Arbor Biotechnologies Names Devyn Smith, Ph.D., as CEO

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Arbor Biotechnologies, an early-stage life sciences company unlocking nature’s genetic diversity to enable revolutionary gene editing capabilities, today announced it has appointed Devyn M. Smith, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer. Devyn replaces David R. Cheng who has served as CEO since February 2019 and will continue in a leadership role in the company.

Dr. Smith brings significant cell and gene therapy development and platform expertise from his 20+ year career. He will join Arbor on April 27, 2021 after concluding his role as Chief Operating Officer of Sigilon Therapeutics. Prior to Sigilon, Dr. Smith worked in a variety of roles at Pfizer Inc., including COO of the UK-based Neusentis Unit focused on discovering and developing cell therapies. He received his Ph.D. in Genetics from Harvard Medical School. He is an inventor on multiple patents and has published in leading scientific journals throughout his career. Dr. Smith is a board member and officer for ARM (Alliance for Regenerative Medicine), the cell and gene therapy industry group.

“I am thrilled to lead the world class team of scientists and drug developers at Arbor as we utilize our next-generation gene editing platform to develop new therapies to transform the lives of patients suffering from disease,” said Dr. Smith. “Despite advancements in curative gene editing based therapies, limitations with current approaches remain a hurdle to leveraging this modality to its full potential. Arbor is developing a full suite of technologies to overcome industry-wide challenges and enhance efficiency, efficacy, and safety. I want to thank David for leading the company to this important inflection point and look forward to partnering with the Board and Arbor team to build and execute on this patient-focused strategy. Stay tuned for many exciting things to come from this team.”

“Arbor is the leading next-generation gene editing company, and Devyn is the ideal leader to successfully bring the company to the next level. Devyn’s deep experience in strategy and therapeutic development, along with his proven ability to execute those strategies, will enhance our ability to accelerate platform discoveries into the clinic. We are excited to have Devyn join Arbor,” said Paul Meister, Chairman of the Board of Arbor.

About Arbor Biotechnologies

Arbor Biotechnologies is an early-stage life sciences company unlocking nature’s genetic diversity to enable revolutionary gene editing capabilities. Co-founded by Feng Zhang and David Walt, Arbor is uncovering unique CRISPR enzymes that can power a wide range of applications across areas, including therapeutics and manufacturing. Arbor’s research team, along with its partners and collaborators, are using Arbor’s gene editing technologies for diverse applications across cell and gene therapy and bio-manufacturing that existing tools are unable to achieve. Following its strategic partnership with Vertex Pharmaceuticals to accelerate the path to the clinic for Arbor’s technologies, Arbor recently announced an agreement with Lonza. These partnerships further validate the breadth of applications of Arbor’s gene editing platform that can be custom tailored to individual disease targets.

Media Contact

Arbor Biotechnologies

Kelly Friendly: press@arbor.bio