— Company Expands Management Team and Bolsters Commercial
Capabilities to Support Continued Growth —
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dicerna™
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:DRNA) (the “Company” or “Dicerna”), a
leading developer of investigational ribonucleic acid interference
(RNAi) therapeutics, today announced the appointment of Rob Ciappenelli
as chief commercial officer of Dicerna and member of the Company’s
executive leadership team, effective immediately.
“Rob is a proven global business executive with deep and diverse
experience leading commercial operations in our industry,” said Douglas
M. Fambrough, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Dicerna.
“With his track record for building efficient organizations and
successfully launching multiple innovative products, Rob is ideally
suited to lead our commercial team as we advance our robust pipeline of
GalXC™-based therapies, including DCR-PHXC for the treatment of patients
with all forms of primary hyperoxaluria and DCR-HBVS for the treatment
of adult patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection. We look
forward to working closely with Rob as we pursue our goal of creating
next-generation RNAi therapies that reduce disease burden for all
patients.”
With more than 28 years of global experience across the pharmaceutical,
biotech and healthcare consulting industries, Mr. Ciappenelli brings to
Dicerna extensive experience in developing commercial organizations and
establishing lean operational infrastructure. Through leadership roles
with Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Shire Pharmaceuticals and Sunovion
Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Ciappenelli has worked to improve patient care
while driving business performance. His expertise spans rare disease,
neurological disorders and diseases of the respiratory and
gastrointestinal systems.
“I am drawn to Dicerna by its people, its pipeline of next-generation
RNAi therapies and the transformative potential of its GalXC technology
platform,” said Mr. Ciappenelli. “I am eager to work with the talented
team at Dicerna to build and implement the Company’s commercial strategy
and fulfill its mission of improving the lives of patients with serious,
life-threatening diseases.”
Mr. Ciappenelli joins Dicerna from Momenta Pharmaceuticals, where he was
global head of commercial. In that capacity, Mr. Ciappenelli managed a
portfolio of 13 programs ranging from early development to partnered
in-market products. Prior to Momenta, he held several leadership
positions at Shire Pharmaceuticals (now part of Takeda), across
commercial operations and business planning including global franchise
operations lead for Shire’s Fabry (Replagal®) and Gaucher
(Vpriv®) programs. Mr. Ciappenelli’s pharmaceutical
commercialization experience also includes various leadership positions
at Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, where he served as vice president of
commercial operations, executive director of commercial services and
sales training and executive director of central nervous system
marketing.
Mr. Ciappenelli earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) in
Finance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Master of
Business Administration (M.B.A.) from the Harvard Graduate School of
Business Administration.
About Dicerna™ Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Dicerna™ Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a biopharmaceutical company focused
on the discovery and development of innovative, subcutaneously delivered
RNAi-based therapeutics for the treatment of diseases involving the
liver, including rare diseases, chronic liver diseases, cardiovascular
diseases and viral infectious diseases. Dicerna is leveraging its
proprietary GalXC™ RNAi technology platform to build a broad pipeline in
these core therapeutic areas, focusing on target genes where connections
between target gene and diseases are well understood and documented.
Dicerna intends to discover, develop and commercialize novel
therapeutics either on its own or in collaboration with pharmaceutical
partners. Dicerna has strategic collaborations with Boehringer
Ingelheim, Eli Lilly and Company and Alexion Pharmaceuticals. For more
information, please visit www.dicerna.com.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements. Such
forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or
implied in such statements. Applicable risks and uncertainties include
risks relating to Dicerna’s clinical and preclinical research and other
risks identified under the heading “Risk Factors” included in the
Company’s most recent Form 10-Q filing and in other future filings with
the SEC. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release
reflect Dicerna’s current views with respect to future events, and
Dicerna does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to
update any forward-looking statements.
Dicerna™, GalXC™ and PHYOX™ are trademarks of Dicerna Pharmaceuticals,
Inc.
Contacts
Investors:
Stern Investor Relations, Inc.
Kendra Packard,
212-362-1200
Kendra.packard@sternir.com
Media:
SmithSolve
Alex Van Rees, 973-442-1555 ext. 111
alex.vanrees@smithsolve.com