TO UNLOCK THE POWER OF RNA AND ENABLE THE ADVANCEMENT OF TRANSFORMATIVE MEDICINE
scientific rigor and boundless curiosity
Our company began as Nymirum. As protein drug discovery continued to exhaust low-hanging fruits, we founded Nymirum in 2009 to tackle a new and challenging frontier filled with untapped therapeutic potential: targeting RNA with small molecules. We were focused on solving the some of the biggest hurdles in this modality. Namely, how to address the highly dynamic nature of RNA to enable structured-based drug discovery. The VERITAS Platform was born.
And now it has matured.
Our evolution to Base4 is a natural progression to our company's next era. The name is not only a nod to the four nucleotide bases of our RNA targets, but also a symbol of our stage of development and mentality for the exciting road ahead.
On the Mount Everest climb, Camp IV, also known as South Col, is the final major camp before climbers begin the push to the summit. We have spent over a decade solving the platform challenges on this RNA journey and now is the time for the advancement to the peak.
Our Leadership
Our Leadership
Joshua Fairbank
Chief Executive Officer
Joshua (JP) is a co-founder of Base4 and has sat at the intersection of entrepreneurship and investments for two decades. Prior to Base4, he co-founded and took public Akebia (NASDAQ: AKBA), a biotech in kidney disease and Aerpio (NASDAQ: ARPO), a biotech in ocular diseases. He was also the Founding Partner of Orchard Venture Partners (a biotech VC fund) and of Orchard Capital Management.
Fairbank is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Booth School of business. He received his MBA from Chicago Booth and his BA in Economics from Connecticut College.
Hashim Al-Hashim
Inventor and Platform Architect
Dr. Al-Hashimi is a co-founder of Base4. He is the inventor of the technology and drives the continuous development and application of Base4's platform. He is widely regarded as a pioneer and key opinion leader in RNA dynamics and RNA targeting. His work in this space is not only widely published in Science and Nature, but has resulted in the National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology in 2020 and the National Science Foundation Career Award.
Dr. Al-Hashimi is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University (previously at the Duke University). He received his PhD from Yale University.
Michael Pape
Drug Development
Dr. Pape is a co-founder of Base4 and is a serial biotech entrepreneur and experienced executive. He previously co-founded Esperion Therapeutics (sold to Pfizer for $1.3B in 2004), and launched Orchard Venture Partners, Akebia and Aerpio with JP. He is also a veteran of large pharma as a scientist at Upjohn, Parke-Davis, and Pfizer, directing drug discovery and development. He was instrumental to the R&D of the blockbuster Lipitor.
Dr. Pape is a Distinguished Alumni of both the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he received his MBA, and Purdue University where he received his PhD in Biochemistry.
Isaac Kimsey
Drug Discovery
Dr. Kimsey has a deep expertise in nucleic acid dynamics, and works to develop and implement novel biophysical and computational methods for RNA drug discovery at Base4. At Base4, Isaac leads the implementation of the DART Platform in drug discovery. Prior to Base4, he developed experimental and computational methods to unravel the roles of DNA dynamics on the origins of spontaneous mutagenesis. His work with Dr. Al-Hashimi has been published in Nature.
Isaac received his MS in Chemistry from University of Michigan and his PhD in Biochemistry from Duke University.
Yang Zheng
Business Development
Yang is a biotech entrepreneur experienced in early-stage technology commercialization and building value-driving partnerships across companies, academic centers and government organizations. He drives and manages strategic partnerships at Base4 as well as general company strategy and operations. He previously co-founded MicroQuin (oncology) and served as its COO and CBO, as well as Oxalo Therapeutics (renal) and served as its COO.
Yang received his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and his BA in Business Economics from UCLA. While at the University of Chicago, he worked with the entrepreneurship center to spin-out STEM research.