Executive Team

Evert Schimmelpennink has served as LENZ’s President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the LENZ board of directors since March 2021. Previously, from August 2017 to October 2020, Mr. Schimmelpennink served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of publicly listed Pfenex, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, until its acquisition by Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: LGND) in late 2020. From November 2019 until its sale, Mr. Schimmelpennink also served as the acting Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer of Pfenex Inc. From October 2015 to August 2017, Mr. Schimmelpennink served as Chief Executive Officer of Alvotech, a biopharmaceutical company. Prior to that, Mr. Schimmelpennink held senior positions at Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Hospira, Inc. within their global specialty injectables businesses, as well as Synthon BV. Mr. Schimmelpennink currently serves on the board of directors of iBio, Inc. (NYSE: IBIO) and Pipeline Therapeutics. Mr. Schimmelpennink holds a M.Sc. in Bioprocess Engineering from the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands and a business degree from the Arnhem Business School.

Dan Chevallard joined LENZ Therapeutics in March 2024 as its Chief Financial Officer and is a respected corporate finance and strategic executive with significant experience in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and diagnostic industries. Previously, Dan served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Viracta Therapeutics. He joined Viracta in July 2019 as its Chief Financial Officer and prior to that, served as the Chief Financial Officer and principal financial officer at Regulus Therapeutics. Dan has spent numerous years in his career in senior corporate finance roles such as commercial planning, accounting, financial reporting, and more. He spent approximately five years in public accounting at Ernst & Young, LLP in their assurance services practice. Mr. Chevallard received his Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of San Diego and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) in the state of California.

Shawn Olsson has served as LENZ’s Chief Commercial Officer since April 2021. Previously, from March 2018 to April 2021, Mr. Olsson served as Vice President of North American Marketing and Global Portfolio and Vice President of North American Marketing at Xellia Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceuticals and life sciences company. From September 2015 to March 2018, Mr. Olsson served as Director, Global Sterile Injectables on Market Strategy Lead and Commercial Lead, Opioids and Syringe Technology Portfolio at Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), a multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company. Mr. Olsson holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Michigan and an M.B.A. in Strategic Management and Finance from University of Chicago.

Marc Odrich, M.D. has served as LENZ’s Chief Medical Officer since July 2021 and provided consulting services to LENZ from March 2018 to July 2021. Since June 2017, Dr. Odrich has served as an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Virginia, where he specializes in Refractive Surgery and Ocular Surface Disease. Since March 2016, Dr. Odrich has served as a consultant to TearSolutions, Inc., an early stage clinical ophthalmology company specializing in Ocular Surface Disease. Dr. Odrich is also a consultant to Johnson & Johnson Vision Care and is a member of the board of directors of Epion Therapeutics. Dr. Odrich previously served as the Medical Director for Visx Incorporated, a developer of technology and systems for laser vision correction, where he led the clinical team in bringing the excimer laser into commercialization worldwide. Dr. Odrich has been involved with group, private and academic ophthalmic practices since 1990. Dr. Odrich holds a B.A. in Ancient History from Columbia University in the City of New York and an M.D. from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Odrich completed an internship in internal medicine at Yale’s Danbury Hospital before pursuing his residency at Columbia University’s Harkness Eye Institute. Dr. Odrich then completed a two-year fellowship focused on cornea and external disease at Harvard’s Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.