PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SwanBio Therapeutics, a gene therapy company advancing AAV-based therapies for the treatment of devastating, genetically defined neurological conditions, today announced that Marita James, CPA, has been appointed as the company’s Chief Financial Officer. Ms. James, a seasoned executive with more than 30 years of financial experience, served as SwanBio’s interim Chief Financial Officer since February 2020.

“Marita’s contributions have been instrumental to our business and financial progress, and we are thrilled to have her join SwanBio on a full-time basis,” said Tom Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of SwanBio. “Our company is rapidly evolving as we expand our portfolio of multiple gene therapy programs and advance our lead program, SBT101, through IND-enabling studies for the treatment of adrenomyeloneuropathy. Critical to our success will be leveraging the insights and experience of our talented team, and we look forward to continuing to benefit from Marita’s significant financial management expertise as we execute the next phase of our growth and transition into a clinical company.”

“Since joining as interim CFO, I have seen this team in action and observed the promise that our programs hold. I am incredibly inspired by this company’s mission to develop therapies that prevent disease progression for people with neurological disorders,” said Ms. James. “We have made significant progress across all aspects of our operations over the last 12 months, most notably with our AAV-based programs, which have the potential to treat the root cause of disease. There are numerous opportunities for our science and technology, and I am honored to continue supporting SwanBio to advance our pipeline and company.”

Ms. James brings extensive financial experience to SwanBio. Prior to her role as interim CFO, Ms. James was a financial consultant to emerging and established biotechnology companies, helping to lead financial strategy and overall business operations. Before consulting, she served as CFO of two global clinical research organizations, QPS Group Holdings, LLC and Frontage Laboratories, Inc., where she helped guide each organization from preclinical through late-stage trials and oversaw double-digit revenue growth. Earlier, Ms. James served in investment banking roles at MMCO Consulting, LLC, and Howard, Lawson & Co., LLC. She began her career in public accounting at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ms. James is a certified public accountant and holds an M.S. in. applied constructive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in accounting from LaSalle University.

About SwanBio Therapeutics

SwanBio Therapeutics is a gene therapy company that aims to bring life-changing treatments to people with devastating, genetically defined neurological conditions. SwanBio is advancing a pipeline of AAV-based gene therapies, designed to be delivered intrathecally, that can address targets within both the central and peripheral nervous systems. This approach has the potential to be applied broadly across three disease classifications – spastic paraplegias, monogenic neuropathies and polygenic neuropathies. SwanBio’s lead program is being advanced toward clinical development for the treatment of adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN). For more information, visit SwanBioTx.com.

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