)
Nicole Lykens
CTO & Co‑Founder,
Valaya Bio
Nicole Lykens, PhD is CTO and Co‑Founder of Valaya Bio. An expert in oligonucleotide (ASO, SSO, RNAi) therapeutics discovery, development, and targeted tissue delivery, she has more than 15 years of experience advancing platforms across CNS, metabolic, and rare disease areas. Her leadership includes director‑level roles at Novo Nordisk, Dicerna, and LifeSplice, where she guided discovery teams, shaped delivery strategy, and built cross‑sector scientific collaborations. At Valaya, she focuses on next‑generation RNA delivery and platform approaches that integrate emerging tools into the evolution of innovative therapeutics from concept to clinic.