Skyhawk Therapeutics Promotes Clint Musil to CEO and Names Co-Founder Bill Haney as Executive Chairman

BOSTON, June 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Skyhawk Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel small molecule therapies designed to modulate key RNA targets, today announced the promotion of Clint Musil, former Chief Financial Officer of Skyhawk Therapeutics, to Chief Executive Officer and appointing Bill Haney, former CEO and co-founder of Skyhawk Therapeutics, as executive director of the board of directors.

“It has been an honor to build Skyhawk over the past six years, and I am thrilled to promote Clint to the role of CEO to lead us into the future,” said Bill Haney, co-founder and executive chairman of the board of directors of Skyhawk Therapeutics. “Clint is an exceptional leader with extensive experience in public biopharmaceutical companies. As Skyhawk’s first Huntington’s disease program progresses in the clinic and our second program is on track to go clinical, Clint’s talent, energy and focus are ideally suited to drive Skyhawk in its ongoing development process. With new members to our team, including both a Chief Medical Officer and a Chief Scientific Officer, Skyhawk is well-positioned to responsibly manage a group of potentially promising INDs. As executive chairman, I will continue to work with our board of directors to support our talented senior leadership team as we work together to revolutionize disease management and develop therapies for some of the world’s most difficult-to-treat diseases.”

“This is an exciting time to lead Skyhawk as we continue to make significant progress in enhancing our platform to discover critical new disease-relevant biology, advancing our current product candidates into and through clinical trials, and generating additional product candidates for many indications for ourselves and our pharmaceutical partners,” said Clint Musil, CEO of Skyhawk Therapeutics. “SKY-0515, our HTT-targeted RNA splicing modulator for the treatment of Huntington’s disease, is undergoing a Phase 1 clinical trial. We expect to report additional data from this study in the summer. Huntington’s disease is a genetically identifiable, progressive disease usually diagnosed in the third to fifth decade of life, with a median expected survival from symptom onset of 15 to 18 years. It is estimated that there are currently over 40,000 Huntington’s patients in the U.S. and no drug has been approved to reverse or slow the progression of the disease.”

About Clint Musil
Mr. Musil brings decades of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with significant expertise in strategic planning, financial management, and experience in a wide range of transactions, including financings, pharmaceutical partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions. He previously served as Skyhawk’s Chief Financial Officer from December 2021 to February 2024. Mr. Musil led multiple IPOs and held leadership positions at several public biotechnology companies, including ARMO Biosciences, which was sold to Eli Lilly for $1.6 billion. Early in his career, Mr. Musil held business positions in the pharmaceutical industry, as an investment banker and investor. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Arizona.

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About Bill Haney
After decades of entrepreneurial experience and founding more than a dozen technology companies, Mr. Haney co-founded Skyhawk Therapeutics. Mr. Haney also serves as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Dragonfly Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on developing therapies that harness the body’s immune system to provide groundbreaking treatments for patients. Mr. Haney was a founding member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Environmental Advisory Council and the President’s Circle of the National Academy of Sciences, and has won the Humanitarian Award from Harvard Medical School, the Gabriel Award, the Pare Lorentz Award, and the Achievement Award from the ACLU. He serves or has served on the boards of Harvard, MIT, and the World Resources Institute. Mr. Haney was a Kennedy School Fellow from 1997-2001 and holds an AB from Harvard College.

About Skyhawk Therapy
Skyhawk Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapies designed to modulate key RNA targets and revolutionize patient treatment for some of the world’s most difficult-to-treat diseases. Skyhawk’s discovery expertise is powered by a proprietary drug discovery platform that is designed to evaluate, identify and test RNA splicing targets and small molecules across a broad range of therapeutic areas and disease states. Skyhawk has partnered with BMS, Biogen, Genentech, Merck, Sanofi, Takeda, Vertex and Ipsen, which leverages Skyhawk’s novel platform in disease areas including neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune diseases and oncology. More information can be found at www.skyhawktx.com.

About the Skyhawk platform
The Skyhawk platform integrates four distinct and complementary datasets into rapidly evolving machine learning models and aims to accelerate RNA discovery and development targeting small molecule drug candidates across a range of targets. The platform consists of: SKYSTAR^®, a target scoring system that integrates data from public and proprietary bioinformatics, structural, and computational biology datasets to prioritize high-value RNA targets; SKYLIBRARY, a unique, purpose-built and evolving library of RNA-targeting compounds; SKYSEQ, a proprietary multiplex screening system designed to simultaneously test dozens of high-value targets across a range of RNA structural motifs to identify compounds selective for a specific disease target; and SKYAI, a machine learning toolkit integrating data from SKYSTAR, medicinal chemistry, animal studies, toxicology data and clinical trials to develop the next generation of novel RNA splicing modulators.

Skyhawk contacts
Maury McCarthy
[email protected]

Contact for investors
Anna Maria Fields
Precision AQ (formerly Stern IR)
[email protected]
332-213-1956