THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.,
May 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/
-- Capsida Biotherapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company
creating a new class of targeted gene therapies using its
next-generation adeno-associated virus (AAV) engineering and cargo
development platform, today announced the appointment of
Swati Tole, M.D., as the Company's
first chief medical officer. Dr. Tole brings extensive drug
development experience including senior-level leadership positions
in the biotech industry across a wide spectrum of disease areas in
adults and children including rheumatology, gastroenterology,
hepatology, and infectious diseases.
"It is with great pleasure that we welcome Swati to our team,"
said Robert Cuddihy, M.D., chief
executive officer of Capsida. "She has an impressive and highly
relevant track record in biologics and small molecule drug
development which complements the existing team. Her deep clinical,
scientific, and strategic expertise will be instrumental as we
execute on our strategy of using our high-throughput AAV
engineering platform to create a pipeline of groundbreaking gene
therapies across a range of therapeutic areas for indications that
are unreachable with current technologies, with initial focus on
the central nervous system."
Dr. Tole comes to Capsida from Genentech where she spent 13
years in roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as vice
president of clinical development. In this position, Dr. Tole
oversaw and advised teams working on several molecules across the
gastroenterology and hepatology spaces. She earned her medical
degree from the University of California, San
Francisco (UCSF) and an M.S. in health services research
from Stanford University. Dr. Tole
completed her residency in internal medicine and chief residency at
UCSF, and her fellowship in health economics and outcomes research
at Stanford University.
Dr. Tole said, "I'm thrilled to join Capsida and to be a part of
the growth of such a transformative company. Capsida's AAV
platform, with its differentiated capsids and cargos, has the
potential to solve many of the challenges in the field today. I
look forward to helping bring these next-generation therapies to
patients who so desperately need new options."
Capsida also announced that it has named Rita Balice-Gordon, Ph.D., a noted neuroscience
researcher and industry leader to its board of directors.
"We are excited to welcome Rita to our Board at this important
time for Capsida. She is a recognized leader in neuroscience with a
successful track record of discovering and developing innovative
therapeutic programs through late-stage to treat pain, neurologic,
psychiatric, and rare diseases. Rita's expertise will be critical
as we advance our clinical program," added Dr. Cuddihy.
Dr. Balice-Gordon, Ph.D., has served as the chief scientific
officer of Muna Therapeutics, a newly formed biotech company
focused on developing novel therapeutics for patients with
neurodegenerative diseases, since May
2020, and is an entrepreneur-in-residence at Novo Seeds
since August 2020. Previously, she
served in scientific roles of increasing responsibility at Sanofi,
Inc., most recently as global head of rare and neurological
diseases. Prior to joining Sanofi, she led the psychiatry and pain
drug discovery portfolios as vice president in the neuroscience and
pain research unit at Pfizer, Inc. Earlier in her career, Dr.
Balice-Gordon was professor of neuroscience and chair of the
neuroscience graduate group at the University
of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, where she
currently holds an appointment as adjunct professor in the
department of neuroscience.
Dr. Balice-Gordon has authored more than 100 scientific papers,
received numerous accolades for her work in the field of
neuroscience, and has chaired or served on many National Institutes
of Health (NIH), national and international committees. She earned
a Ph.D. in neurobiology from the University of
Texas at Austin.
About Capsida Biotherapeutics
Capsida Biotherapeutics Inc. is developing tissue-targeted gene
therapies using its biologically driven, high-throughput
adeno-associated virus (AAV) engineering and proprietary cargo
development platform. As a fully integrated gene therapy company,
Capsida is combining its differentiated AAV engineering and
screening capabilities with cargo development and state-of-the-art
manufacturing to establish a proprietary pipeline of groundbreaking
gene therapies across a range of therapeutic areas for indications
that are unreachable with current technologies. The company's
leadership is backed by decades of successful biologics
manufacturing experience and deep AAV biology expertise. Visit us
at www.capsida.com to learn more.
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SOURCE Capsida Biotherapeutics