Aera Therapeutics, a biotechnology company harnessing next-generation enabling delivery technologies and precision payloads to unlock the full potential of genetic medicines, today announced the appointment of William Querbes, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer. Dr. Querbes brings a strong background in genetic medicines and drug development with more than 20 years of experience leading cross-functional teams from early drug discovery through clinical trials.

“We are excited to welcome Bill to the Aera team. Bill brings deep scientific expertise and a proven track record of advancing new genetic medicines from discovery through clinical development,” said Akin Akinc, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Aera. “His leadership, scientific acumen, and commitment to innovation will be instrumental as we continue to advance our genetic medicine delivery platforms, grow our pipeline and deliver on our mission to develop transformative genetic medicines across a broad range of modalities and therapeutic areas.”

“Aera’s vision, delivery platforms, and commitment to scientific excellence create a unique opportunity to build a leading genetic medicine pipeline,” said Dr. Querbes. “I am honored to be joining Aera at such an exciting time and I look forward to working with this exceptional team to bring transformative therapies to patients in need.”

Dr. Querbes joins Aera from Tessera Therapeutics where he served as senior vice president of therapeutic discovery and translational sciences. Prior to Tessera, he held the position of vice president and Fabry program lead at AVROBIO. Before that, Dr. Querbes served as senior director at Synlogic, where he led clinical program teams in PKU and hyperammonemia disorders. Earlier in his career, he spent 12 years at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals where he made important contributions to both the siRNA delivery platforms and therapeutic pipeline.

Dr. Querbes led the discovery and early clinical development of GIVLAARI® (givosiran) for the treatment of acute hepatic porphyria, which was the first FDA approved RNAi therapeutic utilizing GalNAc conjugate technology. He holds a B.S. in Biology from SUNY Geneseo and a Ph.D. from Brown University.

About Aera

Aera Therapeutics is a biotechnology company harnessing next generation enabling delivery technologies and precision payloads to unlock the full potential of genetic medicines. Aera has two proprietary delivery platforms – lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and protein nanoparticles (PNPs) – that are being developed to enable next-generation genetic medicines across a range of therapeutic modalities and disease areas. Aera’s vision is to expand the reach of genetic medicines to different tissues and applications, in order to benefit more patients across more disease areas. Aera is headquartered in Boston and has raised $193 million to date from leading life sciences investors. To learn more, please visit www.aeratx.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

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