Tune Therapeutics Welcomes Noted Industry Leader Dr. John McHutchison to Board of Directors

January 16, 2023

Former Assembly Bio and Gilead exec brings decades of experience in developing novel therapeutics to Tune’s growing pipeline of genetic tuning therapies

 

DURHAM, N.C. and SEATTLE – January 17, 2023Tune Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering the creation of genetic tuning (epigenomic editing) therapies, today announced the addition of John McHutchison AO, MD – former CEO at Assembly Biosciences, Inc., and CSO at Gilead Sciences, Inc. – to its board of directors. Dr. McHutchison joins as a noted industry leader with extensive experience in advancing novel treatments for the benefit of patients facing serious, intractable diseases.

 

“Dr. McHutchison’s experience will be pivotal as we advance our novel genetic tuning candidate therapies,” said Matt Kane, CEO of Tune Therapeutics. “John’s background in a broad range of modalities and therapeutic areas – right across the R&D spectrum – is incredibly well aligned with our mission to unlock the power of the epigenome in the treatment of common, complex, and multigenic disease. I very much look forward to working closely with John as we advance this modality to the clinic.”

 

This move marks Dr. McHutchison’s first since retiring as President and CEO of Assembly Biosciences at the end of 2022. At Assembly, he led the company’s progress in the anti-viral space before transitioning to the board of directors and chairing the Science and Technology Committee. Prior to Assembly, he served as Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Research and Development at Gilead Sciences, where he led the development of a broad range of liver-directed therapies, including the curative HCV antiviral regimens and investigational therapies against nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). John was also instrumental in Gilead’s transformative acquisition of Kite Therapeutics, and its subsequent leadership position in the CAR T cell therapy field.

 

“Now that precision tuning of the epigenome has become a reality, we are witnessing a critical moment for the future of medicine,” said Dr. McHutchison. “With its powerful and versatile TEMPO platform, Tune Therapeutics is making great strides across a range of applications and diseases, the potential of which is enormous. I anticipate great things to come, and I am pleased to be supporting the company and its crucial and exciting work.”

 

About Tune Therapeutics

 

With its versatile and powerful TEMPO epigenomic control platform, Tune Therapeutics is pioneering a new therapeutic modality that can fine-tune any gene network and unlock the full power and potential of regenerative medicine. With deep experience and a passionate commitment to exploration and innovation, Tune is driving through an inflection point in the history of genetic medicine: from targeting a limited range of rare conditions, to addressing thousands of common and complex diseases for which no curative treatment is available.