VectorY Therapeutics B.V.. (3/20/23). "Press Release: VectorY Appoints Michael Wyzga as CFO and Adds Jean Franchi to Its Board of Directors". Amsterdam.

	Organisation	VectorY Therapeutics B.V.
	Group	VectorY (Group)
	Organisation 2	Yumanity Therapeutics
	Product	therapeutic antibody
	Product 2	finance
	Person	Wyzga, Michael (VectorY 202303– CFO before Yumanity Therapeutics + vormerly Needham & Co + Citigroup)
	Person 2	Franchi, Jean (Replimune 202303 CFO before Merrimack Pharmaceuticals + Dimenstion Therapeutics + Good Start Genetics)

> Michael Wyzga was previously CFO of Yumanity Therapeutics

> Current CFO of Replimune and previous CFO of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Jean Franchi joins as Independent Board Member and Chair of the Audit Committee

VectorY Therapeutics, a biotech company developing disease-modifying vectorized antibody therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, today announces the appointment of Michael Wyzga as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Jean Franchi as Independent Board member and Chair of the Audit Committee.

Michael Wyzga most recently served as the CFO of Yumanity Therapeutics, a Nasdaq-listed clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, where he managed the sale of assets to Janssen Phamaceutica, part of J&J, and a merger with Kineta. Prior to Yumanity Therapeutics, Michael has over a decade of experience in several investment banking roles, including Needham & Company and Citigroup.

Jean Franchi has over 30 years of experience in biotech operations, from pre-commercial to global commercial companies. She is currently CFO at Replimune, a company developing tumor-directed oncolytic immunotherapies. Jean previously served in the same role at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Dimension Therapeutics and Good Start Genetics, and was also Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance at Genzyme.

“We are pleased to welcome Mike as our new CFO and Jean as an Independent Board Member. They bring a wealth of experience in financial strategy and operational effectiveness in the healthcare and biotech industry, which will help tremendously as we advance to the next phase of our growth and expand our global presence to the US,” said Sander van Deventer, Chief Executive Officer of VectorY.

“I am excited to join this experienced team at such a pivotal time, ahead of the Company’s lead candidate moving into the clinic. It is impressive to see how much VectorY has advanced its platform technology, and I am convinced of the Company’s potential to truly change the therapeutic landscape in ALS and other devastating neurodegenerative diseases,” said Michael Wyzga, Chief Financial Officer of VectorY.

“The team at VectorY has previously developed two commercial gene therapies and is therefore well positioned to translate its vectorized antibody platform into disease-modifying therapies. I am delighted to join the team to help realize this potential,” said Jean Franchi, Independent Board Member of VectorY.

The new appointments follow the strong growth of VectorY since its inception in 2020 and support the company’s strategy to rapidly advance its innovative pipeline towards the clinic.

Full biographies

Michael Wyzga, MBA – Chief Financial Officer

Mike has over 10 years of experience in healthcare investment banking and corporate finance at biotech companies. Most recently he was Chief Financial Officer of Yumanity Therapeutics (NASDAQ: YMTX), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative, disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative diseases where he managed the eventual sale of assets to Janssen Phamaceutica, part of J&J, and a merger with Kineta Inc. He also served as a consultant providing guidance on financial strategy to private companies. Prior to joining the healthcare and biotech industry, he was Senior Vice President, Healthcare Investment Banking at Needham & Company, where he led over 65 corporate finance transactions and served as an Analyst, Healthcare Corporate and Investment Banking at Citigroup. Mike received his Master’s degree in Business Administration from Cornell University.

Jean M Franchi – Independent Board Member, Audit Committee Chair

Jean brings over 30 years of experience in biotech operations, from pre-commercial to global commercial companies. She is currently Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Replimune, a company developing tumor-directed oncolytic immunotherapies. Previously, Jean served as CFO of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Dimension Therapeutics at the time of its initial public offering, and Good Start Genetics. Prior to her CFO roles, Jean spent 16 years at Genzyme, where she held roles of increasing responsibility including Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance. Jean serves on the boards of directors of Biodesix and Flamingo Therapeutics. Jean received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Hofstra University.

About VectorY

VectorY is on a mission to provide people with neurodegenerative diseases a longer, better life by creating transformative vectorized antibody treatments. Our platform combines the promise of precise therapeutic antibodies with one-time AAV-based delivery to the CNS. Unique in-house expertise in antibodies, AAV vectors, protein degradation, manufacturing and neuroscience drives the rapid development of much needed disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and Huntington’s disease. For more information, see www.vectorytx.com.

Record changed: 2024-01-20