Coave Therapeutics Establishes New Scientific Advisory Board to Accelerate Innovation in Genetic Medicines for Eye and CNS Diseases

/EIN News/ -- Paris, France – May 21, 2025 – Coave Therapeutics (‘Coave’), a company pioneering the future of genetic medicines, today announces the evolution of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). This renewed SAB reflects Coave’s strategic shift from a platform-focused approach to the development of a therapeutic pipeline, as the Company advances multiple gene therapy programs. The SAB brings together internationally recognized leaders in adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector biology, gene therapy development for ophthalmology and central nervous system (CNS) diseases, and innovative approaches to extra-hepatic gene delivery.

The SAB members include:

• Olivier Danos, PhD (Chair) – Chief Scientific Officer at REGENXBIO (Rockville, MD, USA)
  

Dr. Danos is a pioneer in gene therapy with over 30 years of academic and industrial leadership, including roles at Biogen, Genethon and University College London, and now leads REGENXBIO’s scientific strategy

• Robin Ali, PhD – Professor of Human Molecular Genetics at King's College London (London, UK) and Founder of MeiraGTx
  

Dr. Ali is a world-leading expert in gene therapy for retinal diseases and a pioneer of translational research advancing vision restoration therapies

• Aravind Asokan, PhD – Professor at Duke University School of Medicine and Director of the Danaher Beacon for Gene Therapy Innovation (Durham, NC, USA)
  

Dr. Asokan specializes in AAV vector biology and synthetic virology, developing engineered AAVs to enable next-generation gene therapies

• Juliette Hordeaux, DVM, PhD – Chief Scientific Officer at GEMMA Biotherapeutics (Philadelphia, PA, USA) and formerly Executive Director of Translational Research at the Gene Therapy Program, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA, USA)
  

Dr. Hordeaux is a recognized leader in the development of AAV-based CNS-targeted gene therapies, focused on translating preclinical innovations to clinical-stage programs

• Federico Mingozzi, PhD – Chief Executive Officer of Nava Therapeutics (Philadelphia, PA, USA)
  

Dr. Mingozzi brings extensive expertise in gene therapy R&D and translation, having previously served as Chief Scientific Officer at Spark Therapeutics and earlier led programs at Genethon, INSERM and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

• Amy Pooler, PhD – Senior Vice President, Research and Development at Life Edit Therapeutics (Durham, NC, USA), previously Vice President, Head of Research at Sangamo Therapeutics (Brisbane, CA, USA)
  

Dr. Pooler has extensive experience in translational neuroscience and genetic medicine, with leadership roles in developing CNS-targeted therapies at Sangamo and Life Edit

The SAB members will provide strategic scientific and clinical guidance to support Coave’s R&D initiatives, leveraging its ALIGATER™ (Advanced Vectors-Ligand Conjugates) platform to unlock improved precision and safety in genetic medicine. Their combined expertise strengthens Coave’s leadership in developing AAV-based therapeutics targeting diseases beyond the liver, including the eye and CNS.  

Lolita Petit, CSO of Coave Therapeutics commented, “We are absolutely delighted to welcome this exceptional group of world-leading experts to our Scientific Advisory Board. Their collective expertise across AAV biology, gene therapy development and translational research will be invaluable as we continue to enhance our ALIGATER™ platform and advance our therapeutic pipeline. Their support reinforces our commitment to delivering next-generation genetic medicines with improved precision and safety and accelerates our mission to transform the lives of patients with serious unmet medical needs.”

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Photos of SAB members available on request

About ALIGATER™
Coave’s proprietary ALIGATER™ (Advanced Vectors-Ligand Conjugates) platform is a breakthrough technology addressing key limitations in the delivery of genetic payloads to extra-hepatic tissues, including limited tissue specificity, delivery efficiency and safety. ALIGATER™ enables conjugation of targeting ligands, such as small molecules, peptides, or antibody fragments, on AAV or non-viral vectors, offering superior delivery efficiency, tissue specificity and safety profile for a broad range of diseases. Importantly, the platform streamlines the manufacturing process by avoiding prior AAV capsid modifications. These capabilities will enable Coave to develop best-in-class gene therapies designed for specific indications.

About Coave Therapeutics
Coave Therapeutics is a genetic medicine company pioneering the development of innovative solutions to enhance the precision, safety, efficacy and manufacturability of genetic medicines. With its proprietary ALIGATER™ platform, Coave is at the forefront of addressing challenges in gene therapy delivery to extra-hepatic tissues, creating a robust pipeline targeting CNS, neuromuscular and eye diseases.

Headquartered in Paris, France, Coave Therapeutics is backed by leading international life sciences investors. For more information about the science, pipeline, and people, please visit coavetx.com and follow us on LinkedIn. 

CONTACTS 

Coave Therapeutics 
Rodolphe Clerval, CEO 
contact@coavetx.com   

MEDiSTRAVA
Sylvie Berrebi, Mark Swallow 
coavetx@medistrava.com