AskBio Elects Dr. Laura Sepp-Lorenzino Independent Member of Board of Directors

Research Triangle Park, N.C., April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

• Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino brings to AskBio over 30 years of executive, academic, and Board experience
• Other Board positions include Taysha Gene Therapies, Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), and Thermo Fisher Scientific

/EIN News/ -- AskBio Inc. (AskBio), a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, announced today that its Board of Directors has elected Independent Director Laura Sepp-Lorenzino, PhD, to the Board, effective April 4, 2025.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino to our Board of Directors,” said Gustavo Pesquin, CEO, AskBio. “Laura’s extensive experience as a scientist and adviser will support AskBio’s efforts to stay at the cutting-edge of innovation. She brings to our Board broad expertise across modalities and therapeutic areas, including gene therapy and editing, from discovery through late-stage development. Her contributions will be invaluable as we move our clinical programs through and beyond Phase 2 and advance our next pre-clinical candidates.” 

Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino brings to AskBio’s Board over 30 years of executive and academic experience and leadership skills. She currently serves as Scientific Advisor, Executive Vice President, at Intellia Therapeutics, where she is helping develop and execute Intellia’s strategic vision and plan, positioning the company as the leader in systemic CRISPR medicines. She is also the company’s former Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to her work at Intellia, Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino served as Vice President, Research and External Innovation, Head Nucleic Acid Therapies, at Vertex Pharmaceuticals; Vice President, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals; and held roles of increasing responsibility at Merck & Co., Inc. In addition, she serves on the Boards of Taysha Gene Therapies and Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), as well as the Scientific Advisory Boards of Thermo Fisher Scientific; Arsenal Capital Partners; and UK Medical Research Council, Nucleic Acid Therapy Accelerator. Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino began her career as Assistant Attending Molecular Biologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute.

She received her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Pharmacy from the University of Buenos Aires and her PhD in Biochemistry from New York University. Her recent awards include 2023 Rosalind Franklin Award in Science, 2022 Women in Biopharma, and 2019 Fiercest Women in Life Sciences. Further, Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino currently sits on the editorial boards of the following scientific journals: Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids, and Cell & Gene Therapy Insights.

“Laura is a trail-blazing leader in the industry whose transformational impact on companies and their programs has been widely acknowledged,” said Mansuo Shannon, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Member of the Board of Directors, AskBio. “Her decades of innovative leadership in drug discovery and the development of small molecules, biologics, oligonucleotides, and CRISPR-based medicines have resulted in the successful translation of disruptive, enabling technologies into new therapeutic modalities with differentiated products. Her in-depth knowledge of what it takes to steer therapies from research to commercialization will uniquely position the Board to support AskBio through the next phase of its development. We welcome Laura and look forward to her contributions.”

“I am excited to join AskBio’s Board,” said Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino. “This is a special time for the company, which is known and respected for its long history of pioneering science and innovation, as it begins to move its clinical pipeline and pre-clinical candidates toward key milestones. I look forward to joining my fellow Directors and the management team in helping the company realize the full promise of what I believe can be life-changing gene therapies for patients living with some of the world’s most devastating diseases.”

About AskBio 

AskBio Inc., a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, is a fully integrated gene therapy company dedicated to developing life-saving medicines and changing lives. The company maintains a portfolio of clinical programs across a range of neuromuscular, central nervous system, cardiovascular, and metabolic disease indications with a clinical-stage pipeline that includes investigational therapeutics for congestive heart failure, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, multiple system atrophy, Parkinson’s disease, and Pompe disease. AskBio’s gene therapy platform includes Pro10™, an industry-leading proprietary cell line manufacturing process, and an extensive array of capsids and promoters. With global headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and European headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland, the company has generated hundreds of proprietary capsids and promoters, several of which have entered pre-clinical and clinical testing. An early innovator in the gene therapy field, with over 900 employees in five countries, the company holds more than 600 patents and patent applications in areas such as AAV production and chimeric capsids. Learn more at http://www.askbio.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Bayer 

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. In line with its mission, “Health for all, Hunger for none,” the company’s products and services are designed to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to driving sustainable development and generating a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2024, the Group employed around 93,000 people and had sales of 46.6 billion euros. R&D expenses amounted to 6.2 billion euros. For more information, go to http://www.bayer.com.

AskBio Forward-Looking Statements 

This press release contains “forward-looking statements.” Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “will,” “intends,” “potential,” “possible,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding AskBio’s clinical trials. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond AskBio’s control. Known risks include, among others: AskBio may not be able to execute on its business plans and goals, including meeting its expected or planned clinical and regulatory milestones and timelines, its reliance on third-parties, clinical development plans, manufacturing processes and plans, and bringing its product candidates to market, due to a variety of reasons, including possible limitations of company financial and other resources, manufacturing limitations that may not be anticipated or resolved in a timely manner, potential disagreements or other issues with our third-party collaborators and partners, and regulatory, court or agency feedback or decisions, such as feedback and decisions from the United States Food and Drug Administration or the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Any of the foregoing risks could materially and adversely affect AskBio’s business and results of operations. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. AskBio does not undertake any obligation to publicly update its forward-looking statements based on events or circumstances after the date hereof. 

Phil McNamara
                    AskBio Inc. (AskBio)
                    +1 (984) 5207211
                    pmcnamara@askbio.com