Stem cell biotech ViaCyte staffs up CSO role to drive diabetes treatments

Stem cell biotech ViaCyte staffs up CSO role to drive diabetes treatments

Months after raising $45 million and losing a chief scientific officer, stem cell-focused biotech ViaCyte has restaffed the position with a cell therapy academic from the University of British Columbia.

Timothy Kieffer, Ph.D., will join the clinical-stage regenerative medicine biotech as CSO, the company said Monday. He replaces Kevin D’Amour, Ph.D., who left ViaCyte in June to “pursue other opportunities.” Vice President of Translation Research Evert Kroon, Ph.D., served in the CSO role on an interim basis.

The CSO appointment follows a shuffle in ViaCyte’s management earlier this year, that saw the CEO, chief operating officer and chief technology officer roles change hands. Michael Yang, formerly of Johnson & Johnson unit Janssen and Acadia, was named CEO and president in January.

Kieffer comes from the University of British Columbia where he oversaw the molecular and cellular medicine lab focusing on cell therapy and novel gene approaches to treat diabetes. Kieffer co-founded enGene, a biotech developing non-viral gene therapies for mucosal tissue.

San Diego-based ViaCyte is developing cell replacement therapies to address diseases like Type 1 diabetes. The biotech’s candidates target glucose control to reduce the risk of hypoglycemia and other diabetes-related complications. The technology stems from pluripotent stem cells, which can create any type of cell or tissue needed by the body for repair.

Kieffer will lead ViaCyte’s team focusing on these diabetes interventions.

ViaCyte signed a gene-editing partnership with CRISPR Therapeutics in 2018 worth $10 million upfront with an additional $10 million down the line.

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