Adagene Welcomes John Maraganore, Ph.D., As New Executive Advisor To Support Strategic Growth

Adagene Inc., a company focused on advancing antibody-based therapies, announced the appointment of Dr. John Maraganore as Executive Advisor. Dr. Maraganore brings decades of leadership experience in the biotechnology sector and is best known for his tenure as CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals from 2002 to 2021. During his time at Alnylam, he played a key role in the global approval and commercialization of four RNA interference (RNAi) therapies and led the company in forming over 20 strategic pharmaceutical partnerships. His efforts helped build over $25 billion in market capitalization for Alnylam.

Dr. Maraganore stated, “Adagene is currently breaking a toxicity barrier with their proprietary masking technology, delivering a checkpoint inhibitor selectively and conditionally to tumor cells. Their platform has broad potential for enhanced immunotherapy with effective regulatory T-cell depletion, in conjunction with monoclonal antibodies, bispecifics, T-cell engagers, and antibody drug conjugates. I look forward to guiding and contributing to the Company’s growth, value creation and benefit for patients.”

Peter Luo, Ph.D., Cofounder, CEO and President of R&D at Adagene, mentioned, “John Maraganore’s legacy of solving the RNAi delivery challenge - once thought impossible - always inspires me. He and his team accomplished delivery of RNAi therapeutics to specific tissue cells in the human body without degradation and off-target toxicity. And this is exactly what we are doing with ADG126: delivering anti-CTLA-4 safely to specific T cells, minimizing off-tumor toxicity, and remaining inactive during circulation until ADG126 reaches the tumor. Although the modality is different, the problem we aim to solve is the same, and having John’s guidance is a tremendous opportunity for Adagene and our mission.”

In addition to his new role at Adagene, Dr. Maraganore is actively involved in the life sciences investment and advisory space. He is a partner or advisor with ARCH Venture Partners, Atlas Ventures, Blackstone Life Sciences, Jefferies Financial Services, and RTW Investments. He also serves on the boards of several public and private biotechnology companies and mentors CEOs across the life sciences industry. Dr. Maraganore holds a B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Chicago.