– Sriram Sathyanarayanan, Ph.D. promoted to Chief Scientific Officer –
– Konstantin Konstantinov, Ph.D. named Chief Technology Officer –
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Codiak BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDAK), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on pioneering the development of exosome-based therapeutics as a new class of medicines, today announced the promotion of Sriram Sathyanarayanan, Ph.D., who has led Codiak’s preclinical research efforts for the past four years to Chief Scientific Officer. Additionally, Konstantin Konstantinov, Ph.D., who has spearheaded the company’s manufacturing and process sciences since Codiak’s inception, has been named Chief Technology Officer.
“Both Sriram and Konstantin are highly-regarded experts in their respective fields and have been instrumental in the realization of our exosome engineering platform and our significant progress as a company to date,” said Douglas E. Williams, Ph.D., CEO, Codiak. “As the architect of our lead R&D programs, Sriram is currently driving the research innovation critical to cultivating the next generation of our pipeline. With his background in oncology and immuno-oncology, he has skillfully guided two of our exosome therapeutic candidates to the clinic and a third toward IND. Konstantin’s work to build – from the ground up – a robust and reproducible exosome manufacturing process capable of producing scalable, GMP-grade therapeutics forms the backbone of our entire engEx™ platform and is setting new standards for our industry. I am delighted to work alongside these long-time colleagues as we chart the path for Codiak's next phase of growth.”
Prior to this appointment, Dr. Sathyanarayanan was Senior Vice President, Preclinical Development. In this role, he designed and led the preclinical evaluation of all of Codiak’s development programs in oncology/immuno-oncology, including exoIL-12™ and exoSTING™, which are currently in Phase 1/2 clinical trials, and exoASO™-STAT6, for which Codiak expects to file an Investigational New Drug application this year. Dr. Sathyanarayanan joined Codiak in 2017 as Vice President, Biology and Translational Sciences after spending four years developing biomarker strategies to enable clinical development of novel cancer immunotherapy agents, including JTX-2011 from inception to Phase 2 clinical development, at Jounce Therapeutics as Senior Director, Translational Sciences. He began his career in drug discovery at Merck Research Laboratories where he was responsible for building translational oncology strategy for multiple biologics and small molecules programs including Dalotuzumab and Ridaforolimus. Dr. Sathyanarayanan completed his post-doctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. in microbiology and cell biology from the Indian Institute of Science and masters and undergraduate degrees in biochemistry from PSG College.
Dr. Konstantinov most recently held the position of Executive Vice President, Manufacturing and Process Sciences. Before joining Codiak in January 2016, he was responsible for the late-stage bioprocess and technology development at Sanofi’s Boston hub, including all functions from cell banking to fill/finish/lyophilization. Prior to Sanofi, Dr. Konstantinov worked for Bayer for 14 years, advancing to the position of Head of Process Sciences. He has published 60 peer-reviewed papers and has more than 15 patents and patent applications. Over the course of his career, Dr. Konstantinov has worked on the development and commercialization of various products, including monoclonal antibodies, blood factors and enzymes expressed in mammalian cells. Most recently, he forged the development of an end-to-end integrated continuous biomanufacturing platform, which led the way for a strategic technological shift in the biomanufacturing industry worldwide. Dr. Konstantinov received his Ph.D. in biochemical engineering from Osaka University in Japan, which was followed by a post-doctoral assignment at DuPont and the University of Delaware. Dr. Konstantinov is the recipient of many awards for his contributions to the field, including most recently the American Chemical Society and AIChE’s D.I.C. Wang Award for Excellence in Biochemical Engineering.
About Codiak BioSciences
Codiak is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on pioneering the development of exosome-based therapeutics, a new class of medicines with the potential to transform the treatment of a wide spectrum of diseases with high unmet medical need. By leveraging the biology of exosomes as natural intercellular transfer mechanisms, Codiak has developed its proprietary engEx Platform to expand upon the innate properties of exosomes to design, engineer and manufacture novel exosome therapeutic candidates. Codiak has utilized its engEx Platform to generate a deep pipeline of engineered exosomes aimed at treating a broad range of disease areas, spanning oncology, neuro-oncology, neurology, neuromuscular disease and infectious disease.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, among other things, statements concerning the development and therapeutic potential of the Company’s engEx Platform, engEx product candidates and engineered exosomes generally, including future development plans, regulatory filings, data releases and timing with respect thereto. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management’s current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause our actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Codiak’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and in subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties and other important factors in Codiak’s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is current as of the date of this report, and Codiak undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.