SLN.L Regulatory News (SLN)

Silence Therapeutics Strengthens Board and Leadership Team

21 June 2018

Silence Therapeutics plc, AIM:SLN ("Silence" or "the Company") a leader in the discovery, delivery and development of novel RNA therapeutics for the treatment of serious diseases with unmet medical need, announces today the appointment of Dave Lemus to its Board as Non-Executive Director effective immediately. Silence also announces the appointment of Richard Jenkins as Head of Clinical Development.

Dave has over 20 years of US and international business experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, having served in executive management and non-executive board roles in multiple US and European private and publicly-traded companies. Dave is currently Executive Vice Chair, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Proteros biostructures Gmbh. Prior to that he served as Interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Medigene AG, a publicly-listed German biotechnology company focused on the research and development of T-Cell-Receptor based immunotherapies, and prior to this as Chief Executive Officer of Sigma Tau Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dave was Chief Financial Officer and Executive VP of MorphoSys AG, taking the Company public in 1999 and held various positions at leading pharma companies including at Hoffman La Roche.

Dave currently serves as a Non-Executive board member of BioHealth Innovation, Inc., Sorrento Therapeutics Inc., and the MIT Club of Washington DC. Dave is a Certified Public Accountant in the US, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Maryland and Master of Science/MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Richard Jenkins has over 28 years' experience in clinical development and drug discovery, and will be heading the clinical development function as Silence advances its lead asset through the clinic, reporting directly to Annalisa Jenkins. He has held numerous leadership positions in big pharma throughout his career. Richard most recently served as Senior Scientific Director at Takeda Development Centre (Europe) where he was Global Clinical Development Team Leader for development of Takeda's upper GI compounds. Prior to this, Richard spent 17 years at GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals in the UK and US in both Clinical Development and Genetics Discovery Research Portfolio Management. Richard began his career at Roche. Silence also announces that Torsten Hoffmann has stepped down as Chief Scientific Officer due to personal reasons.

Annalisa Jenkins, Executive Chair of Silence Therapeutics, commented: "I am very pleased to welcome Dave to the Silence Board of Directors. Dave has joined at a pivotal time for the company. His successful track record and proven leadership in building and managing high performance management teams will strengthen our capabilities as we continue to maximise the potential of our GalNAc-based SRNi platform. Additionally, Richard Jenkins will bolster our clinical development expertise as we progress our iron overload compound into clinical testing."

The following information is disclosed pursuant to Schedule Two, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies:

Full name and age: David Jakob Lemus (aged 55).

Mr. Lemus does not currently hold any ordinary shares in Silence.

Current Directorships or Partnerships:

BioHealth Innovation, Inc.

MIT Club of Washington DC

Proteros biostructures GmbH

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.

Previous Directorships or Partnerships:

Axela Inc.

Medigene AG

PhRMA

Sigma Tau Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

No further information in connection with his appointment is required to be disclosed under Schedule Two, paragraph (g) of the Aim Rules for Companies. 

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Notes to Editors

About Silence Therapeutics plc

Silence Therapeutics is developing a new generation of medicines by harnessing the body's natural mechanism of RNA interference, or RNAi, within its cells. Our proprietary technology can selectively inhibit any gene in the genome, specifically silencing the production of disease-causing proteins. Using our enabling delivery systems, we have achieved an additional level of specificity by delivering our therapeutic RNA molecules exclusively to target cells. Silence's proprietary RNA chemistries and delivery systems are designed to improve the stability of our molecules and enhance effective delivery to target cells, providing a powerful modular technology well suited to tackle life-threatening diseases. For more information, please visit: http://www.silence-therapeutics.com/