WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- REGENXBIO Inc. today announced the appointment of Stephen Yoo, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer, effective immediately. Dr. Yoo will oversee the development of REGENXBIO's AAV gene therapy treatments for lysosomal storage disorders and ocular diseases and serve on the company's management team.
"We are pleased to welcome Stephen as our first Chief Medical Officer," said Ken Mills, President and CEO of REGENXBIO. "Stephen's extensive experience leading clinical development and transitioning biologics from pre-clinical to first-in-human and proof-of-concept studies will be invaluable as we focus on advancing our NAV®-based gene therapy treatments for Hurler Syndrome (MPS I), Hunter Syndrome (MPS II), wet age-related macular degeneration and X-linked retinitis pigmentosa into and through clinical development."
Dr. Yoo most recently served as Medical Science Director of Clinical Development at AstraZeneca and as Group Director of Clinical Development at MedImmune, AstraZeneca's global biologics research and development arm. In these roles, he directed the late-phase clinical project teams and provided strategic and operational leadership to physicians and scientists. In previous roles at MedImmune, he provided strategic clinical leadership for early-phase programs. Earlier in his career, Dr. Yoo was an Associate Director of Clinical Development at Abbott Laboratories, where he contributed to the planning of multiple global, pivotal clinical trials.
"I am delighted to join REGENXBIO at this exhilarating time for both the company and the gene therapy field," said Dr. Yoo. "I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues at REGENXBIO and our world-class advisors and researchers to help design and implement clinical development strategies that will advance life-changing gene therapy treatments for serious diseases with unmet needs."
Dr. Yoo holds an M.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine and a B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
About REGENXBIO
REGENXBIO Inc. is the leading next-generation AAV gene therapy company, developing a new class of personalized therapies based on its proprietary NAV® Technology platform for a range of severe diseases with serious unmet needs. NAV Technology includes novel AAV vectors AAV7, AAV8, AAV9, and AAVrh10. The company is developing gene therapy treatments to address lysosomal storage disorders and ocular diseases. REGENXBIO has enabled leading global partners including Baxter Healthcare, Fondazione Telethon, Audentes Therapeutics, Lysogene, Esteve, AveXis, AAVLife and Voyager Therapeutics to use its NAV Technology. In addition, together with Fidelity Biosciences, REGENXBIO formed Dimension Therapeutics, a company focused on the development and commercialization of NAV-based gene therapies for rare diseases.
For more information about REGENXBIO, please visit www.regenxbio.com.
CONTACT: REGENXBIO Vit Vasista, 202-785-7438 [email protected] REGENXBIO (Media) Annie Starr, 973-415-8838 [email protected]