Alcyone Therapeutics Strengthens Executive Team with New Senior Leadership Appointments

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Oct 25, 2021, 07:00 ET

LOWELL, Mass., Oct. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcyone Therapeutics ("Alcyone"), a biotechnology company developing precision therapies for neurological disorders with high unmet medical needs, today announced four key appointments to its executive leadership team, bringing significant expertise in neuroscience and genetic medicines development. Alcyone Therapeutics appointed Ottavio Vitolo, M.D., M.M.Sc., Chief Medical Officer and Global Head of R&D; Ravi Mehrotra, Ph.D., Chief Financial Officer and Head of Strategy; Susan D'Costa, Ph.D., Executive Vice President & Global Head of Technology; and Rachel Salzman, D.V.M., Executive Vice President of Portfolio, External Affairs & Development.

"I am thrilled to welcome Ottavio, Ravi, Susan and Rachel to Alcyone's executive management team. They are all accomplished leaders who bring diverse and vast expertise in the development of novel treatments for neurological disorders, in particular precision genetic therapies. They also all share the mission to build Alcyone into a premier organization that will bring transformative medicines to patients in need of better treatment options," said PJ Anand, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Alcyone Therapeutics. "They will be integral to building our future as a leader in the development of central nervous system (CNS) therapies through a uniquely integrated, multi-disciplinary approach, as we leverage our Falcon^TM precision dosing technology and our multiple genetic therapy platforms."

Ottavio Vitolo, M.D., M.M.Sc., Chief Medical Officer and Global Head of R&D, is a neuropsychiatrist and an experienced industry executive in CNS drug development. His experience ranges from small molecules to biologics and gene therapy across rare and common neurological and psychiatric conditions. He was previously Chief Medical Officer and Head of R&D at Relmada Therapeutics and worked at Homology Medicines, Pfizer and Shire (Takeda). He is the co-founder of Vitam Therapeutics, a startup focused on small molecules for neuropsychiatric disorders. Dr. Vitolo holds an M.M.Sc. in translational medicine from Harvard University Medical School and an M.D. from University of Rome La Sapienza.
Ravi Mehrotra, Ph.D., Chief Financial Officer and Head of Strategy, brings over two decades of leadership in biotechnology equity research and investment banking, as well as executive team operational experience. Dr. Mehrotra has held multiple leadership positions at banks, including at Evercore ISI, MTS Health Partners, Credit Suisse and Cowen. Dr. Mehrotra earned a B.S (Honors) and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from The Wellcome Trust Center, Manchester University, UK.
Susan D'Costa, Ph.D., Executive Vice President & Global Head of Technology, is a molecular virologist and has significant expertise in viral vector analytics process development and manufacturing. Prior to Alcyone, Dr. D'Costa held various leadership positions at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Viral Vector Services and its predecessor companies. She earned a Ph.D. in biology, specializing in molecular virology from Texas Tech University, an M.S. in biochemistry and a B.S. in microbiology/biochemistry from Mumbai University.
Rachel Salzman, D.V.M., Executive Vice President of Portfolio, External Affairs & Development, was previously Founder, Chief Executive Officer and President at SwanBio Therapeutics, a gene therapy company, where she led fundraising, developed the company's initial operational structure and oversaw its R&D footprint. She also served as Chief Science Officer at The Stop ALD Foundation, where she made critical contributions in driving forward the world's first ex-vivo lentiviral gene therapy clinical trial conducted in non-HIV infected patients. Dr. Salzman has been an active leader for over 20 years in the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy. Dr. Salzman earned her D.V.M. from Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine and B.S. in animal science from Rutgers University.

About Alcyone Therapeutics
Alcyone Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing precision therapies for neurological disorders with high unmet medical needs. The company integrates innovation in neuroscience, precision dosing platforms and in-house manufacturing capabilities to deliver transformative therapies to patients. Alcyone leverages the synergy between Falcon^TM, the company's proprietary intrathecal precising dosing platform that incorporates deep knowledge of CSF fluid dynamics, computational modeling and bioengineering, and multiple novel genetic therapy platforms developed at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital (AWRI). This comprehensive approach allows for the optimization of central nervous system (CNS) dosing and delivery to better target the pathophysiology and anatomy specific to various neurological disease areas. Alcyone's lead programs target the treatment of Rett syndrome and IGHMBP2-Related Diseases (IRD). For more information, visit https://alcyonetx.com/, and follow Alcyone on LinkedIn and Twitter.

SOURCE Alcyone Therapeutics