HuidaGene Therapeutics Appoints Alvin Luk as Chief Executive Officer

SHANGHAI and CLINTON, N.J., May 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HuidaGene Therapeutics (辉大基因; HuidaGene), a clinical-stage genome-editing company, today announced the appointment of gene therapy industry veteran, Alvin Luk, Ph.D., M.B.A., C.C.R.A., as Co-Founder, Member of the Board of Directors, and Chief Executive Officer.

On behalf of the Company and the Board of Directors, Hui Yang, Ph.D., Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Advisor, and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) at HuidaGene, extended a warm welcome to Dr. Alvin Luk and stated, "With more than a 30-year career in biotech/biopharma industry, we're delighted to appoint an industry veteran of Alvin's caliber as the Company's co-founder and CEO. As more of our innovative medicines progress toward clinical development, Alvin's significant global drug development experience, proven leadership, passion for genetic medicine, and focus on bringing novel modalities to patients globally add tremendous values to HuidaGene. As we enter the next phase, our mission of 'answering the patients' remains the same. My team and I look forward to working closely with Alvin to ensure continuity, build on the progress HuidaGene made, and deliver value to our stakeholders."

"HuidaGene has a solid foundation and world-leading gene editing platform which is rapidly advancing its pipeline to the clinical stage," said Dr. Darren Cai, Founder and Managing Partner at Sherpa Venture Capital. "Alvin has been deeply involved in the field of gene therapy for many years and has rich multinational work experience with global vision in new drug development. His leadership and experience will help HuidaGene become a world-class gene editing company. We warmly welcome Alvin to join the HuidaGene team and provide direct guidance for the ongoing IITs, IND submissions, and international collaborations. I look forward to working with Alvin as we advance the Company into a new phase of development and start an exciting future with us."

"Alvin has a track record of repeatedly building and operating successful biotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations in China and the United States with extensive practical experience and strong leadership in the field of global drug development," commented by Mr. Tianji Zhu, Partner at CD Capital. "In the past three decades, Alvin has successfully launched impactful patient-centric therapies and driven outstanding results of championing 21 approved products; all of which will be critical to helping HuidaGene reach the next stage in its growth. We're thrilled to welcome Alvin to our growing organization, as we realize our mission of bringing next generation of CRISPR-based therapies to transform the lives of patients suffering from severe and life-threatening diseases."

Dr. Alvin Luk brings to HuidaGene over 30 years of experience in global drug development, gene/cell therapy medicines, biological drugs, and rare diseases, from bench to the beside participating in 21 approved products at different biotech/biopharma companies, including Spark Therapeutics (acquired by Roche), Biogen, Bayer HealthCare, Shanghai Henlius, etc.  Dr. Luk also has a proven track record of over 250 cumulative total of IND, BLA, and MAA submissions in North/South Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia. For more information about Dr. Luk, please see recent news of 'HuidaGene Appoints New Members to the Scientific Advisory Board' (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/huidagene-appoints-new-members-to-the-scientific-advisory-board-301792898.html).

"I'm impressed by HuidaGene's 'In China, For Global' and 'Answering the Patients' spirits, the quality of its science and its employees, and its drive to become a global leader in the discovery and development of novel gene therapy medicines," Dr. Luk commented. "I'm incredibly excited to be a part of this unique company putting the patients first by putting the employees first, which has made significant strides in realizing the potential of gene editing to address incurable diseases. Together with Prof. Yang, Dr. Yao (Co-Founder, President, and General Manager of China) and Dr. Shi (co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer) , we will join force to transform the platform and advance clinical trials to develop potentially life-changing medicines for people living with devasting diseases worldwide. The future of gene editing and HuidaGene are bright."

About HuidaGene -辉大基因 

HuidaGene Therapeutics (辉大基因) is a global clinical-stage biotechnology company focusing on discovering, engineering, and developing CRISPR-based genetic medicine to rewrite the future of genomic medicine. Based in Shanghai and New Jersey, HuidaGene is committed to addressing patients' needs globally with various preclinical therapeutic programs covering ophthalmology, otology, myology, and neurology. We are currently advancing clinical programs in RPE65 mutation-associated inherited retinal dystrophies and our preclinical pipeline, including programs in neovascular age-related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, hereditary hearing loss, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and MECP2 duplication syndrome. Company's CRISPR-based therapeutics offer the potential to cure patients with life-threatening conditions by repairing the cause of their disease. HuidaGene is committed to transforming the future of genome-editing medicine.

For more information, please visit http://www.huidagene.com 
or follow us on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/company/huidagene

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