AAVantgarde appoints Ms. Lauren Kaskiel as Chief Business Officer

October 21, 2024 — AAVantgarde Bio (AAVantgarde), a clinical-stage, Italian-based international biotechnology company with two proprietary Adeno-Associated Viral (AAV) vector platforms for large gene delivery, today announced the appointment of Lauren Kaskiel, MBA, as their Chief Business Officer. Ms. Kaskiel brings more than 20 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry and has joined the Company’s leadership team, reporting to Dr. Natalia Misciattelli, Chief Executive Officer.

“Lauren brings extensive experience in business development in both biotech and big pharma settings and her experience delivering value through establishing beneficial collaborations will significantly strengthen our business development capabilities at this crucial time for AAVantgarde, said Dr. Natalia Misciattelli, Chief Executive Officer of AAVantgarde. “Lauren’s scientific knowledge and program management experience will also help the efficient advancement of our pipeline, and I am thrilled to welcome her into our team.”

“I am excited to join AAVantgarde and help the company continue to make progress by defining their business development strategy and their pipeline expansion plans. I am confident that AAVantgarde’s innovative platforms will enable the development of therapies that have the potential help underserved patients with diseases that currently have no treatment options available,” Ms. Lauren Kaskiel, Chief Business Officer of AAVantgarde.

Prior to joining AAVantgarde, Ms. Kaskiel was Chief Business Officer at Code Biotherapeutics, a Philadelphia based company leveraging a proprietary, synthetic delivery platform (3DNA) to develop genetic medicines. At Code, Lauren oversaw business and corporate development, alliance management, investor relations and intellectual property functions and was responsible for Code Bio’s strategic licenses and collaborations, including therapeutic and technical opportunity evaluation for both internal and external pipeline expansion.

Prior to Code, Lauren served as Head of Program and Alliance Management at Spark Therapeutics and Chief of Staff to the CEO and Executive Team. Lauren served as the liaison with the Roche Group to support engagement and interactions during the acquisition of Spark in December of 2019. During her time at Spark, Lauren established and managed key strategic relationships on gene therapy programs with Pfizer and Novartis and also held roles in New Product Planning and Program Management. Previously, Lauren was at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in research, operations, strategy, and alliance management roles. As part of GSK’s Worldwide Business Development team, Lauren managed over 20 alliances with biotech, diagnostic and venture partners.

Lauren holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biotechnology with a Minor in Microbiology from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA with a Concentration in Marketing from Drexel University.

About AAVantgarde Bio

AAVantgarde Bio is a clinical stage, international biotechnology company that has developed two proprietary Adeno-Associated Viral (AAV) vector platforms to address the gene therapy cargo capacity limitations of AAV vectors. The AAVantgarde platforms could be used to deliver large genes to ocular and non-ocular tissues. AAVantgarde is initially validating its platforms in two inherited retinal diseases with clear unmet need, with its lead program in Usher syndrome type 1B already in the clinic. For more information, please visit: www.aavantgarde.com.

Contact:

Dr. Magda Blanco – Head of Corporate Development, AAVantgarde
Email: info@aavantgarde.com