MEDFORD, Mass.– Morphoceuticals Inc., a new biotechnology company pioneering AI-guided electroceuticals for tissue repair and organ regeneration, today announced the appointment of veteran biotech executive Jim Jenson, PhD, as CEO. Jenson joins a growing team and will lead the company as it advances its novel regenerative medicine technology platform. Morphoceuticals is building the first map of the druggable bioelectrome.
Jenson has more than 35 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, as both an entrepreneur and executive leader. He most recently served as the Co-founder and CEO of CytoSite Biopharma Inc., which develops new technology to predict and monitor responses to immuno-oncology therapy. Jenson was CEO and Co-founder of Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a developer of RNAi-based therapeutics, which Novo Nordisk acquired in 2021 for $3.3 billion. Jenson was CEO and Co-founder of Zapaq Inc., which later merged with another company to form CoMentis. The company’s brain-accessible beta-secretase enzyme inhibitor for use in treating Alzheimer’s disease was licensed to Astellas in one of the largest deals of its kind. Jenson also served in a variety of roles at Procept, Triton/Berlex (acquired by Schering A.G.), and Hoffmann-LaRoche. He holds a PhD in Biology and Biochemistry from Cornell University and a BA in Biology from Macalester College.
“It’s an honor to join the vastly talented group of individuals at Morphoceuticals and Tufts University who have identified methods of leveraging ancient biology toward next generation regenerative medicine,” said Jenson. “Building on the extraordinary foundation laid by Drs. Michael Levin and David Kaplan, we will harness the power of endogenous non-neural bioelectric circuits into technology that can expedite solutions to complex healthcare challenges by creating the first map of the druggable bioelectrome.”
“We are fortunate to welcome Jim at a time when interest in regeneration is proliferating and during a transformational period for our business,” said Alexander Pickett, Managing Director at Juvenescence and member of Morphoceuticals Board of Directors. “With his breadth of experience in emerging life sciences companies, Jim has the strategic capability to bring Morphoceuticals’ ambitious vision to reality.”
The ‘bioelectrome’ refers to electrical networks throughout the body, powered by ions rather than electrons as in metal wires. These electrical networks are the cognitive glue that binds multi-cellular collectives together to a common purpose, processing information that controls tissue repair and organ regeneration.
Morphoceuticals is leveraging the groundbreaking work of Michael Levin, Vannevar Bush Professor of Biology in the School of Arts and Sciences, and David Kaplan, Stern Family Endowed Professor of Engineering in the School of Engineering, both of Tufts University, who successfully demonstrated limb regeneration in an African clawed frog in early 2022, becoming the first to achieve functional limb regeneration in an adult animal of a species that does not naturally regenerate complex limbs in adulthood. The company has secured $10 million in seed funding from Juvenescence and Prime Movers Lab.
