




Healthcare Industry News: AVONEX
News Release - May 15, 2009
Avila Therapeutics Appoints Katrine S. Bosley as Company's First CEO
WALTHAM, Mass.--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Avila Therapeutics, an emerging biopharmaceutical company developing a revolutionary new class of medicines known as covalent drugs, announced today that Katrine S. Bosley has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Bosley is a biotechnology executive experienced in corporate development of emerging and established biopharmaceutical companies and joins Avila as it advances its business strategy, product pipeline, and proprietary platform.“This is an exceptionally exciting time for Avila as we drive our lead programs towards the clinic and demonstrate the power of our covalent approach against important therapeutic targets,” said Daniel S. Lynch, Executive Chairman. “Katrine brings a proven record of achievement as a biotechnology executive. Her skills and experience are ideally suited to lead Avila through our next stage of growth as we advance our own products and as we develop strategic alliances to maximize the breadth of our proprietary protein silencing technology.”
“Avila’s focus on the design and development of covalent drugs is an area that has been only modestly explored by traditional pharmaceutical companies. This has given us a very broad set of unique product opportunities,” commented Katrine Bosley, Chief Executive Officer. “We’ve shown with our lead programs that we can deliver products with novel pharmacologic profiles that have the potential to provide unprecedented therapeutic benefits for patients. Furthermore, our strong investor base and experienced leadership team bring to bear the resources and expertise necessary to successfully advance our pipeline.”
Ms. Bosley joins Avila from Adnexus where she served as Vice President, Business Development and later as VP, Strategic Operations, establishing an alliance with and subsequent acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb. During her career she has worked with products from discovery through commercialization, including AVONEX®, Tysabri®, and the emerging Adnectin™ class of targeted biologics. Ms. Bosley was at Biogen Idec for many years where she held leadership roles in business development, commercial operations, and portfolio strategy in both the U.S. and Europe. She also held positions at Highland Capital Partners, a venture capital firm, and Alkermes, a drug delivery company. Ms. Bosley is a graduate of Cornell University.
About Avila Therapeutics
Avila Therapeutics is developing a new therapeutic approach called 'protein silencing' based on a proprietary platform for developing covalent drugs that strongly and resiliently bond to disease-causing proteins, resulting in drugs that can be highly effective. Avila's covalent drugs have the potential to deliver unique therapeutic benefits because they are highly targeted, are effective against mutations, and have long duration of action. Avila is developing a pipeline of novel, protein silencing drugs with a current focus on viral infection, cancer, and autoimmune diseases. Avila is funded by four leading venture capital firms: Abingworth, Advent Venture Partners, Atlas Ventures, and Polaris Venture Partners. For additional information, please visit http://www.avilatx.com.
Source: Avila Therapeutics
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