Synpromics Appoints Sarah Haecker Meeks, PhD as Vice President of Business Development

EDINBURGH, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Synpromics, the leader in gene control, today announced the appointment of Sarah Haecker Meeks, PhD to the position of Vice President, Business Development. Dr. Haecker Meeks brings a deep expertise in emerging technologies and business strategy focused on the design and development of gene medicines and will lead business development for the company.

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Sarah Haeker Meeks (Photo: Business Wire)

“Sarah’s experience is an ideal fit for the Synpromics’ leadership team as we continue to enable therapeutic applications of our synthetic promoter platform,” commented Dr David Venables, Chief Executive Officer of Synpromics Ltd. “She brings the unique combination of deep technical expertise and strategic business acumen optimal for positioning and partnering Synpromics’ platform technology. We’re pleased to have her continue to build upon our nearly 20 current partnerships and support the rapidly expanding use of novel synthetic promoters and gene regulation in gene and cell therapies.”

“I am thrilled to join Synpromics to continue to drive the identification and implementation of new platform applications,” added Sarah Haecker Meeks, “I’m excited about the opportunity to contribute to a company that is poised to revolutionise the way that gene and cell medicines are designed and delivered across multiple therapeutic programmes to advance treatments for numerous diseases.”

Synpromics has also established a new US subsidiary, Synpromics Inc. and Sarah will lead business development activities from the US covering all territories.

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Notes to Editors

About Synpromics

Synpromics is the leader in gene control, improving human health by enabling safer, more effective cell and gene medicines through proprietary genomics, bioinformatics and intelligent data-driven design. The company has developed PromPT^®, its multi- dimensional bioinformatics database that enables product-specific promoter design and selection empowering the next generation of cell and gene based medicines and bioprocessing applications. The company operates in a diverse range of fields, including broad applications in cell and gene based medicine, biologics manufacturing and viral vector bioprocessing. Current partners include Biomarin, uniQure, AGTC, Solid Bio, Homology Medicines Inc, Adverum, GE Healthcare and Sartorius-Stedim Cellca, as well as numerous undisclosed partners in the pharmaceutical sector.

About Synthetic Promoters

Promoters are the natural switches that control the expression of genes into proteins, and are responsible for decoding the genome. Naturally occurring promoters have evolved for biological functions but have limitations when utilised in industrial or therapeutic applications. Synthetic promoters with DNA sequences not found in nature are designed to better regulate gene activity and precisely control protein production. Synpromics creates highly specific promoters designed to drive gene expression at the desired level and specificity in any cell type, tissue or environmental condition. Each synthetic promoter represents a novel invention and thus can be patented. For more information visit www.synpromics.com

About Dr. Haecker Meeks

Since 2016, Dr. Haecker Meeks has served as a business development consultant for Synpromics. As Chief Scientific Officer at Adjuvant Partners, she led business development and corporate strategy for numerous clients with a focus on cell and gene therapy. She helped found Cardiogen Sciences, Inc. (acquired in 2015 by Audentes Therapeutics) and was the Director, Technology Sections, at the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine managing the Gene Therapy Section and the Genome Editing Task Force. Prior to Adjuvant Partners, Sarah held the position of Vice President, Business Development for Orasi Medical, Circle Biologics and BioE. She earned a Doctorate in molecular biology and bioethics from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin with continued education at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. From 1995-2004, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship with James Wilson at the University of Pennsylvania’s Human Gene Therapy Program focused on muscle directed gene therapy as well as having served as a technology licensing manager for the UPENN Center for Technology Transfer.

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