Editas Medicine Appoints Baisong Mei, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Medical Officer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 18, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Editas Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq: EDIT), a leading genome editing company, today announced the appointment of Baisong Mei, M.D., Ph.D., as the Company’s Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, effective immediately. Dr. Mei will lead clinical research and drug development for the Company’s pipeline of experimental medicines across all therapeutic indications, including hematology, oncology, and ophthalmology.

“We are thrilled to have Baisong join our team. He brings to Editas a proven track record of advancing innovative medicines from IND acceptance through global regulatory approval. His extensive drug development experience and deep scientific knowledge make him an ideal partner to our research organization, enabling us to strategically advance our pipeline into and through the clinic,” said Gilmore O’Neill, M.B., M.M.Sc., President and Chief Executive Officer, Editas Medicine. “We are confident Baisong’s leadership and expertise will help us achieve our near- and long-term milestones, as we progress our scientific ideas through the drug development process and into commercialized medicines to realize our goal of providing patients with life-changing treatments.”

“Editas Medicine’s blend of high-quality science, passion for developing transformative medicines, and urgency for helping patients attracted me to this role, and I am very excited to join the Editas team,” said Baisong Mei, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer, Editas Medicine. “At Editas, we have the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in patients’ lives, as we continue to advance our innovation and development efforts and work toward achieving our goal of bringing multiple transformative medicines to market.”

Dr. Mei brings to Editas more than 20 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, spanning the entire drug development life cycle across multiple disease areas, including hematology, neurology, and other diseases. During his career, Dr. Mei has demonstrated a strong track record in bringing novel medicines through clinical development and global regulatory approval, including Alprolix^®, Eloctate^®, and Onpattro^®. He has led clinical development for multiple new molecular entities (protein, siRNA, gene therapy, and small molecule), from first in human to Phase 3 studies (including pediatric studies) and to regulatory approval in the U.S., EU, Japan, China, and other regions.

Before working in clinical development, Dr. Mei had a successful career in drug discovery research and CMC development where his leadership and inventions led to the discoveries of one approved drug (Jivi^®) and one drug candidate with recent BLA filing (efanesoctocog alfa). Dr. Mei has also led several external strategic partnership collaborations for clinical development and drug discovery.

Dr. Mei joins Editas Medicine from Sanofi, where he served as Senior Global Project Head in Rare Disease and Rare Blood Disorders. His leadership was critical to the clinical development pipeline in several rare diseases in hematology, neurology, and nephrology. Prior to Sanofi, Dr. Mei was the Therapeutic Area Head for Hematology Clinical Development at Biogen. In this role, he led programs in non-malignant hematology, including hemophilia, sickle cell disease, and beta thalassemia clinical programs. Earlier in his career, Dr. Mei held leadership positions with increasing responsibilities in drug discovery research and CMC development at Biogen and Bayer.

Dr. Mei earned his Ph.D. from The University of Toledo in Ohio and received his medical education at Bengbu Medical College and Wuhan University School of Medicine in China. Dr. Mei also held postdoctoral fellowships at the University of California San Francisco and the University of California Berkeley. He was a faculty member at the Wuhan University School of Medicine in his early career.

About Editas Medicine
As a leading genome editing company, Editas Medicine is focused on translating the power and potential of the CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/Cas12a genome editing systems into a robust pipeline of treatments for people living with serious diseases around the world. Editas Medicine aims to discover, develop, manufacture, and commercialize transformative, durable, precision genomic medicines for a broad class of diseases. Editas Medicine is the exclusive licensee of Harvard and Broad Institute’s Cas9 patent estates and Broad Institute’s Cas12a patent estate for human medicines. For the latest information and scientific presentations, please visit www.editasmedicine.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "target," "should," "would," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. The Company may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including: uncertainties inherent in the initiation and completion of preclinical studies and clinical trials and clinical development of the Company’s product candidates; availability and timing of results from preclinical studies and clinical trials; whether interim results from a clinical trial will be predictive of the final results of the trial or the results of future trials; expectations for regulatory approvals to conduct trials or to market products and availability of funding sufficient for the Company’s foreseeable and unforeseeable operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements. These and other risks are described in greater detail under the caption “Risk Factors” included in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as updated by Editas Medicine’s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and in other filings that the Company may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the future. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/deebd24c-85e3-4fe6-80bd-11263c6b5974

Contacts:
Media
Cristi Barnett
(617) 401-0113

cristi.barnett@editasmed.com

Investors
Ron Moldaver
(617) 401-9052
ir@editasmed.com