Avanish Vellanki will lead Garuda Therapeutics into a new era of developing off-the-shelf hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) therapies to treat a broad range of severe and life-threatening diseases
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Garuda Therapeutics (Garuda), a biotechnology company pioneering off-the-shelf, blood stem cell therapies, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Avanish Vellanki, M.B.A. as President, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a director on the Board, effective today, March 3, 2025. Mr. Vellanki succeeds interim CEO, Dr Adam Craig, M.D., Ph.D., MBA, who will remain in an independent capacity on the Board of Directors at Garuda.
“Following a thorough search process, we are pleased to announce that Avanish Vellanki will lead Garuda as President and CEO,” said Eric Aguiar, M.D., Chairman of the Board of Directors. “Avanish has extensive experience in building companies with an enduring focus on patients. His leadership will play a significant role in driving Garuda’s novel hematopoietic stem cell therapy technology. On behalf of the Board, I would also like to thank Dr. Craig for the stability and professional management he brought to the company during this period.”
“The quality of the technology platform at Garuda is like nothing I have seen in my career, with the potential to eliminate the need for stem cell donors. The opportunity for an off-the-shelf solution to reset bone marrow function is extraordinarily far-reaching,” said Mr. Vellanki. “It is a privilege to join Garuda at this pivotal time, and I’m excited to help build the company as it moves closer to clinically validating the potential of its platform.”
“It has been an honor to act as interim CEO of Garuda. I am proud to hand over the reins to Avanish, who possesses the leadership and strategic vision to propel Garuda to new milestones,” stated Dr. Adam Craig. “I am confident Garuda will continue to innovate and thrive under Avanish’s leadership.”
About Avanish Vellanki, M.B.A.
Avanish Vellanki was most recently the cofounder, Chairman and CEO of Rain Oncology and brings over 20 years of experience across the healthcare and investment banking sectors and began his career on Wall Street at Bear, Stearns & Co. in 2004 in equity research, covering small/mid-cap biotechnology companies. Following his time at Bear, Stearns, Avanish transitioned to Global Healthcare Investment Banking at Citigroup where he focused on large-cap global biopharmaceutical strategic and financing transactions. He subsequently moved to industry, joining Proteolix in 2009 prior to its acquisition by Onyx Pharmaceuticals, where he helped develop carfilzomib (Kyprolis®) for patients with multiple myeloma. Prior to founding Rain, Avanish was Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer at Aptose Biosciences. Avanish holds a B.A. from Carleton College, a M.B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Minnesota and a M.B.A. from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.
About Garuda Therapeutics
Garuda Therapeutics seeks to eliminate the need for stem cell donors for blood stem cell transplants. Garuda’s proprietary off-the-shelf hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) therapies enable self-renewing, HLA compatible and transgene-free HSCs, available immediately for patients. An immediately available, off-the-shelf option for patients could provide much needed strategies in a multitude of blood disorders across oncology, autoimmune indications, rare heme disorders and inborn errors of metabolism by effectively resetting bone marrow function. https://garudatx.com/
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