Abeona Therapeutics Inc. announced the appointment of Madhav Vasanthavada, Ph.D., M.B.A. to the role of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Head of Business Development (BD), effective immediately. In this capacity, in addition to his current BD responsibilities, Dr. Vasanthavada will oversee all aspects of commercial strategy, planning and operations as Abeona prepares for a potential launch of EB-101, its investigational, genetically engineered autologous cell therapy for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). Dr. Vasanthavada is a seasoned commercial executive bringing over 20 years of experience with leadership roles in sales, marketing, and market access in the life sciences industry, including launch experience with autologous cell therapies.

Over the past year, as Abeonas Head of BD, Dr. Vasanthavadas efforts to assess EB-101s commercial opportunity informed the Companys strategy to prepare for a U.S. commercial launch without depending on a partner. Madhavs appointment as Chief Commercial Officer is timely as Abeona prepares for the transition into a commercial-stage organization with the potential approval and launch of EB-101 in the U.S. next year, said Vish Seshadri, Chief Executive Officer of Abeona. His diverse commercial leadership experience, coupled with his strong track record launching autologous cell therapies with a heavy focus on customer experience, makes Madhav the ideal candidate to lead the staged build-out of highly focused, nimble commercial organization and for maximizing the commercial opportunity for EB-101.

Prior to Abeona, Dr. Vasanthavada served in commercial leadership roles at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and Celgene, where he led the marketing team in the Global CAR-T Cell Therapy Franchise to launch two autologous cell therapies, Breyanzi (lisocabtagene maraleucel) and Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel), in key worldwide markets. Previously, Dr. Vasanthavada served in a variety of U.S. commercial roles at Bayer in marketing, market access and sales, and was ultimately the brand leader for Xofigo (radium Ra 223 dichloride). He began his career as a scientist in Novartis R&D where his work led to multiple patents and publications.

Dr. Vasanthavada holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Rhode Island, and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.