunity to help millions of patients with both rare and common diseases," said Rachel Green, Ph.D., Chair of Alltrna's SAB. "I'm delighted that these world leaders in RNA biology and therapeutic development have joined Alltrna's SAB at this pivotal time in the company's growth and look forward to working together to help Alltrna realize the enormous potential of tRNA biology as a novel framework and source for new programmable medicines."

Alltrna Scientific Advisory Board Members

Rachel Green, Ph.D., Chair, is an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. During her doctoral research at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Green developed in vitro selection approaches that are broadly used for the analysis of functional RNAs in many systems. Her current research focuses on mechanisms of mRNA translation and its regulation. Dr. Green is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). In addition to Alltrna, she serves on the SAB for Moderna and Initial Therapeutics.

Tracy Johnson, Ph.D., is a HHMI Professor and Dean of Life Sciences and Senior Associate Dean at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She has more than 25 years of experience studying the biochemistry of RNA. Her laboratory utilizes a combination of molecular genetics, bioinformatic, and biochemical approaches to understand mechanisms of gene regulation, particularly RNA splicing and chromatin modification, and the intersection between these reactions. Dr. Johnson has received numerous awards, including the National Science Foundation's CAREER and PECASE awards and the 2022 Ruth Kirschstein Diversity in Science Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Anastasia Khvorova, Ph.D., is a Professor in the RNA Therapeutics Institute and Program in Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Chan Medical School, where her lab develops novel approaches and solutions to understanding natural and therapeutic RNA trafficking and delivery. She founded the UMass Nucleic Acid Chemistry Core, the only nonprofit facility in North America capable of gram-scale synthesis of modified oligonucleotides. Prior to UMass, Dr. Khvorova served as Chief Scientific Officer at Dharmacon, ThermoFisher, and RXi Pharmaceuticals. She is inventor on more than 150 patents and 200 patent applications and has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, defining the field of RNAi drug design and development.

Melissa Moore, Ph.D., is the Chief Scientific Officer, Scientific Affairs at Moderna, where she leads mRNA biology, delivery, and computation science research. Previously, she was a Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Pharmacology and a HHMI Investigator at the UMass Chan Medical School, where she was instrumental in creating a faculty-led program to facilitate the translation of discoveries into drugs, products, technologies, and companies. Her 23-year career in academic research focused on the roles of RNA and RNA-protein complexes in regulating gene expression, and her research touched on many human diseases. Dr. Moore is an elected member of AAAS and NAS, and she received the RNA Society Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.

About Alltrna

Alltrna unlocks tRNA biology to correct disease. The company's platform incorporates AI/ML tools to learn the tRNA language and deliver diverse programmable molecules with broad therapeutic potential. Alltrna has an unprecedented opportunity to advance a single tRNA medicine to unify treatment across a wide range of diseases with the same underlying genetic mutation. Alltrna was founded in 2018 by Flagship Pioneering. For more info, visit www.alltrna.com.

About Flagship Pioneering

Flagship Pioneering conceives, creates, resources, and develops first-in-category bioplatform companies to transform human health and sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, the firm has, through its Flagship Labs unit, applied its unique hypothesis-driven innovation process to originate and foster more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in more than $140 billion in aggregate value. To date, Flagship has deployed over $2.6 billion in capital toward the founding and growth of its pioneering companies alongside more than $19 billion of follow-on investments from other institutions. The current Flagship ecosystem comprises 42 transformative companies, including Axcella Health (Nasdaq: AXLA), Codiak BioSciences (Nasdaq: CDAK), Denali Therapeutics (Nasdaq: DNLI), Evelo Biosciences (Nasdaq: EVLO), Foghorn Therapeutics (Nasdaq: FHTX), Indigo Ag, Kaleido Biosciences (Nasdaq: KLDO), Moderna (Nasdaq: MRNA), Omega Therapeutics (Nasdaq: OMGA), Rubius Therapeutics (Nasdaq: RUBY), Sana Biotechnology (Nasdaq: SANA), Seres Therapeutics (Nasdaq: MCRB), and Sigilon Therapeutics (Nasdaq: SGTX).