# Joanne Kotz

> Joanne Kotz is a chemist-turned-biotech-CEO who runs Atalanta Therapeutics, a Boston company using divalent siRNA to silence disease-causing genes throughout the brain and spinal cord. She took the top job in June 2025 after co-founding and leading Jnana Therapeutics from a blank slate to a roughly $1 billion acquisition by Otsuka. Before founding companies she helped build them from the science up, as a director at the Broad Institute, a leader of F-Prime's neurodegeneration initiative, and the founding editor of Nature Chemical Biology. Her career runs an unusual loop: bench scientist, science journal editor, partnership architect, founder, and now CEO of a company chasing some of the hardest diseases in the central nervous system.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at Atalanta Therapeutics
- **Organizations:** Atalanta Therapeutics, Jnana Therapeutics, Broad Institute, F-Prime Capital / F-Prime Biomedical Research Initiative (FBRI), Nature Publishing Group, Genentech, Necker Children's Hospital (Paris), Chordoma Foundation
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, B.S. in Chemistry, University of Florida, B.A. in Sociology, University of Florida, Postdoctoral research, Genentech, Postdoctoral research, Necker Children's Hospital, Paris
- **Known for:** Co-founded Jnana Therapeutics and led it from launch to a roughly $1 billion acquisition by Otsuka Pharmaceutical in 2024, Advanced Jnana's lead candidate JNT-517, a potential first-in-class oral treatment for phenylketonuria (PKU), into the clinic, Founding editor of the journal Nature Chemical Biology

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Postdoctoral research at Genentech and at Necker Children's Hospital in Paris
- **2000s** — Founding editor and later senior editor of Nature Chemical Biology at Nature Publishing Group
- **2000s-2010s** — Director at the Broad Institute, building and guiding drug-discovery partnerships including the Broad-Bayer oncology collaboration
- **2010s** — Leadership role at the F-Prime Biomedical Research Initiative (FBRI), advancing therapies for neurodegenerative disease
- **2017** — Co-founded Jnana Therapeutics and helped formulate its initial scientific strategy; led business and operations from launch
- **2017** — Named President of Jnana Therapeutics (December 2017)
- **2018** — Appointed Chief Executive Officer of Jnana Therapeutics (November 2018)
- **2024** — Jnana Therapeutics acquired by Otsuka Pharmaceutical for roughly $1 billion (approx. $800M upfront plus up to $325M in milestones)
- **2025** — Named CEO and board member of Atalanta Therapeutics (June 18, 2025), succeeding Alicia Secor

## Achievements

- Co-founded Jnana Therapeutics and led it from launch to a roughly $1 billion acquisition by Otsuka Pharmaceutical in 2024
- Advanced Jnana's lead candidate JNT-517, a potential first-in-class oral treatment for phenylketonuria (PKU), into the clinic
- Founding editor of the journal Nature Chemical Biology
- Built and led drug-discovery partnerships at the Broad Institute, including the Broad-Bayer oncology collaboration
- Appointed CEO of Atalanta Therapeutics in 2025 to lead its RNAi platform for central nervous system diseases
- Board member of the Chordoma Foundation

## Latest updates

- **2025-06** — Named Chief Executive Officer and board member of Atalanta Therapeutics, succeeding Alicia Secor.
- **2024-08** — Jnana Therapeutics, which she co-founded and led, agreed to be acquired by Otsuka Pharmaceutical for up to roughly $1.1 billion.

## Links

- Website: https://atalantatx.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/joannekotz

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/joanne-kotz
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-11