Board of Directors

Philippe P. Calais, Pharm D, PhD has served as a member of our board of directors since October 2018 and was elected chairman of the board in January 2021. Dr. Calais has over 30 years of biotech and pharmaceutical industry experience both in North America and Europe, and is the President, Chief Executive Officer and Director at MatriSys Bioscience, Inc. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Phileas Pharma, Inc., an oligonucleotide company he founded in May 2019. Previously, Dr. Calais served as the president and chief executive officer of Isarna Therapeutics B.V., a developer of oligonucleotide therapeutics in Germany, the Netherlands and the United States from March 2012 to June 2018. Dr. Calais was a director of CohBar, Inc. (Nasdaq: CWBR) from June 2018 to June 2020 and was the company’s interim CEO from December 2019 to May 2019. Prior to Isarna Therapeutics, Dr. Calais was the President and CEO of Univalor, a Canadian technology transfer organization, from April 2011 to February 2012. He is also an Economic Advisor to the French government since 2013. Dr. Calais served as Chief Executive Officer, President and Director of Ambrilia Biopharma, Inc., (TSE: AMB) from January 2008 to July 2009. He served as President Global Business of Neurochem Inc from January 2003 to December 2007, focusing on corporate strategic positioning and company deployment. He served as Chairman of the Board of Neurochem International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Neurochem inc. (Nasdaq: NRMX) from March 2003 to December 2007. He was an Independent Director at Marina Biotech, Inc. (OTCBB: MRNX) from January 2017 until May 2018, and its Lead Independent Director since October 2017. He served as a board member of Autotelic Inc. from June 2016 to June 2018. He served as Director of Canada’s Research Based Pharmaceutical Companies from 2002 to 2011; the Cité des Biotechs de Laval from February 2002 to February 2012; Cognisense from December 2010 to February 2012 and Medpharmgene from January 2011 to February 2012. Dr. Calais holds a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and a Doctor of Pharmacy from the Universite Francois-Rabelais in Tours, France.

Erik Manting, PhD has served on our board of directors since December 2020. Dr. Manting served as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of DCPrime BV, an immuno-oncology company based in the Netherlands, from March 2018 until DCPrime’s December 2020 merger with Immunicum AB, a listed Swedish biotechnology company. Dr. Manting currently serves as Chief Business Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Immunicum and Managing Director of DCPrime. He has also served as a supervisory board member of Synerkine Pharma BV, a pharmaceutical company, since March 2019 and as founder of BioEntrepreneuer BV, a consulting company, since September 2017. Prior to that, he served as executive director of life sciences and healthcare at Kempen & Co, an investment bank, from October 2012 to September 2017.

Magda Marquet, PhD has served on our board of directors since January 2021. Dr. Marquet is an experienced life sciences entrepreneur who has built, led and commercialized multiple life sciences companies. She has served as co-founder and co-chief executive officer of ALMA Life Sciences LLC, an early-stage healthcare investment firm, since 2013. Dr. Marquet also has been a co-founder of AltheaDx, a biotechnology company, since 2009. Dr. Marquet previously served as the co-founder and chairman of Althea Technologies, a biotechnology company, from 2009 to 2019, and previously served as its co-president and co-chief executive officer from 1998 to 2009. Prior to starting Althea Technologies, Dr. Marquet held several positions in product development and pharmaceutical development in companies such as Vical and Amylin Pharmaceuticals. She currently serves on the board of directors of Arcturus Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ARCT) and AnaptysBio (Nasdaq: ANAB) and several private companies. She also served on the board of Pfenex Inc. (Nasdaq: PFNX) from March 2019 until its acquisition by Ligand Pharmaceuticals in October 2020. In addition, she is the chairperson of the boards of Micronoma, Matrisys Biosciences and ProciseDx. Dr. Marquet holds a Ph.D in Biochemical Engineering from INSA/University of Toulouse, France.

Thomas A. Fitzgerald, MBA has served as Chief Financial Officer and Director of TransCode since July 2018 (initially part-time and substantially full-time since January 2020). From August 2006 to December 2018 (the last 15 months on a half-time basis), he served as Chief Financial Officer of Velico Medical, Inc. Prior to Velico Medical, his experience included serving as founding Managing Director of the Corporate Finance/Investment Banking unit of Leerink Partners (f/k/a Leerink Swann & Company), a healthcare investment banking firm. Mr. Fitzgerald served in the U.S. Army, including nearly two years as an airborne-qualified infantry officer. He received an A.B. in Economics with Honors from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration.