CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rheos Medicines, a biopharmaceutical company developing novel medicines that modulate metabolic pathways in immune cells to treat disease, today announced the appointments of Gad Soffer as Chief Operating Officer and J. Duncan Higgons to its Board of Directors. As Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Soffer will have responsibility for leading the company’s business strategy, corporate development and operations, and external relations and will report to Rheos’ CEO, Sanjay Keswani.

“We are excited to welcome Gad and Duncan to Rheos as we continue to build the team and capabilities to execute on our strategy to leverage our immunometabolism drug discovery engine to treat a broad range of diseases,” said Dr. Keswani. “Gad’s business development experience at Atara and Celgene will be extremely valuable as we advance new product opportunities.”

“Rheos is committed to creating novel medicines that transform the lives of patients by modulating key metabolic pathways in immune cells,” said Mr. Soffer. “I look forward to joining this incredible and experienced team and helping to build a world-class organization focused on developing a novel class of treatments for patients with immune-mediated diseases and cancer.”

J. Duncan Higgons joins the Rheos Board of Directors following the company’s launch by Third Rock Ventures in March 2018. He joins the other members of the Rheos board that include Abbie Celniker, Ph.D., partner at Third Rock Ventures; Carry Pfeffer, M.D., M.B.A., partner at Third Rock Ventures; Stephen Sherwin, M.D., Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco and partner at Third Rock Ventures; and Jeffrey Bluestone, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and the A.W. and Mary Margaret Clausen Distinguished Professor at the University of California at San Francisco.

Dr. Keswani commented, “Duncan’s significant operations expertise, including his tenure at Agios where he helped build a cancer metabolism-based oncology portfolio, will be important as we plan to address a broad range of immune-mediated diseases and cancer.”

“Rheos has the potential to make substantial advancements in the treatment of a broad range of diseases based on its leading insights and product engine in immunometabolism,” said Mr. Higgons. “I’m happy to be working with this passionate and talented team at this pivotal time in the company’s evolution.”

Gad Soffer joins Rheos from Atara Biotherapeutics where he was Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. Prior to Atara, he worked at Celgene as Executive Director and Global Project Leader where he led the team responsible for product development and lifecycle management for Abraxane, a breast, lung, and pancreatic cancer treatment also in development for melanoma. He also served as Director of Business Development at Celgene where he led numerous business development transactions while advising on venture investment and strategic partnerships. Earlier, Mr. Soffer was a healthcare consultant with Easton Associates. He earned an M.B.A. at Harvard Business School, an M.S. at Columbia University and an A.B. from Harvard University.

J. Duncan Higgons currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for PsiOxus Therapeutics and Jounce Therapeutics. Mr. Higgons recently served as Chief Operating Officer of Agios Therapeutics. Prior to joining Agios, Mr. Higgons served as Executive Vice President, and interim president and Chief Executive Officer at Archemix Corporation. Prior to Archemix, Mr. Higgons served as the Chief Commercial Officer at TransForm Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held biotechnology company, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson Company. Mr. Higgons holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics from King’s College University of London and an M.Sc. in Economics from London Business School.

About Rheos Medicines
Rheos Medicines is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel medicines that modulate metabolic pathways in immune cells to treat disease. Our approach targets the underlying cellular metabolism of immune cells to redirect the fate and function of specific cell types to treat immune-mediated disease. By simultaneously identifying new drug targets and characterizing biomarkers of disease we are bringing precision to the treatment of immune-mediated diseases. We have brought together leading scientists whose discoveries opened the field of immunometabolism, clinicians with a deep understanding of immune-mediated diseases, and an experienced biotech leadership team. Rheos was founded by Third Rock Ventures and is located in Cambridge, MA. For more information, please visit www.rheosrx.com.