Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc. Announces Appointment of Athena Countouriotis, M.D. as SVP and Chief Medical Officer
June 20 2017 - 9:00AM
Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADVM), a leading gene therapy
company advancing novel medicines to address unmet needs in serious
rare and ocular diseases, announced today the appointment of Athena
Countouriotis, M.D. as senior vice president and chief medical
officer. Dr. Countouriotis will be responsible for Adverum’s
clinical development, clinical operations, medical affairs,
biostatistics, pharmacovigilance, and regulatory functions.
“Athena is an accomplished drug developer with deep knowledge
and strong execution. Her experience will be of significant value
as we plan to begin patient enrollment in a Phase 1/2 clinical
trial for the first of three lead gene therapy programs by the end
of this year,” said Amber Salzman, Ph.D., president and chief
executive officer of Adverum Biotechnologies. “She has experience
developing therapies for patients with orphan oncology diseases,
with a track record of several successful drug approvals. We are
excited to have Athena join our team and look forward to her
contributions to the thoughtful planning and focused execution of
our development programs aimed at delivering novel gene therapies
to patients.”
“I am delighted to join Adverum and to work closely with Amber
and this new leadership team,” added Dr. Countouriotis. “With
its robust pipeline, novel AAV vector technology platform, and
strong in-house expertise, Adverum is well positioned to lead and
advance the field of gene therapy. I am excited to be joining
now, given the focus is to move three lead gene therapies into the
clinic, and I am especially motivated to begin patient enrollment
for the planned Phase 1/2 clinical trial with ADVM-043 for A1AT
deficiency by the end of this year.”
Dr. Countouriotis has significant experience leading
clinical development teams and programs, from preclinical through
clinical stages of development and approval. Over the
course of her career, she has been involved in
multiple clinical programs, with a focus on orphan
oncology indications, which have supported regulatory
approvals in the United States and Europe. Before joining
Adverum, Dr. Countouriotis served
as senior vice president and chief medical
officer at Halozyme Therapeutics.
Previously, she was chief medical officer at Ambit
Biosciences through the Company’s initial public offering and
acquisition by Daiichi Sankyo. Dr. Countouriotis also
worked within Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb in various
leading clinical development roles for Sutent®, Mylotarg®,
Bosulif®, and Sprycel®. Dr. Countouriotis holds an
M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine, completed her
pediatric residency at the University of California, Los
Angeles, and did additional training at the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center in the
Pediatric Hematology/Oncology program.
On the date she commences her employment, Adverum will grant Dr.
Countouriotis a stock option to purchase 213,000 shares of the
Company’s common stock and a restricted stock unit (RSU) award to
be settled for 150,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The
grant, which will be issued outside of Adverum’s 2014 Equity
Incentive Award Plan, was approved by Adverum’s board of directors
pursuant to the inducement grant exception under NASDAQ Rule
5635(c)(4), as an inducement that is material to Dr. Countouriotis’
entering into employment with Adverum. The option will have a per
share exercise price equal to the closing sales price of Adverum’s
common stock on NASDAQ on the grant date, and will vest as to 25
percent of the total shares subject to the option on the first
anniversary of the grant date, and as to 1/48 of the total shares
subject to the option each month thereafter, subject to Dr.
Countouriotis’ continued service with Adverum through each vesting
date. The RSU award will vest as to 25 percent of the total shares
subject to the award on each anniversary of the grant date, subject
to Dr. Countouriotis’ continued service with Adverum through each
vesting date.
About Adverum Biotechnologies,
Inc.Adverum is a gene therapy company advancing novel
medicines that can offer life-changing benefits to patients living
with serious rare and ocular diseases. Adverum has a robust
pipeline that includes product candidates designed to treat wet
age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) and rare diseases alpha-1
antitrypsin (A1AT) deficiency and hereditary angioedema
(HAE). Leveraging a next-generation adeno-associated virus
(AAV)-based directed evolution platform, the Company generates
product candidates designed to provide durable efficacy by inducing
sustained expression of a therapeutic protein. Adverum has
collaboration agreements with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to
research, develop, and commercialize gene therapy products for
ophthalmic diseases and Editas Medicine to explore the delivery of
genome editing medicines for the treatment of inherited retinal
diseases. Adverum’s core capabilities include clinical development
and in-house manufacturing expertise, specifically in process
development and assay development. For more information please
visit www.adverum.com.
Forward-Looking StatementsStatements contained
in this press release regarding matters that are not historical
facts are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements
include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Adverum’s
plans, potential opportunities, expectations, projections, goals,
objectives, milestones, strategies, product pipeline, financial
condition and results of operations, the sufficiency of its cash,
cash equivalents and marketable securities, as well as the
advancement of, and anticipated development and regulatory
milestones and plans related to, Adverum’s product candidates and
preclinical and clinical studies, and the commercial potential of
its product candidates, all of which are based on certain
assumptions made by Adverum on current conditions, expected future
developments and other factors Adverum believes are appropriate in
the circumstances. Adverum may not consummate any plans or product
or clinical development goals in a timely manner, or at all, or
otherwise carry out the intentions or meet the expectations or
projections disclosed in its forward-looking statements, and you
should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements. Actual results and the timing of events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking
statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, which
include, without limitation, the risk that Adverum’s resources will
not be sufficient for Adverum to conduct or continue planned
development programs and planned clinical trials, the risk of a
delay in the enrollment of patients in Adverum’s clinical studies
or in the manufacturing of products to be used in such clinical
studies, and the risk that Adverum will not be able to successfully
develop or commercialize any of its product candidates. Risks and
uncertainties facing Adverum are described more fully in Adverum’s
periodic reports filed with the SEC. All forward-looking statements
contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which
they were made. Adverum undertakes no obligation to update such
statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist
after the date on which they were made.
Contacts for Adverum:
Leone Patterson
Chief Financial Officer
Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc.
650-665-7222
lpatterson@adverum.com
Patti Bank
Managing Director
Westwicke Partners
415-513-1284
patti.bank@westwicke.com
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