Heidelberg, Germany – October 9, 2024 – AaviGen GmbH, a preclinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of curative gene therapies for cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary diseases, announces the appointment of Prof. Dr. Toni Cathomen as a member of the scientific advisory board. “Targeted genome engineering is an essential building block for expanding our cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary target indications in AaviGen’s therapeutic pipeline. We are delighted to have Prof. Dr. Toni Cathomen – Director of the Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Gene Therapy, Medical Center – University of Freiburg – as a new member of our SAB. We see Prof. Cathomen’s internationally outstanding expertise, especially in the field of designer nucleases and their gene therapy application, as a key element for AaviGen’s development of curative therapies for genetically caused heart muscle diseases. This perfectly complements our heart-specific AAV vector platform.” says Prof. Patrick Most, CEO of AaviGen GmbH. Prof. Cathomen states that “the cure of a large number of genetically caused diseases will not be possible without the targeted editing of the underlying genomic defects. This is particularly true for heart diseases where gene addition or silencing strategies cannot be used. In my opinion, designer nucleases, such as CRISPR-Cas and the ongoing improvements, will become the highly efficient and safe molecular tools that we urgently need to cure previously incurable diseases. I am very pleased to support AaviGen on this path towards precision gene therapies that combine cardiac and genomic specificity in a unique combination.”
About Prof. Dr. Toni Cathomen
Toni Cathomen is Professor of Cell and Gene Therapy and Director of the Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Gene Therapy at the University of Freiburg, Germany. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Zurich, he held positions at the Salk Institute in San Diego, California, the Charité Medical School in Berlin, and the Hannover Medical School in Germany. Dr. Cathomen’s research focuses on the development of hematopoietic stem cell and immune cell therapies using genome editing to target immunodeficiencies and certain cancers. He has also helped advance the safety of gene therapy by pioneering methods to assess the genotoxic risk of gene editors and gene-edited cell products.
About AaviGen
AaviGen was founded in 2019 on the understanding that successful gene therapy requires optimized delivery of therapeutic targets to the diseased heart. AaviGen’s scientific approach is documented in numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications and validated by its founders’ track record in scientific innovations for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac diseases, including gene therapy medicinal products. For more information, please see: www.aavigen.com
AaviGen Investor and Media Contact
Prof. Dr. Marc Lerchenmüller, Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director
AaviGen, Heidelberg, Germany
T: +49 6221 568900
M: +49 151 51646589
marc.lerchenmueller@aavigen.com
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