Salt Lake City-based medicine biotechnology company MARAbio Systems has appointed Michael Paul to serve as the company’s CEO. Paul has more than 25 years of life-sciences industry experience, including leading a number of organizations from formation to strategic exit. Paul succeeds James Woody, who will continue to serve as vice chairman of the board of directors.
MARAbio’s technology enables the earliest detection for risk of developing a specific subtype of autism through a simple blood test in the mother, either prior to pregnancy or after the child is born.
MARAbio’s operation is based on discoveries made by founder Dr. Judy Van de Water at the University of California Davis MIND Institute that forms the biological basis of maternal autoantibody-related autism (MARA). MARA is an immune system-mediated subtype of autism that is currently estimated to represent approximately 20 percent of overall autism cases.
“MARAbio’s vision is a world in which the most severe effects of autism are treatable, and our entire team is energized to have Michael lead us forward,” said Van de Water. “Our mission is to detect the MARA subtype that has been shown to be associated with more severe forms of autism and in some instances ensure that MARA does not occur, and Michael’s appointment as CEO is a critical inflection point for us.”
“I am honored to lead this pioneering biotechnology company forward and excited to continue working closely with Dr. Van de Water and Dr. Woody,” said Paul. “MARAbio’s ultimate aim is to develop interventions so that families and their physicians have options to detect and limit the incidence of this subtype of autism.”
Prior to joining MARAbio, Paul co-founded Lineagen Inc., and served as its president, CEO and director from its 2006 inception to its strategic acquisition in 2020. Paul is recognized as one of Utah’s leading venture entrepreneurs, having been appointed to the steering committee for the Utah Technology Industry Commission by former Gov. Michael Leavitt and serving as vice chairman for the Utah Technology Council. Prior to founding Lineagen, Paul was vice president of business development for Huntsman Biotechnology Corp. and director of strategic development at NPS Pharmaceuticals. He earned his B.A. from Colby College and his Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry from the University of Utah.