New York — Rumi Scientific (“Rumi”), a developer of therapies for rare and neurodegenerative diseases discovered using its high throughput organoid phenotypic screening platform, announced the appointment of Allen Fienberg, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Board of Directors.
“Our human organoid-based high throughput drug discovery platform has already identified multiple molecules and targets warranting further development,” said Ali H. Brivanlou, Ph.D., co-founder of Rumi Scientific, and the Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn Professor and head of the Laboratory of Synthetic Embryology at The Rockefeller University. “Having reached this point, it became clear that a CEO with expertise in advancing preclinical programs to clinical-stage candidates was needed to drive our continued progress. Allen’s extensive neuroscience research and drug development experience positions him ideally to lead the advancement of our lead program in Huntington’s disease (HD) and of our earlier-stage programs in autism spectrum disorder and Alport syndrome. On behalf of the Rumi Scientific team, I am pleased to welcome Allen to the Company and look forward to its ongoing evolution under his leadership.”
Dr. Fienberg joined Rumi after serving for more than 20 years as Vice President of Business Development at Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc. (ITI), which he co-founded in 2002. While at ITI, he was responsible for all business development activities along with various preclinical science initiatives. As a co-founder Dr. Fienberg also participated in early-stage fundraising, investor relations, legal and various administrative functions. From 1999-2001, Dr. Fienberg was a staff scientist at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation and was appointed a Research Assistant Professor at The Rockefeller University from 2001-2002. Dr. Fienberg earned his A.B. degree in Genetics from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Ph.D. in Human Genetics from Yale University. He completed post-doctoral studies at The Rockefeller University under the direction of the late Dr. Paul Greengard from 1991-1999.
“What attracted me to Rumi was their highly innovative, phenotype-based drug discovery capabilities based on their unique high throughput organoid screening platform,” said Dr. Fienberg. “The platform evaluates drug-induced changes in phenotypes observed in neural organoids, rather than employing the traditional approach of identifying targets against which molecules are then tested. The platform has already identified molecules with the potential to impact several underlying pathological processes in HD. The platform is adaptable to almost any disease and thus has tremendous potential. I look forward to working with the talented team at Rumi to advance this and other potential therapeutic candidates.”
About Rumi Scientific
Rumi Scientific’s mission is to identify and develop novel therapeutics for rare and neurodegenerative diseases by employing its revolutionary synthetic human tissue platform to produce more predictive data leading to a safe and faster clinical trial process. The Company’s lead program is an orally available bromodomain-containing protein 9 (BRD9) inhibitor in lead optimization for the treatment of Huntington’s disease. Founded in 2016, Rumi licensed foundational technology from The Rockefeller University developed by co-founders Ali H. Brivanlou, Ph.D., and Eric D. Siggia, Ph.D. For more information on Rumi Scientific, please see www.rumiscientific.com or contact [email protected].
Contact:
Allen Fienberg, Ph.D.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
[email protected]
Fred Etoc, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
[email protected]
Investor
Burns McClellan
Lee Roth / Cameron Radinovic
[email protected] / [email protected]