Business
Stoke Therapeutics Appoints Ian F. Smith as Chief Executive Officer
Leader with Long Track Record in Building World-Class Biopharma Companies and Driving Late-Stage Development and Commercial Execution Arthur Tzianabos
About this update from Stoke Therapeutics, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nLeader with Long Track Record in Building World-Class Biopharma Companies and Driving Late-Stage Development and Commercial Execution\n\n\nArthur Tzianabos Resumes Chairman of the Board Role\n\n\n BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nStoke Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: STOK), a biotechnology company dedicated to restoring protein expression by harnessing the body’s potential with RNA medicine, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Ian F. Smith as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Mr. Smith has served as Interim CEO since March 2025 and as a member of Stoke’s Board of Directors and advisor to the Company since 2023. He will continue to serve as a Director on the Company’s Board of Directors. Arthur Tzianabos, Ph.D., has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2018. He will resume his role as Chairman of the Board after serving as Executive Chairman while the CEO search was conducted.\n\n\nA global Phase 3 study of the Company’s lead investigational medicine, zorevunersen, is underway. Zorevunersen is a first-in-class potential disease-modifying medicine for Dravet syndrome. Dravet syndrome is a severe developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) characterized by severe, recurrent seizures as well as significant cognitive and behavioral impairments. In February 2025, Stoke entered a collaboration with Biogen Inc. to develop and commercialize zorevunersen for Dravet syndrome. Under the collaboration, Stoke retains exclusive rights for zorevunersen in the United States, Canada, and Mexico; Biogen receives exclusive rest of world commercialization rights.\n\n\nDr. Tzianabos said, “After conducting a comprehensive search, it became clear that Ian is uniquely qualified to lead Stoke and deeply committed to our science, our mission, and our people. Under his leadership over the last six months, the team and the business have thrived, achieving multiple milestones, including the start of our pivotal Phase 3 EMPEROR study in Dravet syndrome, generation of new data to drive understanding of zorevunersen, and the expansion of our pipeline with the start of a second clinical program in Autosomal Dominant Optic Atrophy. This strong execution has translated into meaningful value creation for our shareholders. Ian’s deep experience in rare disease drug development and commercialization, regulatory know-how, exceptional ...