CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Casebia Therapeutics, the joint venture founded by Bayer and CRISPR Therapeutics, today announced the appointment of Michael Laska, Ph.D., as Vice President of CMC Development and Manufacturing, and Ileen Winick, as Vice President of Human Resources.
“We are pleased to have Michael and Ileen join our effort to unlock the full potential of gene editing therapeutics,” said Jim Burns, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Casebia. “Michael is a recognized leader in building manufacturing processes to support the creation of novel therapeutic modalities. Ileen has a strong track record of helping to build the team needed to support the growth of innovative organizations in biotech and beyond. Together, their expertise will help shape our growth and enable us to scale to help patients with genetic disease.”
A demonstrated leader in manufacturing process development, Laska built his career guiding biological drug candidates from research through clinical development into commercial production. He joins Casebia from Moderna Therapeutics, where he served as Head of Process Development. Prior to Moderna, Laska spent more than a decade at Merck, rising through different management positions, before becoming Director of External BioProcess Development. In this role, he managed all external research and development in support of Merck’s clinical vaccine and biologic candidates. He earned his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at the University of Virginia and his doctorate in chemical engineering from MIT. As Vice President of CMC Development and Manufacturing, Laska will establish and guide the development of manufacturing processes for Casebia’s multiple gene-editing product programs.
Winick is an accomplished human resources executive who specializes in building and managing human resource functions for high growth companies in the biotechnology and software industries. Most recently, she served as Vice President, Human Resources at OvaScience, where she helped guide the company through its global launch. Previously, she was Vice President of Human Resources at NextG Networks and held leadership roles at Lucent Technologies and Genetics Institute. She earned her undergraduate degree in human resources management from the University of Cincinnati and her master’s degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University. As Vice President of Human Resources, Winick will work to strengthen Casebia’s corporate culture and ensure the company attracts, develops and maintains top talent.
About Casebia Therapeutics
Casebia Therapeutics is a novel joint venture between Bayer and CRISPR Therapeutics, focused on discovering, developing and commercializing CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing therapeutics to treat the genetic causes of bleeding disorders, autoimmune disease, blindness, hearing loss and heart disease. Formed in March 2016, Casebia has access to gene-editing technology from CRISPR Therapeutics in specific disease areas, as well as access to protein engineering expertise and relevant disease know-how through Bayer. Casebia is a free-standing entity, equally owned by Bayer and CRISPR Therapeutics, with its own scientific leadership and management team. The company’s Board of Directors has equal composition from Bayer and CRISPR Therapeutics. Casebia’s primary base of research operations is in Cambridge, MA, with a second site in San Francisco, CA.
For more information, please visit www.casebia.com.
