Company Overview
XyloCor Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel gene therapy for unmet needs in advanced coronary artery disease. In the United States, coronary artery disease is a leading cause of death and disability. Our lead product candidate, XC001, is in clinical development for patients with refractory angina for which there are no treatment options. XyloCor also has a secondary product, XC002, in discovery stage, for patients with cardiac tissue damage from heart attacks.
Our Vision
Improve the lives of people who struggle with daily activities due to cardiovascular disease through our commitment to advancing the science of gene therapy.
History
XyloCor founders Dr. Ronald Crystal and Dr. Todd Rosengart started their collaboration in the 1990s at Weill Cornell Medical College where they combined their expertise in gene therapy and cardiac surgery to develop potential treatments for patients with advanced coronary artery disease. Their work continues to be referenced by the scientific community and is the foundation for the creation of XyloCor and its clinical programs. XyloCor holds exclusive license from Weill Cornell Medical College for the gene therapy being developed by the company.
Management
Albert Gianchetti – Chief Executive Officer, XyloCor Therapeutics
Al Gianchetti has more than 25 years of drug development and commercialization experience, including over 10 years in the cardiovascular/metabolic therapeutic area. He has held executive level roles at GSK and additional leadership roles with small biotech and specialty pharma companies including Vanda Pharmaceutics. Mr. Gianchetti has extensive experience in both commercial strategy/operations and R&D including seven Phase III programs, over 10 Phase I/II programs and several product launches.
Howard Dittrich, MD – Senior Vice President Research & Development
Howard Dittrich, MD, is a cardiologist and Adjunct Professor of Medicine and Chair of the Board of Directors of the François M. Abboud Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. He is the former CMO at Cirius Therapeutics and other biotech companies including NovaCardia, Sequel and Laguna. Dr. Dittrich has extensive experience in regenerative medicine for CV disease.
Eric Duckers, MD PhD FESC FACC – Chief Medical Officer
Eric Duckers, MD PhD FESC FACC, is an academic and biopharmaceutical veteran with 35 years of experience in the academia and biotechnology industry. Eric received a B.S. in Pharmacy and Medicine from the University of Utrecht, as a well as a B.S. in Management of Medical Health Care from the University of Rotterdam, a MS/MD in Medicine from the University Utrecht, and a PhD in Neuropharmacology and Molecular Biology from the University of Utrecht (Rudolf Magnus Institute). Eric was offered a chair in Molecular and Cellular Biology of Cardiovascular System as well as Invasive Cardiology at the University of Rotterdam. He has served as the Chief Medical Office and Chief Executive Officer of start‑up companies, including BioTxs, CardioGenx, Okyanos, BioCardia, VST‑Bio and VasoRx.
A. Brian Davis – Chief Financial Officer
A. Brian Davis is a seasoned financial executive, including over 15 years of experience as a CFO for publicly traded, commercial and clinical‑stage biopharmaceutical companies, and nearly 30 years as a financial professional in the life sciences industry. Mr. Davis has raised over $600 million in public and private equity financings, including leading an initial public offering, and nearly $200 million in debt financings. Most recently, he was CFO at Verrica Pharmaceuticals, where he held managerial responsibility for executing equity and debt financings, analyst and shareholder relations, financial aspects of commercial launch preparation, business development, finance, accounting, tax, and treasury.
Dawn Byrnes – VP Clinical Operations
Dawn Byrnes has 23 years of experience working in the clinical research industry, including involvement across all roles of project/portfolio management. Her background spans all phases of research, I‑IV, in a variety of indications including Cardiovascular, Hematology/Oncology multiple rare diseases and Gene Therapy trials. Ms. Byrnes held several leadership roles including Global Operations Lead and Region Head for the Americas in her career.
Alexander Gaidamaka, PhD, DVM – Head of Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls
With more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, Alex Gaidamaka has a wealth of biologics R&D expertise including preclinical, process & analytical development, GMP manufacturing and validations. He also has significant regulatory experience across multiple technology platforms from his tenures with Sanofi Group, AmpliPhi Biosciences, Personalized Onco Therapeutics Inc. and other companies. Dr. Gaidamaka has a PhD in immunology and microbiology and is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
Board
Fouad Azzam, PhD, MBA
Fouad Azzam, PhD, is a partner at EQT Life Sciences, formerly LSP, one of Europe’s largest and most experienced healthcare investors, targeting innovative life sciences and health care companies. Prior to joining EQT in 2007, Dr. Azzam... was a Director at Eastman Chemical Company and Managing Director of Eastman Ventures. Amongst others, Dr. Azzam is currently a Director at Hotspot Therapeutics, Nkarta Therapeutics, Endotronix, and Cardiac Dimensions.
Glenn Batchelder – Executive Chairman
Mr. Batchelder’s most recent operational role was as co‑founder and CEO of Civitas Therapeutics (sold to Acorda). Prior to Civitas he served as CEO of BIND Therapeutics (sold to Pfizer) and Acceleron Pharma (NASDAQ:XLRN). He started his biotechnology career at Millennium Pharmaceutical serving in roles of increasing responsibility including SVP of Operations.
Mr. Batchelder also currently serves as Executive Chairs of Synchronicity Pharma and Kantum Bio. He also serves on the boards of The Possible Project and the Michael J. Fox Foundation. He previously served as the Chair of the Board for MassBio. He received a BS in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University.
Alan Colowick, MD, MPH
Alan Colowick, MD, currently serves on the Board of Directors of Personalis, Harpoon Therapeutics, and InCarda. He was recently Chairman of the Board of Principia (acquired by Sanofi) and VelosBio (acquired by Merck).
Dr. Colowick is a former partner at Sofinnova Ventures. Before joining Sofinnova, he held executive management and board of director positions at numerous companies in the biotechnology sector. Most recently, he was Executive Vice President at Celgene Corporation, and prior to that held positions of President for Celgene’s Europe, Mid‑East, and Africa regions as well as Senior Vice President of Global Medical Affairs. Previously, Dr. Colowick was the Chief Executive Officer at Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, Inc. until its acquisition by Celgene in 2010. Before becoming CEO at Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, he was President, Oncology for Geron Corporation and was Chief Medical Office of Threshold Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, Dr. Colowick held numerous positions of increasing responsibility at Amgen Inc culminating with his role as VP, Medical Affairs Europe.
Dr. Colowick received an MD from Stanford University and an MPH from Harvard University. Additionally, he completed specialty training in Hematology-Oncology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He has a BS in Molecular Biology from the University of Colorado.
Ronald Crystal, MD – Founder and Advisor (Board Observer)
Ronald Crystal, MD, is Bruce Webster Professor and Chairman, Department of Genetic Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College and Director of the Belfer Gene Therapy Core Facility. He has been a leader in gene therapy... for more than 20 years and developed the FDA-approved therapy for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Dr. Crystal is also the first to use a recombinant virus as a vehicle for in vivo gene therapy.
Albert Gianchetti – Chief Executive Officer, XyloCor Therapeutics
Al Gianchetti has more than 25 years of drug development and commercialization experience, including over 10 years in the cardiovascular/metabolic therapeutic area. He has held executive level roles at GSK and additional leadership roles with small biotech and specialty pharma companies including Vanda Pharmaceutics. Mr. Gianchetti has extensive experience in both commercial strategy/operations and R&D including seven Phase III programs, over 10 Phase I/II programs and several product launches.
Daniel Hetu, MD, MBA
With over 20 years of investment banking, corporate development, and licensing and investment experience, Dr. Daniel Hetu has been involved with life sciences companies at all stages of development in North America and overseas. With demonstrated success managing complex initiatives, projects and transactions, he is recognized for his strategic thinking and problem‑solving skills.
Dr. Hetu’s investment activities are focused on building companies in the therapeutics and medical device sectors that develop products and technologies with a direct and significant impact on patient care. He manages Lumira Ventures’ Montreal office.
An experienced senior executive with leading expertise in financing and corporate business development, he spent 10 years at Shire Pharmaceuticals and at Biochem Pharma prior to its acquisition by Shire. As vice president, business development (North America) and vice president, corporate development, respectively, he led several financing, licensing and M&A transactions in the therapeutics, vaccine, and diagnostics sectors. At Biochem, as well as serving on the company’s portfolio committee and the steering committee of strategic research collaborations, Dr. Hetu served on the boards of investee companies. Prior to joining Biochem Pharma, he was an investment banker at a major Canadian Investment Bank where he was involved in M&A and financing transactions across various industrial sectors.
Aidan King, MBA, CFA
Aidan King is Managing Partner and co‑founder of Fountain Healthcare Partners. Aidan is a pharmacist by training who started his career at Elan in pharmaceutical strategic marketing before moving to their corporate venture capital group. He then joined BIO‑IB, a boutique investment bank, before founding Fountain Healthcare Partners. Aidan currently sits on the board of Syndesi Therapeutics. He is a CFA charter holder and received his MBA from University College Dublin.
John de Koning, PhD (Board Observer)
John de Koning, PhD, is a partner at EQT Life Sciences, formerly LSP, one of Europe’s largest and most experienced healthcare investors, targeting innovative life sciences and health care companies. Prior to joining EQT in 2006, Dr. Koning was the Managing Director of Semaia Pharmaceuticals... (acquired by Hybrigenics). Previously, he was a senior researcher within several prestigious medical research labs. Dr. Koning currently serves on the boards of ONWARD Medical (Euronext: ONWD), eTheRNA, Aelin Therapeutics, VarmX, Xilis, and Visus Therapeutics. He also served on the boards of several other companies, such as argenx (NASDAQ: ARGX), Merus (NASDAQ: MRUS), BMEYE (acquired by Edwards Lifesciences) and Prosensa (acquired by BioMarin).
Todd Rosengart, MD – Founder and Advisor
Todd Rosengart, MD, is Professor and DeBakey-Bard Chairman, Department of Surgery, Baylor Medical College; Professor of Heart and Vascular Disease at the Texas Heart Institute. He has been a leading researcher in cardiac angiogenesis and regeneration for more than 30 years and together with Ron Crystal, M.D. was the first to administer the adenovirus vector for cardiac gene transfer in the U.S. Dr. Rosengart is also co‑founder of Vitals.com
Nikhil Thatte (Board Observer)
Nikhil Thatte joined Lumira Ventures as a Principal in March 2019. He is responsible for investment sourcing and due diligence and is focused on next generation modalities including cell and gene therapy. Prior to Lumira Ventures, Mr. Thatte worked as a Director with DRI Capital, a pioneer in healthcare royalty monetization, and as a Consultant with ZS Associates, a global pharmaceutical consulting firm. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from McGill University.