Transforming medicine through precision epigenomic control, Mahesh Karande, Pres. & CEO, Omega Tx

Biotech 2050 Podcast

Synopsis: Mahesh Karande is the President and CEO of Omega Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of a new class of programmable epigenomic mRNA medicines for unprecedented control of gene regulation and cellular function. Through its OMEGA platform, the company engineers mRNA therapeutics called Omega Epigenomic Controllers™ (OECs), with the goal of treating or curing a broad range of diseases. Mahesh discusses his early years in engineering and consulting before moving into the pharmaceutical industry. He talks about the transition from big pharma to biotech and the lessons he learned from his days in pharma. He discusses being a CEO and how he approaches the role differently the second time around. He talks about company culture and leadership at Omega and how he motivates team members in such a fast paced environment. Finally, he dives into programmable approaches to biology, what it really means, and the intersection of biology and technology. Biography: Mahesh Karande joined Omega Therapeutics as President and Chief Executive Officer and brings deep experience in running biopharma businesses across discovery, preclinical development, clinical development, commercialization and product life cycle management stages. His breadth of therapeutic experience spans cardiovascular and metabolic, oncology, neurosciences, ophthalmology, antibiotics, pain, respiratory and rare and genetic diseases, as well as drug and device combinations. Mr. Karande has been involved with more than 10 product launches in the U.S. and across global markets. He has strong leadership, operational and business-building experiences combined with a global work history spanning the U.S., Europe, Asia and Africa. Prior to taking the helm at Omega, Mr. Karande was President and Chief Executive Officer of Macrolide Pharmaceuticals, a company he took from discovery into early development. Earlier, Mr. Karande spent several years at Novartis in senior leadership roles: Vice President and Head of U.S. Oncology for solid tumors, President of Novartis Africa and President of Novartis Egypt. He worked for McKinsey & Company prior to joining the bio-pharmaceutical industry. Currently, Mr. Karande serves on the Board of Directors of KSQ Therapeutics and Ashvattha Therapeutics. Mr. Karande has an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology where he completed his M.S. in Engineering, and the University of Bombay where he completed undergraduate studies in engineering.