AviadoBio Appoints Graeme Fielder as Chief Operating Officer and
Alex Bloom as Chief Technical Officer
London, UK; October 4, 2022 — AviadoBio, a pioneering, pre-clinical stage gene therapy company focused on developing and delivering transformative medicines for people with neurodegenerative disorders, today announced the promotions of Graeme Fielder, Ph.D. to Chief Operating Officer and Alex Bloom, Ph.D. to Chief Technical Officer.
Graeme Fielder, part of the founding management team at AviadoBio, has served as Vice President and Head of Operations since 2020. Graeme has deep experience in the life sciences industry, holding roles in strategy, business development, and program and alliance management over the past 10 years. He joined AviadoBio from Audentes Therapeutics (now Astellas Gene Therapies), a neuromuscular gene therapy company, where he oversaw the company’s corporate development activities including the acquisition of Astellas Pharma. Graeme holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Biotechnology and a Ph.D. from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Graeme also has an MBA from Stanford University, USA.
Since joining AviadoBio in September 2021, Alex Bloom has served in the role of Senior Vice President Technical Operations, heading up all technical operations and enabling functions across CMC, quality assurance and regulatory affairs. His experience includes more than 15 years of operational excellence in biologics, with over 10 years spent dedicated to cell and gene therapy development. Previously, he led quality and regulatory activities at Gyroscope Therapeutics, supporting the development of gene therapies and innovative delivery devices for retinal disease. Alex holds a Ph.D. and MSc from Sheffield University, UK.
AviadoBio also noted today that Co-Founder and Chief Scientific and Clinical Advisor Professor Chris Shaw will be taking on an additional role. He has been named the Hugh Green Foundation Chair in Translation Neurology at the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Professor Shaw retains his roles at AviadoBio and King’s College London.
“Alex and Graeme have been integral members of the AviadoBio team and their promotions further validate their great work as well as the incredible growth of the company. I know that both Alex and Graeme, alongside the rest of the management team, will continue to drive AviadoBio forward as we work to bring our gene therapies for frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) into the clinic,” said Lisa Deschamps, Chief Executive Officer.
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About Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) and FTD with GRN mutations (FTD-GRN)
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is of the second most common form of dementia in people under the age of 65 after Alzheimer’s disease. It affects 50,000 to 60,000 patients in the U.S. and over 100,000 in the E.U. Approximately one third of FTD cases are familial and linked to autosomal dominant mutations in three genes including the granulin gene (GRN) and FTD-GRN represents 5-10% of all patients with FTD. Progressive degeneration of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain is characteristic of FTD, and is associated with progressive decline of behaviour, decision-making, language and emotion, typically leading to death within 7-10 years of diagnosis. There are currently no approved treatments to stop or slow the progression of FTD or FTD-GRN.
About AviadoBio
AviadoBio’s mission is to develop and deliver potentially transformational gene therapies for people living with devastating neurodegenerative diseases such as frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). With our deep understanding of the brain and suite of proprietary gene therapy platforms and delivery technologies, we are working relentlessly to overcome the challenges of delivering the right drug to the right place in time. Our innovative, neuroanatomy-led approach is designed to maximize the therapeutic potential to halt or potentially reverse neurodegenerative diseases.
The company’s technology is based on pioneering research from King’s College London and the UK Dementia Research Institute. The lead program, AVB-101, is an investigational AAV gene therapy designed to slow or stop FTD disease progression by delivering a functional copy of the GRN gene throughout the central nervous system to restore progranulin levels.
AviadoBio’s investors include New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Monograph Capital, F-Prime Capital, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC), Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF), Advent Life Sciences, EQT Lifesciences, and LifeArc.
For more information, please visit www.aviadobio.com and follow us at Twitter @AviadoBio and LinkedIn AviadoBio.
Contact:
For media enquiries:
Farah Speer
SVP, Head of Communications and External Relations
Fspeer@aviadobio.com
+1-312-543-2881
Consilium Strategic Communications
Chris Gardner, Angela Gray, Sukaina Virji
+44 (0) 20 3709 5700
AviadoBio@consilium-comms.com
