ROCHESTER, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RION, a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company with breakthrough platform technology leveraging platelet-derived exosomes, announces the appointment of Dr. Ballantyne as Chair of the company’s Scientific Advisory Board and Dr. Andrew D. Badley as Chair of the Rion Medical Advisory Board. The company, founded by internationally recognized regenerative medicine experts Drs. Atta Behfar and Andre Terzic, continues to emerge in the regenerative therapeutics utilizing its proprietary manufacturing process and shelf-stable regenerative exosomes for flagship programs in wound healing, cardiology, and orthopedic indications.
“We are honored to have Dr. Ballantyne and Dr. Badley as a part of the Rion team,” said Dr. Atta Behfar, Rion CEO and Co-Founder. “Their deep experience in biomanufacturing and clinical regenerative medicine, respectively, will be invaluable to RION as we continue building our team to establish world-class expertise in the exosome space, drive innovation, and further cement our ability to develop and release this novel regenerative technology to ultimately benefit patients.”
Scientific Advisory Board
The Scientific Advisory Board will be comprised of world-renowned experts in biomanufacturing and development and will support the company as it advances its proprietary exosome manufacturing expertise to deploy exosome manufacturing know-how for targeted drug, gene, and protein delivery.
John Ballantyne, Ph.D., was the Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of the biologics contract development and manufacturing company, Aldevron, from 1998 until his retirement in 2021, where he created the GMP-Source product line. In his role as CSO, he also led the Aldevron Research and Development team in creating new methods and products through internal programs, collaborations, and licensing of new technology. Dr. Ballantyne led collaborative research projects with military scientists in the development of vaccines and passive-based countermeasures to lethal and potentially weaponized viral threats. Later in his career, Dr. Ballantyne focused on creating new approaches to “n of 1” manufacturing challenges to expedite traditional processes, lower costs, and allow a new level of autonomy in personalized medicines production. Aldevron was acquired for $9.6 billion by Danaher in the Fall of 2021.
Dr. Ballantyne holds undergraduate degrees in Pharmacy from the Central Institute of Technology and the University of Otago in New Zealand. He completed his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences at North Dakota State University.
“Dr. Ballantyne, who has a proven track record of success in leading the development of new products and technologies in the biomanufacturing space, brings tremendous expertise in therapeutics development to the RION team,” said Dr. Atta Behfar, CEO and Co-Founder.
Medical Advisory Board
RION’s Medical Advisory Board will be a collection of practicing physicians that are subject matter experts and share the company’s vision of delivering cutting-edge advancements to address unmet needs in the industry and help improve the healthcare system.
Andrew D. Badley, M.D., is an infectious disease specialist, experienced physician-scientist, and entrepreneur whose research focuses on novel therapeutics development, especially in the small-molecule, biologic, cellular, and gene therapy space. Dr. Badley has spent almost 30 years at Mayo Clinic as a physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases and as a scientist running a lab devoted to virus-host interactions and understanding how the immune system fails to completely clear certain infections, such as HIV, and understanding how this knowledge informs new immuno-oncology approaches. He currently serves as Director of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Laboratory and is Chair of the Department of Molecular Medicine and the SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 Task Force.
In addition to being a frequent public speaker and an adviser to government agencies, he engages in active, hands-on partnering with other scientists and entrepreneurs. Dr. Badley received his B.S. and M.D. from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. Dr. Badley holds the HH Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Professorship of Infectious Diseases honoring Walter R. Wilson, M.D.
“Dr. Badley brings decades of experience as a clinician and in therapeutics development and leadership in key areas that will be valuable to the RION team as we continue to expand our operations,” said Dr. Atta Behfar, CEO and Co-Founder.
About RION:
RION is a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company focused on developing innovative exosome therapeutics that are clinically impactful, accessible, and practical for any patient, anywhere. RION has developed Purified Exosome Product (PEP), an innovative biologic platform that optimizes the therapeutic power of exosomes for regenerative medicine. RION was established in 2017 through the Mayo Clinic Employee Entrepreneurial Program and is headquartered in Rochester, Minnesota.
Rion’s regenerative platform technology is being studied for use in multiple clinical applications through various delivery mechanisms and delivery routes. Rion currently has three FDA regulated trials in non-healing surgical wounds, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI). Rion is preparing to establish a Phase I clinical trial in orthopedics as well as preclinical work in areas such as pulmonary.
For more information, visit www.riontx.com.
