Chandra Vargeese Email Address

Senior Vice President and Head of Research

At WAVE Life Sciences, we are driven by an unwavering passion and commitment to deliver on our mission of confronting challenging diseases by developing transformational therapies and empowering patients. We are utilizing our innovative and proprietary synthetic chemistry drug development platform to design, develop and commercialize rationally redesigned nucleic acid therapeutics that precisely target the underlying cause of rare and other serious genetically defined diseases. Given the versatility of our chemistry platform, WAVE's deep, diverse pipeline spans multiple modalities including antisense, exon-skipping, and single-stranded RNAi.

Senior Research and development leader with 25 years of experience in research and development of nucleosides and nucleic acid based therapeutics including aptamers, siRNAs, ribozymes, antisense and mRNA. Recognized thought leader in application of various nucleic acid platform technologies from basic research and discovery to commercial products with strong track record of patents and publications. Areas of expertise include: • Directed and performed research in various nucleic acid based therapeutics • Co-invented Macugen, FDA approved aptamer drug for Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) • Oligonucleotide design, nucleic acid modification, synthesis and large scale production of drugs to support clinical trials • Invented and developed nucleic acid delivery technologies including targeted delivery, liposomes, polymer and conjugates • Pharmaceutical process research and development and manufacturing • Extensive experience in nanoparticles for delivering nucleic acids • Strong analytical skills to characterize nucleic acids and various nanoparticles • Communicating effectively and working collaboratively across broad range of functions and external collaborations • Recruiting and leading high-performance research and development organizations