Genascence Names Ian Lachlan McLean, M.D. Ph.D. as Chief Medical Officer

—Seasoned physician-scientist and R&D executive, with significant experience building and growing successful clinical development organizations—

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Genascence Corporation ("Genascence"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company revolutionizing the treatment of prevalent musculoskeletal diseases with gene therapy, today announced the appointment of Ian Lachlan (Lachy) McLean, M.D., Ph.D. as its chief medical officer. Dr. McLean brings extensive leadership experience in both early and late-stage clinical research and development (R&D) in the biopharmaceutical space, as well as complimentary clinical practice expertise as a rheumatologist to Genascence. He will lead Genascence's clinical development strategy.

"On behalf of the entire Genascence organization and board of directors, I am thrilled to welcome Lachy as our chief medical officer," said Thomas Chalberg, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Genascence. "Lachy is known for building bridges between science, medicine, and business. He brings decades of experience in drug development with an outstanding track record of building clinical development teams from the ground up. In addition, Lachy's deep experience as a rheumatologist, immunologist, and clinical researcher, will be invaluable as we advance our pipeline of gene therapies for people suffering from prevalent musculoskeletal diseases."

"Genascence is at the forefront of transforming how we treat prevalent and debilitating musculoskeletal diseases like osteoarthritis with gene therapy," said Dr. McLean. "I am excited to join this outstanding team and advance our clinical program to ultimately achieve our mission of delivering curative therapies to patients in desperate need of better treatments." 

Dr. McLean is a physician-scientist with more than 20 years of experience in large and small biopharma and biotech companies. He has broad R&D, clinical, translational, business, regulatory, and executive management experience across multiple phases, modalities, geographies, and therapeutic areas, with particular expertise in early phase immunology and inflammation drug development. Before joining Genascence, Dr. McLean was chief medical officer at Novome, a start-up biotech company developing engineered bacteria as a drug-delivery platform. He previously held roles of increasing seniority at AstraZeneca, Merck, Genentech, Takeda and Travere.

Dr. McLean has taken many novel molecules into humans for the first time and has contributed to multiple successful Investigational New Drug (IND), Clinical Trial Authorization (CTA) and regulatory approval submissions. He has published both basic science and clinical studies and much of his research has focused on the early stages of drug development for immunology and inflammation indications, including the incorporation of biomarkers, imaging, genetics, and wearable digital devices.

He earned his medical degree from the University of Otago, New Zealand, and a Ph.D. in immunology from the University of London. Prior to joining industry, Dr. McLean trained as a clinical rheumatologist including sub-specialty fellowship training at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX, completed postdoctoral training in immunology and molecular biology in London, and ran an academic group focused on translational research and clinical trials.

About Genascence Corporation
Genascence, a clinical-stage biotechnology company revolutionizing the treatment of prevalent musculoskeletal diseases with gene therapy, is developing life-changing treatments for highly prevalent conditions affecting millions of people. The company was founded in 2017 with technology licensed from three leading U.S. research institutions: Mayo Clinic, University of Florida, and NYU Langone Health. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Genascence's founders and leadership team have deep experience in the design, development, and manufacturing of successful gene therapies and biological medicines. For more information, please visit www.genascence.com.

SOURCE Genascence