Envisagenics, a US-based, AI-driven RNA splicing therapeutics company, announced on Tuesday the appointment of Kalpana Merchant, PhD to its board of directors.

Dr Merchant has three decades of experience in drug discovery and development, with specialised expertise in translational approaches to de-risk drug development for neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. She also has advisory and operational experience that spans private startups to publicly traded biopharmaceutical firms.

Dr Merchant was chief scientific officer for Tailored Therapeutics-Neuroscience at Eli Lilly and currently serves as CSO at Retromer Therapeutics and president and chief scientific officer of TransThera Consulting. She also works with various privately funded biopharmaceutical companies to help develop drugs for ALS, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Dr Merchant has served as a senior advisor to the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research for over 20 years, and was appointed to the governor-sanctioned Oregon Innovation Council. She is an Adjunct Professor of Neurology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.

Maria Luisa Pineda, PhD, Envisagenics co-founder and CEO, said: "Dr Merchant's advisory, operational and drug discovery and development experience provide invaluable insight to Envisagenics as we advance our first asset into the clinic. Her addition to our board also supports the planned expansion of the company's developmental pipeline, including disease-modifying anti-sense oligonucleotides for neurodegenerative diseases."