FARMINGTON, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Azitra, Inc., a clinical-stage medical dermatology company addressing adverse skin conditions by harnessing the microbiome, today announced the appointment of Jeanne M. Bertonis as Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Bertonis joins Azitra from Visgo Therapeutics, Inc., a company focused on localized, sustained-release drug delivery, where she was Chief Executive Officer and a co-founder.
“Jeanne Bertonis has an impressive track recording of building and leading cross-functional development teams at clinical stage pharmaceutical and medical device companies,” said Richard Andrews, President and CEO of Azitra. “She joins Azitra at a critical time and will play an important role in building our clinical operations team as we gear up for multiple clinical trials in 2020. We are very pleased to welcome Jeanne to the Azitra team.”
“Azitra is uniquely positioned among microbiome companies with multiple near-term product opportunities in medical dermatology and an unique ability to harness the body’s commensal skin bacteria to promote skin immunity, repair and antimicrobial defense,” said Ms. Bertonis. “I look forward to working with the Azitra team to realize the potential of this technology and to build a successful commercial organization.”
Ms. Bertonis has served multiple public and private healthcare companies and venture capital firms in the United States and Canada in management and strategic business consulting roles. In addition to Visgo Therapeutics, she served as President and CEO of Biosyntech, Inc., a medical device company in the field of regenerative medicine and tissue repair, and was President and COO of Clera, Inc., a privately held neurology company. Prior to that, Ms. Bertonis was Chief Business Officer and Vice President of Corporate Development at Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and before that, Senior Director, Corporate Development at Genzyme Corporation. Her earlier career also included business and scientific positions at such companies as Guidant Corporation, Eli Lilly & Company, Biogen, Inc., and Repligen Corporation. Ms. Bertonis has also held Board of Directors positions at companies including Visgo Therapeutics, BioSyntech, Inc., Omnisonics Medical Technologies, Twinstrand Therapeutics, Inc., and NeuColl, Inc., and was on the board of BIOTECanada, Canada’s national biotechnology trade organization. She holds a Master of Management degree from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and a Master of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts.
About Azitra
Azitra, Inc. is a clinical-stage medical dermatology company that combines the power of the microbiome with cutting-edge genetic engineering to treat skin disease. The company was founded in 2014 by scientists from Yale University and works with world-leading scientists in dermatology, microbiology, and genetic engineering to advance its pharmaceutical programs to treat cancer therapy-associated skin rashes, targeted orphan indications, and atopic dermatitis. For more information visit http://www.azitra.com.
