SAN FRANCISCO, April 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Excision BioTherapeutics (“Excision”), a leading developer of potentially curative CRISPR anti-viral therapies to improve patient lives, today announced the appointment of biotechnology industry research and development veteran, William Kennedy, M.D., as Senior Vice President, Clinical, effective Thursday, April 1.
“Dr. Kennedy’s extensive experience in clinical development is a timely addition to the Excision team as we are about to embark on clinical trials employing our CRISPR platform to treat serious viral diseases,” said Daniel Dornbusch, Chief Executive Officer of Excision. “Excision’s unique approach leverages CRISPR’s natural evolution in bacteria to target and deactivate viral genes, which promises to maximize both the safety and efficacy of its development programs. We look forward to William joining our rapidly growing team and his contributions to our first clinical trial of EBT-101, our HIV therapeutic.”
Dr. Kennedy has more than 15 years of experience in biopharmaceutical clinical research & development across several therapeutic areas including infectious disease, immunology, and vaccine development. Prior to joining Excision, Dr. Kennedy served as Vice President, Development at Calcilytix, which is developing treatments to manage calcium homeostasis. He was Vice President, Clinical Development at Audentes Therapeutics where he was Clinical Leader in the Company’s AAV-directed gene replacement therapy for two clinical programs using AAV vectors for Crigler Najjar Syndrome and Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia. Prior to that, Dr. Kennedy was Senior Director, Clinical Development at Alios BioPharma/Janssen Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for managing early clinical trials in chronic hepatitis B, including small molecules and therapeutic vaccines for functional cure. He was a Medical Director and Senior Medical Director for more than five years at Genentech, where he was responsible for early clinical development of treatments for autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematosus. Prior to that, he served as Associate Medical Director and Medical Director at Merck & Co., where he was responsible for early clinical trials of treatments to treat neurological conditions including the development of the FDA approved sedative, suvorexant. Dr. Kennedy earned his M.D. at Stanford University School of Medicine and was a fellow and attending physician at Yale University School of Medicine focused on pediatric infectious diseases.
“CRISPR has emerged during the last few years as a highly accurate gene editing tool with significant therapeutic potential,” said Dr. Kennedy. “Although in vivo gene editing of human genes has been controversial, Excision is applying the technology in a safe and unprecedented way by employing CRISPR to treat viral infections. With the lead asset soon to begin clinical development and several others in in vivo preclinical studies, Excision has the potential to be a leader in CRISPR-based therapeutics in the coming years.”
About Excision BioTherapeutics, Inc.
Excision BioTherapeutics, Inc., is a biotechnology company developing CRISPR-based therapies to cure viral infectious diseases. Excision is focused on improving the lives of chronically ill patients by eliminating viral genomes from infected individuals. By using CRISPR in unique ways, the Company has already demonstrated the first functional cure for HIV in animals. Excision is developing technologies and IP developed at Temple University and U.C. Berkeley. Excision is located in San Francisco, California and is supported by ARTIS Ventures, GreatPoint Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Adjuvant Capital, Cota Capital, WRVI Capital, IndusAge Partners, Loreda Holdings, Olive Tree, Anzu Partners, SilverRidge Venture Partners, Oakhouse Ventures, and Gaingels. For more information, please visit www.excision.bio.
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eando@burnsmc.com
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