BIOTECH: COMPANY CO-FOUNDER DR. ALAIN BARON RETIRES
Escient Pharmaceuticals Appoints Joshua Grass as New CEO
Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Photo courtesy of Escient Inside Escient’s San Diego lab, where its team is pioneering ‘elegant’ science.
Grass, who also will join the company’s board of directors, succeeds Alain Baron, M.D., who recently retired but will remain a strategic advisor to Escient through the first quarter of 2022.
“Now, with drug candidates against these targets, the company is poised to translate this science into important medicines for neuroinflammatory and immune activation diseases,” Grass added.
Biotech Vet
Prior to joining Escient, Grass most recently served as CEO of Modis Therapeutics. In 2017, Grass launched Modis with a $30 million Series A financing while working at F-Prime Capital as an Entrepreneur in Residence.
Before joining F-Prime, Grass was a member of the BioMarin senior executive management team. During his 15-year tenure at BioMarin, he led the acquisition and divestiture of many technologies and products and participated in the global development and launch of multiple products to treat rare genetic diseases.
Grass started his career in biotech as a scientist at Cerus Corp. before holding roles in finance and equity research at boutique investment banks. He holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and an MBA in finance and entrepreneurship from the William E. Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester.
“Josh’s deep industry experience and impressive track record combined with his scientific and business background and dynamic leadership style make him the right leader for Escient. We are excited to have him at the helm and welcome him to the role,” said Marcus Boehm, Ph.D., Escient’s co-founder and chief scientific officer.
“On behalf of the board of directors and the entire team at Escient, I want to thank Alain for his leadership in building a world-class company and team,” Boehm added.
With the appointment of Grass, which is effective immediately, Kathleen Sereda Glaub, board chair at Escient, said the company is “well-positioned for the next stage of growth in Mrgpr drug discovery and clinical development.”
Escient
CEO: Joshua Grass
Employees: 43
Business: Clinical-stage biotech
Website:
Headquarters: San Diego
Notable: Mrgprs are “chemosensory” receptors believed to act as surveillance detectors for offensive stimuli from both the external and internal environments.