Passage Bio Appoints Maxine Gowen, Ph.D. to Board of Directors
Passage Bio (Nasdaq: PASG) has appointed Dr. Maxine Gowen to its board of directors, effective February 18, 2021. Dr. Gowen, CEO of Tamuro Bio, brings extensive leadership experience from her tenure at Trevena and GSK. Her expertise is expected to support Passage Bio's transition into a clinical development organization. Simultaneously, Dr. Stephen Squinto has resigned from his board position after significant contributions, including advancing the company’s pipeline and supporting its IPO. Passage Bio aims to develop transformative gene therapies for rare CNS disorders.
- Dr. Maxine Gowen's appointment could enhance Passage Bio's strategic direction and clinical capabilities.
- Dr. Gowen's extensive leadership experience in biotech may strengthen the company's growth trajectory.
- Dr. Squinto's departure may raise concerns regarding continuity and the potential experience gap in leadership.
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Passage Bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: PASG), a genetic medicines company focused on developing transformative therapies for rare, monogenic central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today announced the appointment of Maxine Gowen, Ph.D., to its board of directors, effective Feb. 18. Dr. Gowen is chief executive officer of Tamuro Bio, a post that she has held since July 2019.
“We are immensely excited to have Maxine join our board of directors,” said Dr. Bruce Goldsmith, president and chief executive officer of Passage Bio. “Her public company leadership and deep clinical development expertise will provide tremendous support to Passage Bio as we transition to a clinical development organization in the first half of 2021.”
Tadataka Yamada, M.D., chairman of the Passage Bio board of directors and company co- founder, added: “We are delighted to welcome Dr. Gowen to the board of directors of Passage Bio. Her extensive board and leadership experience in both large and small innovative pharmaceutical and biotech companies will be beneficial as Passage Bio continues its growth trajectory. We look forward to working with and benefiting from the experience and expertise of Dr. Gowen.”
Dr. Gowen was the founding president and chief executive officer of Trevena, Inc. from 2007 to October 2018, and has served as a member of Trevena’s board of directors since 2008. Dr. Gowen previously held a variety of leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, over a period of 15 years. As senior vice president for GSK’s Center of Excellence for Drug Discovery, she developed an innovative new approach to externalizing drug discovery. She also currently serves on the boards of directors for Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Akebia Therapeutics, Inc., and Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. In addition, Dr. Gowen serves on the private company boards of directors of Tamuro Bio and Panorama Therapeutics, Inc., as well as the board of directors of Life Sciences Pennsylvania, an industry organization. Dr. Gowen graduated with a B.Sc. in biochemistry from the University of Bristol, U.K., received a Ph.D. in cell biology from the University of Sheffield, U.K., and received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
“Passage Bio is in the vanguard of companies working to develop potentially transformative gene therapies, and I am incredibly excited to be able to join and contribute to the board at such a pivotal time in the company’s journey,” Dr. Gowen said.
Stephen Squinto, Ph.D., Resigns from Passage Bio Board of Directors
Dr. Gowen’s appointment comes as Stephen Squinto, Ph.D., resigns from Passage Bio’s board of directors and as acting head of Research & Development for the company. Steve was a co- founder of Passage Bio who also served as interim chief executive officer at the formation of the company through January 2020. During Steve’s tenure, Passage Bio worked closely with the University of Pennsylvania’s Gene Therapy Program to advance our pipeline, raised substantial funding, established the leadership team and supported the company’s Initial Public Offering.
“I am proud of where Passage Bio stands today with a strong management team, expansion of the clinical, manufacturing and operations team and an extremely sound financial position,” said Dr. Squinto. “I leave my positions optimistic about the future of the company as it continues to make significant progress in developing gene therapies with the potential of transforming lives of patients with rare CNS disorders.”
“We are grateful for Dr. Squinto’s instrumental work in setting up Passage Bio to eventually become an independent publicly traded company and supporting the initial growth of the company infrastructure,” said Dr. Yamada. “We wish Dr. Squinto continued success as he turns his focus to other responsibilities, including his full-time role as executive partner at OrbiMed.”
About Passage Bio
At Passage Bio (Nasdaq: PASG), we are on a mission to provide life-transforming gene therapies for patients with rare, monogenic CNS diseases that replace their suffering with boundless possibility, all while building lasting relationships with the communities we serve. Based in Philadelphia, PA, our company has established a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with the renowned University of Pennsylvania’s Gene Therapy Program to conduct our discovery and IND-enabling preclinical work. This provides our team with enhanced access to a broad portfolio of gene therapy candidates and future gene therapy innovations that we then pair with our deep clinical, regulatory, manufacturing and commercial expertise to rapidly advance our robust pipeline of optimized gene therapies into clinical testing. As we work with speed and tenacity, we are always mindful of patients who may be able to benefit from our therapies. More information is available at www.passagebio.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of, and made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to: our expectations about timing and execution of anticipated milestones, including our planned IND submissions, initiation of clinical trials and the availability of clinical data from such trials; our expectations about our collaborators’ and partners’ ability to execute key initiatives; our expectations about manufacturing plans and strategies; our expectations about cash runway; and the ability of our lead product candidates to treat the underlying causes of their respective target monogenic CNS disorders. These forward-looking statements may be accompanied by such words as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “possible,” “will,” “would,” and other words and terms of similar meaning. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in such statements, including: our ability to develop and obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates; the timing and results of preclinical studies and clinical trials; risks associated with clinical trials, including our ability to adequately manage clinical activities, unexpected concerns that may arise from additional data or analysis obtained during clinical trials, regulatory authorities may require additional information or further studies, or may fail to approve or may delay approval of our drug candidates; the occurrence of adverse safety events; the risk that positive results in a preclinical study or clinical trial may not be replicated in subsequent trials or success in early stage clinical trials may not be predictive of results in later stage clinical trials; failure to protect and enforce our intellectual property, and other proprietary rights; our dependence on collaborators and other third parties for the development and manufacture of product candidates and other aspects of our business, which are outside of our full control; risks associated with current and potential delays, work stoppages, or supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic; and the other risks and uncertainties that are described in the Risk Factors section in documents the company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and other reports as filed with the SEC. Passage Bio
undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
For further information, please contact: Passage Bio Investors:
Sarah McCabe and Zofia Mita
Stern Investor Relations, Inc.
212-362-1200
sarah.mccabe@sternir.com
Zofia.mita@sternir.com
Passage Bio Media:
Gwen Fisher
Passage Bio
215-407-1548
gfisher@passagebio.com
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