PHILADELPHIA, PA — Aro Biotherapeutics has appointed biotechnology executive Brett Blackman to its board as the clinical-stage company seeks to expand its targeted short-interfering RNA platform into additional disease areas and advance its development pipeline.
Blackman is senior vice president, chief operating officer and chief business officer at Valo Health, where his responsibilities include corporate strategy, business development, alliance management, portfolio program management and legal affairs.
The appointment adds an executive with experience spanning drug discovery, company formation and biotechnology strategy as Aro works to broaden applications for its siRNA medicines. The Philadelphia-based company is developing therapies designed to target specific tissues for diseases with significant unmet medical needs.
Blackman cited Aro’s clinical proof-of-concept work and the potential to deploy its technology across additional commercially relevant therapeutic areas as factors in joining the board.
“The platform has already demonstrated compelling proof-of-concept validation in the clinic,” Blackman said. “I look forward to supporting Aro as it advances full deployment of this platform across strategic areas of high commercial interest.”
Before joining Valo, Blackman worked from 2016 with several biotechnology companies created by Flagship Pioneering, serving as a co-founder, operating chief scientific officer and strategic executive adviser. Those companies included Cogen Therapeutics, now Repertoire Immune Medicines, Omega Therapeutics and Evelo Biosciences.
Earlier in his career, Blackman conducted cardiovascular research at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Medical School and later became a tenured faculty member at the University of Virginia. His research produced human disease models that became the foundation for HemoShear Therapeutics, which he founded in 2008.
Aro Chief Executive Officer Purnanand Sarma identified Blackman’s experience translating scientific programs into biotechnology businesses as particularly relevant as the company moves into additional disease areas.
Blackman holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and mechanics from Drexel University and a doctorate in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in vascular biology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital and holds multiple patents.
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