CRISPR Therapeutics announced the appointment of Naimish Patel, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer, effective May 28, 2024. Dr. Patel is an experienced drug developer who has worked across a wide range of disease areas, including his most recent leadership role as the Global Development Therapeutic Area Head of Immunology and Inflammation at Sanofi. In addition, the Company also announced the promotion of Julianne Bruno, M.B.A., to Chief Operating Officer, effective as of May 23, 2024.

She currently serves as the Company?s Senior Vice President and Head of Programs & Portfolio Management. Dr. Patel joins CRISPR Therapeutics from Sanofi, where he most recently served as the Global Development Therapeutic Area Head of Immunology and Inflammation. Previously, he was the Global Program Head for Dupilumab at Sanofi, leading multiple waves of indication expansion including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and eosinophilic esophagitis.

During his time at Sanofi, Dr. Patel led the development of an industry-leading pipeline across key therapeutic areas including respiratory, dermatology, gastroenterology, and rheumatology. He also oversaw key business development and M&A activities during a rapid phase of pipeline expansion. Dr. Patel is a pulmonary and critical care physician with an extensive background in translational medicine and clinical trials.

Dr. Patel received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an M.D. from McGill University. He completed his internal medicine training at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital and his fellowship training in Pulmonary and Critical Medicine at Harvard Medical School. After completing his fellowship, Dr. Patel was a member of the faculty at Harvard and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where he led an NIH-funded lab in translational immunology focused on innate defense functions of the lungs.

He previously held positions in clinical development and discovery project leadership at AstraZeneca and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Julianne Bruno, M.B.A., has served as Senior Vice President and Head of Programs & Portfolio Management at CRISPR Therapeutics since March 2023. During her time at CRISPR Therapeutics since joining the Company in April 2019, she has taken on positions of increasing responsibility, including leading the hemoglobinopathies partnership with Vertex through the early clinical stage through approval.

In addition, she has been responsible for program leadership of immuno-oncology assets and the program management function across franchises. Prior to joining CRISPR Therapeutics, Ms. Bruno worked at McKinsey & Company from August 2015 to March 2019 where she was a leader in the biotech practice and served a number of biotechnology companies on a wide range of commercial topics. She received her M.B.A. from The Wharton School and also holds an A.B. from Princeton University.