Gyroscope Therapeutics Announces Appointments of Industry Veterans in Gene Therapy, Ophthalmology and Biopharmaceuticals to Its Board of Directors
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gyroscope Therapeutics Limited, a clinical-stage retinal gene therapy company, today announced that Jennifer Cook, David Fellows and Renée Galá have been appointed to the Gyroscope Board of Directors, effective immediately.
“I am very pleased to welcome Jennifer, David, and Renée, three extremely accomplished executives with extensive biopharmaceutical backgrounds, to our board of directors,” said Khurem Farooq, Chief Executive Officer. “We look forward to their valuable contributions and unique perspectives as we continue our work to develop gene therapy beyond rare disease with the goal of delivering new medicines to people with retinal diseases.”
Ms. Cook was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of GRAIL, a healthcare company focused on the early detection of cancer. Prior to joining GRAIL, she held a number of leadership positions during her 25-year tenure with Roche/Genentech, including leading Roche Pharmaceuticals’ European commercial business, Global Clinical Operations, U.S. and Global Product Portfolio Management, the U.S. Immunology and Ophthalmology Business Unit and Market Development. She currently serves on the boards of directors of Denali Therapeutics, BridgeBio Pharma and Ambys Medicines. Ms. Cook holds a B.A. in human biology and an M.S. in biology from Stanford University, as well as an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
Mr. Fellows was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of Nightstar Therapeutics, a retinal gene therapy company acquired by Biogen in 2019. Prior to joining Nightstar, he was the Vice President of Johnson & Johnson’s Vision Care Franchise where he led the global marketing, new product and licensing activities. Before joining Johnson & Johnson, Mr. Fellows held leadership positions at Allergan, Inc., for 25 years where he served primarily in sales and marketing in a number of capacities, including Regional President, Corporate Vice President, and Senior Vice President across North America, Europe and Asia. He currently serves as the chairman of the board for Oxular Limited and is a board member of the Glaucoma Foundation. Mr. Fellows holds a B.A. in psychology from Butler University.
Ms. Galá currently serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, a global biopharmaceutical company. Prior to joining Jazz, she served as the Chief Financial Officer of GRAIL. Before joining GRAIL, Ms. Galá served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Theravance Biopharma, where she led the company’s spin-out transaction from Innoviva, Inc. Ms. Galá has also served in global treasury, pharmaceutical sales and corporate strategy/business development at Eli Lilly and Company. Prior to joining Eli Lilly, she spent seven years in the energy industry in positions focused on corporate finance, project finance and mergers and acquisitions. She currently serves on the board of directors of Gossamer Bio where she chairs its audit committee. Ms. Galá holds a B.S. in mathematics from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
About Gyroscope: Vision for Life
Gyroscope Therapeutics is a clinical-stage retinal gene therapy company developing gene therapy beyond rare disease to treat a leading cause of blindness, dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Our lead investigational gene therapy, GT005, is a one-time therapy delivered under the retina. GT005 is designed to restore balance to an overactive complement system by increasing production of the Complement Factor I protein. GT005 is currently being evaluated in a Phase I/II clinical trial called FOCUS and Phase II clinical trials called EXPLORE and HORIZON.
Syncona Ltd, our lead investor, helped us create a leading retinal gene therapy company combining discovery, research, drug development, a manufacturing platform and surgical delivery capabilities. Headquartered in London with locations in Philadelphia and San Francisco, our mission is to preserve sight and fight the devastating impact of blindness. For more information visit: www.gyroscopetx.com and follow us on Twitter (@GyroscopeTx) and on LinkedIn.