PHILADELPHIA, March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Passage Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: PASG), a genetic medicines company focused on developing transformative therapies for rare, monogenic central nervous system disorders, announced the appointment of Athena Countouriotis to its board of directors. Dr. Countouriotis currently serves as president and chief executive officer at Turning Point Therapeutics.

“We are immensely excited to have Athena join our board of directors,” said Dr. Bruce Goldsmith, chief executive officer of Passage Bio. “Her public company operations leadership, deep clinical development expertise and salient gene therapy experience will provide tremendous support to Passage Bio as we move forward as a newly publicly traded company and advance our lead programs into clinical development starting in the second half of 2020.”

“Athena brings dynamic industry experience as both an executive and as a contributing board member, helping to guide companies as they advance their clinical assets into both early and late-stage development,” said Dr. Tachi Yamada, chairman of the board of directors of Passage Bio. “Passage Bio will truly benefit from drawing on this expertise as the company prepares to file an IND for PBGM01 for the treatment of GM1 gangliosidosis in the coming months.”

Athena Countouriotis, M.D., is currently president and chief executive officer and a member of the Board of Directors at Turning Point Therapeutics. Prior to joining Turning Point, she was senior vice president and chief medical officer at Adverum Biotechnology and before that, at Halozyme Therapeutics. Dr. Countouriotis has deep biotech leadership experience and currently is also a director at Iovance Biotherapeutics. She previously served as chief medical officer at Ambit Biosciences prior to its eventual acquisition by Daiichi Sankyo in 2014. She also led various clinical development programs at Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Countouriotis received her residency training at University of California, Los Angeles as well as at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where she focused on pediatric hematology and oncology. She earned her M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine and holds a B.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

“Passage is a remarkable company, pairing top gene therapy research and know-how with a strong, capable team of industry leaders,” said Dr. Athena Countouriotis. “Watching their immense progress over the past year, including their recent successful IPO, has been very encouraging for the future treatment paradigm for patients with rare monogenic CNS disorders, and I look forward to supporting the team as they continue to advance toward their goal of delivering best-in-class therapies to patients.”

About Passage Bio
Passage Bio is a genetic medicines company focused on developing transformative therapies for rare, monogenic central nervous system disorders with limited or no approved treatment options. The company is based in Philadelphia, PA and has a research, collaboration and license agreement with the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and its Gene Therapy Program (GTP). The GTP conducts IND-enabling preclinical work and Passage Bio conducts all clinical development, regulatory strategy and commercialization activities under the agreement. The company has a development portfolio of six product candidates, with the option to license six more, with lead programs in GM1 gangliosidosis, frontotemporal dementia and Krabbe disease.