REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ashvattha Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotech company focused on novel hydroxyl dendrimer therapeutics (HDTs) targeting unmet medical needs in neurology, ophthalmology, and hyperinflammation, today announced key executive appointments in clinical operations and manufacturing. Steve Carlos joins the company as Vice President, Manufacturing and Bella Oguno as Vice President, Clinical Operations.
Steve Carlos has been appointed VP, Manufacturing. He has more than 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical and biological manufacturing in biologics, small molecule and medical devices. He was previously Senior Director of Manufacturing/CMC at Takeda Pharmaceuticals (formerly Maverick Pharmaceuticals), where he directed CMC and manufacturing activities for drug substance and drug product (biologic) on four drug development programs (conditionally activated bispecific recombinant proteins). Prior to Takeda, he was Director of Clinical Manufacturing at Novartis, where he was responsible for the manufacture of numerous Novartis and partner clinical programs (inhalation and oral), and supported multiple regulatory filings. He also held senior positions in CMC / Manufacturing at Portola Pharmaceuticals, MAP Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Allergan), Europharma and other life science organizations. He obtained his B.Sc in Microbiology, Biochemistry, Chemistry (Honors) from the University of Victoria, Canada.
Bella Oguno has been appointed VP, Clinical Operations. She has more than 17 years of experience in clinical operations, where she developed high-level operational strategies for multiple, global and complex clinical trials -- with a focus in oncology, CNS, cardio-renal and rare diseases. She was previously Executive Director of Clinical Operations at Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT), where she oversaw the execution of 20+ clinical studies with 100+ sites, across 14 countries, including North America, the European Union, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Prior to joining GBT, she was at Genentech’s gRED group and Amgen’s GDO group. She obtained her BA in Sociology, Health Care and Social Issues from UC San Diego, and her MPH from Benedictine University.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Steve and Bella to Ashvattha. We are building an exceptional management team to lead our efforts in development of hydroxyl dendrimer therapeutics (HDTs) to improve the lives of patients and create a new class of drugs,” said Jeffrey Cleland, Ph.D., Chairman, CEO & President at Ashvattha Therapeutics. “Steve’s deep expertise in manufacturing will allow us to achieve high quality products at scales necessary to meet the expected clinical and commercial demand. Bella’s ability to successfully manage multiple clinical programs and vendors ensures our ability to execute on our clinical trials to swiftly bring HDTs through development. We look forward to continuing to expand our team to bring these important new therapies to patients.”
About Ashvattha Therapeutics
Ashvattha Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, is developing novel therapeutics that target and alter specific cells in areas of diseased tissues. The Company’s targeted platform technology, hydroxyl dendrimers (HD), is exclusively licensed from Johns Hopkins University. HDs chemically conjugated to disease modifying drugs create novel proprietary HD therapeutics (HDTs). Ashvattha has initiated multiple programs with HDTs focused on neurology, ocular neovascular disease including neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME), and hyperinflammation in diseases such as COVID-19. For more information, visit: www.avttx.com.
