– USA, NY – Abeona Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: ABEO), a fully-integrated leader in gene and cell therapy, today announced the appointment of Michael Amoroso as Chairman of the Board of Directors, effective October 15, 2021, succeeding Steven Rouhandeh who will retire from the Board and as Chairman, effective October 14, 2021. The company also announced the appointment of current Research & Clinical Development Dr. Vish Seshadri (Ph.D.) to its Board of Directors as President and CEO effective October 15, 2021.
About Dr. Vish Seshadri
Before joining Abeona, Dr. Seshadri served in roles of increasing responsibility at Celgene Corporation, now a subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, where he focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapies in hematology and oncology. Most recently, he led the team responsible for the launch of Breyanzi (lisocabtagene maraleucel; liso-cel), an autologous CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy for relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma. Dr. Seshadri has more than 20 years of experience including academia and various senior and executive leadership roles in the life sciences industry overseeing product development, regulatory submissions, and commercialization for novel therapies including personalized, autologous cell and gene therapies.
Dr. Seshadri said, “I am grateful to the Board and Michael for this opportunity to serve Abeona’s patients, shareholders, and employees. I have been fortunate to work directly with Michael for many years and look forward to continuing to learn from him in his new role as Chairman. Abeona has recently enhanced its BLA-ready talent with key additions across regulatory, clinical, quality, and technical operations, and I look forward to leading our organization towards delivering top-line data for two pivotal clinical studies in RDEB and MPS IIIA. Our operational roadmap is clear, including alignment with the FDA for our two pivotal programs, and the Abeona team is motivated and laser-focused on delivering against the milestones that will enable us to bring both EB-101 and AAV-based gene therapy ABO-102 to patients as safely, effectively, and quickly, as possible.”
About Michael Amoroso
As Chairman, Mr. Amoroso, along with the Board, will continue to play an important leadership role focusing on the longer-term strategic direction of the Company in its pursuit of bringing important therapies to patients and creating shareholder value. Mr. Amoroso will continue in his role as President and CEO through mid-October 2021, working seamlessly with Dr. Seshadri to ensure a thorough transition and business continuity across all Abeona stakeholders.
Mr. Amoroso said, “We are very appreciative of Steve’s dedicated service over the years and have benefitted from his leadership and contributions to Abeona. I am personally grateful that Steve delayed his retirement this past year to ensure a seamless transition for me as the President and CEO, while also preparing me to now take the reigns as Chairman of the Board. Additionally, I have known Vish personally and professionally over the past 10 years and have great confidence in his ability to lead Abeona in its critical final stages toward BLA submissions. Vish will continue to be surrounded by a highly talented and committed management team, as well as a purpose-driven and exceptional employee base. I look forward to working closely with Vish as he transitions into his new role.”
About Abeona Therapeutics
Abeona Therapeutics Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing gene and cell therapies for serious diseases. Abeona’s clinical programs include EB-101, its investigational autologous, gene-corrected cell therapy for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa in Phase 3 development, as well as ABO-102 and ABO-101, novel investigational AAV-based gene therapies for Sanfilippo syndrome types A and B, respectively, in Phase 1/2 development. The Company’s development portfolio also features AAV-based gene therapies for ophthalmic diseases with high unmet medical needs. Abeona’s novel, next-generation AAV capsids are being evaluated to improve tropism profiles for a variety of devastating diseases. Abeona’s fully integrated gene and cell therapy cGMP manufacturing facility produces EB-101 for the pivotal Phase 3 VIITAL study and is capable of clinical and planned commercial production of AAV-based gene therapies.
For more information: https://www.abeonatherapeutics.com/
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