Constellation Pharmaceuticals Appoints Keith E. Dionne, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer
Mark A. Goldsmith, M.D., Ph.D., to Serve as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Mar 27, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading biopharmaceutical company in the field of epigenetics, today announced the appointment of Keith E. Dionne, Ph.D., to the role of president and chief executive officer to succeed Mark A. Goldsmith, M.D., Ph.D., who will continue his involvement with the company as executive chairman of its board of directors. Dr. Goldsmith is returning to the west coast where he will join Constellation investor Third Rock Ventures as a venture partner in the firm's San Francisco office.
"With more than 20 years of experience leading U.S. and international biotech companies, research and development teams and successful strategic alliances between companies, Keith is ideally suited to lead this phase of our organization and advance our leadership in chromatin biology and epigenetics drug discovery and development," said Dr. Goldsmith. "Building Constellation to this inflection point has been a tremendously rewarding experience, and I am very proud of what this organization has accomplished since its founding. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Keith and the rest of the exceptional team at Constellation in my new role."
Dr. Dionne joins Constellation from Third Rock Ventures, where he served as an entrepreneur-in-residence. Previously, he served as CEO at Surface Logix, Inc. Before that, he was the president and CEO of Alantos Pharmaceuticals, leading the company's acquisition by Amgen in July 2007. Prior to joining Alantos, Dr. Dionne was with Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he held positions of increasing responsibility, concluding his seven-year tenure as both vice president of research and development strategy and vice president and general manager, technology business. Before his tenure with Millennium, Dr. Dionne served as head of pre-clinical research & development, implants at ALZA Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Dionne was one of four original scientists at CytoTherapeutics, Inc., a cell transplantation company. He has served as an adjunct professor in the biomedical department at Brown University and received both his Ph.D. in chemical engineering and his M.S. in the program for technology policy from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"I'm delighted to join Constellation at this exciting time in the company's growth and evolution," said Dr. Dionne. "Under Mark's leadership and with strong support from The Column Group, SR One, Third Rock Ventures and Venrock, Constellation has become a powerhouse in epigenetics drug discovery and development, exemplified by two compelling internal programs, a major strategic collaboration, and an exceptional management team and scientific staff. We are fortunate to be able to continue to work closely with Mark in his role as executive chairman as we approach clinical milestones in our internal programs and continue to realize the full potential of our platform in conjunction with our broad discovery alliance with Genentech."
About Constellation Pharmaceuticals
Constellation Pharmaceuticals leverages insights from the rapidly expanding field of epigenetics to discover and develop small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, inflammatory/immunologic disorders and other diseases. The company's innovative product discovery engine targets both the enzymes that modify the dynamic structure of chromatin (writers and erasers) and other proteins that interact with chromatin (readers) to control gene expression. Restoration of normal gene expression through chromatin modulation by highly selective and specific inhibitors promises to be a powerful avenue for the development of important new medicines against a broad range of diseases. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.constellationpharma.com .
SOURCE: Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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Sheryl Seapy, 949-608-0841
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