On July 27, 2020 Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNA), a biopharmaceutical company pioneering a new class of oligonucleotide-based therapies called Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOCs), reported the appointment of Jae Kim, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer (Press release, Avidity Biosciences, JUL 27, 2020, View Source [SID1234562399]). In his new role, Dr. Kim will be responsible for leading and expanding Avidity’s AOC pipeline and will serve as a key member of its executive management team.
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"We are very pleased that Jae is joining Avidity as we continue to build a leading RNA-targeted therapeutics company," said Sarah Boyce, President and CEO of Avidity. "His extensive experience developing monoclonal antibodies and oligonucleotides for a range of serious diseases, including orphan indications, will be invaluable as we progress our AOCs for muscle diseases and other tissue types toward the clinic."
Dr. Kim joins Avidity from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he served as Clinical Research Head, Chair of the Clinical Trial Review Board, and Vice President of Clinical Development. He oversaw the development of multiple clinical assets across several therapeutic areas and played a key role in the development and approval of Givlaari (givosiran) for acute hepatic porphyria. Prior to Alnylam, he served in roles of increasing responsibility in global development at MyoKardia, Inc. and Amgen. Dr. Kim received his Bachelor of Arts in Neurobiology Magna Cum Laude from Cornell University and his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College. He completed his post-doctoral fellowship in Genetics at Harvard Medical School and his clinical training in cardiovascular disease at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Kim is a board-certified cardiologist, was an NIH-funded Principal Investigator, and served on the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital before joining industry.
"The advent of conjugation methods to expand the therapeutic application of oligonucleotides is an important step forward in the field of RNA-targeted therapeutics," said Dr. Kim. "Avidity’s AOC therapeutics could have broad utility by accessing previously undruggable tissue and cell types, which give us the potential to transform the lives of patients living with serious diseases, who currently have no available treatment options. Avidity has made great progress on its technology and I look forward to joining the team to advance a meaningful portfolio of AOCs through clinical development."