Corporate Governance

Kimberlee C. Drapkin has served as Graphite’s president and chief executive officer since August 2023 and as a director of Graphite since July 2023. Ms. Drapkin has over 25 years of experience working with private and publicly traded biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including building and leading finance functions, raising capital, and leading strategic financial planning. Most recently, Ms. Drapkin was the Chief Financial Officer at Jounce Therapeutics, Inc., a position she held from August 2015 until the company’s acquisition by Concentra Biosciences, LLC in May 2023, playing a key role in building Jounce’s financial infrastructure. Prior to joining Jounce, Ms. Drapkin owned a financial consulting firm where she served as the interim chief financial officer for numerous early-stage biotechnology companies. Previously, she was the Chief Financial Officer at EPIX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and also spent ten years in roles of increasing responsibility within the finance organization at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Her career began in the technology and life sciences practice at PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP. Ms. Drapkin served as a member of the board of directors of Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc. until the completion of the merger of Proteostasis and Yumanity Therapeutics, Inc., at which point she became a member of the Yumanity board of directors. Ms. Drapkin then served on the board of directors of Yumanity through the completion of its reverse merger with Kineta, Inc. She currently serves on the board of directors of Acumen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABOS), Imugene Limited (ASX: IMU) and Kineta, Inc. (Nasdaq: KA), where she is a member of audit committee at all three companies. Ms. Drapkin holds a B.S. in accounting from Babson College.

Jeff George will serve as a Chair of the combined company’s board of directors upon consummation of the merger. Since January 2017, Mr. George has served as the Managing Partner of Maytal Capital, a healthcare-focused private equity investment and advisory firm he founded.

Between 2008 and 2016, Mr. George served on the Executive Committee of Novartis Group AG, a pharmaceutical company, first as Division Head and CEO of Sandoz, Novartis’ generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars subsidiary, and then as Division Head and CEO of Alcon, Novartis’ then eye care subsidiary. Mr. George previously headed Emerging Markets for the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and CIS at Novartis Pharmaceuticals and served as Vice President and Head of Western and Eastern Europe for Novartis Vaccines. Prior to this, Mr. George held leadership roles at Gap Inc. and McKinsey & Co. Mr. George serves on the boards of directors of Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMRX), a generics, biosimilars, and specialty pharmaceuticals company, 908 Devices (Nasdaq: MASS), a pioneer in life science diagnostics, Dorian Therapeutics, a cellular senescence biotech spun out of Stanford University, and Lykos Therapeutics, a privately-held late-stage CNS-focused biopharma company where he serves as Chairman. Mr. George also currently serves on several non-profit boards and previously served as the Chairman of Education Opens Doors. Mr. George holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and a B.A. from Carleton College.

Frederic Guerard, Pharm.D. has served as a member of the LENZ board of directors since September 2021. Since October 2023, Dr. Guerard has served as Chief Executive Officer of Opthea Limited (Nasdaq: OPT; ASX: OPT), a biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Guerard served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Graybug Vision, Inc. from February 2019 until March 2023. From 1999 to February 2019, Dr. Guerard held key leadership roles at Novartis AG, a multinational pharmaceutical company, including Worldwide Business Franchise Head of Ophthalmology from April 2016 to February 2019, Global Franchise Head of Pharmaceuticals at Alcon Laboratories, a Novartis company, from May 2015 to April 2016, Managing Director of the United Kingdom and Ireland from July 2012 to April 2015, and Country President and Managing Director of Australia and New Zealand from April 2009 to July 2012, among others. Dr. Guerard currently serves on the board of directors of CalciMedica, Inc. (Nasdaq: CALC). Dr. Guerard holds a Pharm.D. and a Master of Biological and Medical Sciences from the University of Rouen, France and a Master of Marketing from HEC Paris.

James McCollum co-founded LENZ and has served on the LENZ board of directors since July 2013. From September 2016 to March 2021, Mr. McCollum served as LENZ’s President and Chief Executive Officer. From September 2014 to September 2016, Mr. McCollum served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Eye Therapies, LLC, an ocular pharmaceutical company co-founded by Mr. McCollum. Previously, Mr. McCollum served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Restoration Robotics, a medical robotics company, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vision Membrane Technologies, an intraocular lens medical device company, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Argus Biomedical, an artificial cornea medical device company. Earlier in his career, Mr. McCollum held the position of Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and Sales at VISX, Incorporated, a developer of technology and systems for laser vision correction. Mr. McCollum holds a B.A. in Business from North Carolina State University.

Zach Scheiner, Ph.D. has served as a member of the LENZ board of directors since October 2020. Dr. Scheiner joined RA Capital Management, L.P., an investment manager, in April 2015 as an associate, became an analyst in April 2017, and has been a principal since December 2017. Prior to joining RA Capital, Dr. Scheiner was a Science Officer at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), where he worked from September 2008 to March 2015. Dr. Scheiner currently serves on the board of directors of Nkarta Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: NKTX) and several private biotechnology companies. Dr. Scheiner holds a B.S. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University and a Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Behavior from the University of Washington.

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.

Shelley Thunen has served as a member of the LENZ board of directors since November 2023. Since February 2017, Ms. Thunen has served as Chief Financial Officer of RxSight, Inc. (Nasdaq: RXST), an ophthalmic medical technology company, and served as RxSight’s Chief Administrative Officer from January 2016 to February 2017. From January 2013 to October 2015, Ms. Thunen served as the Chief Financial Officer of Endologix, Inc. (Nasdaq: ELGX), a medical device company. From August 2010 to December 2012, Ms. Thunen served as Associate General Manager of Alcon LenSx, Inc., a medical device company. Prior to Alcon’s (NYSE: ALC) acquisition of LenSx, Inc. in August 2010, Ms. Thunen served as a board member and chair of the audit committee from April 2008 to August 2010, as well as Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, Operations from November 2009 to August 2010. Ms. Thunen joined IntraLase Corp. (Nasdaq: ILSE), a laser technology company, in May 2001 and was its Chief Financial Officer and later Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer until its acquisition by Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. (NYSE: EYE) in April 2007. Ms. Thunen serves on the board of directors and as audit committee chair of AEON Biopharma, Inc. (NYSE: AEON). Ms. Thunen holds a B.A. in economics and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Irvine.