Integra Therapeutics, a global leader in cutting-edge gene writing tools to improve the efficacy, precision and safety of advanced therapies, announced today the appointment of Miles Gerson as the Independent Chairman of its Board of Directors. His incorporation strengthens the company’s governance and supports its strategic vision as it moves toward key development milestones.
Mr. Gerson
brings more than 20 years of experience in healthcare venture investing,
business development, licensing, technology transfer and company building. He most
recently served as Global Head and President of Takeda Ventures, Inc., where he
managed Takeda’s corporate venture team and oversaw an equity portfolio
of more than 60 private and public life sciences investments. Prior to Takeda
Ventures, his career included serving as founding management of early-stage
companies, leading investment diligence for venture firms based in the U.S. and
Europe, and holding multiple senior operational roles for venture
backed and publicly traded life sciences companies. Mr. Gerson
holds Bachelor and Master degrees in Neuroscience from Wesleyan University in
Connecticut, and a JD/MBA in Strategic Management in Life & Engineering
Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“We are
delighted to welcome Miles as chairman of the board. His deep industry
knowledge, strategic insight and proven track record in supporting high growth healthcare
companies will be invaluable in driving the company’s next phase of
growth by strategically aligning our platform, pipeline and global expansion,” said
Avencia Sanchez-Mejias, PhD, CEO & Co-Founder of Integra Therapeutics.
“I am
honored to step into the role of Independent Chairman of Integra Therapeutics
and to be part of a growing company committed to revolutionizing advanced
therapies. Integra’s core methodology, rooted in AI trained on proprietary
biological datasets and refined through empirical validation, truly sets the
company apart, positioning it to transition to high impact in vivo
applications, including next generation CAR-T, by addressing the main roadblocks
for the next generation of advanced therapies,” noted
Miles Gerson.
Recently, Integra Therapeutics published a pioneering paper in Nature Biotechnology in which its researchers demonstrated the ability to use AI not only to
optimize enzymatic activity, but also to design new synthetic proteins capable
of editing the human genome more efficiently than those provided by nature.
About Integra’s FiCAT Platform FiCAT (Find‑Cut‑And‑Transfer) is a next generation gene writing platform
developed by Integra Therapeutics that enables precise, efficient, stable
insertion of DNA fragments of unparalleled size into a genome. It combines a ‘find’
module based on CRISPR‑Cas to target a
specific genomic site, with a ‘cut‑and‑transfer’ module derived from a PiggyBac
transposase to insert the new genetic material in ex vivo and in vivo cell
therapy (CAR-T) and gene therapy. FiCAT can be delivered in a viral-free manner
via LNP pre-loading, with demonstrated efficiency in several tissues and cells.
It is currently in preclinical development for oncology, autoimmune and genetic
diseases.
