Dr. Rodger Novak 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.

He served as our Chief Executive Officer of CRISPR Therapeutics until December 2017 and since December 2017, as their President and Chairman. Rodger is also a Director on the Board of Casebia Therapeutics, CRISPR’s 50-50 joint venture with Bayer AG. In addition to CRISPR Therapeutics, Rodger serves as Executive Chair on the boards of Rockend and Matterhorn Biosciences, and is a board member of ERS Genomics.   

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 Therapeutics, 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.