Broken String Biosciences Appoints Bruce Eaton PhD as Chairman of the Board

Strengthens Board with experienced industry executive, specializing in strategic planning, organizational leadership and commercial execution

CAMBRIDGE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Broken String Biosciences, a biotechnology company enabling gene editing teams to accelerate development of safer, more effective genetic medicines, today announced the appointment of Bruce Eaton, PhD as Chairman of the Board, with immediate effect. The appointment aligns with the Company’s strategic growth objectives following recent senior leadership changes¹, to drive global commercialization of the INDUCE-seq^® platform.

Bruce has more than 30 years of experience in the biotech sector, spanning operational, business development and corporate strategy roles for both public and private companies. He is responsible for more than 80 global patents, and has founded and successfully grown multiple companies, including I2 Pharmaceuticals and Velocity Sciences. More recently, As Executive Vice President, CTO and CBO for Editas Medicine, Bruce oversaw a multidisciplinary team of more than 100 employees, driving a strategic realignment initiative whilst leading the company’s R&D program in sickle cell anemia. Now focusing his expertise in an advisory capacity, Bruce is currently Independent Director for Renova Therapeutics, and serves as a Strategic Advisor to biotech companies in Gene Therapy and AI drug discovery. Bruce holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.

As Chairman of the Board, Bruce will work closely with Broken String’s leadership team to implement a robust strategy for operational scaleup and commercial expansion for INDUCE-seq. Designed to tackle longstanding regulatory hurdles in the development of gene editing therapeutics, INDUCE-seq provides a universal, unbiased solution to genome-wide DNA break analysis. The commercial strategy will build on recent milestones, including the submission of an FDA Master File², providing therapeutic developers with a streamlined route to advance novel therapeutic candidates toward IND.

Terry Pizzie, CEO, Broken String Biosciences, said: “Bruce’s expertise in commercial strategy will be invaluable to us as we look to position INDUCE-seq as the gold-standard solution for gene editing off-target assessment. I am extremely pleased to welcome him to the Broken String team. These are exciting times for the Company – following the submission of our FDA Master File for INDUCE-seq, we are now uniquely placed to support gene editing teams through IND with unbiased insights into genome integrity.”

Bruce Eaton, PhD, Chairman of the Board, Broken String Biosciences, commented: “Gene editing therapeutics have the potential to transform today’s therapeutic landscape, however they are held back by the disparity between regulatory expectation and technological capabilities. INDUCE-seq directly tackles this challenge, providing comprehensive, cell-based assessment of on- and off-target effects. I look forward to working closely with the Board and leadership team, to drive an effective commercial strategy and enable gene editing teams worldwide to confidently progress their candidates towards the clinic.”

1. https://www.brokenstringbio.com/news/broken-string-biosciences-announces-new-leadership-to-drive-commercialization-of-induce-seq-platform-for-gene-editing-on-and-off-target-characterization
2. https://www.brokenstringbio.com/news/broken-string-biosciences-files-fda-master-file-for-induce-seq-as-regulatory-expectations-rise-for-genome-wide-off-target-analysis