On June 15, 2020 Epsilen Bio, a biotechnology company developing transformative therapies for patients affected by underserved medical conditions through stable epigenetic silencing of genes involved in pathological processes, reported the appointments of Julia Berretta, Ph.D, as Chief Executive Officer, and Mathieu Simon, M.D., as Chairman of the Board (Press release, Epsilen Bio, JUN 15, 2020, View Source [SID1234561086]).
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The company also announced it has entered into a strategic collaboration with the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (SR-Tiget), a world-renowned research center devoted to gene therapy, directed by Professor Luigi Naldini. Within the collaboration Epsilen Bio will further develop the epigenetic silencing technology with the group of Epigenetic Regulation and Targeted Genome Editing led by Dr. Angelo Lombardo, and exclusively in-licensed by Epsilen Bio.
The announcements follow the successful close of a seed financing of €2.3 million from Sofinnova Partners, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, through the Sofinnova Telethon Fund. The fund is the largest in Italy dedicated to early-stage biotech startups targeting cures for rare and genetic diseases.
Dr. Simon and Dr. Berretta join Board Members Paola Pozzi, Partner at Sofinnova Partners, Luca Guidotti, Deputy Scientific Director of the IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, and Francesca Pasinelli, CEO of Fondazione Telethon and Board Observer.
Dr. Berretta is also CEO of Genespire, a gene therapy company that is part of a series of investments recently made by Sofinnova Partners. Additionally, she is an independent Board member of Treefrog Therapeutics, an innovative stem cell company. Previously, Dr. Berretta was part of the Executive Committee of Cellectis S.A., a Nasdaq-listed clinical stage gene editing company developing CAR-T cell therapies for cancer, where she led business development as well as strategic planning.
Dr. Simon is Chairman of the Board of Idorsia and Independent Board Member of VAXIMM and Lysogene. He is also a member of the AFFIMED supervisory board. Previously, Dr. Simon was Chief Operating Officer of Cellectis SA and CEO of Cellectis Therapeutics. He was the former head of global pharma operations at Pierre Fabre and also held EU regional management roles and senior corporate functions at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.
"We are excited to have Dr. Berretta and Dr. Simon joining Epsilen Bio," said Ms. Pozzi. "These appointments add both an industrial and an international perspective to the company, and we are delighted to support such a distinguished global team working on highly transformative science."
Epsilen Bio’s scientific co-founder, Dr. Angelo Lombardo, added, "Dr. Berretta and Dr. Simon have a deep knowledge of the pharmaceutical and the biotechnology industry. Their expertise will be crucial in helping to translate the science we developed at SR-Tiget into candidate therapeutic products for patients affected by underserved medical conditions".
"I am extremely pleased to join Epsilen Bio as Chairman of the Board," Dr. Simon said "The company’s unique technology of "episilencing," developed at SR-Tiget by Dr. Lombardo and Pr. Naldini, has the potential to be a game changer in the field given its versatility and applicability to a variety of diseases."