CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AavantiBio, a gene therapy company focused on transforming the lives of patients with rare genetic diseases, today announced the appointment of Ty Howton as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. A veteran life sciences executive, Mr. Howton brings to AavantiBio more than two decades of strategic, operational, and legal experience in the biopharmaceutical industry.

In his most recent position, Mr. Howton served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRPT), where he led Company’s global legal and compliance functions and oversaw quality assurance and information technology. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and as a member of the executive team at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: VRTX), where he had general management responsibilities and oversaw all aspects of the legal and compliance departments globally, including risk management. Prior to joining Vertex, Mr. Howton worked at Genentech, Inc., where he served in a variety of legal roles before becoming the company’s chief healthcare compliance officer. Earlier in his career, he was a member of the Sidley Austin LLP corporate healthcare practice where he advised on corporate transactions involving life science companies and provided regulatory counsel.

“Ty brings extensive industry leadership experience along with a diverse professional skill set, and we are ecstatic to welcome him at this exciting time in our growth journey,” said Bo Cumbo, Chief Executive Officer of AavantiBio. “As a key member of the leadership team, he will be integrally involved in determining and executing on our corporate strategy as we begin to scale our commercial and manufacturing operations to bring a competitive pipeline of gene therapies to patients who need them most.”

Mr. Howton’s appointment comes on the heels of Douglas J. Swirsky joining the Company as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.

“Having spent the majority of my career at biotech companies with missions focused on patient care and innovation, I’m thrilled to be joining a company like AavantiBio that is taking such a unique approach to transforming the lives of patients with rare genetic diseases,” said Howton. “I look forward to working closely with Bo and the team to advance the Company’s strong pipeline of programs towards the clinic so we can help these patients with significant unmet needs.”

Mr. Howton currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Make-A-Wish® Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He holds a BA from Yale University and a JD from Northwestern University School of Law.

About AavantiBio, Inc.
AavantiBio is a gene therapy company backed by a premier syndicate of life sciences investors including Perceptive Advisors, Bain Capital Life Sciences, and RA Capital Management, who led the company’s recent $107 million Series A financing. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, AavantiBio is advancing a diversified gene therapy pipeline in areas of high unmet medical need, including a lead program in Friedreich’s Ataxia (FA), a rare inherited genetic disease that causes cardiac and central nervous system dysfunction. The company benefits from strategic partnerships with the University of Florida’s renowned Powell Gene Therapy Center and the MDA Care Center at UF Health where AavantiBio’s co-founders and renowned gene therapy researchers Barry Byrne, M.D., Ph.D. and Manuela Corti, P.T., Ph.D maintain their research and clinical practices. Learn more at www.aavantibio.com.

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