WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Affinia Therapeutics, an innovative gene therapy company with a proprietary platform for rationally-designed adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapies for rare and prevalent devastating diseases, today announced the appointment of Thomas (Tommy) Leggett as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
"We are delighted to welcome Tommy to our executive team," said Rick Modi, chief executive officer of Affinia Therapeutics. "With roots in the biotech and investment banking industries, Tommy’s expertise in raising capital, managing financial operations, and leading successful financial strategies complements our current management team’s capabilities as we pursue our purpose of developing rationally-designed gene therapies that make a lasting, positive impact on the lives of those affected by rare and prevalent diseases.”
“I am humbled to join Affinia Therapeutics during this pivotal time as the company advances its programs toward clinical studies. I am encouraged by the promise and strength of Affinia’s ART platform to drive development of differentiated therapies using its proprietary capsids, promoters, and manufacturing approaches,” said Mr. Leggett. “I look forward to working with the leadership team to help advance Affinia into this next chapter, bringing to life the company’s vision of delivering rationally-designed gene therapies to people with devastating diseases.”
Mr. Leggett has more than two decades of financial experience and has led and secured financing for dozens of life science companies. He joins Affinia Therapeutics from Black Diamond Therapeutics where he served as CFO. In this role, Mr. Leggett was critical in leading the company’s $85 million Series C financing and $231 million initial public offering (IPO). He concurrently oversaw Black Diamond’s financial strategy, investor relations, corporate communications, financial operations, financial planning & analysis and portfolio strategy and analytics.
Before joining Black Diamond, Mr. Leggett served as CFO at Axcella Health, where he helped raise $156 million across three financings, including an IPO in May 2019 that funded the clinical development of Axcella’s four lead programs as well as additional clinical and regulatory milestones. Before joining the biotech industry, Tommy spent over a decade as an investment banker for the healthcare groups at J.P. Morgan Securities, Lazard Frères & Company, and UBS Securities, respectively.
Mr. Leggett holds a Master of Business Administration in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Columbia University.
About Affinia Therapeutics
Affinia Therapeutics is pioneering a shift to a new class of rationally-designed gene therapies that treat rare and prevalent diseases. Affinia Therapeutics’ proprietary Affinia Rationally-designed Therapeutics (ART) platform consists of three pillars intended to synergistically improve the efficacy, safety, and manufacturability of AAV-based gene therapies through the development of next-generation capsids, promoters, and manufacturing approaches. Affinia Therapeutics’ current pipeline consists of five programs in the neurology, neuro-oncology, muscle, and lung therapeutic areas, and spans gene replacement, vectorized antibody, and gene editing modalities. For more information, visit https://www.affiniatx.com.
Contact Information
Investors:
investors@affiniatx.com
Media Affinia Therapeutics:
media@affiniatx.com
