Encoded Therapeutics expands Gene Therapy Leadership Team with the appointment of Sal Rico, M.D., Ph.D. as Chief Medical Officer

Chartwell Partners is pleased to announce the completion of its fourth C-level recruitment for Encoded Therapeutics, a South San Francisco-based biotechnology company developing precision gene therapies for a broad range of genetic disorders. Speaking of his leadership team, Co-founder and CEO, Kartik Ramamoorthi, Ph.D. stated, “With these appointments, we now have some of the most qualified gene therapy experts in the industry with a proven track record of delivering for patients in need. Their collective experience includes bringing multiple AAV-based gene therapies through clinical development, FDA filings, and approval. I am more confident than ever that our novel gene therapies can make a major impact on patients suffering from debilitating diseases, starting with Dravet Syndrome.”

Dr. Sal Rico joins Encoded as Chief Medical Officer, bringing a wealth of industry experience developing novel therapeutics. Prior to joining Encoded, he served as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at Audentes Therapeutics, an innovator in neuromuscular gene therapies that was recently acquired by Astellas, Inc.  While there, Dr. Rico led the clinical development of AT132, an AAV-based gene therapy for X-Linked Myotubular Myopathy, participated in the design, conduct, and analysis of Phase I-IV clinical trials in multiple therapeutic areas, and successfully contributed to the FDA approval of multiple drugs, biological products, and medical devices including the INTERCEPT Blood System®, Intermezzo®, Hibor®, Champix®, Prolia,® Kerydin®, and others. Prior to joining Audentes, he led the clinical development teams at Cerus Corporation and Transcept Pharmaceuticals and was an investigator at the Centre for Drug Research, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Rico earned his Doctor of Medicine and Surgery degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and holds an M.S. and a Ph.D. (Summa Cum Laude) in pharmacology from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. He did his postdoctoral training in clinical pharmacology and transfusion medicine at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and in pharmaceutical medicine at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona.

Partners