Silence Therapeutics plc, a leader in the discovery and development of novel RNA therapeutics announces the appointment of Dr David Horn Solomon as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective immediately. David will head the Leadership Team and joins the Board of Directors.
David is an experienced public company biotech CEO, board member and biotech investor. He was the CEO of Zealand Pharma from 2008 to 2015. Under David’s leadership the company went public on NASDAQ OMX and its lead product, Adlixin, a GLP-1 receptor agonist for the treatment of type II diabetes, was approved in the US and globally and is now marketed by Sanofi as a monotherapy and in combination with Lantus as Soliqua. David was also the CEO of Bionor Pharma and Akari Therapeutics, and was the Managing Partner of Sund Capital, a Nordic healthcare investment fund.
Earlier in his career, he served as a faculty member at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. From 2003 to 2006, David headed healthcare investment at Carrot Capital Healthcare Ventures in New York. David is currently a member of the Board of Directors of TxCell, and was earlier a member of the Boards at Onxeo and Promosome. Dr Solomon studied at Weil Cornell Medicine of Cornell University and its Graduate School of Medical Science where he received his PhD David expects to receive full authorisation to work in the UK shortly.
Solomon commented on his appointment saying: “In this age of RNAi, Silence’s world class RNAi platform offers an exciting opportunity to build a competitive drug development company with global relevance. I am particularly impressed with the near-term opportunities including the lead programme in iron overload disorders which is progressing toward clinical trials. I am very pleased to join Silence at this critical juncture for both the sector and patients. I look forward to working with the highly accomplished Leadership Team and Board of Directors as we translate the excellent science into meaningful value for both patients and investors.”