Sigilon Therapeutics Announces Leadership Transition and Appoints Rare Disease Pioneer Rogerio Vivaldi, M.D., as Chief Executive Officer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sigilon Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that discovers and develops immune-privileged living therapeutics, today announced that Rogerio Vivaldi, M.D., has joined the company as Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Vivaldi joins the Sigilon team from Bioverativ, a Sanofi company. Paul Wotton, Ph.D., who has stepped back from the role of CEO to manage a family health issue, will remain with the company in an advisory capacity and will continue to hold a seat on the company's board.

"We thank Paul for his leadership through Sigilon's first phase of growth, establishing a firm footing for the company's product platform, building a product pipeline, securing and developing a significant pharma partnership and attracting a top-notch leadership team," said Doug Cole, M.D., Managing Partner at Flagship Pioneering and Chairman of the Board at Sigilon. "We welcome Rogerio to lead Sigilon's next phase of growth. His deep therapeutic and commercial experience, expertise and viewpoint across various therapeutic modalities and drug development will be invaluable to building Sigilon to its full potential."

Founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2016, Sigilon has grown rapidly and marked promising milestones in the development of its Living Therapeutics product platform. Sigilon's platform represents an unprecedented opportunity to treat previously untreatable conditions with long-lasting cell therapies that can safely exist within the body. The company's Afibromer™ technology—which does not trigger fibrosis, the body's natural protective response to foreign objects—represents a new class of breakthrough implantable biomaterials. Engineered cells inside these Afibromer capsules secrete therapeutic cell proteins, providing patients safe and long-lasting treatment for chronic diseases.

"I've been privileged to work alongside a talented team as we designed the company for success. The company has achieved promising milestones in multiple therapeutic areas and is in a strong position for the future," said Dr. Wotton. "I am excited that Rogerio has joined Sigilon and look forward to seeing the company's growth under his leadership."

Under Dr. Vivaldi's leadership, Sigilon plans to move into the clinic and toward regulatory approval and commercialization of its multi-product pipeline. The company also plans to expand into new therapeutic disease areas, beyond its initial pipeline in diabetes, hemophilia and lysosomal storage disorders.

"Sigilon's platform represents exciting new opportunities for patients with hematologic, enzyme deficiency, endocrine and metabolic disorders—and this is just the beginning," said Dr. Vivaldi. "I look forward to advancing the company's vision, mission and promising pipeline to meaningfully impact the lives of people with chronic and serious disorders."

An industry veteran and a rare disease pioneer with more than 25 years of experience, Dr. Vivaldi joins Sigilon with significant clinical and business experience. Dr. Vivaldi is a trained physician who spent 18 years caring for patients, specializing in endocrinology. Most recently, Dr. Vivaldi was Executive Vice President, Chief Global Therapeutic Operations Officer at Bioverativ, which was acquired by Sanofi in 2018. He has also held leadership roles at Spark Therapeutics and Genzyme. Dr. Vivaldi also co-founded and served as CEO of Minerva Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company developing products for patients with neuropsychiatric diseases. He holds a medical degree from the Universidade do Rio de Janeiro Medical School. He completed a residency in endocrinology at Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro and a fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital Center in New York in the department of genetics. He also holds an MBA degree from COPPEAD, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.

To learn more about Sigilon and to read Dr. Vivaldi's full bio, please visit the company's website at www.sigilon.com

About Sigilon Therapeutics
Founded and created by Flagship Pioneering in conjunction with Daniel Anderson, Ph.D., and Robert Langer, Sc.D., of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sigilon Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers and develops immune-privileged living therapeutic implants for the treatment of chronic diseases. Treatments based on Sigilon Therapeutics' Afibromer™ technology platform include cell implants that act as responsive "living therapeutics," providing more natural control for diseases that are currently treated with intermittent injection or infusion. Initial areas of focus include hematologic, enzyme deficiency, endocrine and metabolic disorders. For more information please visit www.sigilon.com or follow on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Sigilon_Inc.

SOURCE Sigilon Therapeutics

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