– USA, MA – Vigil Neuroscience, Inc. (Nasdaq: VIGL), a clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to harnessing the power of microglia for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, today announced the appointment of Mary Thistle to its Board of Directors, while Chris Verni joined as General Counsel.
“We are thrilled to welcome Chris and Mary to the Vigil team during this pivotal time of growth,” said CEO, Dr. Ivana Magovčević-Liebisch. “Chris’ extensive experience in legal operations, intellectual property and business transactions will be instrumental to Vigil’s pipeline growth and an important addition to our leadership team. We also look forward to Mary’s insights as she brings deep expertise in business development, finance, and program strategy across various therapeutic indications, including rare diseases. Their contributions will be invaluable as we progress multiple novel pipeline candidates through clinical development.”
About Mary Thistle
Ms. Thistle has more than 25 years of experience leading biopharmaceutical companies’ strategy, business development and finance and has deep expertise in an array of therapeutic areas. She currently serves as Special Advisor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Research Institute. Previously, she was COO at Dimension Therapeutics where she led the Series B financing and initial public offering, expanded the pipeline from two products to seven through business development transactions and ultimately oversaw the company sale to Ultragenyx. Before that, she held several executive-level roles at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, PerkinElmer, and ViaCell across business development, strategy, operations, and finance. Ms. Thistle currently serves on the Board of Directors of Alaunos Therapeutics, Homology Medicines, Entrada Therapeutics, Enterome, SA and Cocoon Bio.
“I am compelled by Vigil’s innovative and patient-driven approach to developing precision medicines,” said Ms. Thistle. “Restoring microglial function is a unique therapeutic approach with the potential to treat a broad range of neurodegenerative diseases, including rare diseases and diseases that affect larger patient communities. I am excited to work with this talented team and contribute to Vigil’s mission.”
She holds a B.S. in business and accounting from the University of Massachusetts.
About Christopher Verni
Mr. Verni brings over 20 years of broad legal experience in the biotech and pharma industries. He was most recently SVP, Deputy General Counsel, and Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Sarepta Therapeutics. There he provided legal counsel and contributed to legal risk management during a period of high growth with the commercial launch of three rare disease therapies. He also played a central role in the negotiation and acquisition of pipeline programs through M&A, licensing, and strategic partnerships. Before Sarepta, he served as Senior Patent Counsel at ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, where he executed a global exclusivity strategy and supported the launch of the company’s first FDA-approved therapy. Previously, Mr. Verni served as Senior Patent Counsel at Genzyme and Corporate Counsel – Intellectual Property at Pfizer.
He holds a J.D., with a concentration in intellectual property, from Franklin Pierce Law Center and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Rochester.
About Vigil Neuroscience
Vigil Neuroscience is a microglia-focused therapeutics company focused on developing treatments for both rare and common neurodegenerative diseases by restoring the vigilance of microglia, the sentinel immune cells of the brain. We are utilizing the tools of modern neuroscience drug development across multiple therapeutic modalities in our efforts to develop precision-based therapies to improve the lives of patients and their families.
For more information: https://www.vigilneuro.com/
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