DUBLIN and LONDON, 15 June 2026 -- Aerska, a biotechnology company using brain shuttle technology to develop RNA medicines for CNS diseases, today announces the appointment of Itziar Canamasas and Uli Stilz to the Company's Board of Directors.
These senior appointments bring decades of expertise in drug development to Aerska. Itziar, currently Global Head of Oncology at Boehringer Ingelheim, brings more than two decades of strategic and commercial leadership in precision medicine. She will help advance the neuroscience field by applying her expertise from oncology. Uli serves as Senior Partner, Pioneering Medicines Partnerships at Flagship Pioneering with three decades of experience in first-in-class asset creation, strategic partnerships, and scaling therapeutics platforms across the US and European biotech ecosystems. Their appointments strengthen the Company's strategic and operational expertise as it advances its antibody-oligo conjugate (AOC) platform to build a pipeline of targeted therapies for neurological diseases.
"Itziar and Uli bring exactly the combination we need at this stage," said Jack O'Meara, CEO, Aerska. "Itziar has thought deeply about what it takes to build and position precision medicines; lessons hard-won in oncology that are to highly relevant to where neuroscience is heading. Uli is one of the best-networked and strategic minds in the European and US biotech ecosystems, and his track record forging first-in-class partnerships will be invaluable as we build out our platform and look for the right collaborators to scale it."
Beyond her role at Boehringer Ingelheim, Itziar has a track record of driving the development and commercialization of precision therapeutics in her previous oncology leadership positions at Bayer Pharmaceuticals, as Chief Executive Officer at AtG Therapeutics, and as a non-executive Board Member at ALX Oncology. At Aerska, she will apply this expertise to help shape the development and commercial strategy for a new generation of precision RNA medicines targeting the brain.
Uli has built and scaled therapeutics platforms across major pharmaceutical companies and the venture ecosystem. With a PhD under Dieter Oesterhelt and Nobel laureate Hartmut Michel and postdoctoral work under Peter Dervan at Caltech, he has contributed to more than 60 development candidates, including 30 INDs. He founded Novo Nordisk's venture and asset-creation engine, building a multi-asset portfolio from the ground up and establishing innovative partnership models connecting academia, biotech, and venture capital. He currently serves as a Senior Partner, Pioneering Medicines Partnerships at Flagship Pioneering, where he focuses on advancing Flagship's global ecosystem partnerships and innovation collaborations across company creation, platform innovation and asset development. He was recognized as a Fierce 50 Innovation honoree in 2024.
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About Aerska
Aerska is a biotechnology company pioneering RNA medicines to delay, treat, and prevent diseases of the brain. The company is leveraging advances in 'brain shuttles' to enable targeted delivery of next-generation RNA therapeutics to the CNS. By silencing the genes that cause harm, Aerska aims to preserve the minds, protect the memories, and enable our loved ones to live longer, healthier lives. Aerska is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with research operations in London, UK. For more info, visit www.aerska.com.
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