Bedford, Mass. — Stoke Therapeutics has appointed Thomas McCauley, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer to lead the biotechnology company’s scientific strategy and help expand its RNA medicines pipeline.
McCauley brings more than 25 years of experience building research and development organizations and translating early scientific discoveries into clinical programs. He will oversee efforts to use Stoke’s proprietary RNA medicines platform to identify and advance potential treatments for severe genetic diseases.
“Our first investigational medicine, zorevunersen, has shown the potential to change the course of Dravet syndrome by addressing the underlying genetic cause of the disease,” said Ian F. Smith, chief executive officer and director of Stoke Therapeutics. “As we build on this proof-of-concept for our platform and expand our pipeline beyond Dravet, Tom’s leadership and deep translational expertise will help us identify and advance the best opportunities to turn novel science from our research organization into more life-changing medicines for patients.”
Zorevunersen is being developed as a potential first-in-class disease-modifying treatment for Dravet syndrome, a severe genetic epilepsy.
McCauley most recently served as president and chief executive officer of Neptune Bio. He previously served as chief scientific officer at Omega Therapeutics, Macrolide Pharmaceuticals and Translate Bio, where he led scientific platform and drug development programs.
Earlier in his career, he held leadership and scientific roles at Shire, Inotek Pharmaceuticals and Archemix Corp. During six years at Shire, he contributed to the late-stage development and global approvals of several genetic medicines for rare diseases.
“Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to drive the development of medicines across a wide range of modalities and scientific platforms. Stoke’s approach of upregulating protein expression stood out to me for its potential to transform the way many severe genetic diseases are treated,” said McCauley. “I am very impressed and energized by the progress the team has already made, including advancing a potential first-in-class disease-modifying medicine for Dravet syndrome from early research into late-stage development. I look forward to partnering with Stoke’s co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Isabel Aznarez and the broader organization to build on that foundation and help realize the full potential of this promising scientific approach.”
McCauley holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in applied and engineering physics from Cornell University and a doctorate in physics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
