Vedanta Biosciences Appoints Mark Mullikin as Chief Financial Officer

Extensive biotech finance and investor relations expertise includes leadership roles at Editas Medicine and Novartis

 CAMBRIDGE, MA, February 8, 2021 – Vedanta Biosciences, a leading clinical-stage company developing a new category of therapies for immune-mediated diseases based on rationally defined consortia of human microbiome-derived bacteria, today announced the appointment of Mark Mullikin as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Mullikin brings 25 years of experience raising and deploying capital for life sciences companies, and most recently held leadership roles in finance and investor relations at publicly-traded Editas Medicine and Novartis.

“Mark’s experience overseeing the finances of a public biotech and previously as a healthcare equity analyst, provide him a unique and broad perspective of the biotech field,” said Bernat Olle, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vedanta Biosciences. “We are excited to welcome Mark to the Vedanta team and look forward to his contributions.”

 Mr. Mullikin joins Vedanta from Editas Medicine, where he served as Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations and was involved in raising $700 million of equity capital. Prior to this role, Mr. Mullikin worked for Novartis in roles focused on financial and strategic planning in addition to health economics and pricing. Before joining Novartis, he was a healthcare equity analyst at Adage Capital Management and Piper Sandler and began his career in the finance and strategy practice at Deloitte Consulting. Mr. Mullikin earned his M.B.A. in finance from the MIT Sloan School of Management and his B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago.

 “Vedanta has established a leadership position in the microbiome field pioneering defined bacterial consortia as a new class of therapeutics,” said Mr. Mullikin. “I am thrilled to join at this pivotal moment of growth with key clinical trial readouts anticipated this year.”

 About Vedanta Biosciences

Vedanta Biosciences is leading the development of a potential new category of oral therapies based on rationally defined consortia of bacteria derived from the human microbiome. The company’s clinical-stage pipeline includes product candidates being evaluated for the treatment of high-risk C. difficile infection, inflammatory bowel diseases, advanced or metastatic cancers, and food allergy. These investigational therapies are grounded in pioneering research – published in leading journals including Science, Nature, and Cell – to identify beneficial bacteria that live symbiotically within the healthy human gut, fight pathogens and induce a range of potent immune responses. Vedanta Biosciences controls a foundational portfolio of more than 40 patents and has built what is believed to be the world’s biggest library of bacteria derived from the human microbiome. Proprietary capabilities include deep expertise in consortium design, vast datasets from human interventional studies and cGMP-compliant manufacturing of oral live biotherapeutics containing pure, clonally derived bacterial consortia in powdered form. Vedanta Biosciences was founded by PureTech Health (LSE: PRTC, Nasdaq: PRTC) and a global team of scientific co-founders who pioneered Vedanta’s modern understanding of the cross-talk between the microbiome and the immune system.