Fable Therapeutics, a discovery-stage biotechnology company developing AI-powered protein therapeutics for metabolic diseases, announced the appointment of David J. Baker, PhD, as Chief Scientific Officer. The strategic hire positions the Cambridge-based company to advance its machine learning-enabled drug discovery platform toward clinical development.
Industry Veteran Joins Growing Biotech
Dr. Baker brings extensive drug discovery expertise from his previous role as Head of Metabolism Bioscience for Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM) at AstraZeneca plc. In this position, he was responsible for guiding the metabolism portfolio from target selection through Phase 2b trials across multiple therapeutic areas including diabetes, obesity, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and dyslipidemia.
"David's extensive experience in drug discovery, with a strong track record of high performance and scientific leadership across the cardio-metabolic therapeutic area, makes him an ideal leader to advance our portfolio," said Geoff MacKay, President & CEO of Fable Therapeutics.
Strategic Timing for Platform Advancement
The appointment comes at a critical juncture as Fable prepares to advance its scientific strategy from discovery through to Investigational New Drug (IND) applications and first-in-human studies. Dr. Baker will oversee the company's scientific operations during this pivotal transition phase.
"I'm thrilled to be joining such a groundbreaking company with extremely talented individuals and looking forward to bringing new therapies to patients," said Dr. Baker.
AI-Powered Protein Design Platform
Fable Therapeutics is developing purpose-built biologics using state-of-the-art structure and sequence-based protein language models. The company's machine learning platform is designed to address validated target biology that has not been fully exploited due to technical and development challenges in traditional protein therapeutic development.
The company's pipeline focuses on metabolic diseases including obesity and related comorbidities, targeting the millions of people living with these conditions worldwide. Fable's approach integrates biology and computation to design and optimize next-generation protein-based therapeutics.
Strong Financial Backing
Fable secured $43.5 million in Series A funding in 2024, co-led by Versant Ventures and DCVC. The investment supports the company's mission to advance protein-based therapeutics through both internal pipeline development and research partnerships with pharmaceutical companies.
Founded by veteran biotech entrepreneurs and leading computational scientists, Fable operates from locations in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Toronto, Canada. The company aims to write the next chapter of protein-based therapeutics by leveraging its ML-enabled protein design engine to solve complex medical challenges in metabolic disease.
