Aura Biosciences Strengthens and Expands Leadership Team with Key Appointments

Aura Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: AURA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a novel class of virus-like drug conjugate (VDC) therapies for multiple oncology indications, today announced the appointments of Jill Hopkins, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer, President of Research & Development, and Mark Plavsic, Ph.D., as Chief Technology Officer. The Company also announced that Cadmus Rich, M.D., will step down as Chief Medical Officer and assume a new role with the Company as Senior Clinical Advisor.

“Jill and Mark’s appointments come at an important time in Aura’s evolution as a late stage clinical development company,” said Elisabet de los Pinos, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Aura. “We have built our leadership team with experienced industry leaders who have proven track records of success with multiple drug approvals. With bel-sar commencing in a global Phase 3 trial the organization is now positioned for its next phase of growth, with the goal of bringing the first vision-preserving targeted therapy for patients with early-stage choroidal melanoma to market.”

Dr. de los Pinos added, “Cadmus has been a valued member of our senior leadership team for the past five years, and on behalf of the Board of Directors and our team, I want to thank him for his many contributions. We are fortunate that he will remain with Aura in an advisory capacity as his expertise will be instrumental to the organization as we advance our pipeline to meaningful clinical milestones. We wish him well as he moves on to his next opportunity.”

Dr. Hopkins brings over 30 years of cross-sector experience in ophthalmology, spanning clinical care, academia, education, industry, advocacy and innovation. Prior to joining Aura, Dr. Hopkins served as Senior Vice President, Global Head of Ophthalmology and Exploratory Development at Novartis, and Chief Executive Officer of Gyroscope Therapeutics, a Novartis company, where she was responsible for the global ophthalmic pipeline and portfolio of medicines, gene therapy, devices and digital solutions to impact eye disease and reduce visual impairment globally. Previously, Dr. Hopkins spent over a decade at Roche-Genentech in roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as Global Head Ophthalmology Personalized Health Care. Before Roche-Genentech, she spent over 20 years in clinical retinal research and academic practice at the University of Toronto, University of Southern California, and Retina-Vitreous Associates Medical Group. Dr. Hopkins received her M.D. from McMaster University, and completed her Ophthalmology residency at the University of Toronto. She has completed fellowships in Retinal Disease from Moorfields Eye Hospital in London UK and in Visual Electrophysiology from the Universities of Toronto and Ottawa. Dr. Hopkins is board certified in Ophthalmology from the American Board of Ophthalmology and the Royal College of Surgeons Canada.