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driven by scientific excellence and boundless curiosity
Who We Are
To unlock the power of RNA and enable the advancement of transformative medicine
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.
On this mission, we are driven by scientific rigor, uninhibited curiosity, the spirit of collaboration, integrity, and most importantly, the duty to do good for the world.
Company Leadership
Joshua (JP) is a co-founder of Nymirum and has sat at the intersection of entrepreneurship and investments for two decades. Prior to Nymirum, 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.
JP 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.
Joshua P. Fairbank
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Al-Hashimi is a co-founder of Nymirum. He is the inventor of the technology underlying Nymirum's platform and is 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 the James B. Duke Professor of Biochemistry at the Duke School of Medicine and is the Director of the Duke Center for RNA Biology. He received his PhD from Yale University.
Hashim Al-Hashimi
Inventor and Platform Architect
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 Nymirum. Prior to Nymirum, 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.
Isaac Kimsey
Vice President,
Drug Discovery
Yang is a biotech entrepreneur experienced in early-stage technology commercialization and building value-driving partnerships across companies, academic centers and government organizations. 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.
Yang Zheng
Head of Business Development
Dr. Pape is a co-founder of Nymirum 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.
