La Jolla, California, October 1, 2019 (PRNewswire) — Avidity Biosciences, a privately-held biotechnology company pioneering Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOCs™), announced today the appointment of global business leader Sarah Boyce as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Avidity Board of Directors.
“We are delighted to welcome Sarah as the new CEO of Avidity Biosciences,” said Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, co-founder and founding CEO of Avidity. “Sarah’s broad experience in the healthcare industry, combined with her strategic expertise and track record of leading high-performance teams, position her to be a great partner to both the board and management as we continue to advance our pipeline, optimize our AOC™ platform and prepare to initiate our first clinical study.”
Ms. Boyce brings to Avidity extensive experience in the life sciences industry, where she has built global organizations and brought to patients a number of innovative therapies, including Tegsedi®, Waylivra®, Soliris®, Gleevec® and Tasigna®. She most recently served as President and a member of the board of directors of Akcea Therapeutics, where she led commercialization of the company’s rare disease products. Prior to joining Akcea in April 2018, Ms. Boyce held multiple executive-level roles at leading pharma and biotech companies including Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Forest Laboratories, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Novartis Oncology and Roche.
“I am honored by the opportunity the board has extended and am excited to lead Avidity through its next phase of growth,” said Sarah Boyce, President and CEO of Avidity Biosciences. “I look forward to working with the leadership team and the board to continue to expand the proprietary AOC™ technology which combines the benefits of two innovative therapeutic approaches into a pioneering platform and to usher the first wave of potential therapeutics into the clinic.”
About Avidity Biosciences, Inc.
Avidity Biosciences, Inc. is a privately-held biotech company pioneering Antibody-Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOC™). AOCs uniquely combine the tissue selectivity of monoclonal antibodies and the precision of oligonucleotide-based therapeutics to overcome barriers to the delivery of oligonucleotides and target genetic drivers of disease. Using its AOC™ technology, Avidity has demonstrated significant and sustained reductions of disease-related mRNAs expression in murine and primate models with ED50 of < 1mg/kg siRNA and and EC50 in the nanomolar range. The company is focused on advancing an internal pipeline of therapeutic candidates to treat diseases including myotonic dystrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) and other disorders. In addition, Avidity and Eli Lilly announced a strategic partnership in April 2019 to utilize Avidity’s AOC™ technology to pursue therapeutic targets initially focused on immunology and other indications. Avidity has raised $30 million in venture financing from a top-tier group of investors, including Takeda Ventures, Alethea Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Brace Pharma, EcoR1 Capital, F-Prime Capital, Moore Venture Partners, and Boxer Capital of Tavistock Group. For more information, please visit www.aviditybiosciences.com.
Contacts:
Company and Media:
Leslie Ann Kerins
(858) 401-7900
leslie@aviditybio.com