Synthorx Inc. named board member Pratik Shah as the company's chairman.

The company also appointed Andrew Powell to the board.

Powell serves as a director on the boards of Landec Corp. and Aclaris Therapeutics Inc. In addition, he acted as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cornerstone Therapeutics, ImClone Systems LLC, InterMune, Inc. and Medivation, Inc. He was also vice president, chief international counsel at Baxter International Inc.

La Jolla, Calif.-based Synthorx is a biotechnology company that discovers and develops protein therapeutics.