Industry veteran brings proven track record in building successful businesses and leading high-performance teams across large pharmaceutical, biotech, and specialty pharma companies
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 21, 2022—QurAlis Corporation, a biotech company developing breakthrough precision medicines for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases with genetically validated targets, today announced the appointment of Anne Clem Whitaker as chair of its board of directors. Ms. Whitaker replaces founding board member Johnathan J. Fleming, who is stepping down from the company’s board.
“As we welcome Anne to her new role, I would like to thank Jonathan for the integral role he played as chairman of the board of QurAlis since our founding. His guidance has been invaluable, and we are grateful for his leadership and dedication to QurAlis,” said Kasper Roet, Ph.D., founder and CEO of QurAlis. “Anne is a world-class leader who brings deep experience and expertise in building successful businesses and leading high-performance teams across all facets of the life sciences industry. We are exceptionally privileged to have Anne join as board chair, in this critical phase in which QurAlis is transforming from a pre-clinical to a clinical stage company. I am excited to work with her and our board in advancing our goal of halting disease progression and significantly improve outcomes for patients with ALS and other serious neurodegenerative diseases.”
Ms. Whitaker is a seasoned healthcare executive and director with more than 30 years of extensive leadership and commercialization experience in pharmaceuticals, biotech, consumer products, and medical devices. She currently serves as managing partner of Anne Whitaker Group, LLC, a board and private equity advisory firm. She has held senior-level executive leadership roles at Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Bausch Health, and multiple CEO roles for private and public development-stage companies.
“QurAlis has made tremendous strides in researching and developing a new approach to treating ALS and other serious neurodegenerative diseases. With a compelling pipeline and dynamic leadership team, QurAlis has the potential to transform the CNS therapeutic landscape. I am honored to join as chair to help QurAlis achieve its vision of pioneering the path to conquering ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases with genetically validated targets with next-generation precision medicines,” said Ms. Whitaker.
Most recently, Ms. Whitaker served as CEO of Aerami Therapeutics before taking on the chair of the board position in November 2020. She also serves as an independent director on the boards of numerous public and private companies: Bryn Pharma, Caladrius Biosciences, Curio Digital Therapeutics, Faron Pharmaceuticals, Nykode Therapeutics, OraSure Technologies, ErgoMed and Trinity Life Sciences. She previously served on the boards of Cree, Mallinckrodt, KNOW Bio, Novoclem Therapeutics, Synta Pharmaceuticals, UDG Healthcare, and Vectura Group. In addition to her board work, she is an active industry advisor to private equity and venture capital funds in the U.S. and Europe.
Prior to joining Aerami, Ms. Whitaker served in multiple C-suite roles for emerging biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies. Previously, she served as the North America Pharmaceutical Region Head and president for Sanofi from 2011 to 2014, and as senior vice president from 2008 to 2011 at GSK, where she ran their cardiovascular, metabolic and urology business in the U.S. From 1992 to 2008, Ms. Whitaker held several commercial roles at GSK and a senior level global role as the senior vice president, head of the Organizational and Leadership Development Center of Excellence based in London. She started her career in the pharmaceutical industry as a pharmaceutical sales representative for the Upjohn Company. Ms. Whitaker holds a B.S. in chemistry from the University of North Alabama.
About QurAlis Corporation
QurAlis is trailblazing the path to conquering amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases with genetically validated targets with next-generation precision medicines. QurAlis’ proprietary platforms and unique biomarkers enable the design and development of drugs that act directly on disease-causing genetic alterations. Founded by an internationally recognized team of neurodegenerative biologists from Harvard Medical School and Harvard University, QurAlis is advancing a deep pipeline of antisense oligonucleotides and small molecule programs including addressing sub-forms of ALS that account for the majority of ALS patients. For more information, please visit www.quralis.com or follow us on Twitter @QurAlisCo.
Media contact:
Kathy Vincent
kathy@kathyvincent.com
310-403-8951
