Intellia Therapeutics names former Vertex exec as CSO

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based genome editing company Intellia Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NTLA) has named Laura Sepp-Lorenzino as its new executive vice president and chief scientific officer.

Dr Sepp-Lorenzino brings decades of leadership and research and development experience, and joins Intellia to head its drug research organization, said Intellia. Andrew Schiermeier, executive vice president of development and corporate strategy, will continue to lead the drug development organization.

Dr Sepp-Lorenzino’s career spans more than three decades in the biopharmaceutical industry and academia. She joins Intellia from Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: VRTX), where she was vice president, head of nucleic acid therapies, research leadership, and member of the external innovation team. At Vertex, she focused on developing an integrated nucleic acid therapies strategy through internal programs and key research collaborators. Prior to working at Vertex, Dr Sepp-Lorenzino was vice president, entrepreneur-in-residence and head of the hepatic infectious disease strategic therapeutic area at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.