NEW YORK– Yarrow Biotechnology, Inc., an RTW-incubated company developing antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapeutics for severe, genetically defined CNS diseases, today announced the appointment of Dr. Mark T. Keating as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Keating joins Yarrow from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Vice President and Distinguished Fellow and led multiple programs for extrahepatic delivery of ASO therapeutics, including for CNS disorders.
“I’m so pleased to be joining the team at Yarrow,” said Dr. Keating. “I firmly believe in the company’s ambition to tackle some of the most devastating CNS diseases through ASO therapy and am excited to play a key role in shaping the journey.”
Dr. Keating has more than 30 years of experience in drug discovery and development across various therapeutic areas. Prior to his role at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Keating served as Vice President and Global Head of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases at Novartis. He played an integral role in the development of Entresto, Novartis’ third largest medicine, and oversaw the discovery and development of more than ten programs that are now in late-stage clinical trials. Earlier in his career, Dr. Keating served as a Howard Hughes Investigator at Harvard Medical School and University of Utah, where his laboratory produced many seminal findings on long QT syndrome (LQTS), discovered LQTS genes such as HERG, and developed the first HERG assay. Dr. Keating is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
“We are thrilled to have Mark join our team. He is a tremendous scientist and leader with a stellar track record in drug development,” said Peter Fong, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Yarrow Biotechnology and Head of Company Creation at RTW. “His expertise is tightly aligned with Yarrow’s vision and will help us bring impactful medicines to patients.”
