SINGAPORE, BOSTON and SHANGHAI, June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cargene Biopharma Inc. ("Cargene", the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company developing oligonucleotide therapeutics for liver and ophthalmic disorders, is excited to welcome Kathy He, a seasoned biopharmaceutical industry executive, to join the Company as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board. Kathy brings over 20 years of R&D and commercial experience from multiple global companies to her new role at Cargene, notably in building differentiated product portfolios, developing strategic opportunities, and successfully bringing innovative therapeutics to market.

Based in Singapore, Boston and Shanghai, Cargene Biopharma aims to leverage its novel biology and chemistry insights to develop highly specific, stable and potent nucleic acid therapeutics for a broad range of diseases. In December 2021, the Company successfully closed a pre-Series A funding round of nearly US$20 million, led by BioTrack Capital.

"My co-founder, Yann Chong Tan, and I are thrilled to have Kathy join us as CEO and Partner. Kathy's extensive US and China cross-border business leadership experience and successful track record in the global capital markets are critical to us as we build a global biotech company." said XQ Lin, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Cargene.

Kathy joined Cargene from Kira Pharmaceuticals, a US-China cross-border biotech company. While at Kira Pharmaceuticals, Kathy served as global Chief Business Officer (CBO) and General Manager of China, where she led the closing of its $60M Series B+ round of financing by top tier global investors and built an efficient China operation to support the company's global expansion.

Prior to Kira Pharmaceuticals, Kathy was CBO and Head of Corporate Development at Abbisko Therapeutics (HKEX listed), where she raised over $100M and closed a series of cross-border strategic partnerships. In the early years of her career, she held various strategy and commercial roles at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Merck & Co. and Abbott Labs in the US. In addition to extensive operating experience, Kathy also worked as a Managing Director and Venture Partner at several cross-border investment firms.

"Oligonucleotide therapeutics have dramatically expanded our toolbox in addressing conditions that lack druggable targets, and therefore have no effective treatments. Cargene's approach of combining its siRNA platform with first-in-class novel targets is rooted in its deep expertise in oligonucleotide science and access to breakthrough fundamental biology research." said Kathy. "I'm excited by the opportunity to leverage Cargene's scientific capabilities to address high unmet medical needs and grateful to work with the team to redefine the therapeutics of tomorrow." She added.

Kathy received a BS degree in Biology from Wuhan University, a MS in Molecular Biology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She is currently a board member of Diagnostic Photonics, an innovative medical device company, a former trustee of Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, and an immediate past board member of the BayHelix Group, a non-profit professional organization for business leaders in life sciences and healthcare industries.