Eric Rhodes Appointed to Forge Genetics Board of Directors

We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Eric Rhodes to our board as a Non-Executive Director.

Eric brings his unparalleled expertise in the development and global commercial roll-out of genome editing tools to Forge. His commitment to Forge’s mission exemplifies the potential of Forge Editing technology to expand the availability of robust genome engineering tools beyond bacterial species, to a wider range of organisms.

Eric has over 30 years of expertise working in biotechnology, and has consistently placed himself as a leader at the vital intersection between foundational R&D and commercialisation of genome editing tech assets.

His roles have included: 

• VP of BD and Alliance Management at Sangamo Biosciences, where he secured genome editing tech out-licensing deals with numerous large biopharma and biotech MNCs across the globe; 

• Director of BD at Sigma-Aldrich, where helped launch their genome editing platform and oversaw global licensing; 

• SVP of R&D and CTO at Horizon Discovery, where he onboarded the use of new genome editing tech into the company, and later led the adoption of CRISPR-based tech as it emerged onto the commercial market; 

• CEO at ERS Genomics, where he was responsible for out-licensing CRISPR/Cas9 IP under the CVC patent estate and secured over 140 commercial out-licenses for ERS Genomics. 

  
  

Eric said of his appointment, “I’m excited to join the board at Forge where they have a unique approach to genome editing, enabling opportunities across a very wide range of species and organisms. Forge has put together a team of brilliant and dynamic scientists who embrace difficult challenges and combine both creativity and rigorous scientific thinking in their approach. I look forward to working with the team in extending the reach of genome editing to novel and diverse fields."

For over 30 years, Eric has been at the cutting edge of R&D in new genome editing tech and for all of the team at Forge, it is a privilege to work with Eric.