PureTech’s Vedanta Biosciences Appoints New Chief Scientific Officer and Expands to New Facility

Vedanta Biosciences, pioneering the development of a new class of therapies designed to modulate the human microbiome, today announced the appointment of former Genzyme group vice president, Bruce L. Roberts, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer.

Dr. Roberts has 30 years of experience in biotechnology and pharmaceutical drug discovery and development. He most recently served as head of Neuro-Immunology and Immune-Mediated Disease Research at Sanofi Genzyme where he directed pre-clinical efforts resulting in the introduction of therapeutic antibodies, gene therapies, cell therapies and small molecules into multiple clinical trials for the treatment of cancer, multiple sclerosis and autoimmunity. He directed research efforts in support of several approved products including lemtrada, aubagio, thymoglobulin, Mozobil, alemtuzumab, leukine, chlofarabine and fludarabine and contributed to the generation of ecallantide. He has authored more than fifty peer-reviewed publications and contributed to several issued patents and patent applications.

“Bruce brings decades of drug development experience across a broad range of novel biologic drug modalities and a proven track record of driving the discovery and development of multiple approved drugs in immunology,” said Bernat Olle, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Vedanta. “His experience and leadership in pioneering new drug modalities will be invaluable as we advance our pipeline of microbiome-modulating therapies.”

Vedanta Biosciences was founded by PureTech Health and a team of world renowned experts in immunology and microbiology. The company is advancing a pipeline of product candidates designed to treat autoimmune, inflammatory and infectious diseases, which have been developed using a proprietary technology platform that enables mining of the human microbiome for potent pharmaceutical products.

The Company recently expanded into new headquarters and research and development facility in Cambridge, MA, including a state-of-the-art Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility for the production of live bacterial drugs.

“Microbiome modulation is among the most exciting and rapidly evolving fields in science, and it has tremendous potential to change the way medicine is practiced,” said Dr. Roberts. “I am excited to join one of the leading teams in this field and I look forward to driving Vedanta’s technology platform and pipeline forward.”