12/04/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/05/2025 08:18
Integra Therapeutics strengthens its corporate governance with the appointment of Miles Gerson as Independent Chair of its Board of Directors. With more than two decades of experience in investment, biotechnology and business development, his incorporation will boost the company's growth strategy and the advancement of its next-generation genetic writing platform, FiCAT.
Integra Therapeutics, a global leader in cutting-edge gene writing tools to improve the efficacy, precision and safety of advanced therapies, announced today the appointment of Miles Gerson as the Independent Chairman of its Board of Directors. His incorporation strengthens the company's governance and supports its strategic vision as it moves toward key development milestones.
Mr. Gerson brings more than 20 years of experience in healthcare venture investing, business development, licensing, technology transfer and company building. He most recently served as Global Head and President of Takeda Ventures, Inc., where he managed Takeda's corporate venture team and oversaw an equity portfolio of more than 60 private and public life sciences investments. Prior to Takeda Ventures, his career included serving as founding management of early-stage companies, leading investment diligence for venture firms based in the U.S. and Europe, and holding multiple senior operational roles for venture backed and publicly traded life sciences companies. Mr. Gerson holds Bachelor and Master degrees in Neuroscience from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and a JD/MBA in Strategic Management in Life & Engineering Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
"We are delighted to welcome Miles as chairman of the board. His deep industry knowledge, strategic insight and proven track record in supporting high growth healthcare companies will be invaluable in driving the company's next phase of growth by strategically aligning our platform, pipeline and global expansion," said Avencia Sanchez-Mejias, PhD, CEO & Co-Founder of Integra Therapeutics.
"I am honored to step into the role of Independent Chairman of Integra Therapeutics and to be part of a growing company committed to revolutionizing advanced therapies. Integra's core methodology, rooted in AI trained on proprietary biological datasets and refined through empirical validation, truly sets the company apart, positioning it to transition to high impact in vivo applications, including next generation CAR-T, by addressing the main roadblocks for the next generation of advanced therapies," noted Miles Gerson.
Recently, Integra Therapeutics published a pioneering paper in Nature Biotechnology in which its researchers demonstrated the ability to use AI not only to optimize enzymatic activity, but also to design new synthetic proteins capable of editing the human genome more efficiently than those provided by nature.
FiCAT (Find-Cut-And-Transfer) is a next generation gene writing platform developed by Integra Therapeutics that enables precise, efficient, stable insertion of DNA fragments of unparalleled size into a genome. It combines a 'find' module based on CRISPR-Cas to target a specific genomic site, with a 'cut-and-transfer' module derived from a PiggyBac transposase to insert the new genetic material in ex vivo and in vivo cell therapy (CAR-T) and gene therapy. FiCAT can be delivered in a viral-free manner via LNP pre-loading, with demonstrated efficiency in several tissues and cells. It is currently in preclinical development for oncology, autoimmune and genetic diseases.