Adverum Biotechnologies Appoints Romuald Corbau, Ph.D. as Chief Scientific Officer

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jan. 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADVM), a clinical-stage company that aims to establish gene therapy as a new standard of care for highly prevalent ocular diseases, today announced that Romuald "Romu" Corbau, Ph.D., has joined Adverum as the company's chief scientific officer. Dr. Corbau will serve as a member of Adverum's executive committee.

"On behalf of the entire team at Adverum, I am delighted to welcome Dr. Corbau as the newest member of our executive leadership team. Romu has spent the majority of his career working to deliver on the promise of gene therapy. Earlier in his career, Romu led Spark Therapeutics' translational R&D for Luxturna^®, a subretinal injection gene therapy product for Leber's congenital amaurosis, an inherited form of vision loss that frequently results in blindness," stated Laurent Fischer, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Adverum. "We expect that Romu's deep expertise in AAV-mediated gene therapies and ophthalmic research will prove invaluable as we advance Ixo-vec toward pivotal trials and commercialization for the treatment of wet AMD, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly."  

"I am thrilled to head up the team responsible for Adverum's industry-leading efforts in AAV vector and cassette optimization and excited to advance our early-stage research assets into our development pipeline," commented Dr. Corbau. "This is an exciting time to join Adverum, as we look forward to multiple expected near-term data readouts from the ongoing LUNA Phase 2 clinical trial of Ixo-vec in wet AMD. I am excited to be part of advancing Ixo-vec with the goal of ultimately providing patients with what I believe has the potential to be the leading, and truly transformative, once-and-done wet AMD therapy."

Dr. Corbau has over 25 years of industry experience ranging from startups to global pharmaceutical companies in the United States and Europe. Dr. Corbau joins Adverum from GenEdit, where he served as Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to joining GenEdit, Dr. Corbau progressed from Vice President of Research to Chief Scientific Officer at Freeline, a clinical stage company developing AAV-vector mediated systemic gene therapies for chronic diseases. Prior to Freeline, Dr. Corbau was Translational Lead at Spark Therapeutics, where his Translational department was focused on AAV sub-retinal injection gene therapy approaches for ocular indications, as well as Spark Therapeutics' CNS and systemic, liver-directed therapies. Before joining Spark Therapeutics, Dr. Corbau held various research positions at Pfizer in the UK, CISTIM (The Centre for Innovation and Stimulation of Drug Discovery) in Belgium, and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Corbau earned his M.A. in Biochemistry from Lille University and his Ph.D. from L'Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM) in Heidelberg, Germany.

Inducement Grant

On January 22, 2024, the company granted Dr. Corbau a stock option to purchase 600,000 shares of Adverum's common stock pursuant to the inducement grant exception under Nasdaq Rule 5635(c)(4), as an inducement that is material to his entering into employment with Adverum. The option has a per-share exercise price equal to the closing sales price of Adverum's common stock on the Nasdaq Stock Market on the grant date, and will vest over four years, subject to his continued service with Adverum.

About Adverum Biotechnologies

Adverum Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:ADVM) is a clinical-stage company that aims to establish gene therapy as a new standard of care for highly prevalent ocular diseases with the aspiration of developing functional cures to restore vision and prevent blindness. Leveraging the capabilities of its proprietary intravitreal (IVT) platform, Adverum is developing durable, single-administration therapies, designed to be delivered in physicians' offices, to eliminate the need for frequent ocular injections to treat these diseases. Adverum is evaluating its novel gene therapy candidate, ixoberogene soroparvovec (Ixo-vec, formerly referred to as ADVM-022), as a one-time, IVT injection for patients with neovascular or wet age-related macular degeneration. Additionally, by overcoming the challenges associated with current treatment paradigms for debilitating ocular diseases, Adverum aspires to transform the standard of care, preserve vision, and create a profound societal impact around the globe. For more information, please visit www.adverum.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release regarding events or results that may occur in the future are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include but are not limited to statements regarding Dr. Corbau's expected contributions to Adverum, Adverum's continued pipeline development and Ixo-vec's potential to be the leading and truly transformative one-and-done wet AMD therapy. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, including risks inherent to, without limitation: Adverum's novel technology, which makes it difficult to predict the timing of commencement and completion of clinical trials; regulatory uncertainties; enrollment uncertainties; the results of early clinical trials not always being predictive of future clinical trials and results; and the potential for future complications or side effects in connection with use of Ixo-vec. Additional risks and uncertainties facing Adverum are set forth under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in Adverum's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings and reports, including Adverum's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2023 filed with the SEC on November 9, 2023. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Adverum undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law.

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