Innovative Ophthalmic Pharmaceutical Company
Striving to restore vision
LENZ Therapeutics is a late-stage clinical company developing innovative ophthalmic pharmaceutical products that improve vision, proudly based in San Diego.
We are focused on an eye drop to treat presbyopia and provide seamless vision for the vast majority of presbyopes.
In our pursuit of this better future for patients, we are excited to deliver an innovative solution to the eye care community, who has demonstrated their readiness.
Our novel lead program is an aceclidine based eye drop, with a unique MOA profile and best-in-class clinical data.
Science
LENZ Therapeutics is committed to delivering the first and only, aceclidine-based eye drop for the treatment of presbyopia. With a unique MOA profile, aceclidine is the only pupil selective miotic.
Our groundbreaking work has the support of the investor community who sees the clear value in what we are developing. Learn more on our Pipeline page.
Market
Our novel and lead program aims to provide an ideal pharmaceutical presbyopia solution to restore near vision, with the potential for broadest target patient population.
Presbyopia impacts 128 million people in the US.1 and research shows that adults over 50 lose on average 1.5 lines of near vision per 6 years.2
The promise of a once-daily eye drop solution is welcomed by all age groups, 45 and above. LENZ Therapeutics is looking to provide a solution to treat all eyes, all day.
- Global Prevalence of Presbyopia and Vision Impairment from Uncorrected Presbyopia, Fricke, Timothy, et al, American Academy of Ophthalmology, vol 125, number 10, Oct 2018.
- Progression of Near Vision Loss and Incidence of Near Vision Impairment in an Adult Chinese Population, Han, Xiaotong, et al, Ophthalmology, 124(5): page 734, May 2017.
Our team
At LENZ, we appreciate each other’s strengths and perspectives and we instinctively fill in the gaps. Our team is not afraid to express opinions or ask for support. We take action, and we take the time to know where we’re going.
We see speed bumps as an essential part of the ride. The LENZ team loves a challenge, and love to challenge. We encourage constructive and contagious curiosity – looking beyond the obvious.
We each rally around what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. This makes us tenacious in getting things done right. We’re unstoppable in our pursuit of better, which gives us great pride.
Meet the people who inspire the big ideas, fresh thinking, and bold action that help us get over challenges today that will lead to cures tomorrow.
Eef (Evert) Schimmelpennink is the President and CEO of LENZ Therapeutics and has a proven track record in successfully building and scaling public and private biopharmaceutical companies, securing funding around captivating strategies, and creating patient and shareholder value.
Eef (Evert) Schimmelpennink is the President and CEO of LENZ Therapeutics and has a proven track record in successfully building and scaling public and private biopharmaceutical companies, securing funding around captivating strategies, and creating patient and shareholder value.
Dan Chevallard is the Chief Financial Officer of LENZ Therapeutics and is a respected corporate finance and strategic executive with significant experience in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and diagnostic industries.
Shawn Olsson is the CCO of LENZ Therapeutics and brings over a decade of successful experience taking new products to market and establishing new distribution channels in the pharmaceutical industry.
Dr. Marc Odrich is the Chief Medical Officer of LENZ Therapeutics and has an extensive career in private practice, teaching, and medical research that contributes to LENZ’s success by driving the clinical trial and potential approval of our novel product.
Kris Gambelin is the Vice President, Regulatory and Clinical Operations at LENZ Therapeutics and brings over 20 years of clinical and regulatory experience spanning clinical trial protocol development, study initiations and FDA submissions.
Melissa Rosness is Vice President, Manufacturing Operations at LENZ Therapeutics where she brings over two decades of experience in chemical manufacturing, controls and operations to oversee our manufacturing activities.
Ted Wheeler is the Vice President, Quality at LENZ Therapeutics and has a proven track record of implementing and maintaining quality systems, demonstrating strong regulatory compliance and has actively participated in more than 20 FDA and European audits.
Breianna Bowen is the Vice President, Human Resources at LENZ Therapeutics and brings a proven track record of building engaged and high performing teams in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.
Melody Burcar is the Vice President, Finance at LENZ Therapeutics and has over 20 years of experience, including over 15 years in the life sciences industry. Her previous positions have been with pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, which included products at various stages – from early and late-stage clinical to those commercially available in the U.S. and globally. Melody is a licensed CPA in the State of California.
David Choromanski is the Vice President, Marketing at LENZ Therapeutics and has significant marketing leadership experience across consumer (Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Dermalogica) and ophthalmology (STAAR Surgical).
Domenick Porfidia is the Vice President, Sales at LENZ Therapeutics and has over 15 years of eye care experience. With a strong focus on sales leadership and has a long history of building high-performing teams across buy & bill, Rx, cash pay and OTC brands such as Restasis, Refresh, Vuity, Durysta and others.
Ahmad Chaudhri is the Vice President, Commercial Operations at LENZ Therapeutics and has over 15 years of strategy, analytics and operations experience including roles at Allergan, Avanir and Deloitte.
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.
LENZ believes Dr. Guerard is qualified to serve on the combined company’s board of directors because of his extensive drug development experience and his experience serving in various leadership positions in biotechnology companies.
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.
LENZ believes Dr. Guerard is qualified to serve on the combined company’s board of directors because of his extensive drug development experience and his experience serving in various leadership positions in biotechnology companies.
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.
LENZ believes Mr. McCollum is qualified to serve on the combined company’s board of directors because of his deep knowledge of LENZ’s business and strategy, his extensive executive leadership and operational experience.
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.
LENZ believes Dr. Scheiner is qualified to serve on the combined company’s board of directors because of his experience in the life sciences industry and his investing experience.
Eef (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.
LENZ believes Mr. Schimmelpennink is qualified to serve on the combined company’s board of directors because of his knowledge of LENZ’s business and his extensive leadership and operational experience within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.
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.
LENZ believes Ms. Drapkin is qualified to serve on the combined company’s board of directors because of her role as Graphite’s chief executive officer prior to the merger.
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.
LENZ believes Ms. Thunen is qualified to serve on the combined company’s board of directors because of her extensive experience in the biotechnology industry and her leadership experience as a senior financial executive.
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.
Director, Medical Professional Relations
Ophthalmology
Optometry
