Etherna, a mRNA technology specialist, has appointed Antonin (Tony) de Fougerolles as its lead Chairperson.
Tony has served as an Independent Board Member since January 2023, and will replace Marijn Dekkers, who will remain on the Board.
Tony will also take an active consultancy role for the company.
De Fougerolles’ experience in mRNA therapeutics and LNPs spans nearly 25 years, and he has been involved in building out drug pipelines, advancing drug modalities to market and helping to build companies from the startup stage.
As the founding Chief Scientific Officer at Moderna, he pioneered modified mRNA as a novel therapeutic and vaccine drug modality, as well as the mRNA delivery systems that form the basis of the approved COVID-19 vaccines.
Prior to that, he helped to develop RNA interference as a new drug modality at Alnylam, overseeing development of the first approved LNP-based RNAi delivery system.
Most recently, Tony was the CEO of Evox Therapeutics he built out an exosome-focused biotech, raised over $140m in equity financing, and entered into pharma partnerships with combined upfronts > $60m and total deal value >$2bn. Tony obtained his PhD in Immunology from Harvard University.
Bernard Sagaert, etherna CEO said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be able to work more closely with Tony. His vast experience, connections and strategic vision in the field will further accelerate the development and success of the Company. I also want to thank Marijn for the close collaboration over the last 8 months, which has been inspirational.”
