Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc., a leading clinical-stage adeno-associated virus gene therapy company, announced that it has appointed scientific leader Anna Tretiakova, PhD, as Senior Vice President of Product Development.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Feb. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (AskBio), a leading clinical-stage adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy company, today announced that it has appointed scientific leader Anna Tretiakova, PhD, as Senior Vice President of Product Development. Reporting to Jude Samulski, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of AskBio, Anna will lead the company’s research and translational collaborations to deliver clinical candidate vectors.
An industry veteran with more than 30 years of research and development and translational medicine experience, Dr. Tretiakova has spent nearly 10 years exclusively focused on AAV gene therapy at the University of Pennsylvania Gene Therapy Program, Pfizer Rare Disease Research Unit and, most recently, SwanBio Therapeutics.
“Broadening our research and development team is critical to achieving our mission to transform genetic medicine, and we are excited to add Anna’s expertise moving AAV programs into the clinic,” said Dr. Samulski. “She will lead preclinical translational research across all of our existing and future therapeutic areas to ensure we pursue the highest quality candidates for clinical development.”
“Throughout my career, I have been inspired to help patients with untreatable diseases,” said Dr. Tretiakova. “I am thrilled to join AskBio to help advance our preclinical programs with safety and speed and drive down the cost to make gene therapy available to all who need it.”
In addition to delivering clinical candidate vectors into the therapeutic programs, Dr. Tretiakova will be part of AskBio’s leadership team tasked with driving value across the integrated gene therapy technology platforms.
She continued, “AskBio has one of the most impressive visions for gene therapy and has undertaken a fully integrated strategy to advance DNA and vector manufacturing, capsid and gene cassette engineering, knowledge of vector biology and immunology to allow for treatment re-administration, and tissue targeting. All of this is done within one company, which is unprecedented in the gene therapy industry today.”
About Anna Tretiakova, PhD
Anna has over 30 years of research and development experience that spans basic research and non-clinical translational sciences, progressing from a bench scientist in academia to senior leadership roles with biotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations. She has spent almost a decade of that time fully dedicated to AAV gene therapy for monogenic and non-monogenic diseases in various therapeutic areas at the University of Pennsylvania Gene Therapy Program, Pfizer Rare Disease Research Unit and, most recently, SwanBio Therapeutics.
She completed her graduate education in molecular biology and biochemistry with a PhD from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and diploma from Novosibirsk State University in Russia.
About AskBio
Founded in 2001, Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (AskBio) is a privately held, clinical-stage gene therapy company dedicated to improving the lives of children and adults with genetic disorders. AskBio’s gene therapy platform includes an industry-leading proprietary cell line manufacturing process called Pro10™ and an extensive AAV capsid and promoter library. Based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, the company has generated hundreds of proprietary third-generation AAV capsids and promoters, several of which have entered clinical testing. An early innovator in the space, AskBio holds more than 500 patents in areas such as AAV production and chimeric and self-complementary capsids. AskBio maintains a portfolio of clinical programs across a range of neurodegenerative and neuromuscular indications with a current clinical pipeline that includes therapeutics for Pompe disease, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2i/R9 and congestive heart failure, as well as out-licensed clinical indications for hemophilia (Chatham Therapeutics acquired by Takeda) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Bamboo Therapeutics acquired by Pfizer). Learn more at https://www.askbio.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
Contact: Robin Fastenau Vice President, Communications +1 984.275.2705 rfastenau@askbio.com
