Decibel Therapeutics Appoints Matthew Kapusta to its Board of Directors

BOSTON, March 21, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Decibel Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DBTX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to discovering and developing transformative treatments to restore and improve hearing and balance, today announced the appointment of Matthew Kapusta to its Board of Directors.

"We are pleased to welcome Matt to the Decibel Board. He is an accomplished life sciences executive who has played a key role in advancing gene therapy products from the laboratory to patients in need," said Laurence Reid, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer at Decibel. "Matt's appointment to the Board provides us with a critical strategic perspective, as we continue to build Decibel and lead the way in applying the power of gene therapy to conditions of the inner ear."

Matthew Kapusta has 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and Director of uniQure, a global gene therapy company. Under his leadership, uniQure successfully developed the world's first approved gene therapy for people living with hemophilia B. Prior to joining uniQure, Mr. Kapusta held executive roles at AngioDynamics and Smith & Nephew. Mr. Kapusta's career also includes more than a decade of investment banking experience where he focused on mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance transactions for emerging life sciences companies. Mr. Kapusta holds a Master of Business Administration from New York University's Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Business Administration from University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, and he previously earned a Certified Public Accountant license in 1996 while at Ernst & Young.

"I am thrilled to join Decibel's Board at this exciting juncture, as the company prepares to evaluate its first gene therapy product candidate in the clinic. Laurence has assembled a talented management team and I've been impressed with Decibel's focus and scientific prowess as it advances a number of programs," said Mr. Kapusta. "Gene therapy holds enormous promise to help address unmet medical needs, and I'm excited to be on board as Decibel applies this transformational modality to hearing and balance disorders."

About Decibel Therapeutics

Decibel Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to discovering and developing transformative treatments to restore and improve hearing and balance, one of the largest areas of unmet need in medicine. Decibel has built a proprietary platform that integrates single-cell genomics and bioinformatic analyses, precision gene therapy technologies and expertise in inner ear biology. Decibel is leveraging its platform to advance gene therapies designed to selectively replace genes for the treatment of congenital, monogenic hearing loss and to regenerate inner ear hair cells for the treatment of acquired hearing and balance disorders. Decibel's pipeline, including its lead gene therapy product candidate, DB-OTO, to treat congenital, monogenic hearing loss, is designed to deliver on our vision of creating a world of connection for people with hearing and balance disorders. For more information about Decibel Therapeutics, please visit www.decibeltx.com or follow us on Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this press release, including statements regarding Decibel's strategy, future operations, prospects, plans, objectives of management, the therapeutic potential for Decibel's product candidates and preclinical programs, and the potential benefits of cell-selective expression constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "objective," "ongoing," "plan," "predict," "project," "potential," "should," or "would," or the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Decibel may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: uncertainties inherent in the identification and development of product candidates, including the timing of and Decibel's ability to obtain approval to initiate clinical development of its program candidates, whether results from preclinical studies will be predictive of the results of later preclinical studies and clinical trials, whether Decibel's cash resources are sufficient to fund its foreseeable and unforeseeable operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements, uncertainties related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Decibel's business and operations, as well as the risks and uncertainties identified in Decibel's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including those risks detailed under the caption "Risk Factors" in Decibel's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 and in other filings Decibel may make with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Decibel's views as of the date of this press release. Decibel anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause its views to change. However, while Decibel may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Decibel's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.



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