Company Description

Regulus Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company created to discover, develop and commercialize microRNA therapeutics. Formed as a joint venture between Isis – a pioneer in oligonucleotide drug technologies and a leader in the field of antisense therapeutics, and Alnylam – a leader in the field of RNAi therapeutics, Regulus intends to address therapeutic opportunities that arise from abnormal expression or mutations in microRNAs. Since microRNAs regulate the expression of broad networks of genes and biological pathways, microRNA therapeutics define a new strategy to target multiple points on disease pathways. Regulus has assembled world-class scientists and the foremost authorities in the field of microRNA research to lead this new venture. In addition, Regulus has been formed combining the leading capabilities and intellectual property estates of its two parent companies. Thus, in Regulus, its founders have created the leading microRNA therapeutics company, a company that will translate one of the most important new frontiers in modern biology into an entirely new approach for innovative medicines by targeting the pathways of human disease with microRNA therapeutics.

Regulus Fact Sheet (236 kb)

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Management

Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer

Before joining Regulus, Dr. Xanthopoulos was a managing director of Enterprise Partners Venture Capital. Prior to that, he was a co-founder and served as President and Chief Executive Officer and Director of Anadys Pharmaceuticals from its inception in May 2000 to November 2006. From 1997 to 2000 he held a variety of positions at Aurora Biosciences Corporation (now Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated) including Vice President, Genomics & Molecular Biology. Dr. Xanthopoulos participated in The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Human Genome Project and was a Section Head of the National Human Genome Research Institute at NIH from 1995 to 1997. He was an Associate Professor of Molecular Biology at the Karolinska Nobel Medical Institute, Stockholm, Sweden from 1991 to 1995, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The Rockefeller University from 1987 to 1990. An Onassis scholar, Dr. Xanthopoulos received his B.Sc. in Biology with honors from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and received both his M.Sc. in Microbiology and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Stockholm, Sweden. Dr. Xanthopoulos is a member of the board of directors of Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Odyssey Thera, Inc., and an executive board member of BIOCOM, Southern California's life science industry association, where he chairs the Capital Formation Committee.

Peter S. Linsley, Ph.D
Chief Scientific Officer

Before joining Regulus, Dr. Linsley was an Executive Director of Cancer Biology at Merck Research Laboratories. Dr. Linsley joined Merck upon its acquisition of Rosetta Inpharmatics LLC, where he held a variety of positions, most recently Vice President of Research and Development. Prior to joining Rosetta Inpharmatics, Dr. Linsley was a Director of Immunology at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he co-discovered and aided clinical development of immunomodulatory drugs abatacept (Orencia) and belatacept. Dr. Linsley conducted postdoctoral research in the department of Genetics at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. He received his Ph.D. at the Molecular Biology Institute of the University of California, Los Angeles, and his B.S. from Auburn University where he graduated magna cum laude. In addition to participating on the editorial board of several scientific research journals, including the Journal of Immunology, Dr. Linsley has published over 220 scientific publications and is an inventor on more than 35 issued U.S. patents.

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Board of Directors

• David Baltimore, Ph.D., Professor of Biology at California Institute of Technology and the recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Stanley Crooke, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Isis Pharmaceuticals
• Barry Greene, Chief Operating Officer, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
• Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Regulus Therapeutics
• John Maraganore, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
• B. Lynne Parshall, J.D., Director, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Secretary, Isis Pharmaceuticals

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Scientific Advisory Board

• David Baltimore, Ph.D., Professor of Biology at California Institute of Technology and the recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• David Bartel, Ph.D., Professor of Biology at MIT and a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
• Scott Hammond, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine
• Markus Stoffel, M.D., Ph.D., Professor for Metabolic Diseases at the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH)
• Thomas Tuschl, Ph.D., Associate Professor at the Rockefeller University
• Phillip D. Zamore, Ph.D., Gretchen Stone Cook Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Medical School

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Investors

Following an initial $10M investment by Alnylam to balance venture ownership, Regulus will be jointly funded by Alnylam and Isis.

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Partnering Opportunities

As part of its business strategy, Regulus expects to form partnerships with major pharmaceutical and other biotechnology companies.

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