Odylia Therapeutics

Atlanta, GA — March 2, 2023 Odylia Therapeutics, a nonprofit biotechnology company, announced a partnership with JEM Therapeutics, a public benefit corporation whose mission is to discover cures for rare diseases by advancing the field of gene and cell therapy. Through this partnership, Odylia will accelerate development timelines for the current programs in the JEM portfolio by developing and implementing the scientific strategy. JEM Therapeutics currently focuses on developing treatments for spastic paraplegia 49 (SPG49), a TECPR2 Related Disease, and other pediatric neurodegenerative diseases with a high unmet need. Michael Kaplan, MD, Chief Executive Officer at JEM Therapeutics says “JEM Therapeutics is dedicated to helping those who truly need it the most. Our goal is to accelerate progress as quickly as possible so we sought a partner who had the depth of expertise to provide guidance on scientific strategy, but who could also give us insights into the financial and operational aspects of our company’s growth. But what really stood out about Odylia was their accessibility and personal touch. They are as committed as we are to rare disease patients and that’s a quality that we highly value and is critical to our success. We look forward to collaborating with Odylia as JEM continues to expand its business objectives to further transform the lives of those affected by neurodegenerative diseases around the world.” Ashley Winslow, PhD, President and Chief Scientific Officer at Odylia Therapeutics said, “We are excited to be working with JEM Therapeutics to bring transformative medicines to the TECPR2 community. Given Odylia’s expertise in gene therapies and rare disease, we believe we can increase the likelihood of success for JEM’s portfolio and accelerate timelines to the clinic, starting with TECPR2.“ — For Odylia Therapeutics media inquiries, please contact: Ellynn Szoke, Managing Director eszoke@tieconsulting.us 973-761-4403 For JEM Therapeutics media inquiries, please contact: partnerships@jemrx.com 561-462-1809 About TECPR2 and SPG49 Loss-of-function mutations in the TECPR2 gene cause spastic paraplegia 49 (SPG49). TECPR2 encodes a protein implicated in the autophagy pathway which is critical for the development and function of the central nervous system. Children with SPG49 are often diagnosed with symptoms including global developmental delay, intellectual disability, central apnea, muscular hypotonia, and recurrent respiratory infections. There is currently no FDA approved treatment for this disease. To learn more, please visit About JEM Therapeutics JEM Therapeutics is a global biopharmaceutical company, founded by two fathers of children affected by TECPR2 neurodegenerative disease, focused on the discovery and development of novel, potentially curative therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases. The company has built a diverse portfolio of therapeutic candidates by revolutionizing the traditional model through unparalleled collaborations with industry leaders, doctors, scientists, academia, and patient organizations worldwide. This commitment to serious rare and orphan disease has led JEM to new discoveries and approaches in the field of genetic medicine that aim to enable individuals to live longer, free of debilitating disease. For additional information about JEM Therapeutics, please contact partnerships@jemrx.com or visit About Odylia Therapeutics Odylia is a nonprofit biotech focused on bringing life-altering and lifesaving treatments to those with rare diseases. We have expertise in both preclinical and clinical drug development for rare diseases. Our vision is to change how drugs are developed for rare diseases by focusing on the science and patient needs, rather than the commercial potential. We partner with the patient communities, researchers, clinicians, and financial donors to bring promising therapeutics to clinical trials. In addition to our gene therapy development pipeline, we partner with rare disease patient groups, early-stage gene therapy companies, and academic researchers and tailor our work to meet the needs of each group depending upon the stage of development and the level of support needed through our Brydge Solutions program. Patient groups, companies, and researchers interested in learning more about Odylia Therapeutics’ services should contact us at info@odylia.org. For additional information, visit , and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. About Brydge Solutions Odylia partners with rare disease communities to deliver a new generation of innovative therapies for rare diseases through the Brydge Solutions program. By providing patient advocacy organizations, industry, and academic partners with expertise in rare disease research, drug development, and program management, Odylia empowers partners and provides the resources to help groups maintain momentum and control over their interests. These partnerships range in scope from deliverable-based landscape analyses, long-term, ongoing scientific guidance, and portfolio management, as well as operational and financial insights to accelerate growth.

→ Moderna is hoping this CFO is the one that sticks. The mRNA titan has poached James Mock from PerkinElmer , an appointment that Peer Review has been waiting on CEO Stéphane Bancel to make since the last hire took a strange turn in May. Jorge Gomez played finance chief for a day when Moderna was made aware of an investigation into his financial reporting practices by the company he just left, Dentsply Sirona . Gomez was out before he was ever really in, triggering yet another search for a CFO and delaying David Meline ’s retirement. The appointment follows the UK approval of Moderna’s Omicron-specific Covid-19 vaccine earlier in the week. Mock, a GE vet who had spent four years as PerkinElmer’s CFO, will take over on Sept. 6. → In a move that caused Peer Review to do a bit of a double take, Geoffrey Porges has left SVB Securities to take the CFO job at Schrödinger . Porges had provided his takes on the industry at SVB since 2015 as senior managing director, director of therapeutics research and senior research analyst, and he was also a marketing exec at Merck ’s vaccine division in the 1990s. Add Porges to the growing list of big-name analysts who have moved on to other companies in the last year: Biren Amin said goodbye to Jefferies in April 2021 to become CFO of Immuneering , while Bernstein ’s Ronny Gal chose the Big Pharma route by starting his new gig as Novartis ’ chief strategy & growth officer on July 18. Kyle LaHucik spoke with Porges about his appointment on Thursday. → Founded by Aaron Ring — one of our 20(+1) under 40 honorees this year — and scoring a $40 million Series B in January, cytokine-centered Simcha Therapeutics has installed Sanuj Ravindran as CEO. Ravindran concluded a four-year run as chief executive of BridgeBio subsidiary PellePharm , and he’s also been CBO of aTyr Pharma and SVP of corporate development at The Medicines Company . Elsewhere at Simcha, ARCH venture partner and ex- MyoKardia CBO Jake Bauer has been named chairman of a board that includes Ring, Ravindran, SR One ’s Simeon George , WuXi AppTec ’s Sean Li and Arcus CEO Terry Rosen . → Ambrx Biopharma had a lot going for it last year, riding to Nasdaq with a $126 million IPO after a $200 million crossover round in November 2020. But the bear market has shattered its stock and the runaway success of AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo ’s HER2 drug Enhertu has put a crimp in its pipeline plans, prompting a shakeup at the top. Just last month, Kate Hermans joined Ambrx’s board of directors, but she’s now been named interim CEO as Feng Tian steps down. Hermans, the ex-VP of marketing at Radius Health , spent 13 years with Pfizer in myriad roles before pivoting to Bristol Myers Squibb in 2012, eventually leading specialty portfolio commercialization strategy. One more Ambrx note: Ymmunobio CEO Katrin Rupalla has succeeded Tian as chair of the board. → Amy Mahery has finished up an 18-year stay at EMD Serono and will join Roivant as chief commercial officer, an announcement that Matt Gline ’s crew disclosed in its quarterly report this week. Mahery held a whole slew of posts at EMD Serono and led the global business franchise, neurology and immunology before venturing off to Roivant. One of its many subsidiaries, Dermavant , passed through the approval gate at the FDA three months ago with the plaque psoriasis topical med Vtama . → Cara Cassino has resigned after nearly seven years as CMO of ContraFect , which is chopping 37% of its staff following a Phase III pratfall with exebacase in July. Istari Oncology CMO Garrett Nichols will be pitching in relief until ContraFect chooses a permanent successor. Nichols, the ex-VP, global HIV clinical development at GSK , has also served as medical chief of Chimerix . → Piling on the cash with a $270 million Series C three months ago, Shankar Ramaswamy ’s gene therapy play Kriya Therapeutics has welcomed Pedro Huertas as CMO of its rare disease division. The role of medical chief isn’t a new one for Huertas as he arrives at a biotech where there are CMOs for different therapeutic areas: Theresa Heah was named CMO and president of Kriya’s ophthalmology division in October 2021, and Ma’an Muhsin arrived in February as CMO and president of the oncology division. Huertas was previously the CMO with Inozyme Pharma , Sentien Biotechnologies and Eloxx Pharmaceuticals , and earlier he was a global medical lead with Shire and Pfizer. → Bay Area-based Nuvig Therapeutics , a startup sprouting from the lab of Jeff Ravetch at The Rockefeller University, has propped the door open for Joanne Quan as CMO following its $47 million Series A in May. Quan, a former clinical development exec at Arena Pharmaceuticals , is the ex-CMO of Eiger BioPharmaceuticals who was previously the medical chief at Modis Therapeutics from 2018-21. → After taking the interim tag off co-founder and now-CEO Dominique Verhelle , the Bob Langer -linked NextRNA Therapeutics out of Dana-Farber has tapped Jason Katz as head of drug discovery. Katz put in 13 years at Merck before becoming director of chemistry (and later senior director of chemistry) at IFM Therapeutics . Verhelle, the interim chief when NextRNA took the wraps off a $56 million round of funding in early March, previously held leadership posts at Celgene , Pfizer and Takeda , where she was head of academic innovation at the Japanese pharma’s Center for External Innovation. → As NetScientific completes its stake buy of Vortex Biosciences , the commercialization and investment company has now named Paul Jones as CEO. Jones joins Vortex from Illumina , where he served as global head of population genomics. Jones is also the founder and CEO of MyGene and earlier in his career held roles at AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Novartis. → Looking to target cancers caused by HPV, San Diego-based Toragen is bringing in some new faces to its team. The company announced the appointments of Cheryl Collett as CFO, Richard Lumpkin as director, research & development, and Paul Engler (founder of Cactus Feeders ) to its board of directors. Collett saddles up to the company after a stint as CFO of Anivive Lifesciences and previous experience with Puma Biotechnology , Sierra Scientific Instruments , Cougar Biotechnology , Hythiam and 20th Century Fox . Meanwhile, Lumpkin served as former senior director at recently Pfizer-acquired Global Blood Therapeutics . Lumpkin’s other stints include roles at Portola Pharmaceuticals , Millennium Pharmaceuticals , Cor Therapeutics , Ribogene , Amylin and Corvas International . → Health tech outfit Zephyr AI has pegged Allen Hodge as chief commercial officer. The erstwhile VP of US oncology sales at Array Biopharma and an ex-regional sales director with Celgene, Hodge spent the last three years as BioCryst ’s SVP and general manager, US commercial. → Getting a fresh cash injection this spring through a $275 million upfront payment from Taiho Pharmaceutical as part of an alliance that was forged in 2019, Cullinan Oncology has named Jacquelyn Sumer as chief legal officer. Sumer, a Big Pharma legal vet with Novartis and Bristol Myers, had been chief legal and compliance officer at Genocea Biosciences before the company decided to shutter operations. → Portage Biotech CEO Ian Walters has tacked on the role of chairman , while the Connecticut-based I/O player that just took full ownership of iOx Therapeutics has enlisted Justin Fairchild as VP of development. Fairchild is a 14-year vet of Bristol Myers who’s been VP of clinical development at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. Walters, who also has Bristol Myers ties, has helmed Portage since 2019. → The protein degradation specialists at Arvinas have picked up their second exec of the month with Lisa Sinclair as SVP, corporate operations, and the biotech also put out word late Thursday that it would carve out space for ex-Pfizer business chief John Young on the board of directors as Liam Ratcliffe moves on. Sinclair spent 18 years with Pfizer before moving on to AstraZeneca in 2011 as VP of R&D portfolio and performance. At her last two stops, she was head of program and alliance management with Pfizer spinout SpringWorks Therapeutics and head of corporate & commercial strategy since 2019 for Rallybio . Arvinas began the month of August by nabbing Nektar vet John Northcott as chief commercial officer. → South Rampart Pharma is adding Josh Blacher to its team as CFO. Blacher ends his tenure at Teva , where he helped manage Teva Innovative Ventures and Teva Pharmaceuticals . Blacher also has CFO/CBO experience from his time at Inmed Pharmaceuticals . → At Resverlogix , CSO Norman Wong is passing the baton to Ewelina Kulikowski as he heads off to retirement. Kulikowski joined Resverlogix in 2005, having started out as director of research development and culminating in her role as SVP, research & development. → Relief Therapeutics has ushered in David McCullough as senior director and head of US market access. McCullough hails from Mirum Pharmaceuticals , where he was national account director (payer account lead). McCullough also has experience under his belt from gigs at Novartis Gene Therapies , Spark Therapeutics , Shire, MedImmune and Abbott Labs . → Just after adding Sabine Sydow and Falk Nuernberger to its leadership team last week, German CDMO Rentschler Biopharma is now welcoming aboard Mark Caswell as VP, site head. Caswell joins the company from Lonza Biologics , having served as head of operations. Prior to that Caswell had stints at Sanofi Genzyme, culminating in his role as director, global engineering and technology. → Eliav Barr has picked up a seat on the board of directors at Bayer ’s thyroid cancer partner Veracyte . Barr took over for Roy Bayne s — now CMO for Roger Perlmutter at Eikon Therapeutics — at Merck Research Laboratories and has worked for the Big Pharma since 1995. → Jeff Bluestone has bolstered the board at Sonoma Biotherapeutics — chaired by Rick Klausner — with the additions of Katina Dorton and John Davis . Dorton has been a CFO with NodThera , Repare Therapeutics and Avrobio , while Davis is a Pfizer alum who led R&D and was CMO of Magenta Therapeutics . → While we’re thinking of Davis’ old company, Michael Vasconcelles is headed to Magenta’s board of directors. Before his CMO gigs at Unum Therapeutics and Roche ’s Flatiron Health , Vasconcelles led the oncology therapy area unit at Takeda. → Now under the direction of Brian Goff with Jackie Fouse riding off into the sunset last week, Agios has made room for Rahul Ballal and Merck alum Cynthia Smith on the board of directors. Ballal has helmed Imara for the last four years, and Smith is the ex-chief commercial officer of ZS Pharma who has board seats with Protara Therapeutics , Spero Therapeutics and Akebia Therapeutics . → Rachel Humphrey has clinched a spot on the board of directors at Pyxis Oncology as it prunes the pipeline and shines the spotlight on PYX-201 and PYX-106 . The ex-CMO at Black Diamond is now president and CEO of I/O biotech Normunity . → Merck human resources vet Karen Ling has joined the board of directors at Mallinckrodt . Ling was chief human resources officer at Allergan from 2014-19, then took the same position at AIG for two years. She also sits on the board of directors at iRhythm Technologies and TherapeuticsMD . → Dinged by a partial clinical hold on its blood cancer drug FHD-286 after a patient death, Flagship biotech Foghorn Therapeutics has given a seat to Lynne Parshall on the board of directors. Parshall has had a 30-year association with Ionis , where she’s now a senior strategic advisor and board member, and she’s on the boards of Cytokinetics , Repertoire Immune Medicines , and Ring Therapeutics . → We profiled Schond Greenway not too long ago when he took the CFO job at MindMed — this time around, the psychedelics biotech has elected Tiaki Therapeutics chief Suzanne Bruhn and Opiant Pharmaceuticals CEO Roger Crystal to the board of directors. Bruhn just became a board member at Vigil Neuroscience , and Crystal is on the board of directors at BIO. → Fund manager Justin Yorke (the San Gabriel Fund, JMW Fund and Richland Fund) has been named chairman of the board at Hanover, MD-based Processa Pharmaceuticals . Khoso Baluch , the former CorMedix CEO who was on the Eli Lilly team from 1984-2008, has joined XOMA CEO Jim Neal on Processa’s board. → Nonprofit biotech Odylia Therapeutics has pulled out two seats on its board of directors for Sharon Walker and Brian Fenton . Walker joins the Atlanta-based company with experience as Sanofi’s senior counsel, vaccines patents. Meanwhile, Fenton was CBO of Translate Bio and formerly worked within the business development group at Shire. → Ymmunobio, the Swiss-based CEACAM1 biotech we referenced earlier, is bolstering its board of directors with the appointment of Juergen Heitmann . Currently, Heitmann serves as director of business development at Nordic Pharma . Heitmann is the ex-CBO of Sensorion and has held roles at McKinsey & Company , Novartis, Nycomed and Takeda. → Needing to hit the reset button with the FDA after pulling its BLA for bevacizumab in late May, Outlook Therapeutics has added Julia Haller to the board of directors. Haller chairs the ophthalmology department at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and is Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia.

ATLANTA, Aug. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Odylia Therapeutics, a nonprofit biotechnology company focused on the development of treatments for people living with rare diseases, today announced the appointments of Sharon M. Walker, Ph.D., J.D., and Brian Fenton to its Board of Directors. "As we continue to expand our focus and build new levels of momentum at Odylia, we are pleased to welcome two new members to our Board of Directors who bring outstanding experience in areas that will play a central role in our success moving forward," said Ashley Winslow, Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer at Odylia. "Sharon and Brian have proven experience in diverse areas including drug discovery and clinical research, rare diseases, corporate development, and intellectual property rights. Each of these areas represent important resources for Odylia and reflect our commitment to advancing new approaches in rare disease drug development that will bring treatments to more patients in the years ahead." Dr. Walker joins the Board from Sanofi, where she serves as Senior Counsel, Vaccines Patents. She has more than 15 years of experience in intellectual property and other legal matters in the healthcare sector. She earned an A.B. in Chemistry from Bowdoin College, a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of California, San Francisco, and a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School. Mr. Fenton has more than 30 years of experience in the biotechnology industry. He previously served as Chief Business Officer at Translate Bio and spent several years working in the rare disease Business Development group at Shire Pharmaceuticals. He has successfully identified, led, and executed multiple strategic transactions during his career in corporate development. He earned his B.A. in Biochemistry from University of Massachusetts, Amherst, a Master's degree in chemical engineering from University of Virginia, and an M.B.A. at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. "To achieve our goal of advancing a novel and much needed nonprofit model in rare disease drug development, Odylia depends on access to a diverse team of outstanding leaders and innovators, both in science and industry, who can share insights and best practices," said Scott Dorfman, Chief Executive Officer at Odylia and Chairman of the Board. "Sharon and Brian bring exactly the experience that both complements and expands the expertise of our Board and we look forward to working with them and to their many essential contributions to our work." About Odylia Therapeutics Odylia is a nonprofit biotech focused on bringing life-altering and lifesaving treatments to those with rare diseases. Our vision is to change how drugs are developed for rare diseases by focusing on the science and patient needs, rather than the commercial potential. We partner with the patient community, researchers, clinicians, and financial donors to bring promising therapeutics to clinical trials. Our programs include preclinical programs in RPGRIP1-associated retinal dystrophies and Usher Syndrome. For additional information, visit odylia.org, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Media Contact: Holly Stevens Berry & Company Public Relations 212-253-8881 [email protected] SOURCE Odylia Therapeutics