GUILFORD, Conn., Feb. 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AI Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for rare diseases, today announced the appointment of Brigette Roberts, M.D. as Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Roberts brings more than 20 years of experience in healthcare investment and biotechnology entrepreneurship to AI Therapeutics, which is part of 4Catalyzer, a Connecticut-based biotechnology accelerator founded by Dr. Jonathan Rothberg.
“AI Therapeutics has a tremendous opportunity to help advance drug treatments for underserved patients suffering from rare diseases. There are over 7,000 known rare diseases, which collectively impact more than 25 million Americans,” said Dr. Roberts. “The vast majority of these diseases have no approved therapeutic options and disproportionately affect children, often leading to early death. I am honored to lead AI Therapeutics, as we work diligently to improve the prognosis for these patients, one disease at a time.”
Serving as acting chief executive since May 2021, Dr. Roberts has fortified AI Therapeutics’ founding mission of bringing life-saving drugs to patients with rare diseases, raising more than $28 million in private investment capital to advance the Company’s product pipeline. Under her leadership, the company initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial for a first-in-class therapy to treat patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)1, and set the groundwork for multiple Phase 2 studies with a novel therapeutic approach for pulmonary sarcoidosis, bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)2.
“We are extremely fortunate that Dr. Roberts has chosen to bring her talent and energy to AI Therapeutics,” stated Dr. Murat Gunel, Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery and Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Yale University and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of AI Therapeutics. “As an investor and entrepreneur, she has a proven track record of identifying and cultivating promising biotechnology companies. I am confident that her expertise, commitment and drive will bring our transformative therapies forward to patients in need.”
About Brigette Roberts, M.D.
Dr. Roberts joined AI Therapeutics after serving as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Fortress Biotech. Prior to this, she spent over fifteen years in healthcare investing as a portfolio manager at hedge funds including Third Point, CDP Capital, Angel Lane Principal Strategies, DKR Capital and her own hedge fund, YYC Capital, which landed her on the Fortune “40 under 40: Ones to Watch” list. Over her investment career, she conducted activist work in several biotechnology companies, including Ligand Pharmaceuticals where she served as a Board Member. Dr. Roberts holds an M.D. degree from NYU and a B.A. degree in Physics and Chemistry from Harvard.
About AI Therapeutics
AI Therapeutics was founded by Dr. Jonathan Rothberg, serial entrepreneur and Recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation for inventing high speed “Next-Gen” DNA sequencing, with the goal of utilizing artificial intelligence to accelerate the clinical development of drugs for rare diseases. The company is building out an expansive rare disease pipeline with the help of its Guardian Angel™ Platform, a suite of artificial intelligence tools that use deep learning to understand complex disease biology and the action of potential new therapeutics. To learn more, visit: AI-Therapeutics.com.
About 4Catalyzer
AI Therapeutics is part of biotechnology accelerator 4Catalyzer, which has launched Butterfly Network, Quantum-Si, Hyperfine and Liminal Sciences, Detect, Tesseract, and Protein Evolution. All of the 4Catalyzer companies strive to transform 21st century medicine and improve our planet by solving today’s most challenging problems across life science research tools, medical devices, therapeutics and the environment. To learn more, visit: 4Catalyzer.com.
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1 AIT-101 is a first-in-class, highly selective PIKfyve kinase inhibitor currently being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with ALS.
2 LAM-001 is the first inhaled formulation of rapamycin, under development for the treatment of pulmonary sarcoidosis, BOS, and PAH.
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