Integra Therapeutics announces key additions to its Scientific Advisory Board

Integra Therapeutics has recently expanded its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), made up of renowned experts from the US and Europe in artificial intelligence, drug discovery and clinical development in the gene therapy field. 

The SAB will provide strategic guidance on the company's research and development efforts and strategy, particularly focused on the FiCAT gene-writing platform that improves the development of gene therapies to cure genetic and oncological diseases with high unmet medical needs.

Professor George Church will serve as Chair of the SAB. Prof. George Church is a pioneering scientist in reading and writing DNA. He developed the first direct genomic sequencing method and helped initiate the Human Genome Project in 1984 and the Personal Genome Project in 2005, and demonstrated that CRISPR/Cas9 could be used to edit human stem cells—several in a very long list of contributions. He is currently professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also leads the Harvard Molecular Technologies lab in Boston. He has authored more than 600 papers, 155 patent publications and a book, Regenesis.

The new members of the Integra Therapeutic's SAB are (in alphabetical order): 

• Mark Bonyhadi, PhD, has more than 30 years of experience in biopharmaceutical leadership roles in the US, specifically in developing commercially viable approaches to take cell and gene therapies and regenerative medicine from the lab to the clinic and for subsequent business development. He was vice president for Research at Juno Therapeutics Inc (acquired by Celgene), director of Global Business Development for Cell Therapy at Invitrogen (acquired by Thermo Fisher) and vice president for Research at Xycte Therapies. Dr. Bonyhadi was formerly the chair of the Industry Liaison Committee for the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (2015-2016). 
• Noelia Ferruz, PhD, is a Group Leader and raising start in Artificial Intelligence for Protein Design at the Institute of Molecular Biology of Barcelona (IBMB) since January 2023, where she focuses on implementing neural models for protein engineering and design. She is a chemist with a PhD in Computational Biophysics from Pompeu Fabra University. Dr Ferruz joined the Neuroscience Department at Pfizer in Boston, as a postdoctoral researcher, and the Höcker lab at the University of Bayreuth, where she worked on developing computational methods for protein design. In 2023 she has won the prestigious L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award.
• Cédric Feschotte, PhD  is the Barbara McClintock Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Cornell University. He is a member of the Graduate Field of Genetics, Genomics and Development and a member of the Graduate Field of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology. Dr Feschotte has 20 years of experience studying mobile genetic elements. His laboratory employs an integrative approach to study transposons and endogenous viruses primarily in vertebrates, including humans. The overarching goal is to characterize the impact of these elements on the evolution and physiology of their host species—including disease states. 
• Richard Thompson, PhD is Professor of Molecular Hepatology at King's College London and Honorary Consultant at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Thompson specializes in pediatric liver disease and is particularly interested in genetic liver disease, both in children and adults. His group has identified several disease genes, and have established important genotype/ phenotype correlations. He is also the Clinical Lead for the Liver Molecular Genetics service.

“The members of our Scientific Advisory Board are leading experts in gene therapy, protein engineering and pediatric hepatology. Their knowledge and experience will be very valuable in maximizing the potential of our lead technology, FiCAT” says Dr. Avencia Sánchez-Mejías, CEO & Co-Founder of Integra Therapeutics. During the coming months, the biotechnology company plans to enter FiCAT in the preclinical regulatory phase.