Passage Bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: PASG), a genetic medicines company
focused on developing transformative therapies for rare, monogenic
central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today announced the
appointment of Maxine Gowen, Ph.D., to its board of directors,
effective Feb. 18. Dr. Gowen is chief executive officer of Tamuro
Bio, a post that she has held since July 2019.
“We are immensely excited to have Maxine join our
board of directors,” said Dr. Bruce Goldsmith, president and chief
executive officer of Passage Bio. “Her public company leadership
and deep clinical development expertise will provide tremendous
support to Passage Bio as we transition to a clinical development
organization in the first half of 2021.”
Tadataka Yamada, M.D., chairman of the Passage Bio
board of directors and company co- founder, added: “We are
delighted to welcome Dr. Gowen to the board of directors of Passage
Bio. Her extensive board and leadership experience in both large
and small innovative pharmaceutical and biotech companies will be
beneficial as Passage Bio continues its growth trajectory. We look
forward to working with and benefiting from the experience and
expertise of Dr. Gowen.”
Dr. Gowen was the founding president and chief
executive officer of Trevena, Inc. from 2007 to October 2018, and
has served as a member of Trevena’s board of directors since 2008.
Dr. Gowen previously held a variety of leadership roles at
GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, over a period of 15 years. As senior vice
president for GSK’s Center of Excellence for Drug Discovery, she
developed an innovative new approach to externalizing drug
discovery. She also currently serves on the boards of directors for
Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Akebia Therapeutics, Inc., and Aclaris
Therapeutics, Inc. In addition, Dr. Gowen serves on the private
company boards of directors of Tamuro Bio and Panorama
Therapeutics, Inc., as well as the board of directors of Life
Sciences Pennsylvania, an industry organization. Dr. Gowen
graduated with a B.Sc. in biochemistry from the University of
Bristol, U.K., received a Ph.D. in cell biology from the University
of Sheffield, U.K., and received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School
of the University of Pennsylvania.
“Passage Bio is in the vanguard of companies
working to develop potentially transformative gene therapies, and I
am incredibly excited to be able to join and contribute to the
board at such a pivotal time in the company’s journey,” Dr. Gowen
said.
Stephen Squinto, Ph.D., Resigns from
Passage Bio Board of Directors
Dr. Gowen’s appointment comes as Stephen Squinto,
Ph.D., resigns from Passage Bio’s board of directors and as acting
head of Research & Development for the company. Steve was a co-
founder of Passage Bio who also served as interim chief executive
officer at the formation of the company through January 2020.
During Steve’s tenure, Passage Bio worked closely with the
University of Pennsylvania’s Gene Therapy Program to advance our
pipeline, raised substantial funding, established the leadership
team and supported the company’s Initial Public Offering.
“I am proud of where Passage Bio stands today with
a strong management team, expansion of the clinical, manufacturing
and operations team and an extremely sound financial position,”
said Dr. Squinto. “I leave my positions optimistic about the future
of the company as it continues to make significant progress in
developing gene therapies with the potential of transforming lives
of patients with rare CNS disorders.”
“We are grateful for Dr. Squinto’s instrumental
work in setting up Passage Bio to eventually become an independent
publicly traded company and supporting the initial growth of the
company infrastructure,” said Dr. Yamada. “We wish Dr. Squinto
continued success as he turns his focus to other responsibilities,
including his full-time role as executive partner at OrbiMed.”
About Passage Bio
At Passage Bio (Nasdaq: PASG), we are on a mission
to provide life-transforming gene therapies for patients with rare,
monogenic CNS diseases that replace their suffering with boundless
possibility, all while building lasting relationships with the
communities we serve. Based in Philadelphia, PA, our company has
established a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with
the renowned University of Pennsylvania’s Gene Therapy Program to
conduct our discovery and IND-enabling preclinical work. This
provides our team with enhanced access to a broad portfolio of gene
therapy candidates and future gene therapy innovations that we then
pair with our deep clinical, regulatory, manufacturing and
commercial expertise to rapidly advance our robust pipeline of
optimized gene therapies into clinical testing. As we work with
speed and tenacity, we are always mindful of patients who may be
able to benefit from our therapies. More information is available
at www.passagebio.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of, and made pursuant to the safe
harbor provisions of, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995, including, but not limited to: our expectations about
timing and execution of anticipated milestones, including our
planned IND submissions, initiation of clinical trials and the
availability of clinical data from such trials; our expectations
about our collaborators’ and partners’ ability to execute key
initiatives; our expectations about manufacturing plans and
strategies; our expectations about cash runway; and the ability of
our lead product candidates to treat the underlying causes of their
respective target monogenic CNS disorders. These forward-looking
statements may be accompanied by such words as “aim,” “anticipate,”
“believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,”
“intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “possible,” “will,”
“would,” and other words and terms of similar meaning. These
statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those reflected in such
statements, including: our ability to develop and obtain regulatory
approval for our product candidates; the timing and results of
preclinical studies and clinical trials; risks associated with
clinical trials, including our ability to adequately manage
clinical activities, unexpected concerns that may arise from
additional data or analysis obtained during clinical trials,
regulatory authorities may require additional information or
further studies, or may fail to approve or may delay approval of
our drug candidates; the occurrence of adverse safety events; the
risk that positive results in a preclinical study or clinical trial
may not be replicated in subsequent trials or success in early
stage clinical trials may not be predictive of results in later
stage clinical trials; failure to protect and enforce our
intellectual property, and other proprietary rights; our dependence
on collaborators and other third parties for the development and
manufacture of product candidates and other aspects of our
business, which are outside of our full control; risks associated
with current and potential delays, work stoppages, or supply chain
disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic; and the other risks
and uncertainties that are described in the Risk Factors section in
documents the company files from time to time with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC), and other reports as filed with the
SEC. Passage Bio
undertakes no obligation to publicly update any
forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be
made from time to time, whether as a result of new information,
future developments or otherwise.
For further information, please contact:
Passage Bio Investors:
Sarah McCabe and Zofia Mita Stern Investor
Relations, Inc. 212-362-1200sarah.mccabe@sternir.com
Zofia.mita@sternir.com
Passage Bio Media:
Gwen Fisher Passage Bio
215-407-1548gfisher@passagebio.com
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