Unlocking the Potential of RNA/DNA Therapeutics Through Extrahepatic Delivery

Annette Bak, Ph.D., MBA leads Advanced Drug Delivery (ADD) at Astra Zeneca and serves on the Pharmaceutical Sciences leadership team. Advanced Drug Delivery has the mission to transform diverse modalities, small molecules and new modalities alike, into investigational medicines and is a global organization based in Sweden, UK, and US. Since joining AstraZeneca in 2016, Dr Bak has been instrumental in delivering a variety of synthetic modality and mRNA drug delivery systems and formulations for preclinical & clinical studies. She has also built delivery chemistry and intracellular drug delivery capabilities within ADD.Dr Bak previously worked for Amgen and Merck in the US with responsibility for small molecule and peptide formulations, building outsourcing partnerships in China, in licensing and partnership evaluations, and contributing to getting small molecule therapies to the market. Dr Bak has published more than 50 articles, has more than 50 invited presentations, and serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Molecular Pharmaceutics. She holds several patents for pharmaceutical technologies enabling drug delivery of small molecules and biologics. A key volunteer in American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS). She was the 2022 president for the association and responsible for leading implementation of the 2021-2025 strategic plan and ensuring that the AAPS communities are thriving. Dr Bak was the 2020 co- recipient of the AAPS Alice E Till Women in Pharmaceutical Science Recognition, honoring women who has made significant contributions to the to the mentorship, advancement, and support of women in the pharmaceutical sciences.

Shawn Davis PhD is the CEO of Liberate Bio, where he aims to achieve the extraordinary – delivering genetic medicines that transcend liver-based limitations, liberating patients from disease. Genetic medicines are poised to change the course of medicine, but their full potential can only be realized when delivered by vehicles that target these complex modalities to the appropriate cells. Dr Davis and the Liberate Bio team will deliver on this promise using generative artificial intelligence and machine learning trained on high-quality, in vivo data to accelerate every aspect of creating novel, extrahepatic vehicles. Precise Delivery. Boundless Impact. Dr Davis has an extensive background in drug delivery, diagnostics, and biopharmaceutical development across startups and Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies. He joined Liberate Bio from AstraZeneca, where he was the Head of Drug Delivery for R&D Biopharmaceutical Development. At AstraZeneca, he led the research and development of intracellular delivery of nucleic acids, controlled release of antibodies for less frequent dosing, and novel routes of administration for therapeutic benefit. Before AstraZeneca, he held multiple roles of increasing responsibility at Amgen, focusing on combination product development, technology strategy, and innovation. More broadly, he has provided thought leadership across the industry as a frequent speaker, chair of multiple conferences, and Subcutaneous Drug Development & Delivery Consortium board member.

Mandana Borna is the head of oligonucleotide drug product development at Biogen overseeing all aspects of drug product development from formulation design and container closure selection to process development, scale up and tech transfer to support Biogen’s expanding oligonucleotide portfolio. Her responsibilities encompass every phase of product development from preclinical, and clinical stages through to commercialization and life cycle management. Additionally, Mandana continues to lead the non-viral drug delivery activities at Biogen to advance new technologies and overcome challenges of delivery of oligonucleotide and other large molecule therapeutics. She plays a key role in shaping short-term and long-term drug delivery strategies to support Biogen’s pipeline. In addition to internal drug delivery formulation development, Mandana’s team identifies cutting-edge non-viral delivery technologies, design feasibility studies, performs technical assessment and leads project partnership. Mandana holds PhD degree in Materials Science & Biomedical Engineering from McGill University, and her research is focused on formulation development and drug delivery. She has been invited speaker in multiple drug delivery conferences and serves as a reviewer for several journals.

Dr Alexander Curreri is currently a Senior Scientist in the Discovery Pharmaceutical Sciences group within Merck Research Laboratories. His work focuses on designing drug delivery technologies for a breadth of therapeutic modalities across various disease areas. Dr Curreri drives formulation design and evaluation to support preclinical and FIH studies across the Merck discovery portfolio and into development. Dr Curreri holds a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Harvard University and B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In his thesis work, performed in the lab of Professor Samir Mitragotri, he developed novel deep eutectic solvent-based delivery systems for parenterally administered proteins and nucleic acids. During his doctoral studies he also performed research to use deep eutectics for delivery across the skin, gastrointestinal tract, and led a team to evaluate venture creation for a microparticle-laden cell therapy technology.

Jonathan Nolasco is a Senior Scientist at Novo Nordisk. Mr Nolasco holds a B.S from UC Berkeley (2016) and a Master’s from Harvard University (2020). Although formally trained as a cell biologist, he has worked extensively on developing non-viral delivery vehicles for prophylactic and gene therapy applications. He has worked on delivery vehicles for mRNA, self-amplifying mRNA, circular mRNA, siRNA, and Cas9/sgRNA. Mr Nolasco has worked on several projects ranging from early discovery to clinical. Prior to joining Novo Nordisk, he led a small team in the development of inhalable LNPs for the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis at Omega Therapeutics.