Orbis Medicines Appoints Joanne Smith-Farrell as Chief Executive Officer

Smith-Farrell will lead the company as it develops its technology platform and advances its immunology and inflammation programmes. She will also oversee partnerships, including a collaboration with Novo Nordisk focused on cardiometabolic diseases, potentially worth up to $1.4 billion.

As Chief Business Officer, Graugaard will focus on business development and building strategic partnerships. He played a key role in establishing the collaboration with Novo Nordisk.

Dr. Smith-Farrell has more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Most recently, she served as CEO of Be Biopharma, where she helped the company move from developing a technology platform to advancing multiple programmes in clinical trials.

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Earlier, she worked as Chief Operating Officer and Head of the Oncology Business Unit at bluebird bio. During her time there, she expanded the unit from one early-stage programme to a broader pipeline that included Abecma, the first CAR-T therapy approved for multiple myeloma.

“Oral medicines with the potency of biologics could broaden patient access well beyond what injectables allow today — a major addition to the industry’s medicine cabinet,” said Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D., Chairperson of the Board. “Joanne’s experience advancing platform-based companies and pipelines makes her well suited to lead Orbis’s next phase.

“Orbis is entering an ambitious new phase of growth at a time when the industry is increasingly seeking oral alternatives to injectable biologics to bring important medicines to more patients,” said Dr. Smith-Farrell. “Morten and the team, backed by leading life sciences investors, have built a strong company to discover oral macrocycles that work like biologics.

About Orbis Medicines

Orbis Medicines is developing a new approach to discovering oral macrocycle medicines. Its nGen platform creates synthetic macrocycles called nCycles, designed to be absorbed by the body when taken by mouth. The company is initially focusing on targets already treated with successful injectable biologic drugs.

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