Richard Colonno BA, PhD

Dr. Colonno is an internationally recognized expert with over 35 years of experience in antiviral drug discovery and development. He joins Assembly from Presidio Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Chief Science Officer and directed the company’s hepatitis C (HCV) antiviral programs, including the discovery and development of the HCV NS5A inhibitor ravidasvir. Prior to Presidio, Dr. Colonno was Vice President, Infectious Diseases Drug Discovery at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., where he played a pivotal role in building the company’s existing antiviral franchise, including the discovery, development, and approval of entecavir (Baraclude®) for HBV and atazanavir (Reyataz®) for HIV. Earlier, he was Senior Director of Antiviral Research at Merck Research Labs following research positions at DuPont’s Experimental Station and the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology. Dr. Colonno received a BA in Biology and Chemistry from Kansas Wesleyan University, a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Kansas and has co-authored more than 160 scientific articles.