Forge Biologics, Inc.

In the news release, BioSpace Announces 2026 40 Under 40 Winners, issued 06-Oct-2026 by BioSpace over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that changes have been made. The complete, corrected release follows, with additional details at the end: BioSpace Announces 2026 40 Under 40 Winners DES MOINES, Iowa, Oct. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- BioSpace, the leader in biopharma news and careers, has revealed the 2026 cohort for its second 40 Under 40 list. BioSpace's 40 Under 40 honors exemplary biotech and pharma professionals who have distinguished themselves in their companies and their field. The young leaders demonstrate innovation, business impact and commitment to improving outcomes for patients.­­­ Continue Reading BioSpace’s 40 Under 40 honors exemplary biotech and pharma professionals who have distinguished themselves in their companies and their field. "The professionals recognized this year represent the next generation of leaders shaping the future of biopharma," said Josh Goodwin, CEO of BioSpace. "From advancing AI-driven discovery and breakthrough science to leading business strategy, operations, manufacturing and patient advocacy, these individuals are already making a meaningful impact on our industry. Their achievements reflect the depth of talent, innovation and leadership driving better outcomes for patients around the world." 40 Under 40 winners hail from a range of therapeutic areas and business functions. Their companies include small and midsized biotechs, pharmas, technology platforms, and contract development and manufacturing organizations. The 2026 cohort winners are: Ioana Aanei, Director, Business Development and Alliance Management, Scribe Therapeutics James Andorko, Director, In Vivo Discovery, Kite Pharma, a Gilead company Victoria Assimon, Senior Director, Head of Biology, Maze Therapeutics Kaggen Ausma, Vice President, Application Development, Generate:Biomedicines Jake Becraft, Co-Founder and CEO, Strand Therapeutics Shruthi Bharadwaj, Executive Director, Head of AI Drug Discovery Analytics, Revolution Medicines Calvin Chan, Global Head of Insights, Digital and Analytics, Gilead Sciences Bob Chen, Senior Vice President, Discovery Systems, OmniAb Eddie Chung, CEO, Coastar Therapeutics Pedro Coelho, CEO and Founder, Biorce Beryl Cummings, Senior Director, Team Lead and Chief of Staff, Marea Therapeutics Mehul Desai, Senior Vice President, Global Medical Affairs and Advocacy, Enable Injections Josh Haimson, Co-Founder and CEO, Inductive Bio Louisa Helms, Principal, Flagship Pioneering Michelle Ho Huey, Vice President, Strategy and Operations, Renasant Bio Ben Hohl, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development, Enliven Therapeutics Lex Johnson, Chief Platform Officer, Dispatch Bio Anastasiia Kamenska, Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Azalea Therapeutics Amy Kauffman, Senior Principal Scientist, Bristol Myers Squibb Arthur Kuan, Chairman, President and CEO, CG Oncology William Leonardi, Director, Program Management, Avid Bioservices Klevin Lo, Senior Director, Business Development, Altos Labs; Vice President, Milky Way Investments Sophia Lugo, CEO, Radar Therapeutics Blake Mandell, Co-Founder and Advisor, Transcend Therapeutics Narbe Mardirossian, Chief Technology Officer, Terray Therapeutics Trevor Martin, Co-Founder and CEO, Mammoth Biosciences Saber Meamardoost, Associate Director–Research, Data Science and AI, Boehringer Ingelheim Kimberly Nettles, Director of Health Advocacy, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group Haichen Nie, Associate Director, Biologics Drug Product Development, Teva Pharmaceuticals Kanwal Palla, Senior Director, Research and Development, Slingshot Biosciences Nindhana Paranthaman, Vice President, Early Clinical Development, Bicara Therapeutics Morgan Paull, Chief Operating Officer, GondolaBio Matthew Pierce, Director, Operations, Hikma Pharmaceuticals Samantha Piteri-Molina, Vice President of Business and Strategy, Forge Biologics Caitlin Prendes, Vice President, CMC, Abcentra Zvonimir Vrselja, CEO and Co-Founder, Bexorg Hannah Walter, Enterprise Strategic Operations, Parabilis Medicines Qing Yu Christina Weng, Chief Medical Officer, Pelage Pharmaceuticals Johnny Yu, Chief Scientific Officer, Tahoe Therapeutics Christine Zhang, Executive Director and Evanesco Program Lead, BridgeBio About 40 Under 40 Nominations for 40 Under 40 were open from July 6 to Aug. 24. To be eligible, nominees had to be based in the U.S.; be 39 years of age or younger for the calendar year for which they were considered; work in a leadership role in any size biotech or pharma company operating in the U.S.; and be employed at the company for which they were nominated when winners are announced. Anyone could nominate an individual for consideration, and nominees from all disciplines were welcome. Nominees were required to complete an online submission. Winners are selected by BioSpace committee. About BioSpace BioSpace is the hub for life sciences news and jobs. We provide essential insights, opportunities and tools to connect innovative organizations and talented professionals who advance health and quality of life across the globe through news, webinars, podcasts, email, advertising and jobs. Learn more and subscribe at biospace.com. Correction: The 40 Under 40 list has been updated. SOURCE BioSpace 21% more press release views with Request a Demo

Chantal Dresner† for BioSpace 40 Under 40 honorees’ accomplishments include co-developing the world’s first synthetic biology programming language for mRNA and co-founding and leading a company acquired for $700 million up-front and up to $1.225 billion in total consideration. This year’s BioSpace 40 Under 40 winners have made a strong impression within the biopharma industry by not only raising capital, leading teams and building organizations but also by translating science into patient impact. The second cohort of honorees includes biotech and pharma professionals who have worked in therapeutic modalities including cell therapy, gene therapy, programmable mRNA and small molecule. “The professionals recognized this year represent the next generation of leaders shaping the future of biopharma,” said BioSpace CEO Josh Goodwin. “From advancing AI-driven discovery and breakthrough science to leading business strategy, operations, manufacturing and patient advocacy, these individuals are already making a meaningful impact on our industry. Their achievements reflect the depth of talent, innovation and leadership driving better outcomes for patients around the world.” Of the 40 honorees, eight are CEOs, and 10 founded or co-founded their companies. The second 40 Under 40 cohort’s accomplishments include: With fellow co-founder, developing the world’s first synthetic biology programming language for mRNA, work that identified expression control, not delivery, as the primary bottleneck limiting genetic medicines (Jake Becraft, co-founder and CEO, Strand Therapeutics) Leading a contract development and manufacturing organization’s $620 million acquisition, overseeing the transaction from deal origination and banker engagement through diligence, negotiation and close (Samantha Piteri-Molina, vice president of business and strategy, Forge Biologics) Being an inventor on two issued patents and 11 pending patent applications and pioneering the development of the first bioresorbable radiopaque polymer, which enabled visualization of implanted medical devices while naturally resorbing in the body (Amy Kauffman, senior principal scientist, Bristol Myers Squibb) Leading development of predictive modeling tools for molecular design, work externally validated by a first-place finish in the Ginkgo Bioworks antibody developability competition (Saber Meamardoost, associate director-research, data science and AI, Boehringer Ingelheim) Co-founding and leading a neuroscience company that raised more than $100 million and was acquired for $700 million up-front and up to $1.225 billion in total consideration (Blake Mandell, advisor, Transcend Therapeutics) Conducting research that spearheaded the use of transcriptome sequencing to improve diagnosis of rare genetic diseases, a publication cited over 900 times to date (Beryl Cummings, senior director, team lead and chief of staff, Marea Therapeutics) Executing major initiatives spanning more than 50 national executive partnerships across health systems, academic medicine and industry leadership (Kimberly Nettles, director of health advocacy, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group) Authoring more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, receiving over 1,300 citations and holding multiple patents (Haichen Nie, associate director, biologics drug product development, Teva Pharmaceuticals) Nominations for 40 Under 40 were open from July 6 to Aug. 24. To be eligible, nominees had to be based in the U.S.; be 39 years of age or younger for the calendar year for which they were considered; work in a leadership role in any size biotech or pharma company operating in the U.S.; and be employed at the company for which they were nominated when winners are announced. Anyone could nominate an individual for consideration, and nominees from all disciplines were welcome. Nominees were required to complete an online submission. Winners were selected by BioSpace committee. .responsive-container { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; border: 1px solid #ededed; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Sans-Serif; padding: 20px 20px 10px 20px; } .column-left { flex: 1; max-width: 45%; padding: 20px 20px 10px 20px; } .column-right { flex: 2; padding: 20px 20px 10px 20px; } @media (max-width: 768px) { .column-left, .column-right { max-width: 100%; flex: 100%; padding: 10px 0; } } Subscribe to Career Insider! Job market trends, layoffs and career advice to manage your life sciences career hbspt.forms.create({ region: "na1", portalId: "4413123", formId: "7c63cc9f-e9ed-42c4-8c81-fa1538ee1421", onFormSubmitted: function($form, data) { window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; window.dataLayer.push({ 'event': 'GTMevent', 'event_name': 'newsletter_sign_up' }); } });

Program brings together research from Steven Gray, Ph.D., and his lab at UT Southwestern with Forge’s development and manufacturing expertise to advance an AAV gene therapy for patients with TECPR2 BOCA RATON, Fla. & COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The TECPR2 Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization established to advance research and development of a treatment for patients with TECPR2, and Forge Biologics (“Forge”), a leading manufacturer of gene therapies and member of Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services, today announced a development and manufacturing partnership to advance an AAV gene therapy for patients with TECPR2, an ultra-rare neurodegenerative genetic disease. Under the partnership, Forge is providing process development, analytical development and qualification, and manufacturing services, including the manufacture and release of material for toxicology studies, to support the program’s continued advancement. The program is leveraging Forge’s proprietary FUEL™ platform, including its HEK293 suspension Ignition Cells™, pEMBR™ 2.0 adenovirus helper plasmid, rep/cap plasmids, and program-specific optimization packages, designed to drive manufacturing efficiencies. “For our families, this has never simply been a research program. It began with a few children and a commitment to do everything we could to create a path forward for everyone living with TECPR2,” said David Ogman, co-founder of the TECPR2 Research Foundation. “That mission has brought together an incredible group of scientists and partners who believe, as we do, that children with ultra-rare diseases deserve the same opportunity for scientific progress as anyone else.” “Forge shares that sense of purpose, and we are grateful to have their team and expertise behind us as we take these important steps toward a life-changing treatment,” said Michael Kaplan, M.D., co-founder of the TECPR2 Research Foundation. TECPR2 is an ultra-rare genetic disorder associated with developmental delays and progressive neurological complications. TECPR2 plays an important role in autophagy, the cellular process responsible for degrading and recycling damaged or unnecessary cellular components. The investigational gene therapy is designed to use an AAV vector to deliver a functional copy of the TECPR2 gene, with the goal of addressing the underlying genetic cause of the disease. The gene therapy program is being advanced by a research team led by AAV gene therapy pioneer Steven Gray, Ph.D., Director of the Gene Therapy Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center, together with Xin Chen, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor at UT Southwestern. Their research is focused on advancing the TECPR2 Research Foundation’s AAV gene therapy toward clinical development. “At the heart of this partnership is a shared belief in what gene therapy can make possible for patients and families,” said John Maslowski, president and chief executive officer of Forge. “When we developed our FUEL™ platform, we set out to improve manufacturing efficiency so treatments could reach more patients, with the needs of both larger patient populations and ultra-rare diseases in mind. For programs like TECPR2, making the most of every manufacturing run is critical. We are honored to bring our manufacturing technology and expertise to a program that is so deeply personal to the TECPR2 community.” About TECPR2 TECPR2-related disorder is an ultra-rare genetic neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative condition caused by pathogenic variants in the TECPR2 gene. TECPR2 plays an important role in autophagy, a cellular process involved in the degradation and recycling of cellular components. The disease can cause developmental delays and progressive neurological complications, including respiratory dysfunction. The investigational TECPR2 gene therapy program uses an AAV vector to deliver a functional copy of the TECPR2 gene and is being developed with the goal of addressing the underlying genetic cause of the disease. About the TECPR2 Research Foundation The TECPR2 Research Foundation is a nonprofit founded by physicians and families worldwide with a single mission: to advance research and curative treatments for TECPR2, a rare and fatal childhood disease also known as SPG49 or HSAN9. The foundation unites families, leading clinicians, geneticists, and biotech partners to accelerate first of its kind therapeutics for children living with the disease. To learn more, visit . About Forge Biologics Forge Biologics is a gene therapy contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) enabling access to life-changing gene therapies by helping bring them from concept to reality. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Forge operates the Hearth, a 200,000-square-foot facility with 20 custom-designed cGMP suites and 20,000 L of bioreactor capacity. Forge provides end-to-end AAV development and manufacturing services from research scale through commercial production, leveraging its proprietary FUEL™ platform designed to get more doses from every run. Forge is part of Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services, a global network of specialized CDMOs within the Ajinomoto Group. To learn more, visit . Contacts Media Inquiries TECPR2 Research Foundation: Michael Kaplan, M.D. Co-Founder, Executive Director info@tecpr2.org Forge Biologics: Marina Corleto Associate Director, Marketing & Communications media@forgebiologics.com Client Development: Taleen Barsoumian Senior Vice President, Commercial CD@forgebiologics.com