Novartis' Owen Wallace to lead Fulcrum Therapeutics

Fulcrum Therapeutics has appointed Owen Wallace as its chief scientific officer in a role that will see him lead the US biotech's efforts in gene regulation.

Wallace has previously served global pharmaceutical companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), Eli Lilly and subsequently at Novartis as its head, global discovery chemistry.

He said: “I am thrilled to be joining Fulcrum in its efforts to pioneer its bold new approach to modulating gene expression to treat the fundamental causes of rare genetic diseases.”

“I look forward to leading Fulcrum’s scientific efforts to harness our understanding of the genetic basis of severe rare disorders and develop innovative new treatments for patients and their families affected by these devastating diseases.”

As part of its leadership team changes Fulcrum has also appointed Amit Hasija, who joins as its chief business officer.

He said: “Fulcrum is uniquely committed to its mission of delivering a new future to patients suffering from severe genetic diseases.

“I’m eager to guide our strategic initiatives as we work to realise the great potential of the company’s innovative product engine and bring life-changing treatments to patients in need.”

Prior to his new role, Hasija worked for Sanofi as its vice president and head integrated care and vice president and head of business development for North America.

Commenting on the two appointments, Fulcrum’s president and CEO Robert Gould said: “We are pleased to be strengthening our leadership team with these key hires.

“Owen brings more than two decades of experience in drug discovery and development across multiple disease areas, including an impressive track record of delivering innpvative compounds into clinical development.

“Amit is a respected industry leader with a wide breadth of finance, strategy and business development experience in the life sciences sector.

“Together, their deep expertise in their respective fields will prove invaluable to Fulcrum as we build and expand our product engine and advance our lead programmes.”