Pizzie named CEO as Broken String guns for gene editing glory
His appointment is part of a revamp in the management structure generally. The new leadership is designed to drive the commercialisation of the company's INDUCE-seq® platform, now available to cell and gene therapy developers worldwide.
Pizzie held leadership positions not just with Horizon but also at Astrea Bioseparations. He is said to have guided both companies through successful growth and exits as well as previously enjoying senior roles at Pacific Biosciences, GE Healthcare, Applied Biosystems and Genetix. For example, US giant Perkin-Elmer acquired Cambridge's Horizon Discovery for $383 million (£296m) in November 2020.
His new company says his appointment marks a significant milestone as Broken String transitions from a pioneering technology developer to a fully commercial organisation.
The company’s next stage of growth is focused on scaling access to INDUCE-seq®, a proprietary platform that directly maps DNA double-strand breaks to measure and quantify both on- and off-target editing events from any gene editing therapeutic in any cell type.
INDUCE-seq® is a universal, unbiased solution for mapping genome integrity and was developed to provide a faster and more reliable way to quantify such events, which is critical in evaluating the predicted impact of any gene editing therapy.
Co-founder and former CEO, Felix Dobbs, will continue to lead company operations and technology development as Chief Operations Officer. Gabe Longoria joins as Chief Commercial Officer; his significant track record of commercial leadership in Cell & Gene Therapy tools adds further depth to the company’s commercial expertise. Co-founder Professor Simon Reed continues in his role as Chief Scientific Officer.
Dobbs commented: “Terry’s proven track record in building commercially successful life science businesses makes him the ideal leader to guide Broken String through its next phase. Under his leadership, and with Gabe’s commercial acumen, we are now well positioned to make INDUCE-seq® the gold standard for gene editing off-target assessment, a crucial step in the delivery of safe gene editing therapies to patients.”
Pizzie added: “Gene editing technologies such as CRISPR and base editing are already transforming what’s possible in medicine. INDUCE-seq® gives developers a powerful new way to rapidly and confidently evaluate both the efficacy of on-target editing and the potential impact of off-target effects, helping them design more precise, safer therapies and to advance promising therapies much faster.
“This is an exciting moment for the company and the industry, and I’m thrilled to lead Broken String as we bring this technology to more customers globally.”
INDUCE-seq® accelerates early-stage gene editing therapeutic development by cutting candidate screening timelines from months to days. The technology allows for off-target assessments tailored to a patient’s specific genotype, enabling developers to bring safety evaluations closer to the patient. This capability supports faster, more targeted treatments, helping to accelerate progress in life-saving therapies.