Silence Therapeutics, developer of novel RNA therapeutics for the treatment of serious diseases, announced that Ali Mortazavi is stepping down as CEO and as a Director of the company with immediate effect after having served the company for six years.
Dr Annalisa Jenkins, Chair of Silence Therapeutics, will assume the role of executive chair in an interim capacity to ensure a smooth transition until a new CEO is appointed.
Annalisa Jenkins, executive chair of the board of directors, said: “On behalf of the board I would like to thank Ali for his achievements and commitment to Silence in the past six years. Under his leadership Silence has built an experienced international executive team with significant RNAi expertise that has established a strong IP and technology platform in GalNAC-based siRNA."
Dr Jenkins, MBBS, FRCP, joined Silence as non-executive chair in October 2017. She is the CEO of Plaquetec and serves on a number of UK and International Life Science boards.
She has 25 years of international experience in building and leading teams that advanced programmes from scientific research through to clinical development, regulatory approval and into healthcare systems globally.
Previous roles include positions as Head of Global R&D for Merck Serono and Head of Global Medical Affairs for Bristol-Myers Squibb. She also has recent experience in the fields of gene therapy and rare diseases, having served as the CEO of Dimension Therapeutics, until its acquisition in 2017.
