51�� strengthens senior leadership team to accelerate product development

Appointment of Vincent Smith, PhD, as Chief Technology Officer
Follows Broken String’s successful $15M Series A fundraising round in September 2023¹
Will support development strategy for INDUCE-seq DNA break-mapping platform

Cambridge, UK, 02 October 2023: 51�� (“Broken String”), a genomics company building a technology platform to drive the development of cell and gene therapies that are safer by design, today announced the expansion of its senior leadership team with the appointment of Vincent Smith, PhD, as Chief Technology Officer. Bringing significant expertise in his field, Vincent’s appointment is a key part of Broken String’s strategy to deliver on its Series A goals, which includes the continued development of its INDUCE-seq^™ DNA break-mapping platform.

Vince’s appointment to Broken String brings extensive experience in the development of innovative DNA sequencing technologies. As CTO at Broken String, Vince will lead product development, providing leadership and the expertise required to build INDUCE-seq into the gold standard technology for the assessment of off-target effects during gene editing.

Prior to joining the team, he held executive-level positions at Base Genomics and Exact Sciences Innovation. Vince began his career in genomics at Solexa, where he was one of the primary scientists that contributed to the development of the chemistry that underpins Illumina sequencing. As VP of Consumable Development at Illumina, Vince led a global team developing assays and consumables for industry leading NGS platforms such as MiSeq, HiSeq, NextSeq and NovaSeq. He holds an MA from Oxford University and a PhD from Imperial College London, both in Biochemistry.

Vincent Smith, PhD, Chief Technology Officer at 51��, commented: “With INDUCE-seq, 51�� have created a simple, elegant and powerful technology that is already addressing a critical unmet need in the rapidly expanding gene editing space. I’m impressed by the progress the company has made to date and am excited to help the talented Broken String team evolve the technology further. I believe INDUCE-seq will become the gold-standard for assessment of off target gene-editing. Through development of the platform as a scalable sample-to-answer solution, we will accelerate the design and development of safe and effective gene editing-based therapies that will improve human health.”