Specific Biologics Strengthens Scientific Advisory Board with Appointment of Tirtha Chakraborty, Ph.D. and Mike Nicholson, Ph.D.

Specific Biologics is an early-stage biotechnology company developing its proprietary two-site Dualase^® platform gene editors to build a pipeline of treatments for serious genetic diseases.

TORONTO, July 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Specific Biologics Inc. ("Specific"), a venture-backed, early-stage genome editing company, is pleased to announce it has appointed Tirtha Chakraborty, Ph.D. and Mike Nicholson, Ph.D. to its scientific advisory board (SAB).

"We are thrilled to have Drs. Chakraborty and Nicholson join the SAB," said Brent Stead, Ph.D., MBA, CEO of Specific "Their expertise will be incredibly valuable as we advance our Dualase^® gene editors toward the clinic. Together with current members Drs. David Edgell and Amy Wong, Specific has a world-class team of experts to realize the potential of Dualase gene editors for patients suffering from serious genetic diseases."

Dr. Chakraborty's deep experience in leading research groups to develop genome editing and RNA therapeutics will help Specific to reach the next stage of its development. "I am excited by the unique potential of the Dualase gene editing platform to efficiently and precisely repair disease-causing mutations in the body as this is a promising new frontier for genome editing for difficult to engineer tissue types," said Dr. Chakraborty. "The Specific team is tackling areas of acute medical need where Dualase gene editors would be well differentiated from existing treatments."

Dr. Nicholson brings strong expertise in gene editing technologies and their development for therapeutics. "I have spent many years in the field of gene editing and have seen the evolution of gene editors for clinical applications throughout my career," said Dr. Nicholson. "Dualase gene editors are an exciting advancement that help address challenges and limitations of current gene editing technologies in many therapeutic areas."

Dr. Chakraborty is currently Chief Scientific Officer of Vor Bio, an engineered hematopoietic stem cell therapy company that aims to transform the lives of cancer patients. Prior to Vor Bio, he served as the Vice President of Cell Therapy Research at Sana Biotechnology and was the Head of Hematology at CRISPR Therapeutics, where his team's work on hemoglobin disorders paved the way for the first clinical trial for the CRISPR industry. Before CRISPR, Dr. Chakraborty led synthetic mRNA platform technology research at Moderna Therapeutics.

Dr. Nicholson is currently President and Chief Operating Officer at Inceptor Bio, a company advancing a pipeline of diversified cell therapies in oncology. Previously, he spent nearly 13 years at Precision BioSciences where he held several leadership roles including Executive Director of Scientific Operations, Vice President of R&D, and Senior Vice President of Research. Dr. Nicholson played a key role in developing Precision Biosciences' novel gene editing platform and led research teams focused on allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies and gene editing-based gene therapies.

Specific Biologics Inc. ("Specific") is a venture-backed early-stage biotechnology company on a mission to develop novel gene editing technologies to treat diseases through efficient and precise genome editing. Our differentiated two-site Dualase^® platform gene editors cut DNA in a way that optimally exploits the cell's naturally occurring DNA repair pathways. This enables two genome editing outcomes, precise DNA deletions to disrupt genes or increased repair to correct genes to target new therapeutic areas for genome editing. Specific is developing a pipeline of Dualase^®-based therapeutics in areas of high unmet medical need. To learn more, visit www.specificbiologics.com.

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SOURCE Specific Biologics Inc.