Capsida Biotherapeutics Announces Appointment of Rayne Waller to Chief Operating Officer

Company creates chief operating officer role and appoints veteran manufacturing and supply-chain executive Rayne Waller to help Capsida capitalize on its platform gene therapy technology, bringing treatments to patients with debilitating and life-threatening genetic disorders

Mr. Waller will retain responsibility for manufacturing in addition to other operational functions

Company's proprietary technology allows for targeted non-invasive gene therapy, while limiting collateral impact on non-targeted areas

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., March 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Capsida Biotherapeutics Inc., an industry-leading gene therapy platform company creating a new class of targeted, non-invasive gene therapies for patients with debilitating and life-threatening genetic disorders, today announced the appointment of Rayne Waller to an expanded role as chief operating officer (COO). In this broader role, Mr. Waller will retain responsibility for manufacturing in addition to taking on responsibility for key functions that support the daily operations and interface across Capsida's fully integrated capabilities. 

"Throughout his career, Rayne has demonstrated strong leadership in multiple roles across the globe, including most recently as chief manufacturing officer leading the development of our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Thousand Oaks," said Peter Anastasiou, president and CEO of Capsida. "Rayne's appointment to COO will ensure Capsida achieves its goal of moving our technology from the lab and to patients, and will help Capsida realize the promise of gene therapy."

"I'm honored to take on the role of COO at Capsida, a company that always puts patients first," said Mr. Waller. "Throughout my career in the biotechnology industry, I've worked to focus on the end goal of bringing therapies to patients who have no other options. As COO, I look forward to working with the Capsida leadership team and our board to bring the promise of gene therapy to life."

Gene therapy is still in its infancy and has yet to achieve its full potential. Capsida's proprietary, targeted, non-invasive gene therapy technology allows more selective targeting of specific tissues and cells, overcoming many of the problems associated with first-generation gene therapies, specifically off-target cell and organ activity. In addition, it allows the gene therapy to be delivered non-invasively through intravenous administration.

Prior to joining Capsida, Mr. Waller spent 27 years at Amgen in increasing roles of responsibility across manufacturing and supply-chain management. His most recent roles at Amgen included vice president and site head for Amgen's largest manufacturing site in Puerto Rico, vice president of regional manufacturing, responsible for overseeing site operations for manufacturing facilities in Ireland and The Netherlands, and vice president of global supply-chain management with responsibility for contract manufacturing, global supply management, operations strategic planning, and risk management.  

Mr. Waller holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Arizona.

Capsida Biotherapeutics Inc. is an industry-leading gene therapy platform company creating a new class of targeted, non-invasive gene therapies for patients with debilitating and life-threatening genetic disorders. Capsida's technology allows for the targeted penetration of cells and organs, while limiting collateral impact on non-targeted cells and organs, especially the liver. This technology allows for the delivery of the gene therapy in a non-invasive way through intravenous administration. Capsida's technology is protected by a growing intellectual property portfolio which includes more than 30 patent applications and one issued U.S. patent 11,149,256. The company is exploring using the technology across a broad range of rare and more common genetic disorders. Its initial pipeline consists of multiple neurologic disease programs. The company has strategic collaborations with AbbVie and CRISPR, which provide independent validation of Capsida's technology and capabilities. Capsida is a multi-functional and fully integrated biotechnology company with proprietary adeno-associated virus (AAV) engineering, multi-modality cargo development and optimization, translational biology, process development and state-of-the-art manufacturing, and broad clinical development experience. Capsida's biologically driven, high-throughput AAV engineering and cargo optimization platform originated from groundbreaking research in the laboratory of Viviana Gradinaru, Ph.D., a neuroscience professor at the California Institute of Technology. Visit us at www.capsida.com to learn more.

SOURCE Capsida Biotherapeutics