AVROBIO Announces the Appointment of Essra Ridha, M.D., MRCP, FFPM, as Chief Medical Officer

AVROBIO, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVRO), a leading clinical-stage gene therapy company with a vision to free people from a lifetime of genetic disease, today announced the appointment of Essra Ridha, M.D., MRCP, FFPM, as chief medical officer. Dr. Ridha brings wide-ranging expertise in early- and late-stage clinical development of ex vivo lentiviral gene therapies. As vice president, clinical development at AVROBIO, she has guided the strategic and scientific development of several AVROBIO gene therapy programs.

“As we head into 2022, we’re expecting to initiate five new clinical trials, including potential registrational trials for our clinical programs in Fabry disease, Gaucher disease Type 3 and cystinosis. To ensure we move forward with the urgency needed to meet the needs of the patient community we aim to serve, we will require broad expertise designing clinical trials for gene therapies for rare diseases, working with global regulatory agencies, as well as strong, streamlined execution, all areas where Essra offers deep, relevant experience,” said Geoff MacKay, president and chief executive officer of AVROBIO. “Considering her extensive track record at leading gene therapy and pharmaceutical companies, as well as her in-depth knowledge of AVROBIO’s strategy, capabilities and culture, we believe Essra will play an essential role in helping us advance multiple therapies through approval.”

Dr. Ridha is a global medical leader with extensive experience in clinical research and development, translational medicine and clinical medicine with specialist training in cardiology and internal medicine.

“I have been fortunate enough to work on multiple cell and gene therapy programs and believe strongly that ex vivo lentiviral gene therapy has massive potential for the treatment of lysosomal disorders,” adds Dr. Ridha. “I am therefore thrilled to lead the clinical development of such a strong lysosomal disorders pipeline, especially at this time as the early safety and durability data from several clinical trials, some of which incorporate the company’s innovative plato platform, begin to emerge.”

Dr. Ridha’s experience includes strategically and scientifically advancing the ex vivo lentiviral gene therapy now licensed for the treatment of metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) and the first CAR-T regulatory cell therapy to enter the clinic for the induction of immunological tolerance in solid organ transplantation. She has worked in leadership positions within AVROBIO as well as Sangamo Therapeutics and GlaxoSmithKline, on highly innovative cell and gene therapy programs in rare neurological, metabolic (including lysosomal disorders) and immunological diseases. Previously, Dr. Ridha worked as a medical expert at Bristol Myers Squibb advising on late-stage clinical development, medical affairs, real-world evidence and HEOR in cardiovascular medicine.