Editas Medicine Appoints Lisa A. Michaels, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Editas Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq: EDIT), a leading genome editing company, today announced that it named Lisa A. Michaels, M.D., as the Company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, effective immediately. Dr. Michaels will lead clinical research and drug development for the Company’s pipeline of experimental medicines.

“We are thrilled to have Lisa join our team, bringing her ability to translate concepts from ‘bench to bedside’, with proven results in design and execution of multinational clinical trials,” said Cynthia Collins, President and Chief Executive Officer, Editas Medicine. “Her corporate and academic drug development expertise will be instrumental in advancing our mission to develop and deliver transformative medicines to people living with serious diseases.”

Lisa Michaels, M.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Editas Medicine, commented, “Editas Medicine is a leader in the development of the next generation of medicines to treat diseases with few approved medicines. I am excited to join the team as we just reacquired the rights to our ocular pipeline and are on the cusp of bringing EDIT-301, our potentially best-in-class medicine for the treatment of sickle cell disease, to the clinic. I look forward to working with the team to advance the development of EDIT-101, EDIT-301, and EDIT-201 in the near term as well as additional medicines in the future to treat serious diseases with unmet medical needs.”

Dr. Michaels has more than 25 years of experience in clinical research and drug development in both industry and academia. Dr. Michaels joins Editas Medicine from Bayer Pharmaceuticals where she spent more than 10 years in drug development, leading teams from early research and drug discovery through regulatory approval, commercial launch, and life cycle management. Most recently, she served as head of Bayer’s Rare Diseases, Cell & Gene Therapy therapeutic area.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Michaels spent more than 15 years at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University in academic practice, working in areas including benign and malignant hematology, solid tumors, bone marrow failure syndromes, thrombosis and hemostasis, and immunologic disorders including cytopenias and immune deficiencies.

Dr. Michaels received her M.D. at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville during which she received additional training in translational research in autoimmune disease, immune deficiencies, and disorders of complement, at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease in Washington, DC, and completed a preceptorship in pediatric cardiovascular care at Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Michaels completed her residency and qualification in pediatrics at Duke University and post-graduate fellowship and qualification in hematology and oncology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

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/Cpf1 (also known as 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. For the latest information and scientific presentations, please visit .

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. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements regarding the Company’s plans for EDIT-101, EDIT-301, and EDIT-201. 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 pre-clinical studies and clinical trials and clinical development of the Company’s product candidates; availability and timing of results from pre-clinical 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 Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which is on file 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.