Chappell is a 20-year veteran of the biopharma industry with experience running multiple drug development programs from discovery stage through to clinical trials

Rasio Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that develops novel medicines using cutting-edge computer-aided drug design technology, today announced the appointment of Todd Chappell, a veteran medtech and pharmaceutical industry executive, as the company’s CEO.

Chappell has significant experience running early-stage life science programs from discovery stage through to clinical trials. In his most recent role, Chappell served as CEO of Perceptive Navigation, LLC, an early-stage medical device company where he raised over $5 million in seed financing and non-dilutive grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Under Chappell’s leadership, Perceptive advanced its technology from concept stage through to its first-in-human clinical study.

Chappell also previously led Shape Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a portfolio company of HealthCare Ventures, LLC, that developed a novel HDAC inhibitor for the topical treatment of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma and other proliferative disease of the skin. Shape was sold to Tetralogic Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (TLOG) in April 2014.

In addition, Chappell was selected to be the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence established at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through a private-public partnership led by BioHealth Innovation, Inc. Chappell worked with scientists to develop and commercialize technologies and served in key management roles for four early-stage biotechnology companies in Maryland. Chappell holds a BS in Biology from the University of California at Los Angeles and an MBA from Boston University.

“Todd is a dynamic leader with a strong scientific and entrepreneurial background,” said Ken Malone, Chairman of the Board of Rasio Therapeutics. “With Todd’s past experience and success in guiding early-stage drug-development companies, and his deep connections to Maryland’s life sciences community, Rasio is well-positioned to accelerate its service offerings and company growth.”

As part of its new growth phase, Rasio is partnering with SilcsBio, a leading company in computational drug discovery, to develop small molecules for important but previously inaccessible disease targets. Rasio initially is focusing its efforts on oncology and has raised seed funding to design and develop several oncology therapeutics in areas of significant unmet medical need.

Under its exclusive partnership with SilcsBio, Rasio has access to a powerful and validated in silico drug screening platform known as SILCS. The SILCS platform, comprised of a suite of powerful computer-aided drug design packages, unlocks unique paths for Rasio to discover novel binding regions of therapeutic targets. The platform also allows Rasio to identify, screen and develop novel, differentiated chemical matter against those emerging targets.

This partnership also gives Rasio exclusive access to SilcsBio’s platform for selected targets; privileged access to unreleased next generation products from SilcsBio such as their machine learning technology; and dedicated computational expertise.

”Rasio Therapeutics has developed an elegant drug discovery process to identify and develop drugs for some of the most difficult drug targets,” said Todd Chappell. “Our partnership with SilcsBio offers a unique, efficient approach to drug discovery that has the potential to be transformative for patients. I am excited and honored to join the dedicated team of scientists and clinicians at Rasio.”

About Rasio Therapeutics:

Rasio Therapeutics, Inc., is a Maryland-based biopharmaceutical company that develops novel medicines using a cutting edge-computer-aided drug design technology. Rasio has partnered with SilcsBio, a leader in computational drug discovery, to develop small molecules for exciting but previously inaccessible disease targets. Rasio is initially focusing on oncology and has raised seed funding to design and develop several oncology therapeutics for areas of significant unmet medical need. Learn more: www.rasiotx.com