New VP, Legal and Intellectual Property, at Arrakis Therapeutics

Arrakis Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery of a new class of small molecule medicines that directly target RNA, has tapped Erik Spek, Ph.D., J.D., as VP, Legal and Intellectual Property. 

Dr. Spek is an experienced biotech executive who has been a leader in corporate legal affairs and intellectual property for biotech companies, including Vedanta Biosciences and Epizyme Inc. In his role on the Arrakis management team, Dr. Spek is overseeing all corporate legal matters and leading Arrakis’ intellectual property strategy.

“Erik brings exceptional expertise in building legal and intellectual property strategies for biotech companies with proprietary technology platforms, and he is an ideal addition to our team as we continue to realize the full potential of Arrakis’ platform and advance novel RNA-targeted small molecule medicines to patients,” says Michael Gilman, Ph.D., CEO of Arrakis. 

According to Dr. Spek, “I was drawn to Arrakis for its promising platform, talented team, notable progress to date, and the opportunity to bring new RNA-targeted therapies to patients. I am thrilled to be joining Arrakis at this exciting point as it advances its initial product candidates toward the clinic. We have both the scientific leadership and the resources to realize our vision of bringing RNA-targeted small molecule medicines to patients, and I look forward to working with the team to build on recent progress and cement our leadership in this exciting field.”

Dr. Spek joins Arrakis from Vedanta Biosciences, where he was senior VP and head of legal affairs and intellectual property. At Vedanta, in addition to being responsible for all legal affairs, he developed a fundamental patent portfolio in the microbiome field and successfully defended a key European patent against multiple opponents. 

Prior to Vedanta, he served as director of intellectual property for Epizyme. Previously, he worked at Boston-based IP law firm Wolf Greenfield, focusing on legal matters for a variety of bio and pharma related technologies. 

He earned his B.S. in chemistry and philosophy from Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Dr. Spek received a J.D. from Suffolk Law School, a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from New York University, and conducted his postdoctoral research in biological engineering at MIT.