by Mrudula Kulkarni
3 minutes
Regel Therapeutics Appoints Renowned Biotech Leader As New CEO
Stephen Farr named CEO of Regel Therapeutics, brings vast biotech and rare disease expertise.
Regel Therapeutics, a gene regulation firm, has appointed Stephen J. Farr, PhD, as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Farr was the President and CEO of Zogenix from 2015 until its merger with UCB in 2022, during which he led the company to become a top rare disease enterprise, notably achieving the approval of FINTEPLA in the US, Europe, and Japan.
Prior to his CEO role, Farr was the President and Chief Operating Officer of Zogenix since its inception in 2006. Before joining Zogenix, Farr held the position of Sr. Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Aradigm Corp. Between 1986 and 1995, he was a tenured academic at Cardiff University in the UK, specializing in advanced drug delivery and biopharmaceutics.
Dr. Megan McGrill, Regel’s interim CEO, said that, "We are excited to have Steve lead Regel Therapeutics and believe that his vision and experience will build a strong team focused on patient outcomes.
Farr said in a statement, "I am thrilled to join Regel, a company that has pioneered cell-specific gene control. Regel has a powerful yet elegant scientific approach to cure genetic disorders that lack disease modifying therapies. The talented and passionate team has made key scientific innovations to regulate gene expression to restore normal cellular functions. Regel's pipeline includes proprietary programs as well as a research collaboration with Sarepta Therapeutics."
Farr serves on the board of directors for Mahzi Therapeutics, a company in the preclinical stage that is dedicated to creating treatments for rare and under-served genetic neurodevelopmental disorders. Additionally, he is the co-founder and CEO of Ataraxia Therapeutics, a startup focusing on the discovery of small molecule therapies targeting the central nervous system. In the past, he was a board member at Tevard Biosciences, which develops tRNA-based therapies for rare genetic diseases, and he also held a director position at SteadyMed, Inc. until it was acquired by United Therapeutics.
