Verge Genomics Appoints Jane Rhodes, Ph.D., M.B.A. as Chief Business Officer

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Verge Genomics, a biotechnology company utilizing human genomics to develop effective therapeutics for CNS disorders, today announced the appointment of Jane Rhodes, Ph.D., M.B.A. as its Chief Business Officer. In this role, Dr. Rhodes will lead the business and strategy functions and serve as a member of the Executive Leadership Team.

Dr. Rhodes brings more than 23 years of drug discovery, company building, and business strategy leadership in the biotechnology industry. Dr. Rhodes most recently served as Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Strategy at FORMA Therapeutics, where she spearheaded the establishment of an emerging neuro-therapeutic area through a network of strategic partnerships. Prior to that, Dr. Rhodes spent 18 years at Biogen, where she held positions of increasing responsibility across both scientific program leadership and new strategic initiatives with oversight for programs from pre-clinical through regulatory submission, approval and commercialization.

"The addition of Jane to our leadership team reflects our growing commitment to partnerships that can maximize the utility of our platform for patients suffering from complex diseases," said Alice Zhang, CEO and co-founder of Verge Genomics. "Jane has a stellar record as both a neuroscientist and strategic business leader. Her cross-functional company building, drug hunting, and business experience will accelerate our vision of leveraging machine learning to more effectively bring medicines to patients in need."

During her tenure at Biogen, Dr. Rhodes' notable achievements include founding the Value Based Medicine (VBM) Innovation Hub. As Senior Director of New Initiatives, Dr. Rhodes led efforts to develop digital assessment tools that are now used as standard of care in neurology clinics across the US and Europe. This work prompted Dr. Rhodes to co-found Qr8 Health, a software development company pioneering the development of patient assessment tools for the measurement of neurological and motor function.

"Having witnessed the challenges of CNS drug development first-hand, I believe that the next breakthrough requires a truly bold approach," said Dr. Rhodes. "As our understanding of both human genomics and neurobiology continue to advance, we have a remarkable opportunity to change the way we discover and develop new drugs. Verge has the right people, the right science, and the right culture to shift the paradigm to deliver treatments faster to patients that need them now. I am thrilled to be working with Alice and her exceptional team to help realize the transformative potential of Verge's platform."

Dr. Rhodes holds a doctorate in neuropharmacology from the University of Manchester and an M.B.A. from Babson College. In addition to these credentials, she is a sponsor and advocate at the Arlington Academy of Hope, which partners with communities in rural Uganda.

Dr. Rhodes joins Verge Genomics during a period of significant productivity having progressed the lead program from target ID to lead optimization in less than 18 months, and built a robust pipeline in multiple diseases. The company aims to expand its preclinical pipeline and to pursue strategic partnerships towards its goal of developing new medicines for patients in need.

About Verge Genomics:
Verge Genomics is a next-generation biopharmaceutical company that uses machine learning algorithms on patient data to develop new drugs for CNS diseases. Instead of focusing on one gene, their platform surveys hundreds of genes to find new, better intervention points. Their vision is to build an "all-in-human" therapeutics engine that will deliver treatments for neurological diseases with high unmet needs including Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, and ALS. Verge Genomics was launched in 2018 with a Series A of $32M funded by DFJ, WuXi AppTec, ALS Investment Fund, and Agent Capital.

Verge Genomics is headquartered in South San Francisco. Learn more at vergegenomics.com or connect on Twitter or LinkedIn.

SOURCE Verge Genomics