SAN FRANCISCO, May 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Excision BioTherapeutics (“Excision”), a leading developer of potentially curative CRISPR anti-viral therapies to improve patient lives, today announced the addition of infectious disease expert and clinical scientist Sumathi Sivapalasingam, M.D., as Head of Translational Medicine.
“Dr. Sivapalasingam’s extensive experience as a clinical leader and her proficiency in integrating discovery research and translational medicine into transformational medicines will prove to be invaluable as we look forward to initiating the Company’s first ever clinical trial of EBT-101 for HIV,” said Daniel Dornbusch, Chief Executive Officer of Excision. “We are thrilled to have such an experienced infectious disease clinician join our team as we continue to advance our pipeline of CRISPR-based therapies for viral infectious diseases.”
Prior to joining Excision, Dr. Sivapalasingam was a Senior Director in Early Clinical Development and Experimental Sciences at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, where she was responsible for the delivery and execution of pipeline assets from clinical candidate selection through the end of late-stage clinical trials and approval. In this role, she was the clinical leader across multiple therapeutic areas, in particular infectious diseases, integrating discovery research and translational medicine to accelerate the development of transformational medicines. Dr. Sivapalasingam was the medical lead for the clinical development of Inmazeb, the first-ever approved treatment of infection caused by Zaire ebolavirus in adult and pediatric patients. More recently, she spearheaded several therapeutic trials early during the Covid-19 pandemic, including several with REGEN-COV, an investigational combination antibody treatment, that received Emergency Use Authorization for the treatment of outpatients with Covid-19. Previously, Dr. Sivapalasingam was an Attending Physician and Clinical Scientist in the Infectious Disease Division at NYU School of Medicine and was a Director at the NYU School of Medicine – Kenya HIV clinic in Mombasa, Kenya, where she initiated the HIV treatment program through PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) and conducted clinical and immunological research at the Bomu Medical Center. She was also an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch. Dr. Sivapalasingam earned her B.S. in Physics from Swarthmore College, and her M.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.
“Excision’s CRISPR gene editing platform potentially enables therapeutics to be safely administered to patients through precise targeting and viral genome deactivation with a very low off-target effect probability,” said Dr. Sivapalasingam. “It has proven to be an effective functional cure for HIV in animals in preclinical studies. It is an exciting opportunity to be joining an innovative company with the potential to transform the treatment of infectious diseases for patients globally. I look forward to working with the Company to advance its pre-clinical pipeline assets into the clinic and beyond.”
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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