Editas Medicine Strengthens Executive Leadership Team to Advance Pipeline and Support Long-term Growth

Mark S. Shearman, Ph.D., joins as Chief Scientific Officer

Chi Li, Ph.D., MBA, RAC, joins as Chief Regulatory Officer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Editas Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq: EDIT), a leading genome editing company, today announced that it named Chi Li, Ph.D., MBA, RAC, as the Company’s Senior Vice President and Chief Regulatory Officer, effective immediately. Dr. Li will lead regulatory affairs strategy and activities related to Editas Medicine’s drug development programs. Additionally, as previously announced, Dr. Mark S. Shearman, Ph.D., joined the Company today as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. Drs. Shearman and Li strengthen the Company’s leadership team with a focus on advancing its pipeline of transformative, gene editing medicines to patients.

“We are thrilled to have Mark and Chi join Editas, further strengthening our team and helping us achieve our near-term and long-term milestones. Mark has an outstanding track record of drug discovery and development and leading high performing teams. Specifically, during his career, he has led discovery programs across multiple modalities, including ophthalmology, immunology, and neurology – key areas of focus for Editas. Chi has an impressive strategic regulatory affairs track record, having guided more than 30 development programs through regulatory processes, and including multiple submissions and approvals in the US and globally,” said James C. Mullen, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Editas Medicine. “We are confident Mark and Chi will help us advance our pipeline and our mission of bringing transformative gene editing medicines to patients.”

Mark S. Shearman brings to Editas Medicine more than 30 years of experience in drug discovery and development across multiple therapeutic modalities. Dr. Shearman joins Editas Medicine from Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (AGTC), where he served as Chief Scientific Officer and was responsible for leading the company's product candidate selection process, pre-clinical and translational research, and long-term research and development planning.   Prior to AGTC, Dr. Shearman served as Senior Vice President of Research & Early Development at EMD Serono, Inc., the U.S. and Canadian subsidiary of Merck KGaA. Previously, Dr. Shearman was Executive Director of Merck & Co. Research Laboratories, Boston, and Senior Director at the Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories Neuroscience Research Centre in the United Kingdom. Dr. Shearman earned a B.Sc. from the University of Bristol, U.K., and a Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham, U.K. He also conducted academic research at institutes in Japan and Germany.

Chi Li brings to Editas Medicine more than 20 years of experience in drug development and global/US regulatory affairs at major biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. He played an important and strategic role in the development, submission, and approval of several new drugs and biologics across a number of therapeutic areas, globally. Dr. Li joins Editas Medicine from Celularity where he served as Chief Regulatory Officer. Previously, Dr. Li served as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs at both Allergan and Bayer. Dr. Li earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Purdue University and an MBA from Rutgers University. He holds a Regulatory Affairs Certification from the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society.

About Editas Medicine
As a leading genome editing company, Editas Medicine is focused on translating the power and potential of the CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/Cas12a (also known as Cpf1) genome editing systems into a robust pipeline of treatments for people living with serious diseases around the world. Editas Medicine aims to discover, develop, manufacture, and commercialize transformative, durable, precision genomic medicines for a broad class of diseases. For the latest information and scientific presentations, please visit www.editasmedicine.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "target," "should," "would," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. The Company may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including: uncertainties inherent in the initiation and completion of preclinical studies and clinical trials and clinical development of the Company’s product candidates; availability and timing of results from preclinical studies and clinical trials; whether interim results from a clinical trial will be predictive of the final results of the trial or the results of future trials; expectations for regulatory approvals to conduct trials or to market products and availability of funding sufficient for the Company’s foreseeable and unforeseeable operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements. These and other risks are described in greater detail under the caption “Risk Factors” included in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and in other filings that the Company may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the future. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/21f0edf7-2484-49f1-9e35-58d4035ef5dc
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