On 2, April Abeona Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ABEO), a leading clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel cell and gene therapies for life-threatening rare genetic diseases, reported the appointment of Carsten Thiel, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer. Timothy J. Miller, Ph.D., will remain President and assume the position of Chief Scientific Officer in charge of the company’s expanding clinical and preclinical research programs (Press release, Abeona Therapeutics, APR 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234525106]). Dr. Thiel most recently served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he led global commercial operations bringing innovative and life-transformative therapies for rare diseases to patients.

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"The past year has been an extraordinary time in the history of Abeona, including significant progress in our clinical development programs and establishment of our new manufacturing facility in Cleveland," said Steven Rouhandeh, Executive Chairman of Abeona. "As CEO, Carsten Thiel brings a unique combination of extensive experience in research and global rare disease commercialization to Abeona. In his recent positions, he successfully created value by building cohesive talented teams, driving the commercial success of multiple products globally and fostering entrepreneurial culture; all key aspects that will be critical to our success in these areas in the years ahead. We are very grateful to Tim Miller for his vision and leadership that have brought us to this pivotal stage in our business growth."

Dr. Thiel brings 25 years of proven global biopharmaceutical industry experience, including rare and orphan diseases, to Abeona. Prior to leading his most recent position at Alexion, he served as its Senior Vice President, Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia Pacific where he was responsible for driving Alexion’s global commercial operations in these regions, including maximizing the current rare disease portfolio as well as guiding the launch of anticipated new products and indications.

"I am thrilled to be joining Abeona during a period of major growth and momentum in the company’s range of promising development programs," said Dr. Thiel. "I look forward to bringing my experience in business development, biomedical research and commercialization to the outstanding Abeona team at a time when the company is ideally positioned to rapidly expand these areas."

Prior to joining Alexion, Dr. Thiel served as Vice President, Head of Europe at Amgen. In this role, he led regional operations and was responsible for multiple products in hematology/oncology, nephrology, and bone disorders, and prepared for new product launches in inflammation and cardiology. He also held various other senior leadership positions at Amgen, including General Manager, Germany, and General Manager, CEE, where he led all markets in Eastern Europe and established Amgen’s operations in Russia. He also served as Head of the Oncology franchise in Europe during the time of several blockbuster product launches. Prior to Amgen, Dr. Thiel held several sales and marketing leadership roles across Europe at Roche.

"As Abeona expands our innovative science and clinical research programs into new areas, I look forward to working more closely with our research and product development teams to fuel even greater success for developing novel gene and cell therapies," said Dr. Miller. "We welcome Carsten to our team at Abeona, and remain confident that our clinical advancements and strategic decisions have solidly positioned us to plan for many promising opportunities in global product commercialization and business strategy."

Dr. Thiel earned his doctorate in molecular biology & biochemistry at Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany.