Somerville, MA, Sept 19, 2023: Aitia, the leader in the development and application of Causal AI and Digital Twins to discover and develop new drugs, today announced the appointment of Dr. Jean-Michel Gries as President & Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Jean-Michel will lead the company’s AI-driven drug discovery and development strategy while overseeing Aitia’s interdisciplinary teams focused on achieving the company’s mission of discovering and developing breakthrough drugs in neurodegenerative disorders and oncology.
Jean-Michel is an accomplished senior life science executive with a track record of innovative drug discovery, translational medicine, and clinical development, combining the science and business of drug development. He has overseen over 200 INDs in multiple therapeutic areas including CNS, oncology, inflammation/immunology, and ophthalmology. In his most recent role, Jean-Michel was the President of R&D at Hengenix Biotech, Inc. with a primary focus in oncology and autoimmune diseases. Prior to Hengenix, Jean-Michel was Chief R&D Officer of small-cap biotech companies and led early clinical development at the leading Contract Research Organizations (CROs) Parexel and Covance and was the Head of R&D, Pharmaceutical Products at Alcon (Novartis) and the head of Clinical Pharmacology at Roche prior to that.
Jean-Michel has a PharmD and a PhD in Pharmacokinetic from Rene Descartes University in Paris, a PhD in Analytical Chemistry, and a Master in Statistics from Paris-Sud University (Paris XI). He also obtained his MBA degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Colin Hill, CEO and co-founder of Aitia, commented, “We are thrilled to have Jean-Michel join Aitia to transform our novel discoveries from our Digital Twins into a pipeline of discovery and development programs. He comes with a wealth of unique experience in drug R&D from big pharma, CROs, and small biotechs. Jean-Michel joining Aitia in this role is a key part of the execution of the strategy announced in January when we changed the company from AI platform company GNS to AI-driven drug discovery company Aitia.”
“Aitia has consistently set itself apart from industry peers, attributing its distinction to the exceptional scientific teams and cutting-edge technology with its Causal AI and Digital Twins,” said Jean-Michel. “I look forward to bringing my expertise and working alongside Colin and the teams towards revolutionizing drug discovery and development and ultimately improving the lives of patients.”
About Aitia
Aitia is the leader in the development and application of Causal AI and Digital Twins to discover the next generation of breakthrough drugs in neurodegenerative disorders, oncology, and immunology. By leveraging the convergence of multi-omic patient data, high-performance computing, and causal learning and AI, Aitia is revealing the hidden biological mechanisms of disease to create Digital Twins. Gemini Digital Twins are being used today to discover novel therapies and accelerate R&D in Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, multiple myeloma, prostate cancer, and pancreatic cancer, with several more in development. Aitia’s partners include six of the top ten pharmaceutical companies, leading academic research and medical centers, medical societies, leading multi-omic data companies, and patient advocacy groups globally.
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