About

Our Story Begins with Transformative Research

Our company was formed in 2020 by the prominent Yale University professors and scientists, Drs. Anna Marie Pyle and Akiko Iwasaki. Pyle, PhD, and colleagues co-discovered RIG-I, an innate immune sensor, and a new class of oligonucleotide compounds called stem loop RNA therapeutics or “SLRs” for the selective targeting of RIG-I. SLRs stimulate the innate and adaptive immune responses by activation of the Type I interferon pathway. Co-founder Iwasaki, PhD, is renowned for her work with mechanisms of immune defense against viruses at the mucosal surfaces. RIGImmune executed an exclusive license agreement with Yale University in 2022 for the intellectual property estate related to the SLRs developed by Pyle and Iwasaki.

To discover and develop a technology platform that could effectively deliver RNA therapeutics directly to the respiratory tract without the need for lipid nanoparticle encapsulation, RIGImmune acquired SubIntro, a UK biotechnology company, in 2022. Subintro, Inc., co-founded by three notable respiratory drug developers, Kaz Ito, PhD, DVM, Garth Rapeport, MD, and Jag Shur, PhD, was focused on the advancement of novel formulations for the local mucosal and inhalation delivery of modalities for use against serious respiratory diseases. The combination of RIGImmune and SubIntro has led to an innovative non-LNP technology platform named
NEED™ (Nano-Emulsion Enhanced Delivery) that directly and effectively delivers RNA therapeutics to the respiratory tract. 

Management Team

Martin Driscoll

CEO & Board Chair, RIGImmune Inc.

Read Bio

Susan Sobolov, PhD

President & COO, RIGImmune Inc.

Read Bio

Garth Rapeport, MD

Chief Development Officer, RIGImmune Inc.

Read Bio

Jag Shur, PhD

Chief Technical Officer, RIGImmune Inc.

Read Bio

Prof. Kazuhiro Ito, PhD

Vice President, Biology

Read Bio

Board of Directors

Nilesh Wadhwa

Head International Business & Strategy, Alembic

Read Bio

Tom Smart, MBA

CEO Actym Therapeutics

Read Bio

Biao He

Lifespan Director

Martin Driscoll, Board Chair

CEO & Chair, RIGImmune, Inc.

Read Bio

Nihal Sinha

Partner, F-Prime

Read Bio

Scientific Advisors

Prof. Anna Marie Pyle, PhD

Co-Founder & Scientific Advisor

Read Bio

Radhakrishnan (Kris) Iyer, PhD

Scientific Advisor

Read Bio

Brett Hauman, MD

Scientific Advisor