“We are excited to welcome Dr. Rita Balice-Gordon with her expertise in developing therapies for neurological diseases to Verge’s advisory board” – Alice Zhang, Co-founder and CEO of Verge Genomics
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (PRWEB)
June 24, 2020
Verge Genomics, a drug discovery company developing therapies for neurological diseases by integrating a unique all-in-human genomic platform with machine learning, announced today the appointment of Rita Balice-Gordon, Ph.D., former global head of rare and neurological diseases research at Sanofi, Inc. and former Vice President in Pfizer’s Neuroscience and Pain Research Unit, to its scientific advisory board.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Rita Balice-Gordon with her expertise in developing therapies for neurological diseases to Verge’s advisory board” said Alice Zhang, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Verge Genomics. “Rita’s experience leading global drug development teams at Pfizer and Sanofi, combined with her scientific research in mechanisms underlying neuromuscular development and disease as a professor of neuroscience at University of Pennsylvania will be invaluable as we advance our highly promising drug candidates for ALS and Parkinson’s disease toward the clinic.”
About Rita Balice-Gordon, Ph.D:
Dr. Balice-Gordon is currently the Chief Scientific Officer of a newly formed, to be announced biotech company focused on disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative diseases and neuroinflammation. Prior to taking on this role, she was the Global Head, Rare and Neurologic Diseases Research Therapeutic Area at Sanofi, Inc. where she led groups of scientists based in Boston and Paris working on a portfolio of pre-clinical and early development stage projects using small molecules, antibodies and gene therapy as modalities for innovative and transformative therapeutics for patients with rare genetic disorders and other neurodegenerative diseases. Before joining Sanofi, she was Vice-President and Head of Circuits, Neurotransmitters and Signaling in Pfizer’s Neuroscience and Pain Research Unit. Dr. Balice-Gordon has consulted on and partnered with business development colleagues to spin out several assets into new companies.
Prior to her career in biopharma, Dr. Balice-Gordon was Professor of Neuroscience and Chair of the Neuroscience Graduate Group in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where she currently holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor. She has authored more than 100 scientific papers, has chaired or served on many NIH national and international committees, study sections, editorial boards as well as research organization and biotech scientific advisory boards. Dr. Balice-Gordon is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
About Verge Genomics
Verge is focused on developing therapeutics for neurological diseases using human genomics to accelerate drug discovery. Verge has created a proprietary all-in-human platform, generating one of the field’s largest and most comprehensive databases of ALS and Parkinson’s Disease patient genomic data. The Company is led by experienced computational biologists and drug developers who are successfully advancing therapeutic programs in ALS and Parkinson’s disease toward the clinic. For additional information, please visit http://www.vergegenomics.com.
Contacts
for Verge Genomics
Shannon Stone, PhD
415-854-5500
shannon@vergegenomics.com
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