Business
miRagen Therapeutics Announces Company Name Change to Viridian Therapeutics and New Executive Appointments, Including Expansion of Leadership Team
Jonathan Violin, Ph.D., M.B.A. appointed President, CEO and director Barrett Katz, M.D., M.B.A. joins Viridian as Chief Medical OfficerViridian is developing
About this update from Viridian Therapeutics, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Jonathan Violin, Ph.D., M.B.A. appointed President, CEO and director Barrett Katz, M.D., M.B.A. joins Viridian as Chief Medical OfficerViridian is developing VRDN-001 and VRDN-002 for the treatment of thyroid eye diseaseCompany recently licensed exclusive rights from Xencor, Inc. to develop and commercialize therapeutic antibodies targeting IGF-1R incorporating Xtend™ Fc half-life extension technology BOULDER, Colo., Jan. 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- miRagen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGEN), a development-stage biotechnology company, today announced its name change to Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (“Viridian”). Beginning tomorrow, Viridian will trade on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol \"VRDN\" and its common stock will trade under a new CUSIP number, 92790C104. The Company also announced today the appointment of Jonathan Violin, Ph.D., M.B.A. as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and member of the Board of Directors. Dr. Violin, who previously served as Viridian’s President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), succeeds Lee Rauch as CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Ms. Rauch will remain as strategic advisor for the Company. In addition, Viridian appointed internationally recognized neuro-ophthalmologist, Barrett Katz M.D., M.B.A., as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Dr. Katz comes to Viridian from BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. where he developed therapeutics to treat orphan eye diseases. “The leadership team changes and Viridian Therapeutics name reflect the continuing evolution of the company and our patient-centric model of innovation,” said Dr. Violin. “We’re leveraging proven biology and technology to efficiently allocate research and development resources, while addressing strategic gaps related to access, delivery, quality of life, and efficacy. We are thrilled to attract someone with Dr. Katz’s depth of expertise in serving patients and leading scientific and clinical programs.” During his tenure at BridgeBio, Dr. Katz held leadership positions in two subsidiaries, as President and CMO of Retinagenix and CEO of Fortify Therapeutics. Prior to BridgeBio, he was CMO at GenSight Biologics where he oversaw early- and late-stage clinical programs. He held the Francis DeJur Chair of Ophthalmology at the Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, where he also served as Professor of Ophthalmo...