David L. Lucchino is co-founder and chief executive officer of Frequency Therapeutics, a biotechnology company based in Lexington, MA.[2][3]
David L. Lucchino | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 16, 1969 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Alma mater | Denison University Syracuse University Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Years active | 1991 to present |
| Title | Co-founder, president and CEO, Frequency Therapeutics[1] |
| Board member of | Massachusetts Biotechnology Council Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation |
| Parent | Frank J. Lucchino |
Personal
A Pittsburgh native, Lucchino graduated in 1987 from Central Catholic High School.[4] He is the son of Judge Frank Lucchino and is the nephew of former Boston Red Sox president Larry Lucchino.[5][6]
Lucchino obtained an MBA degree from MIT Sloan School of Management as an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow.[7] Lucchino also holds a Master of Science degree from Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Denison University.[8]
Career
David began in the life sciences in 2000 as a co-founder at LaunchCyte, a biotechnology investment entity backed by the University of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.[9] LaunchCyte has founded and backed numerous companies. These include a portfolio firm that partnered with Biogen to develop a clinical-stage candidate for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and a contract research organization, Reaction Biology, that was sold in 2022 to a private equity firm.[10][11]
In 2006, while earning his MBA at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Lucchino joined a team led by Professor Robert S. Langer to create implant surface technology that prevents blood clotting and infection. Based on that work, Lucchino co-founded, along with Langer, Semprus BioSciences.[12] Lucchino secured $28.5 million in venture capital financing and $5.4 million in federal funding to advance the technology and the company.[13] The team ultimately gained FDA marketing and European CE marketing clearance for the medical device.[14] Teleflex (NYSE: TFX) acquired Semprus in 2012.[15]
Lucchino also worked at the Boston-based venture capital firm Polaris Partners, where he focused on healthcare investing.[16]
In 2013 Lucchino co-founded Frequency Therapeutics, first serving as chair and subsequently taking on the president and CEO roles alongside co-founders Langer and biomedical engineer Jeffrey Karp from Harvard Medical School.[17] Frequency Therapeutics is a regenerative medicine company focused on developing therapeutics to activate a person's innate potential to restore function within the body. The company's initial focus was on cochlear restoration.[18] Lucchino took Frequency public in October of 2019. The company is listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol FREQ.[19]
Today, Frequency's lead program is for remyelination in multiple sclerosis (MS) with a focus on developing a therapeutic that activates oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in the central nervous system to generate new oligodendrocytes and regenerate myelin, potentially repairing damage caused by MS.[20]
Activities
From 2018 to 2020, Lucchino was chair of MassBio, a 1500-member biotechnology trade association based in Cambridge, MA. During his term, Lucchino led the founding of "Project Onramp", a program that provides internships in life science companies for students from underserved communities.[21] The program has served hundreds of students and has expanded to Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Diego, and New York City.[22]
Former Governor Charlie Baker appointed Lucchino to the Massachusetts STEM Advisory Council; Lucchino is also a member of the College of Fellows for the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering.[23][24] Lucchino is on the boards of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and was part of a NOLS expedition that summited Denali.[25][26]