Morphoceuticals Names Jim Jenson, PhD as CEO to Advance AI-Guided Regenerative Medicine Technology
18 April 2024 - 8:30PM
Business Wire
Company seeks to build the first map of the
druggable bioelectrome
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.
ABOUT MORPHOCEUTICALS
Morphoceuticals Inc. is a new biotech creating the first map of
the druggable bioelectrome. Using multiomics, bioelectric profiling
and artificial intelligence (AI) we can exploit the electrical
interface that exists throughout our bodies and controls tissue
repair and organ regeneration. During development, the bioelectrome
is a form of non-neural, multi-cellular cognition that knows what
tissues to build and when to stop. By understanding and
manipulating these bioelectric patterns, we can potentially rewrite
them for the treatment of patients with many conditions that are
currently inadequately addressed by existing therapeutic
modalities. For more information visit www.morphoceuticals.com.
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Media Michael Falcone Pearl Street Partners
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