Dr. Rodger Novak is Chairman of the Board, Founder and President of CRISPR Therapeutics.

He co-founded CRISPR Therapeutics together with Emmanuelle Charpentier and Shaun Foy in November 2013, and has served as a Director on their Board of Directors since inception. Rodger has significant expertise in strategy and operations in biotech and a wide range of related cutting-edge therapeutic technologies.

Succession was and is planned and executed thoughtfully at CRISPR Therapeutics. Rodger served as CRISPRs Chief Executive Officer until December 2017. In 2017 Dr. Samarth Kulkarni took over as CEO from Rodger. Sam joined CRISPR in 2015 in the early stages of the company as Chief Business Officer, where he worked closely with Rodger and was then appointed to President and Chief Business Officer before becoming CEO.

Rodger is an experienced biotechnology and pharmaceutical executive, and former Professor of Microbiology at the Vienna Biocenter in Austria. He brings a combination of scientific experience gained through his academic career and a proven track record of successfully translating technologies into pharmaceutical products. 

Before co-founding CRISPR, Rodger served as Global Head of Anti-Infectives Research & Development at Sanofi. Prior to Sanofi, he co-founded Nabriva Therapeutics and served as Chief Operating Officer for almost six years. He started his pharmaceutical career at Sandoz (Novartis), where he served as the Deputy Head of the Antibiotic Research Institute. 

Rodger received an M.D. from Philipps University of Marburg, Germany. He continued with post-doctoral work in New York City at The Rockefeller University, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center. Rodger has authored numerous publications, including articles in Nature, Nature Medicine and Molecular Cell, and is also a co-inventor of five patents.