Exhibit 99.1
Taysha Gene Therapies Adds Industry-Leading Gene Therapy Executives to Board of Directors
Appoints former Chief Medical Officer of Spark Therapeutics, Kathy Reape, M.D., and Chief Scientific Officer of Intellia Therapeutics, Laura Sepp-Lorenzino, Ph.D., to board of directors
Directors bring significant gene therapy translational and development expertise ahead of GM2 gangliosidosis clinical trial initiation in 2020 and submission of four INDs by the end of 2021
Dallas—November 24, 2020—Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSHA), a patient-centric gene therapy company focused on developing and commercializing AAV-based gene therapies for the treatment of monogenic diseases of the central nervous system in both rare and large patient populations, today announced the appointment of Kathy Reape, M.D., and Laura Sepp-Lorenzino, Ph.D., to the company’s board of directors.
“Drs. Reape and Sepp-Lorenzino bring significant gene therapy translational and development expertise to our board,” said RA Session II, President, Founder and CEO of Taysha Gene Therapies. “Their combined gene therapy experience across preclinical and clinical development will be invaluable as we continue to advance our broad portfolio into the clinic. Across all levels of the organization, we are building a team that has the passion, experience and talent to execute on our mission of eradicating monogenic CNS disease.”
Dr. Reape was most recently Chief Medical Officer at Spark Therapeutics where she oversaw clinical development, pharmacovigilance and medical affairs activities and was a key member of the team responsible for the development and commercialization of the first FDA-approved in vivo gene therapy, LUXTURNA®, for an inherited retinal disease caused by mutations in both copies of the RPE65 gene. She also oversaw the development of Spark’s pipeline of gene therapies addressing CNS disease, hemophilia, metabolic disorders and inherited retinal dystrophies. She has over 18 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry in clinical research and development and has been involved with approximately two dozen product approvals including small molecules, biologics, biosimilars and therapeutic devices. She received both her undergraduate and M.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and completed her internship and residency at the University of Florida and University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
“Taysha has built a deep pipeline of potentially transformative gene therapies for patients with life-threatening CNS diseases,” said Dr. Reape. “Many of the conditions that Taysha is addressing have no therapeutic alternatives, are associated with a poor quality of life and often result in a shortened life expectancy. It is important that we rapidly advance these gene therapies into the clinic to serve patients so desperately in need.”
Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino is currently the Chief Scientific Officer at Intellia Therapeutics and has held several senior positions over her extensive career. Most recently, she was Vice President and Head of Nucleic Acid Therapies at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. She previously served as Alnylam’s Vice President and Entrepreneur-in-Residence, where she led the hepatic infectious disease strategies therapeutic area and was a key figure in partnering and in-licensing activities. She spent 14 years at Merck & Co., including as
