PepGen Appoints Vice President of Program Management and Promotes Sonia Bracegirdle, Ph.D., to Senior Vice President, Strategy & Operations
- Dr. Bracegirdle to lead expanded PepGen Strategy and Operations team
- Isami J. Salcedo, experienced biotechnology operations and program management professional, joins as Vice President of Program Management
BOSTON, Dec. 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PepGen, Inc., a company advancing Enhanced Delivery Oligonucleotide (EDO) therapies for neuromuscular and neurologic diseases, today announced the appointment of Isami J. Salcedo to Vice President of Program Management and the promotion of Dr. Sonia Bracegirdle to the position of Senior Vice President, Strategy & Operations. These new appointments, which follow other key executive appointments announced earlier in 2021, will coordinate the application of PepGen’s technology to a broader spectrum of neuromuscular and neurologic diseases.
“It is my pleasure to announce the promotion of Sonia Bracegirdle to the position of Senior Vice President, Strategy & Operations. Sonia has been a leader of PepGen since 2018, contributing across the organization in many areas including strategy, IP and licensing efforts, and most recently shepherding our successful $112M Series B financing. As PepGen grows and advances its programs in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and beyond, Sonia will lead the team that will support and coordinate these efforts across the company,” said James McArthur, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of PepGen. “I am also pleased to say that we have appointed Isami Salcedo as Vice President of Program Management. Isami’s deep experience leading program planning at multiple biotechnology companies will help support our goal of delivering transformative therapies for people living with neuromuscular diseases.”
Ms. Salcedo is an experienced operations and program management professional with a demonstrated successful history of leading initiatives and teams in the biotechnology industry. She has held positions at Proteostasis Therapeutics, a company focused on providing new treatment options for people with cystic fibrosis (now part of Yumanity Therapeutics), and Merck. She has also been a consultant for a number of different start-ups. As part of those roles she has led teams of program managers and managed rare disease programs through preclinical, Phase 1, Phase 2, and preparation for Phase 3 studies. In total, she has over 12 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Ms. Salcedo earned a Master of Science in Project Management from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Iberoamerican University in the Dominican Republic.
Ms. Salcedo added, “I am excited to join the PepGen team and to be given the opportunity to help advance PepGen’s therapeutic candidates to the clinic. The whole team is hard-working and dedicated, and I am proud to support our mission to progress potentially life-changing therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy and other diseases.”
Born in New Zealand, Dr. Bracegirdle moved to the United Kingdom to undertake her undergraduate studies in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. She then completed a DPhil (Ph.D.) in Organic Chemistry at the University of Oxford. Subsequently, she worked for McKinsey & Company and the Boston Consulting Group in Melbourne and London, respectively, where she was primarily engaged in projects within the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. She also worked at Syncona, a biotech venture capital firm, before joining PepGen upon spinout in 2018. Since then, she has been deeply involved in strategy and business operations at PepGen, and in her new role will support the CEO in strategy development and execution.
Dr. Bracegirdle commented, “It’s been an honor to play a role in the growth and development of PepGen, and I’m thrilled to be taking on this critical new role to help lead PepGen’s corporate strategy. Since our formation in 2018 we’ve built an exceptional foundation of preclinical data that has established us as a leader in next-generation oligonucleotide therapeutics, and I look forward to continuing to help PepGen achieve our ultimate goal of making a difference in the lives of people and families with rare neuromuscular and neurologic diseases.”
About PepGen
PepGen, Inc. is a biotechnology company advancing next-generation oligonucleotide therapies for neuromuscular and neurologic diseases. PepGen’s proprietary Enhanced Delivery Oligonucleotides (EDOs) are designed to target the underlying causes of rare diseases safely and effectively such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). In preclinical studies, PepGen’s enhanced delivery peptides demonstrated success in cell penetration and delivery of therapeutic candidates to multiple tissue types, including cardiac tissue. PepGen was founded by leading neurology researchers in Oxford, UK and is backed by a strong syndicate of investors including RA Capital Management, Oxford Science Enterprises, and others. The company is headquartered in Boston, Mass. For more information, visit www.pepgen.com or follow PepGen on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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