CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Appoints Jason West Vice President, Head of Gene Therapy Research

BURLINGTON, Mass. & BEIJING–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CANbridge Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (1228.HK), a global biopharmaceutical company, with a foundation in China, committed to the research, development and commercialization of transformative therapies to treat rare diseases and oncology, announced that it has appointed Jason West, Ph.D., to the position of Vice President, Head of Gene Therapy Research, effective immediately.

Dr. West is a stem cell biology research leader with a depth of industry experience in gene therapy development, platform innovation and clinical candidate development. Most recently, he was at Fractyl Health, Inc., as Senior Director and, previously, Gene Therapy Research Director, were he led in-vivo gene therapy research programs, helped to establish a gene therapy technology platform and pipeline and identify novel AAV capsid delivery procedures. Before then, Dr. West was Senior Scientist and group leader in the Hematology/Advanced Editing Research Department at CRISPR Therapeutics AG, where he applied CRISPR technologies for DNA repair. At CRISPR, Dr. West also identified and established academic and industry partnerships and supported pre-clinical gene editing studies. Prior to CRISPR, Dr. West held research positions at Biogen Inc. and Amgen Inc.

Dr. West was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital and a Doctoral candidate at Children’s Hospital Boston. He has a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology from Harvard University, in Cambridge, MA and a Bachelor of Science from West Virginia University, in Morgantown, WV. Dr. West has been published in peer-reviewed publications 17 times and holds three patents.

“Dr. West joins us at a dynamic time for CANbridge, as we advance gene therapy programs in three indications, spinal muscular atrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Fabry disease, develop our gene therapy targeting platform and ramp up process development at our Next-Generation Innovation and Process Development Facility in Burlington, MA.,” said James Xue, Ph.D., founder, chairman and CEO of CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc. “His considerable gene therapy research experience, particularly in AAV and candidate development, will be a timely addition as we build integrated AAV R&D capabilities and a pipeline of genetic rare disease treatments that have the potential to be curative.”

About CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc.

CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc. (HKEX:1228) global biopharmaceutical company, with a foundation in China, committed to the research, development and commercialization of transformative therapies for rare disease and rare oncology. CANbridge has a differentiated drug portfolio, with three approved drugs and a pipeline of 10 assets, targeting prevalent rare disease and rare oncology indications that have unmet needs and significant market potential. These include Hunter syndrome and other lysosomal storage disorders, complement-mediated disorders, hemophilia A, metabolic disorders, rare cholestatic liver diseases and neuromuscular diseases, as well as glioblastoma multiforme. The CANbridge Next-Generation Innovation and Process Development Facility is developing novel, potentially curative, gene therapies for rare genetic diseases, including Pompe disease, Fabry disease, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and other neuromuscular conditions, and collaborates with world-leading researchers and biotech companies. Animal data from the SMA gene therapy was presented in 2022 at the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT), the European Society for Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT) and the World Muscle Congress. CANbridge global partners include: Apogenix, GC Pharma, Mirum, Wuxi Biologics, Privus, UMass Chan Medical School, the University of Washington School of Medicine and Scriptr Global.

For more on CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc., please go to: www.canbridgepharma.com.

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Contacts

U.S. Investor Relations:
Chris Brinzey

ICR Westwicke

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China Investor Relations
CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc.

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Media:
Deanne Eagle

Planet Communications

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