Sporos Bioventures Appoints Amit Rakhit, M.D. as Chief Executive Officer

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sporos Bioventures, LLC, a private biotechnology company catalyzing the rapid development of breakthrough therapies through a portfolio of companies that target novel disease mechanisms in cancer, fibrosis, inflammation, and immune-related diseases, today announced the appointment of Amit Rakhit, M.D., M.B.A. as chief executive officer. Dr. Rakhit joins Sporos from Ovid Therapeutics, where he served as president and chief medical officer.

“Innovation in our industry comes from the global intersection of science, business and bold vision. Sporos is a rising force in this journey, and I am thrilled to lead and grow this talented team,” said Amit Rakhit, M.D. “Sporos has embarked on a phase of explosive growth as a result of the team’s ability to identify promising new therapeutic targets internally through the company’s in-house biodiscovery engine and externally through strategic additions of new portfolio businesses focused on world-class research. Sporos is at a critical inflection point in its development and I look forward to accelerating the development of impactful medicines through the unique Sporos model.”

“Dr. Rakhit’s extensive leadership in the life sciences industry will be invaluable in furthering Sporos’ vision of accelerating the development of new medicines by addressing inefficiencies and risk in the establishment of new biotech companies,” said Michael Wyzga, M.B.A., Chair of the Board of Directors and founding chief financial officer. “Our businesses have made considerable breakthroughs in treatments for cancer and immune diseases to-date and we look forward to Dr. Rakhit’s leadership and breadth of experience as we broaden our efforts to bring impactful new medicines to patients and their families.”

Dr. Rakhit brings more than two decades of clinical and operational experience to support the launch and advancement of new companies based on novel modalities. Most recently, Dr. Rakhit served as president and chief medical officer at Ovid Therapeutics Inc. Prior to Ovid, he held multiple leadership roles at Biogen, Inc., including senior vice president and head of worldwide medical. Prior to Biogen, Dr. Rakhit spent nearly ten years at Bristol-Myers Squibb in roles of increasing seniority in the US and abroad in global clinical development and international medical affairs. Dr. Rakhit holds an M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine, M.S. from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, M.B.A. from Columbia University School of Business and M.B.A. from London Business School. He completed his clinical fellowship in pediatric cardiology and then served at The Children’s Hospital, Boston.

“As Sporos continues to grow within the vibrant Houston biotech hub and beyond, we firmly believe that Dr. Rakhit's career-long commitment to putting the needs and the voice of the patient first perfectly aligns with our culture and vision for the future,” said Ronald DePinho, M.D., Sporos co-founder, Chair of Sporos’ Strategic Advisory Board and Professor, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. “With experts and advisors collaborating diligently at every level of our business as we tap into our extensive academic, clinical, and business network, we are poised to accelerate drug development in cancer and immune diseases, the goal we envisioned when Sporos was first created.”

About Sporos Bioventures
Sporos Bioventures is a private biopharmaceutical company that aims to transform the drug development process by focusing on key mechanisms and targets of disease to accelerate drug discovery research to early clinical stage assets using a centralized infrastructure. Programs are discovered and developed by Sporos portfolio companies or by the internal Sporos biodiscovery group, which focuses on small molecules and antibody therapeutics. The Company identifies novel disease mechanisms and strategically deploys people, capital, and access to operational resources to catalyze the development of breakthrough medicines. Sporos’ current pipeline is diversified across four entities and includes multiple clinical-stage candidates that are being investigated for the treatment of multiple indications in cancer and immune disease. Sporos provides centralized expertise, resources, and core infrastructure so that the portfolio companies can focus primarily on their research development programs. Sporos is headquartered in Houston with offices in New York and Boston.