Governance at a Glance
Board Members | Audit | Compensation | Nominating and Corporate Governance |
---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
Committee Charters
Michael Amoroso
Prior to joining Abeona, Mr. Amoroso held various senior level commercial positions at leading biopharmaceutical companies, including Kite, Eisai Inc., Celgene Corporation (now a subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company), and Sanofi. At Kite, he was responsible for the company’s worldwide commercial organization leading the commercialization efforts for the autologous CAR T-cell therapy, YESCARTA®, and the future cell therapy pipeline. Before Kite, Mr. Amoroso was Senior Vice President, Americas for Eisai’s Commercial Oncology Business Group, where he was accountable for teams charged with creating and driving commercial strategy and implementation for the company’s approved products and earlier-stage assets. Previously, Mr. Amoroso worked at Celgene for six years in several commercial roles before serving as the organization’s Commercial Lead for CAR T-cell therapy programs. In this capacity, he helped Celgene develop an organizational model to commercialize cell therapies including specialized manufacturing and customer services for patients with lymphoma and myeloma. Before joining Celgene, Mr. Amoroso held various marketing and sales leadership positions over his 10-plus year tenure at Sanofi. Mr. Amoroso earned his M.B.A. in Management from the Stern School of Business, New York University, and his B.A. in Biological Sciences, summa cum laude, from Rider University.
Leila Alland, M.D.
Dr. Alland, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist and accomplished physician-scientist, has been working in the biopharmaceutical industry since 2001 to bring novel therapies to patients. Dr. Alland is currently Chief Medical Officer of PMV Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a precision oncology company pioneering the discovery and development of small molecule, tumor-agnostic therapies targeting p53 mutants. Previously, Dr. Alland served as Chief Medical Officer at Affimed, and prior to that she held the same position at Tarveda Therapeutics. Dr. Alland also held leadership positions at AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, and Schering-Plough, where she worked on a broad range of oncology products from early to late-stage development and contributed to multiple successful drug approvals.
Dr. Alland obtained her medical degree from New York University School of Medicine, and her B.A. in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her residency in Pediatrics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and her fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at The New York Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Earlier in her career, Dr. Alland served as Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she was awarded the James S. McDonnell Foundation Scholar Award and pursued basic cancer research while also caring for children with cancer and blood disorders. Since 2020, Dr. Alland has served on the Board of Directors of Cytovia Therapeutics, Inc., an immuno-oncology company developing engineered cellular and antibody therapies to treat cancer. Dr. Alland is a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of Columbia University's Center for Radiological Research and serves as a scientific reviewer for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
Mark Alvino
Mr. Alvino has provided leadership and experience in the areas of financial management and business strategy as a member of the Board of Directors of multiple life sciences companies, including PainQx, a company with a patented method for objective, quantitative assessment of chronic pain, and previously serving on Abeona’s Board of Directors. He has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries through a range of disciplines including healthcare investment banking, communications, business consulting, market research and health and medical marketing communications. In his role at Hudson Square Capital, Mr. Alvino provides strategic advisory to emerging growth and turnaround biotechnology and medical technology companies. Mr. Alvino is also Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bridge Back Foundation, focused on addressing the broad underlying issues behind the deadly opioid crisis in America. Previously, he led the Life Sciences team at broker dealer Bradley Woods & Co. Ltd. and served as Managing Director at Griffin Securities and at SCO Financial Group, LLC. Earlier in his career, he spent several years working with Wall Street brokerages including Ladenburg, Thalmann & Co. and Martin Simpson & Co. Mr. Alvino received a B.B.A in Economics and Public Policy from the George Washington University.
Faith L. Charles
Ms. Charles is a corporate transactions and securities partner at Thompson Hine with 30 years of legal experience. She leads Thompson Hine’s Life Sciences practice, advising public and emerging biotech and pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. and internationally. Ms. Charles negotiates complex private and public financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, licensing transactions and strategic collaborations. She serves as outside counsel to a myriad of life sciences companies and is known in the industry as an astute business advisor, providing valuable insights into capital markets, corporate governance and strategic development.
Ms. Charles serves on the Board of Directors of Entera Bio (Nasdaq:ENTX) as a member of the Audit Committee and Chair of the Compensation Committee. She also serves on the Board of Directors of several private life science companies. Ms. Charles founded the Women in Bio Metro New York chapter and chaired the chapter for five years. She currently serves on the national board of Women in Bio. Ms. Charles is also a member of the board of Gilda's Club New York City. She has been recognized as a Life Sciences Star by Euromoney’s LMG Life Sciences, has been named a BTI Client Service All-Star, and was named by Crain’s New York Business to the list of 2020 Notable Women in the Law. Ms. Charles holds a J.D degree from The George Washington University Law School and a B.A. in Psychology from Barnard College, Columbia University. Ms. Charles is a graduate of Women in Bio's Boardroom Ready Program, an Executive Education Program taught by The George Washington University School of Business.
Eric Crombez, MD
Dr. Crombez joined Ultragenyx following the acquisition of Dimension Therapeutics in November 2017. As Chief Medical Officer of Ultragenyx, Dr. Crombez is responsible for strategic leadership of the clinical development and translational research programs, and oversees global development functions including Clinical Development, Clinical Operations, BioMetrics, Endpoint Development and Strategy, Regulatory Affairs and Drug Safety/Pharmacovigilance. At Dimension Therapeutics, Dr. Crombez served as Chief Medical Officer and led the clinical development efforts for their gene therapy programs. Dr. Crombez is also an appointed industry representative on the FDA Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. Before joining industry, he was assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Crombez is a board-certified clinical geneticist and completed residencies in pediatrics and medical genetics and a fellowship in clinical biochemical genetics at the UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Crombez obtained his B.S. degree in biology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his M.D. degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit.
Vishwas Seshadri, Ph.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Vishwas (Vish) Seshadri, Ph.D., M.B.A., joined Abeona as Head of Research & Clinical Development in June 2021 and was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, and member of the Company’s Board of Directors, in October 2021. Dr. Seshadri has more than 20 years of experience including academia and various senior and executive leadership roles in the life sciences industry overseeing product development, regulatory submissions, and commercialization for novel therapies including personalized, autologous cell and gene therapies. Prior to joining Abeona, Dr. Seshadri served in roles of increasing responsibility at Celgene Corporation, now a subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS), where he focused on development and commercialization of novel therapies in hematology and oncology. Most recently, he led the team responsible for the launch of Breyanzi® (lisocabtagene maraleucel; liso-cel), an autologous CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma. Previously, he was Head of Early-Stage Upstream Process Development for Biologics at Dr. Reddy's Laboratories. Dr. Seshadri completed his Ph.D. in Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Biology and his post-doc in epigenetics at University of Arizona, and earned his M.B.A. in Finance and Healthcare from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Christine Silverstein
Christine Silverstein brings over 15 years of experience in corporate finance and capital markets strategy. Christine serves as Chief Financial Officer at Excision Biotherapeutics, a CRISPR gene-editing company for viral infectious dieseases. Prior to her current role, she was the Chief Financial Officer of Emendo Biotherapeutics, a gene editing company (acquired by Anges Inc, a gene-based medicines company in December 2020). Silverstein formerly served as Chief Financial Officer and Principal Financial Offer for Abeona. She has held various executive roles within the biotechnology industry including Head of Investor Relations at Relmada Therapeutics, Inc., Vice President of Corporate Development at PlasmaTech Biopharmaceuticals, and Managing Director at SCO Financial Group, a life sciences fund. Earlier in her career, she held senior positions at leading New York corporate and capital market advisory firms. Silverstein began her career in financial services as an investment advisor at Royal Alliance Associates. A member of the National Investor Relations Institute, Ms. Silverstein holds a B.S. from the Peter Tobin College of Business at St. John's University and has earned various accreditations from the Financial Industry Regulatory Agency.
Donald Wuchterl
Mr. Wuchterl brings over 29 years of experience in the life sciences industry, with senior roles in operations and Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC). He has significant experience building and leading current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) manufacturing organizations and facilities. Mr. Wuchterl currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Manufacturing Officer at T-knife Therapeutics, a next-generation T-cell receptor company developing innovative therapeutics for the benefit of solid tumor patients and their families. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President, Technical Operations & Quality at Audentes Therapeutics (an Astellas Company), a gene therapy company focused on developing and commercializing innovative products for patients living with serious, life-threatening rare neuromuscular diseases. Prior to Audentes, Mr. Wuchterl served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Cytovance Biologics, and held positions of increasing responsibility with Dendreon, Shire HGT, Amgen, Biogen Idec and Roche. Mr. Wuchterl has a B.S. in Business Administration from Colorado Technical University and an M.B.A. from Fitchburg State University.
Bernhardt G. Zeiher, MD, FCCP, FACP
Dr. Zeiher spent more than 10 years at Astellas Pharma, holding multiple roles of increasing responsibility in drug development, leading up to his role as CMO, where he led early- and late-stage drug development, medical and regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, and quality assurance. Prior to Astellas, Dr. Zeiher held various roles leading drug development at other pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer and Eli Lilly and Company. He also practiced medicine at a tertiary medical center in Indianapolis. Dr. Zeiher currently serves on multiple public company boards, including Entrada Therapeutics and Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He previously served on the boards of TransCelerate Biopharma, Biotechnology Innovation Organization and Astellas Global Health Foundation. Dr. Zeiher received a B.S. in biology from the University of Toledo and an MD from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He completed his internal medicine residency and chief residency at University Hospitals of Cleveland and then finished his physician training as a Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellow at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.